' . ¦ . . : r, ,yM ./ | :?tf8%g£§s >YALE«>WJMIIVIEIESinrY° • iLiiiaiaamr • Bought with the income of the Thomas Hooker Fund THE SPIRIT OF POWER Hs seen In Zbe Christian Cburcb of tbe Secono Century ERNEST ARTHUR EDGHILL, M.A. SUBWARDEN OF THE COLLEGE OF ST. SAVIOUR IN SOUTHWARK AND WILDERFORCE MISSIONER I SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; BELL SCHOLAR AND CROSSE SCHOLAR J LECTURER IN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 1910 [All rights reserved] TO EDWARD, LORD BISHOP OF SOUTHWARK, THESE SLIGHT SKETCHES OF THE CHURCH'S EARLY LIFE AND STRUGGLES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED AS AN INADEQUATE TOKEN OF GREAT GRATITUDE AND DEEP AFFECTION BY HIS SON AND SERVANT IN THE LORD, THE AUTHOR PREFACE This volume and one that shall come after, should a sufficient demand justify its appearance, are based on lectures given at King's College, London. They are offered to a wider public with great diffidence, in the hope that they may help towards a better understand ing of the Church in that much misunderstood period, the second century after the birth of Christ. They are quite deliberately different from most histories of the period. Indeed, it would be altogether to mistake their purpose to call them a history at all. They are quite frankly an impressionist sketch of ways of thought, by means of the study of which the author believes it possible to arrive at a proper presentation of the period. It is my hope in a few years' time to treat the whole subject of the life and thought of the early Church along the more conventional lines of ecclesiastical history. In such a work much that is here written would be obviously out of place. But with greater sobriety there creeps in the greater danger lest vision should perish. Insight, of course, is demanded; but it too often takes the form of the insight that solves a problem, rather than that which reveals life that is really alive, because once it really lived. And it is not merely the discovery and explanation of ancient forms vi PREFACE of life that is required, but the interpretation of living force, the interpreter himself being caught and thrilled by the power and warmth of that which has never died since He died, but under new forms is alive for ever more. The tabulation of fossils instructs (but it's a cold business) : the glow of the spirit inspires. We want an interpretation which is an inspiration also. We want to seek the dead among the living ; and then we shall find that they are not dead after all, for all live unto Him. I am acutely conscious that these essays fall un speakably short of their ideal. In fact, I feel they almost invite the smiles of students ; but I am con scious also that a duty is laid upon those who read, to make the results of their reading as widely acces sible as possible to that great and increasing circle of thoughtful people who, without being professed students, take the very deepest interest in all that evidences the truth and power of the Christian faith. Among such, there is an ineradicable impression that the second century witnessed, if it did not welcome, a gradual and grievous transformation of the faith of Christ into the religion of the Catholic Church. It is pointed to as an age of hopeless declension and deterioration, when freedom was throttled by creeds and the Spirit quenched by system. It is the object of these pages to indicate the possibility of another and more hopeful view. I trust that I may have written nothing in a narrow and controversial spirit, nor said anything which might be construed into disrespect of those distin guished and brilliant scholars and leaders of thought who have invested the history of the early Church with an interest immeasurably increased by their own re- PREFACE vii searches and constructive ability. But fair-minded men like to hear both sides of a question ; and they would, moreover, feel little gratitude to one who pre sented his case with such weakness or vacillation as to let judgment go inevitably by default. Wherefore I have avoided continual apologizings for arriving at a view which I hold to be right, though others hold it wrong ; and have stated my own impressions with such frankness and fulness as I can command. It is my hope that even those who disagree with my general conclusion will find nothing in these pages that is dis respectful or discourteous to views more widely held or to scholars more justly honoured. It is my earnest hope that the book may be a real (though I fear very small) contribution towards a fresh appreciation of the period with which it deals. It will perhaps provoke, if it does not provide, a truer understanding of the post-Apostolic Church. There are three further matters upon which it will perhaps be well to offer brief remarks. In the first place, I have not hesitated to link up the subject of which I endeavour to treat with the records of the New Testament. The prevalent idea being that a great gulf is fixed between the times and thoughts of the Apostles and of the earlier writers of the second century, I have had the less hesitation in showing that, so far from it being impossible for those who wish to pass from yon side to this, the passage is particularly easy and natural. Secondly (as I thought would be right in a book ot this kind), I have given my own views rather than those of other writers. I have done my best to make myself acquainted with as much of the vast literature on the Vlll PREFACE subject as the inevitable restrictions of widely different occupations made it possible to reach or read. But the book itself does not claim to be a review of these writers ; its origin and purpose are far other. It sprang from the reading of what the early Fathers (and pre eminently among them Justin Martyr) wrote them selves, and from a desire to put forward a view of this much-abused period which would show that it was alive and aflame with the one and the self-same Spirit, Who worked so wondrously in the Apostolic Church, but divideth to every man severally as He will. Finally, as to the method employed. I remember well the impression made on me, walking from Cambridge to Ely, when first that glorious minster burst upon my view. Majestically it stands sentinel upon the horizon, as you reach the summit of the first tiny hill that you have encountered during twelve miles of level fen. Distance is deceptive, for you are yet a fair way off; but you may discern much of its fine proportions and splendid stateliness. The grace and beauty of its peculiar features, moreover, cannot fail to impress the beholder at a far greater distance even than the rising ground beyond Streatham village. As one approaches closer, one discerns and discriminates both more, and more easily. As one walks round about it and tells the towers thereof, one marvels at the magnificence of this monument of the fen-land. But who could give a fair account of the building by surveying the exterior ? Curiosity, and far nobler feelings — love of that which is outwardly so beautiful, and desire to know more of that which seems to invite the seeker after further knowledge to enter at the open door — impel entrance. And then among the pillars and Norman chapels one PREFACE ix wanders, filled with deepening admiration and appre ciation. But even thus it would be impossible to give a true description of this noble structure. For we have not yet penetrated to the purpose of it. Perhaps imagination must aid us here ; but the sanctuary is not wholly bare, and that which is there is enough to reveal the idea which first gave and yet gives life and meaning to the whole. Somewhat in this same way, I thought, might it be possible to approach the Christianity of the second century. I did not feel competent to write a history of it in the ordinary way, nor did I think any would care to see me crawl where they may watch others fly. But I thought it possible to give with some freshness the impressions of a traveller who might be any pagan with open eyes. Suddenly confronted with this strange massive thing, he stops to admire and observe from without. He notes the spirit of power; the power of attraction, purity, and suffering ; the spirit of love and discipline. Entering by the door that is never closed, he sees yet more to move to wonder — the strength and stateliness of great religious conceptions. And then he watches at last the worship of those that worship in spirit and in truth ; and he sees the open secret, and falls down and himself worships God, and declares that God is in you of a truth.1 Thus wandering, he comes to wonder ; thus wondering, he learns to worship. And thus worshipping the Christ, he sees the God and Father of us all. Thus, in general, may we believe, were many brought to Christ in those silent years of early expansion ; and following in their footsteps, we too may care and come 1 i Cor. xiv. 25. x PREFACE to see what it was that moved them with such strange strength ; may see also afresh that in this dark period the true light still shineth, and that the Church of the second century was as truly the Church of the Spirit as ever was the Church of the first ; for the Church of those days of which we shall hope to treat was alive, and the life of her was the life of Christ. May the Lord the Spirit pardon such things as are amiss in this writing, and lead us all to fuller freedom in Him. ERNEST A. EDGHILL. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. POWER AND WEAKNESS - I II. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION - 25 III. THE POWER OF PURITY AND REGENERATION 44 IV. THE POWER OF SUFFERING — THE SIGNIFICANCE AND SPREAD OF PERSECUTION - - "7^ V. THE POWER OF SUFFERING THE ORIGINS AND CAUSES OF PERSECUTION IOI VI. THE POWER OF SUFFERING — THE RESULTS OF PERSECUTION - - 155 VII. THE SPIRIT OF LOVE - 202 I. ITS HISTORICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BASIS 20 2 II. ITS APPLICATION 2 14 (a) THE CHURCH AND WOMEN 216 (p) THE CHURCH AND CHILDREN 229 (c) THE CHURCH AND SLAVES 238 (d) THE CHURCH AND PRISONERS - 260 (f) THE CHURCH AND THE POOR - 263 INDEXES (l) BIBLICAL REFERENCES 3 14 (2) PATRISTIC REFERENCES 31 7 (3) CLASSICAL REFERENCES 320 (4) INDEX OF SUBJECTS 32 1 THE SPIRIT OF POWER CHAPTER I POWER AND WEAKNESS " God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness, but of power."1 Thus does the Apostle — imprisoned, soli tary, depressed — seek to cheer his son Timothy. Well might the young disciple dread the burden some responsibilities thrust suddenly upon him. The spiritual atmosphere of Ephesus can have been neither congenial nor encouraging ; and many were ready to predict that the withdrawal of the master mind must inevitably entail the downfall and dis appearance of the Churches of his creation. So the aged ambassador in bonds sends a message of cheer to the youthful and timid bishop. Not a promise of a speedy release, nor overmuch instruction, nor, in the first instance, a reminder of his own inspiring example, but rather a remembrance of their common gift — not how Paul excelled Timothy, but how Timothy equalled Paul. The strong Apostle that had wellnigh run his course and the trembling 1 2 Tim. i. 7. 2 THE SPIRIT OF POWER disciple, with the fear of the future upon him, were at one, " For God gave us the spirit, not of fearful- ness, but of power." Spirit of power ! The idea recurs with an almost pathetic persistence in the earliest records of Christianity. Of the Forerunner it was prophesied by an angel's voice that in the spirit and power of Elijah he should make ready a people prepared for the Lord;1 and of meek Mary, called to be the Mother of God, it is written : " The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." 2 The promise of power is the preface to the tale which, beginning with the weak and helpless birth at Bethlehem, ends with the lonely agony of the Garden and the Cross. As on the opening page, so also at the end. The timid disciples wait in fear, dreading the discipline of the inevitable departure. " Fear not," said the Lord, " ye shall be clothed with power." 3 Power was the most obvious characteristic of Christ's life as it impressed itself upon those not far from the kingdom of God. That awful scene on Calvary, the death-blow that annihilated Messianic hopes, did not blind those that had cherished them to the fact that, despite all seeming failure, there had moved among men a prophet, mighty in deed and in word,4 Jesus of Nazareth, whom God had anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.5 It 1 Luke i. 17. 2 Luke i. 35. 3 Luke xxiv. 29. 4 Luke xxiv. 19. 6 Acts x. 38. POWER AND WEAKNESS 3 was the presence of power in the teaching of Jesus that arrested and compelled attention.1 It was as manifestations of power, in the first instance, that the miracles of the ministry moved men to marvel. Others beside the Redeemer knew that power had gone out of Him,2 and that in Him the power of the Lord was present to heal.3 Thus the words and works of the life that failed (in all eyes but the glorious eyes of God) did yet reveal the presence of the spirit of power. In the simple tale of the Evangelists we ex perience the thrill of that dramatic irony wherein the superb skill of Greek tragedians delighted to excel. The accidental occurrence that is yet part of a predestined plan ; the commonplace observation with the hidden meaning ; the simple sentence with its twofold significance ; the fall of greatness, reveal ing greatness in the fall ; the central figure, con scious of high destiny, called to suffer deeply, hero and victim at once, and hero because victim— what does it all mean, save that the great thinkers of Hellas had wrested from an unsympathetic world and an inexorable heaven the secret of secrets — that in suffering there is strength and in weakness power ? Yet the conscious art of Greece cannot, in the unfolding of this sublime theme, vie with the un varnished simplicity of the Gospels, where the Son of God is cradled in a manger and death-pillowed 1 Mark i. 22. 2 Luke viii. 46, vi. 19. 3 Luke v. 17. 4 THE SPIRIT OF POWER on the Cross. Boldly they identified the Christ that should conquer with the Servant that should suffer, and in earth's lowest degradation saw the ground of the exaltation of the Incarnate Son to the throne of universal power.1 The Gospel was a proclamation of power ; but power promised to the humble, and perfected in weakness. In the life of Jesus this strange doc trine received its completest fulfilling. The Church learned the lesson, and at her Master's charge set out to win the world. Conscious of her own weak ness, she knew herself to be clothed with power; and thus pressed forward, trembling, yet confident, towards her high calling, to suffer shame for His Name's sake. With almost incredible audacity she proclaimed a kingdom, and promised to all who should enter that they should reign as kings. But the condition of entrance was utterly humiliating, for men must repent before they can reign, and pride must be broken before power can be bestowed, and those that aspired to be kings must rejoice to own themselves slaves of the Crucified. The profession of this paradox made the Church the laughing-stock of the world. It revolted the conscience of imperial Rome. It offended the pride of Hellas and shocked the prejudices of the Jew. The whole thing seemed so entirely incapable of realization. Yet there was one great advantage. It could be put to the test. The presence of power 1 Phil. ii. 6-1 1. POWER AND WEAKNESS 5 cannot long be hid. "The wind bloweth, the Spirit breatheth, where it listeth : and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth." x The Church claimed to possess power. The nature of it might long escape notice. Few, indeed, cared to inquire so far. But the fact itself could easily be put to the test. All that cared could "hear the voice thereof." The Roman world knew well of two powers that hitherto had proved resistless — the power of the sword and the power of law. Conquered Greece, that led captive her conqueror, knew of another power— the power of thought, of those philosophic ideals that in olden time had inspired heroic deeds, but had now degenerated into that keen and subtle analysis that dissolved and destroyed all ancient faith. The Jew owed the preservation of his nationality to the power of his ancestral creed. What was this new power that the Christian claimed ? Power in weakness was their watchword. The weak ness was manifest enough, but where were the signs of power ? The history of the Church in the second century may be considered as furnishing the vindication of her claim to be possessed with the spirit of power. At first the claim was simply ignored, as being beneath all contempt; then received with incredulity ; then with ridicule; finally, reluctant recognition brought resistance to the death. 1 John iii. 8. 6 THE SPIRIT OF POWER In the beginning Christianity was merely regarded as one more of those wild and extravagant Oriental superstitions that sought, when the old faiths failed, to meet man's need of religion. But the thoughtful soon began to grasp the real significance of the contest. For the idea of power was one which interested the world at that time. The leaders of Greek thought had wounded the old gods to the death, but the price of such sacrilege was the leaving of their own life in the wound. Scepticism became vigorous and universal. Wearied with interminable disputations and sophistical wranglings, the philo sophy of Greece became convicted of barren intel- lectualism, save where, still keen in its decay, it turned to prey on its own vitals, and gave to a world disgusted, yet amused, the engrossing and in decorous spectacle of a public and protracted suicide. The Greek philosophy, by universal consent, stood forth, powerless to arouse, to attract, to enthuse. The ineradicable strength of Jewish patriotism — due partly to nationality, partly to religion — im pressed the ancient world with a sense of stubborn power. But this power depended for its very exist ence upon the maintenance of that spirit of strict exclusiveness, the intense narrowness of which was clearly irreconcilable with any idea of its ever becoming universally operative. An age without spiritual ideals turned naturally to material things; yet their inadequacy had been abundantly manifested in the birth-throes of the POWER AND WEAKNESS 7 new order. Wealth, birth, position — these things conferred no power, and men hastened, as far as might be, to lay them down ere they attracted the eye of a rapacious or jealous tyrant. There remained two powers — the power of the State and the power of the sword. If the former seemed to repose upon the latter, nevertheless, despite the frequent and rapid tragedies of the palace, the Roman genius for government and law secured for the provinces of the wide Empire a large measure of peaceful and prosperous stability. No man durst gainsay the strength of the sword. Yet this power, though dreaded, was also discredited. For the swords that fenced the throne right well made but an uneasy couch whereon to rest. Once unsheathed, the sword is not easily replaced. Soon the scabbard was voted a useless impediment, and the quick steel struck more frequently and more fiercely. But the age needed a power to quicken, not to kill ; to build up with patience, not with violence to smite down. So men thought, but who dared speak ? The Stoics — the select spirits of the old aristocracy — murmured somewhat, but soon were silenced. Their fate did not encourage men to imitate their boldness. They proved themselves without power to survive the sword whose power they mocked. Then did that obscure sect stand forth to do battle. Christianity had no material weapons. Deliberately she cast them from her, and descended unarmed 8 THE SPIRIT OF POWER into the arena to contend with the power of Rome for the homage of the world. First came the feigned pretence not to see the puny and audacious adver sary, then the profession not to understand his purpose. Then smote upon the ear the roar of laughter from ten times ten thousand throats. Yet, as the battle of centuries progressed, spectators, however unsympathetic, could not fail to guess the grandeur of the issues involved. Rome was frankly material : she marshalled her Titanic forces to crush her diminutive opponent ; she put into the field Law imperial and imperious, determined not to bear the sword in vain. To the strength of sword, and might of law, the new faith set the spirit of power and of love. As the second century opens we see the com batants girding on their arms ; both are in deadly earnest, for it is a struggle to the bitter end. The trumpet gives no uncertain sound ; then follows much skirmishing, much manoeuvring, for in so great an issue neither party is over-anxious to come within measure of thrust and throw. As the deadly duel grows in fury (by years 'tis measured, not by minutes), the sympathies of the vast audience be come more and more equally divided. But the wearer of the Cross sees a yet vaster audience than all the pomp and pride, scum and off-scouring, of Rome and her dependencies : he looks beyond, to the great cloud of witnesses that strain to see each brave and noble deed in the unequal contest ; looks POWER AND WEAKNESS g beyond again, to the Great and Impartial Arbiter, who has Himself striven and overcome, and stands to succour and to give the amaranthine crown to him that overcometh. So his eyes glisten with the heavenly vision, and his heart is strong with the power of the spiritual realities. Thus armed he stands,1 and flees not, for God gave us the spirit — not of fearfulness, but of power. The end is not yet. Another century must pass ere Christian shall have conquered in the power of the holy sign ; but the end is in sight already. In a world that for all its seeming strength has lost its vital power a new thing has arisen ; a new army has gone forth conquering and to conquer — an army, unarmed and untried, foolish and weak and base,2 gone forth to cast down Babylon. They have gone forth in faith, but not in fear, for their trust is not in material strength, but in the spirit of power. Let us, then, as spectators of the struggle, stand aside to see what the end will be. Let us mark well how, in the clash of collision, the claim of power was sustained, how vindicated ; how, emerging from the grand contest in red and glorious apparel, it provided Christians with an unanswerable argu ment and irresistible appeal. But first let us look again at the world into which the religion of Christ grew to manhood, and see, by way of contrast, where lay the power and where the weakness of those other forms of faith which struggled 1 Eph. vi. 13, 14. 2 1 Cor. i. 26-29. 10 THE SPIRIT OF POWER for the supremacy. Christianity was from its birth a universal religion. No new faith with a less lofty claim could have endured. The ancient deities were tolerated, even worshipped, but despised by their very worshippers. For, in the first place, the tribal gods were without honour save in their own country ; and, in the second, being gods of war, they had proved their powerlessness to save their worshippers or themselves from the unconquerable legions of the power of the West. The Romans considerately pro vided a cemetery where these antiquated gods could be decently interred. They called it the Pantheon. There each in his appropriate niche made it clear to all men that if ever he had been alive, behold he was dead for evermore. None of these deities had ever advanced a claim to the throne of the universe. They were all gods without independent character; they never rose above the level of their worshippers. Thus, when the State fell, the religion fell also. The tribal gods had no further use — indeed, no further existence— apart from their connection with their own particular tribe. And when the latter was swept away, the former also disappeared as completely as the gods of Hamath and Sepharvaim. But where the subject nations were spared, they were spared also as subjects. The masters of the world, sceptical yet superstitious (a common combination), professed to respect all ancestral faiths, and even encouraged the conquered nationalities to persevere in their discredited poly- POWER AND WEAKNESS n theisms. They had no motive for proselytism, nor power to proselytize. Therefore the Romans ac corded them toleration, and did not persecute. For such toleration the price was fixed — a public con fession on the part of such national religions that they had no aims and no ambitions ; that they had no message for mankind ; that they professed no wider significance ; that they possessed neither the power nor the desire to attract ; that they had no meaning save as archaeological survivals or, at best, as the religious expression of a single people's life. Thus there were lords many and gods many in the Roman Empire, all equally worshipped and all equally dead. It was the advance of the Roman arms that shattered the ancient faiths ; yet the overthrow, of the gods in no way corresponded with the intention of the conqueror. The Roman was himself in no sense irreligious. The general collapse of religion shocked his sense of propriety. It may be asked why the Romans did not force the conquered nations to accept their own faith. There is a threefold reason : First, they had to a large extent ceased to believe in it themselves ; secondly, the gods of the other nations were so obviously superior to the Roman deities in age and wisdom, in human attrac tiveness or poetic picturesqueness, that it would have been madness to have sought to supplant these in the popular imagination by the severe and stupid objects of Roman veneration ; thirdly, the Romans 12 THE SPIRIT OF POWER were as incapable as the rest of the world of holding any other than the tribal theory of religion. When the nation perished (as in the days of the Assyrian Empire), the gods perished also ; when the nation was preserved, the gods were preserved ; when the nation was powerless, the gods were powerless also. Now, it was the Roman policy to preserve the nations, and to keep them powerless ; so the national gods were saved, but impotent. It never occurred to the Romans that a State could be preserved and its religion perish. The way was therefore open for a universal religion. The fratricidal horrors of the civil wars had brought men to a new longing for brotherhood. The conduct of the Empire, necessitating the estab lishment of order, rule, restraint, called for the enforcement of a moral standard. The imperial policy aimed at welding together into some kind of unity the heterogeneous elements of which the vast Empire was composed. Brotherhood, morality, unity — these were great ideas ; but they needed something deeper yet to give them inspiration and force and spiritual ideal. Religion alone could kindle the Divine spark, but the fire had died upon the altar. Concerning the Roman religion, it may be well to say thus much of its origin and growth. On the one hand there were the great gods, honoured by the State — far-off deities that cared only for high matters; on the other were subordinate divinities, POWER AND WEAKNESS 13 innumerable and friendly, that watched with loving care over each single spot or step, of work or play, from the cradle to the grave. Concerning the former, the prosperity of the State was held to depend upon their due acknowledgment and traditional rever encing (sacra majorum perire nefas) ; concerning the latter, piety and prudence demanded constant con formity {sacra privata perpetuo manento). But Greek philosophy had dissolved effective faith in the State gods, while the homely yet shadowy personalities that watched over domestic life were altogether of too multiform, too individual, too local a character to make their adoption possible in any country than their own ; for no local cult can carry with it the promise of a world religion. The statesmen of Rome must have been wellnigh driven to despair of their quest after a universal religion, when silently and suddenly the Vision appeared. How it came, or when exactly, no man knoweth unto this day. Suffice it to say that Augustus, perceiving that there must be a religious basis for the continued peace and good government of the world, and setting out to rehabilitate the traditional gods of Rome, found himself worshipped as a god, and honoured above them. For deorum injuria dis cures, but who dared affront him that held securely the sharp, swift sword ? The worship of heroes was already common ; but in that materialistic age it had " degenerated into the worship of conquerors, and the idolatry of 14 THE SPIRIT OF POWER service had passed into the idolatry of success."1 Meanwhile apotheosis was in the air. The Divine Power was everywhere recognized and everywhere localized ; endless divisions and demarcations of place and function peopled the whole world with gods. These were the genii, " the divine personifications of physical forces and dim abstract qualities, a per sonification that was from early ages congenial to the Roman mind."2 So multitudinous had these genii become, so inexhaustible the fertility of this religious imagination, that men laughingly congratu lated Croton, a city inhabited by more gods than men.3 It was thus an easy matter to do reverence to the genius of Rome and to the genius of the Emperor, for he was not merely the personification of Empire, but the personality who had made the imperial rule so stable and so popular throughout the provinces. And it was there that this new religion first took root downward and bore fruit upward. It would seem that the problem of a world religion had been solved. In Rome itself there was some hesitation and reluctance, but abroad the enthu siasm of devotees was unchecked. Everywhere temples, priesthoods, festivals, sacrifices in honour of the August One impressed the imagination and stimulated loyalty and devotion. Yet the whole 1 Wcstcott, Epp. St John, p. 269. 2 Dill, Roman Society from Nero to Trajan, p. 479. 3 Petroii., Sat. 17. POWER AND WEAKNESS 15 matter had the stamp of artificiality. Caesar- worship could compel conformity, but had no attractive or regenerative power. It succeeded because it was not really a religion at all — because it neither provided nor attempted any answer to the deeper needs of the human spirit. Such it left coldly on one side, to be satisfied by whatever means a man might choose. For such things, it had little care ; in such things men differed and must differ, but in this State formality all could unite. There fore it left the religious problem unsolved, for it left religion in precisely the same position as before. It gave a new worship, not a new religion, to the world ; a new creed, but no new faith ; a test of orthodoxy, not an inspiration of conduct ; much sacrifice, no service; compelling all, it attracted none. And, when men dared, they made light of it. Seneca made merry (and so did the readers of his malicious satire, which apparently circulated without restriction) over the scene that might be supposed to take place in the heavens when the deified, but disgraceful, Claudius tried to effect an entrance. Vespasian affected to measure the progress of his fatal disease by exclaiming in bitter mockery : " Ah me ! I suppose I must be becoming a god." * Hadrian's favourite, Antinous, was offered to the world's worship, and, says Justin, all men were for ward to do him reverence as a god, though they 1 Vesp. Vit., 23. 16 THE SPIRIT OF POWER knew who he was and whence sprung.1 Subse quently Verus was adopted, but perished of con sumption. Whereupon the Emperor made public lamentation of the expense involved in his adopting a god instead of a son. In the mouths of flatterers such language is frequent and natural; but, "like prince, like people," and the deifications could never have been taken too seriously. The worship of the Caesars was an official affair. It was the solemn State recognition of the Roman peace and imperial unity. It did not profess to provide any satisfaction for spiritual yearnings. It was, however, a serious and systematic attempt on the part of the State to supply the need of a universal religion. As such it served awhile — for it deliberately declined to be exclusive, and all who worshipped Caesar might practise their own religious rites as well — and as such it failed, for it was not religious, and could find no answer to the cravings of the heart. It was utterly unspiritual. No greater contrast is imaginable than that between the worship of the Caesar and the religion of Christ — material might and spiritual power. Backed by pomp and law, supported by popular convention and judicial severity, the State religion compelled universal con formity, but produced no single conversion, for it had in it neither the inspiration of faith nor the power of attraction. The throne was yet unfilled ; but not for want of 1 Apol., i. 29. POWER AND WEAKNESS 17 claimants. Many a faith made a bold bid for the imperial crown. They were to some extent religious movements rather than religious systems, and, spread ing over the Empire far and wide, won numerous and enthusiastic adherents. Philosophy had laughed the old Greek gods out of court. Immorality had put on immortality, and the vices of Hellas were glorified on Olympus. Materialism mocked at gods so obviously created by man in his own image. The idealist, with the fine scorn of moral fervour, despised such deities. So rationalism struck religion down, and philosophy, having dissolved faith, found it a harder business to take its place. Nevertheless, she girded herself to the task. The Schools forsook metaphysical speculation, and devoted themselves to the study of practical conduct and the cultivation of character. Stoicism in particular was transfigured by a moral enthusiasm, and, flinging overboard its logical and philosophical apparatus, fared forth to save souls from shipwreck. Yet Stoicism was astonishingly ineffective. It appealed with force to the choice spirits that inherited the hard, stern, loveless elements of the old Roman aristocracy. Under the Caesars they lived in jeopardy every hour. No wonder they welcomed a creed which taught them to despise the peoples and princes, the changes and chances of this mortal life. But to the masses Stoicism made a vain appeal ; the plebeian world remained utterly untouched. It was to the end a 18 THE SPIRIT OF POWER movement among the upper classes ; it never became a creed for the crowd. " Stoicism has no history except the history of its leaders. It consisted of isolated individuals, but it never attracted the masses or founded a community. It was a staff of professors without classes." 1 The sterility of Stoicism proves its lack of attractive power ; but a few words may be added in explanation of this remarkable barrenness. Theo logically, the religious phraseology of the devout Stoic is poetical, not philosophical, for the doctrinal creed of Stoicism is essentially pantheistic. Here is the fatal defect of Stoic theology : it did not recognize the personality of God. It follows, more over, from this initial error that sin is only to be condemned as a controverting of natural law or as an ugly violation of aesthetic principles. Ethically, Stoicism set Nature at defiance. Its fundamental principle was to crush and overcome rather than control and direct. Apathy, rather than sympathy, is the watchword, and the affections must be rooted out. "Thus the Stoic's avowal of cosmopolitan principles, his tenet of religious equality, became inoperative because the springs of sympathy which alone could make them effective were frozen at the source." It will thus be seen why it was inevitable that, even omitting all mention of its vague and dubious references to the possibility of a future life, this cosmopolitan creed, which took the whole world 1 Lightfoot, Ep. to Philippians, 319. POWER AND WEAKNESS ig to be the temple of the immortal gods, should yet, by its aristocratic exclusiveness, by its glorification of impassivity, "by its inherent repulsiveness, which was little less than an outrage on humanity, take a firm hold upon a few solitary spirits, but with the masses be utterly powerless." x Very different were the various forms of mysticism that swept over the Empire. These, including those of Eleusis, are all traceable to Eastern or Egyptian sources. In origin widely dissimilar, and bearing the characteristic marks of their varying religious or national environments, these mystical faiths were combined by the monotheistic tendency of a syncre- tistic age into one religious system of many forms. In particular, we should notice the worship of the Great Mother, of Isis, and of Mithra. In this alike, that they stirred or answered to the religious emotions, they professed to purify from sin, and promised the blessings of eternal life. Their appeal was both aesthetic and ascetic ; for this life, being but a preparation for the next, called for self-discipline and renunciation, while an elaborate symbolism, a stately ritual, and mysterious sacraments attracted the devout and impressed the multitude. Further, such rites, tracing their origin to immemorial antiquity, had outgrown many, if not all, of their coarser elements, and had come to speak of tender ness and grace, chastity and peace. Thus, Mith- raism, to take a typical instance, while " tender and 1 Lightfoot, op. cit., 322. 20 THE SPIRIT OF POWER tolerant to the old national worships, and never breaking with the inner spirit of heathenism, created an all-embracing system which rose above all national barriers, which satisfied the demands of philosophic thought in its mysticism, and gave comfort and a hope of immortality through its sacraments." x These religions were in no wise deficient in attractive power ; they enjoyed immense popularity ; the multitude of the initiated were innumerable. One great reason for this success lay in the fact that these mysteries were widely tolerant not only of one another, but of every form of pagan polytheism. They were comprehensively catholic, not sternly exclusive. They did not require those initiated into the sacred mysteries to renounce the gods of heathendom. There was neither any theory nor practice of mutual repulsion or renunciation. Ab sorption, accommodation, conciliation — these were the watchwords of that great spiritual movement in the ancient world whose syncretism and mono theistic trend sought to soften, if not eliminate, all divergences of note. The cold ceremonial of Roman religion was left (as it left others) untouched, but here the affections and emotions were recognized and honoured. Thus it came to pass that, where philosophy failed, these alien rites succeeded. But their success was due to their failure, for fail they did, deeply and doubly. Failing first to emancipate 1 Dill, op. tit., 586. POWER AND WEAKNESS 21 their lofty ideals from the degrading associations of Nature-worship, they failed also because by their charitable toleration of one another and their ready coming to terms with all pagan religions they con sciously abdicated the throne of universal homage, and publicly declared their inability, or unwilling ness rather, to enforce the claim of all-sovereign power. There remains yet one more faith with the power of expansion and the promise of a world religion. For this faith refused to make terms with poly theism or to surrender its treasures to philosophy. Moreover, the Jews, with their sacred records and religious community, possessed the essentials of abiding success. They were saved from all trace of Nature- worship by the historical character of their revelation. They knew the meaning of religious aspiration, for they held with strenuous pertinacity to the Personality of the Supreme. The moral sense was gratified by the directions of the law, while its votaries were guarded from contamination by an elaborate and distinctive ceremonial. Judaism was, moreover, at this period seized by some impulse of missionary enthusiasm, for it began to recognize (though too late) the implied burden of world-wide diffusion. The Jew became conscious of bearing a message to mankind. Proudly he pro claimed himself the bearer of a special revelation, and called a divided world from the distractions of disordered polytheisms to unite in the worship of 22 THE SPIRIT OF POWER the Almighty Father, Lord of heaven and earth, to obey His perfect law and fear His certain judgment.1 The spread of Judaism throughout the Empire is a phenomenon altogether remarkable. In every Roman province Jewish colonies were to be found ; found also eastward, beyond the farthest bounds of Empire. The list given by St. Luke of those that worshipped in Jerusalem at Pentecost is evidence of the wide diffusion of the Diaspora. But a century before, Strabo had complained that " they have by this time passed into every city, and it would be no easy matter to find a place in the whole world which has not received this tribe or even become subject to its rule."2 Josephus exclaims triumphantly : " There is not a people in the world which does not contain some part of us."3 Seneca (if we consider Augustine worthy of credence) was wellnigh in despair: "The customs of this utterly accursed race have in the meanwhile prevailed to such an extent that in all countries they are adopted : the conquered have laid the conquerors under law."4 In Alexandria the Jewish population claimed two- fifths of the city.6 In Rome itself there can have been hardly less than ten thousand. This spread throughout the Empire made prose- 1 Cf Hamack, M. and E., i. 10. 2 Joseph., Ant., xiv. 7, 2. 3 Joseph., Bell., ii. 16. 4 ; cf. viii. 3. 3 contra Ap. ii. 39 ; cf. Philo. Legat, 33. Justin tries with ill-concealed difficulty to insist upon some exceptions. Dial. 117. 4 Aug., De Civit. Dei, vi. 11. 6 />/„•/„ m Flacc, 8. POWER AND WEAKNESS 23 lytism easy, for more reasons than one. In the first place, it weakened the sacrificial system (with the local worship at the national sanctuary), while the moral demand was emphasized. Secondly, it facilitated the presentation of Judaism as the philo sophic religion. Finally, the social and religious life of the Jewish communities (so strictly main taining their own conditions, so widely awake to their own interests) exercised no little power of assimilation and attraction.1 Proselytism thus pro ceeded apace, for degrees of ceremonial strictness or laxity were permitted, and many were the pagans "that feared God and did well unto His people."2 But the Jew could never reconcile himself to the universalism inherent in his religion.3 For him, the great ideal was observance of the law, not freedom from the law. His rigid exclusiveness was per petually raising barriers which even the God-fearing might not pass. His national pride resented the intrusion even of converted pagans into the holy place. He would compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews. The final destruction of the Holy City and Temple, in reality an opportunity to break from nationalistic limitations, had precisely the opposite effect. Even to the most broad-minded Jew, it was the position of the Gentiles, not of his own country- 1 Cf. Joseph., Ant, xvii. 2. 1 ; xviii. 3. 5 ; Bell., ii. 6. 1 ; Tac, Ann., ii. 85 ; Sueton., Tib., 36 ; Dion Cass., ix. 6. 2 Cf. Axenfeld, Die Judische Propaganda, etc. 3 Cf. esp. Dt. Is., passim. 24 THE SPIRIT OF POWER men, that had now taken a fatal turn for the worse. The most zealous convert remained, and ever must remain, inferior before God to the child of Abraham, and when the kingdom should be restored to Israel, as restored it must be, with its grand reversals and restorations, the nations might call themselves blessed in the doing of menial service to the people chosen to be the priests and ministers of the Lord. The literature of Hellenistic Judaism, with its univer- salistic hints and strivings, came swiftly and suddenly to an end, to be replaced by the hard rules of narrow Rabbinism. The Jew deliberately renounced his mission to the Gentile, and the spirit of brotherhood and toleration gave way to open and arrogant contempt. Judaism became once more a national religion, but all the fire had been quenched, save the fire of hatred that fretted continually against the unclean Gentile. Yet in every city throughout the Empire there were those whom the Law and the Prophets had prepared to look for a deliverer, and the synagogue became (at the first) the pulpit of the Church. Such were the religions of the Empire — such their weaknesses and strengths. CHAPTER II THE POWER OF ATTRACTION It would be easy to show where the Christian faith rose superior to the religions which it ultimately overthrew. It would be easy to approach the subject, as it were, from within, to show how the faith of Christ contained within itself just those elements which were lacking to its adversaries ; how the prin ciples and promises of the Christian religion, pro viding both the spiritual satisfaction and the ethical theology which the age demanded, must needs insure its triumph and drive its rivals off the field. It would, however, perhaps be a fairer method, and a clearer, if at this stage we determined to discard, as far as might be, all presuppositions or a priori con siderations; and to devote ourselves to the discovery or recovery of those traits in historical Christianity, the observation and experience of which wrung even from the most reluctant the universal acknowledg ment that here was a religion of spirit and of power. Therefore, in attempting to estimate rightly the revelation of that strength which gave to the Church, 25 26 THE SPIRIT OF POWER orphaned of Apostolic leadership, the power to over come the fears and fightings of that perplexing and persecuting age, we shall endeavour to approach the subject from without, avoiding plausible hypotheses or facile explanations, content to look at rather than to look for the lines of Christian development, and concentrating our attention on such facts as cannot be gainsaid or denied. Viewed in this light, we can consider the Church's strength under three heads : (i) The power of attraction ; (2) the power of purity and regeneration ; (3) the power of suffering. That the new religion soon won many converts is not open to doubt. The author of the Acts was " neither credulous nor uncritical,"1 and his book may be accepted as giving in the main a reliable account of the proclamation of the Gospel through out the Empire : first in Jerusalem, then in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.2 And so Paul preached the Gospel in Rome, but others before Paul had brought it thither. We learn incidentally in the course of the story that the heathen populace feared the missionaries, who had turned the whole world upside down3; that in Jerusa lem itself at the feast the Jews professing Christianity were to be reckoned by thousands at the least4; that in Rome the leaders of the Jewish community knew of the Christian faith that it was everywhere spoken against.5 The Pauline Epistles reveal the 1 Hamack, Acts, p. xxxviii. 2 Acts i. 8. 3 Acts xvii. 6. 4 Ibid., xxi. 20. 5 Ibid., xxviii. 22. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 27 vigorous life of Churches organized throughout the Empire, while the missionary methods of the great Apostle lend ample countenance to the view that he contemplated the conversion of the entire Roman world. The Neronian persecution reveals an astonish ing state of affairs. The unworthy Emperor, anxious to divert public attention from his suspected implica tion in a terrible catastrophe, caught eagerly at the opportunity of shifting the responsibility on to the odious sect which had attained unenviable notoriety as the exponents of a particularly pernicious super stition. Numerically, its adherents were supposed to be inconsiderable, but a searching investigation brought to light the fact that enormous numbers were implicated.1 Clement speaks of Paul, the herald of the faith both in East and West, as teaching the whole world righteousness, even to the extreme limits of the West.2 Ignatius refers to bishops established in the farthest regions.3 Most remarkable of all is the evidence of the Bithynian Governor. Sent to restore order in that unfortunate province, he was painfully struck by the manifest and almost universal decay of all religion. The reason was not far to seek. The whole province swarmed with adherents of the new faith. In his celebrated letter to Trajan he explains why he thinks it necessary to refer the 1 Tacitus, ingens multitude Clement, n6\v ttXtjBos. See note at end of chapter. 2 Clem. Rom., i. 5. 3 Ignatius, Eph. iii. 28 THE SPIRIT OF POWER whole matter to the Emperor's personal considera tion. " The matter seemed to me well worthy of deliberation, particularly on account of the number of those implicated ; for many of every age, of every rank, of both sexes even, are or will be involved. Not merely the cities, but the villages and hamlets, are infested by this contagious superstition, though I think it may be stopped and set right. On this matter, however, all are quite agreed : that the almost deserted temples are beginning to be frequented, and the long-disused ceremonies of religion to be restored, and fodder for victims to be sold once more, though up till now scarcely any purchasers could be found."1 Harnack speaks of the astounding activity thus re vealed, and hints that the Governor may have been guilty of politic exaggeration.2 Yet he feels bound to conclude that " exceptionally strong currents were already flowing in these provinces in favour of a religion like Christianity."8 It is difficult to repress a smile at this clever and circuitous way of express ing an obvious but apparently unwelcome conclusion. The references to the expansion of the new faith by Hermas, who speaks in Similitudes, may perhaps be discounted as the exaggerated estimate of visionary 1 Pliny, Ep. ad Traj., xcvi. 2 Pliny closes the letter as follows : " From all of which it may easily be supposed what a multitude of men may be re claimed if only room for repentance be admitted." Harnack's theory is that Pliny, by dwelling on the large numbers involved, sought to justify to the Emperor the leniency of his measures. 3 Harnack, M. and E., ii. 25. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 29 enthusiasm.1 For the same reason we have refrained from citing the magnificent passage in the Apoca lypse, where the seer beheld the gathering of those that had overcome in the Blood of the Lamb : " And, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands."2 It is easy to question the literal accuracy of Apoca lyptic imagery ; it is not so easy to see why the statements of Justin, emphatically reiterated, " are of no value,"3 presumably being regarded as solely rhetorical or controversial expressions ; yet again and again he represents Christians as drawn from every race of men.4 Indeed, it is " on behalf of those from every race of men unjustly hated " that the Apology is put forth. In the Dialogue he speaks with a note of triumphant assurance : " For there is not one single race of men — barbarians, or Greeks, or men called by whatsover other name ; dwellers in waggons, or homeless vagrants, or tented nomads — among whom prayers are not offered up through the Name of Jesus Crucified." 5 Controversy breeds exaggeration, it is true ; but since the marvellous growth of Christianity, both extensive and intensive, at the close of the second century is indisputable, 1 Sim., vii. 3, ix. 7. 2 Apoc. vii. 9. 3 Harnack, M. and E., ii. 25. * Apol., xxv., xxvi., xxxii., xl., Iii., lvi. ; Dial., xliii., Iii., liii., xci., cxxi., cxxxi. 6 Dial., cxvii. 30 THE SPIRIT OF POWER and as, moreover, the whole value of an Apology would be entirely destroyed by the parading as facts statements the inaccuracy of which could easily be ascertained, we may conclude that Justin, a traveller in many climes, and ever ready to learn and observe, was not so entirely mistaken in his estimate as Harnack would have us suppose. Many years before the second century had run its course it was impossible any longer to ignore the inconspicuous sect, or to dismiss the whole subject with a passing reference to police regulations, or as furnishing occasion for a brilliantly sarcastic para graph to heighten a fallen Emperor's degradation. Not only in Bithynia, but throughout the civilized world, and even beyond its borders, the advance of the new faith compelled attention,1 and contemptu ously challenged gods and governors to do their worst. The attitude assumed towards imperial ideals presupposes the wide diffusion and unarrested advance of the Christian faith. The Church and the Empire are a pair of magnitudes capable of comparison and contrast. Our Lord had spoken of the Divine fore shortening for the elect's sake,2 but Justin considers that it is on account of the seed of Christians that the universal dissolution is postponed.3 The author of the Epistle to Diognetus, unconsciously, of course, 1 Cf. Epictetus, Fronto, Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, Trajan, Pliny, Celsus, and Lucian. 2 Mark xiii. 20. 3 Apol., ii. 7, THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 31 develops this idea, and regards the Christians as the soul of the world : " What the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the divers cities of the world. . . . The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself holdeth the body together : so Christians are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the world together. ... So great is the office which God has appointed for them which it is not lawful for them to decline."1 Melito is at special pains to prove the dependence of the Empire upon the Church. They are two co-ordinate powers, born together, growing together to maturity and glory. All was providentially planned and purposed that, as two sisters, they might look to each other for support, the splendour and fame of the Empire being sustained by the piety and prayers of the Christian Church.2 Hippolytus also recognized the Church as the one and only magnitude parallel to the State ; but to him the relation presented itself as one of absolute hostility. As the demons had plagiarized Christian worship and Christian doctrine in order to delude the unwary and defile the purity of the faith, so also had they created the imperial institutions to be 1 Ep. ad Diogn., 6 ; cf. Harnack, M. and E., i. 260, ii. 5, where he points out that, though the figure employed suggests wide diffusion, it is altogether too vague to justify any con jecture as to actual numbers. 2 Euseb., H, E., iv. 26. 32 THE SPIRIT OF POWER a kind of Satanic imitation of the new and universal kingdom of Christ.1 This audacious assertion proves, at any rate, how firmly convinced were the Chris tians of those days of the cosmopolitan character of their creed — a belief they could hardly have enter tained so enthusiastically without deriving consider able justification for it in the realm of actual experience. And herein lies perhaps the strangest thing of all. Celsus could pour upon the Christians scorn and ridicule, yet he considered that the problem of their growth claimed serious investigation and skilled attack. For this CEcumenical claim was by no means beneath contempt, but called for special and serious inquiry and exposure, for was not ex perience in this matter on the Christian side ? Celsus longed for a real unity of mankind transcending all national divisions and limitations, but dismisses it as an impracticable dream.2 Notwithstanding, he only brings against the Christian claim a series of a priori considerations as to its inherent impossibility, and is fain to admit (though he professes to regard the fact as a special stumbling-block to the accept ance of the Christian ideal !) that Christians were at first but few in number, even if subsequently they became a multitude3 — an admission that could not be denied or explained away. Res ipsa loquitur. Tertullian is an orator, and his oratory may bear 1 Hipp, in Dan., iv. 9. 2 Origen, Contra Celsum, viii., lxxii. 3 Ibid., iii. x. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 33 him away ; but he has behind him so much of fact that he can actually threaten the State with the powers and resources of Christendom. Two of the most striking passages bearing on this subject may be quoted : " Are we lacking in numbers ? . . . We are a nation of all the world ! We are but of yesterday, and we have filled all your places and positions — cities, islands, villages, townships, markets, the camp itself; the tribes and town councils : the palace, senate, and forum. Only your temples have we left to you."1 No less strongly does he urge the new governor to stay his hand, and realize what a terrible task is before him, if he attempts to exterminate Christianity in Carthage : " If you persist in this policy of perse cution, what will you do with so many thousands of people, so many men and women, of either sex, of every age and rank, offering themselves to you ? How will you obtain sufficient fires, sufficient swords ? What must Carthage herself be doomed to suffer, if you will decimate her citizens, and everyone will see his own kinsmen, his own comrades, among your victims ; will see, perhaps, among the number men and matrons of your own rank, and the most principal men of the city, and the kinsmen and 1 Apol., xxxvii. ; cf. ibid., ii. Obsessam vociferantur civi- tatem, in agris, in castellis, in insulis Christianos omnem sexum, setatem, condicionem, etiam dignitatem transgredi ad hoc nomen. 3 34 THE SPIRIT OF POWER friends of your friends ? Spare, then, thyself, if not us : spare Carthage if not thyself : spare the province."1 The language of Tertullian bears witness not only to the outward diffusion, but to the inward expansion, of Christianity. It was not only that the Gospel was preached among the barbarians,2 but all classes and conditions were among its converts. " Not many wise, not many mighty, not many well-born," says St. Paul.3 But even in those days there were some such, of whom the Apostle was himself, perhaps, the most illustrious example.4 We may notice in passing the fear of Ignatius, lest influence at Rome should deprive him of the crown of martyrdom. There must therefore have been brethren of no little standing among the Christians of the city. Indeed, there seems no reason to doubt that the mysterious murder (at Domitian's order) of Flavius Clemens some twenty years previously,5 Consul and cousin of the Emperor, together with the banishment of his wife, both charged with atheism and Judaizing, is rightly attributed by traditional belief to the fact of their conversion to Christianity 1 Ad Scap. v. 2 Cf. De Corona, xii. ; adv. Jud., vii. ; adv. Marc, iii. 20. 3 1 Cor. i. 26. 4 Nicodemus and Joseph ; Apollos also, and Barnabas and other people mentioned in the Acts, which certainly does not exaggerate the effect of the Gospel on the upper classes. Cf. also Ep. Jas. i. 10, ii. 1-7 ; (v. 1-6). 5 He was put to death in a.d. 95. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 35 — an opinion greatly strengthened by archaeo logical evidence as to the burying-place of Flavia Domitilla. Hermas speaks, not without bitterness, of the wealthy members of the Christian community,1 and Justin tells of the trial of a lady of high birth who had embraced the faith.2 Justin himself, the philo sopher, and Tertullian, the lawyer, are further witnesses that the cultured and educated classes were beginning to feel the attraction and the interest of the Christian appeal. The legend of the Legio Fulminatrix is beyond doubt unhistorical in ascribing the deliverance of the Roman army to the prayers of a legion com posed entirely of Christian soldiers, yet it shows that even in the army there must have been con verts not a few.3 The Church was, moreover, soon troubled with a military problem, Christian ethics being somewhat sharply divided on the question whether the soldier's profession was compatible with the Christian calling. The many ramifications of the problem point to their practical origin in actual experience. It was due to moral difficulties in this connection being widely felt, in addition to the fact that a soldier might at any moment be obliged by his military oath to take part in ceremonies regarded as idolatrous, that " Christianity never became a 1 E.g., Sim. i., ii., iv., viii. 8. J Apol., ii. 2jf. 3 Cf. Vita (Marc. Aur.), 13. Dio. Cass., 71, 8, 9; Tert., Apol., v. ; Eus., H. E., v. 5. 36 THE SPIRIT OF POWER religion of the camp,"1 thus furnishing a most remarkable contrast to some of its rivals. The apostles of Mithraism were the armies of Rome. To whatever country the legions penetrated, there they carried the knowledge of their favourite religion. Christianity in its diffusion enjoyed no such adventitious advantage.2 As to the hold of Christianity upon the "lower" classes, and its spread among them, there is barely need to illustrate a fact so copiously attested or so universally acknowledged. "Christians must admit," writes scornful Celsus, " that they can only per suade people without sense, position, or intelligence — only slaves and women and children— to accept the faith." Again, he represents Christians as say ing: " Let none draw near who is educated, shrewd, or wise. These things are evil in our eyes. But let the ignorant, the idiots, the fools, come to us with confidence."3 The truth in this grotesque carica ture makes it the more malicious. It was to the lower classes, to the desolate and oppressed, the unlearned and unwise, that the good news of the Gospel was first offered, and by them it was wel comed home. The progress of Christianity is a leavening of society from below upwards. Thus it 1 Harnack, Mission and Expansion, ii. 52. 2 Contrast Bigg, Origin of Christianity, 151. " By the army, the religion of Isis and Mithra had been carried all along the frontier, and the same thing must have happened with the religion of Christ." 3 Origen, Contr. Cels., III. xliv. ; cf. ibid., lix. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 37 secured that all the world should hear, for it is more than doubtful whether a movement originating in aristocratic circles could ever be accepted with en thusiasm by people of the earth. And as one of these lived the Christ. For these, and those, He died. Such evidence, from witnesses so various and numerous, exhibits beyond contention the attractive power of the new religion. Pagan prejudice and Christian optimism bear unanimous testimony. Wherein lay the secret of this power ? That is a question to which we shall recur later. For the present, description, as accurate as may be, is wiser than explanation, however probable ; for it is only by knowing things in their beginning and becoming, that we can rightly understand them in their actual being ; and it is only when we have ascertained the what, that we can proceed to attempt an answer to the eternal why. In conclusion, it may be well to point out two circumstances which differentiated Christianity from its rival religions. 1. In the first place, Christianity was essentially absolute and exclusive. It could not come to terms with polytheism in any form ; and therefore could never consent to be one of many, not even the first of many brethren. The question of St. Paul appeared (among believers) to admit of no answer. " What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with darkness ? 38 THE SPIRIT OF POWER and what accord hath Christ with Belial ?" 1 There could, therefore, be no talk, let alone any treaty, of mutual respect or toleration, by which each party should be free to go its own way ; no possibility of conciliation or combination, by which a syncretistic or eclectic form of faith or worship might be evolved. Christianity had therefore to fight its battles alone and unaided against a multitude closely knit to gether and mutually sympathetic in the presence of a common foe. 2. Secondly, Christianity had neither the prestige nor the toleration accorded to a national religion. This non-national character seemed to the ancient mind a fatal defect. The difficulties of the situation are well expressed by Origen : "We are a people that is no people : for only a few of us in a single city are believers : and a few others in some other city. Never yet has a whole people become believers from the beginning. For not as the people of the Jews, or the people of the Egyptians, but being dispersed abroad, Christians are gathered together from separate peoples."2 Thus Christianity forfeited the toleration of the State and the respect of the popu lace, for it seemed to involve a revolutionary theory of religion unintelligible to the ancient world. 1 2 Cor. vi. 14-16. 2 In Ps. xxxvi. " Nos sumus ' non gens ' qui pauci ex ista civitate credimus, et alii ex alia, et nunquam gens integra ab initio credulitatis videtur assumpta. Non enim sicut Judaeorum gens erat vel ^Egyptiorum gens, sed sparsi ex singulis gentibus congregantur." THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 3g It cannot, therefore, be said that any unduly favourable combination of external circumstances or of internal characteristics would account for the rapid and wide propagation of the Christian faith. For, in spite of the above-mentioned drawbacks and disadvantages, it is plain, to adopt and slightly to adapt Harnack's quaint phraseology, that in the second century " exceptionally strong currents were already flowing through the whole Empire, which told in favour of a religion like Christianity." Stated otherwise, the attractive power of the Christian religion is not, and cannot be, denied ; and the cause of it cannot be found without, but must be sought within. We shall not fail thus to seek it at a later stage. In the meanwhile it is enough to notice that the new religion is on all hands admitted to be a power, and that this power is manifest to all men in its attractive force. Additional Note on the Neronian Persecution as bearing on the Number of Roman Christians. No little discussion has taken place concerning the significance of this persecution. Ramsay, in par ticular, maintains that Nero treated the Christians as criminals and punished them for their crimes (flagitia cohcerentia nomini, Plin., Ep. ad Tr. xcvi.), while Trajan materially altered this procedure by 40 THE SPIRIT OF POWER treating them as outlaws, and punishing them for the name, without reference to any real or imaginary crime. He concludes an elaborate investigation by laying down that, though in later days acknowledg ment of the Name alone sufficed for condemnation, in Nero's time proof of some definite crime com mitted by Christians was always required.1 Such evidence as we possess, however, seems to point to the opposite conclusion. i. Tacitus, Ann. xv. 44: "Ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos, et quaesitissimis poenis affecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat. Auctor nominis ejus, Christus, Tiberio imperitante, per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat ; repressaque in praesens exitiabilis superstitio rursum erumpebat non modo per Judeam, originem ejus mali, sed per urbem etiam quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. Igitur primum correpti qui fatehantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens, haud perinde in crimine incendii, quam odio humani generis, convicti sunt." MSS. for convicti read coniuncti — " a word which may justly be thought to be more in Tacitus's manner than the prosaic convicti."2 Now, quite apart from the improbability of Nero selecting as his victims those whom it would have been necessary to convict of incendiarism before punishment, we may ask what conceivable construc- 1 Ramsay, Church in Roman Empire, p. 245. 2 Chase, Hastings' B. D., III., Art. Ep. Pet, p. 784. THE POWER OF ATTRACTION 41 tion could be put upon qui fatehantur other than the confession of the Christian name ? What else did they, what else could they, confess ? The shocking scandals with which they were popularly charged ? The outrageous and shameful immoralities with which (oh, magnificent revenge of history !) the proud patrician credited those contemptible Chris tians, all unaware that these unhappy wretches held among them the secret power that should cleanse and conquer a corrupted world ? Or did they plead guilty to incendiarism ? Incredible ! There was but one thing they could confess — " Se Christianos esse." This confession was supposed to carry with it the admission of all the charges levelled against this exitiahilis superstitio. Moreover, Tacitus ex pressly states that it was not so much for any definite crime that they were convicted, as on the general charge of making themselves aggressively objectionable — a thing which any convinced Chris tian would find it extremely hard to avoid doing.1 2. Suetonius, Nero, 16 : " Afnicti suppliciis Chris- tiani, genus hominum superstitionis novae ac male- ficse." It is as a new superstition, calling for new treat ment, that Suetonius condescends to mention the faith of the Crucified. It demanded notice as 1 Cf. the phrase in which Tacitus neatly summarizes the dislike of the ancient world for Jewish exclusiveness and ceremonial peculiarities, "adversus omnes hostile odium." — Hist, v. 5. 42 THE SPIRIT OF POWER inaugurating a new method of procedure. Had the Christians been punished for various crimes, there would have been nothing to differentiate them from similar cases, and nothing worth recording. The obvious inference is that it was for their Christianity that the Christians suffered. 3. Clem., Rom. vi. : tovtoi? toi? dvSpaatv (SS. Peter and Paul) avorjOpoiudt] ttoXv -nXridos iicXe/crav otTtve? TroWals alictaK teal fiacrdvots inroSe'lyfjLa KaXXi-