Chap. 1.

Ignatius.

57

"of the Lord, let them do so without boasting. If they "boast, they are lost; and if the man set himself up "above the bishop, he is lost. It behoves the married "to enter into that connexion with the consent of the "bishop, that their marriage may be after the will of “God, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh."

From Troas, by a circuitous route, partly by land and partly by sea, Ignatius was at length brought by the soldiers to Ostia, an Italian port a few miles from the capital, where he was met by some Roman Christians, who expressed their wish to interfere for his deliver ance; but the old disciple was bent on martyrdom. He was accordingly brought to Rome and given up to the prefect of the city. His execution soon followed; being attended by the brethren, he was allowed to pray with them. He was then led into the amphitheatre and the beasts let out upon him, and here he was speedily indulged with the accomplishment of his desire, as expressed in one of his epistles. The bodies of the beasts became his grave, for nothing remained except a few bones, which the deacons gathered up, and afterwards buried at Antioch.

The character of Trajan is by his historians celebrated as humane and benevolent; but we have seen that pagan virtue, and philosophical urbanity, can conspire to put Christians to death. The reign of this prince continued about twenty years, during which period the ediets against the faithful continued in full force, and sanctioned the execution of multitudes. But, notwithstanding all this persecution, the church inecreased on every hand; Asia and Europe filled with disciples, and great grace was upon them all. From the above-noticed epistles, it is evident that the pastors and brethren still abode by the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, a spirit

58

Adrian.

Cent. 2.

of harmony and brotherly union prevailed throughout the sacred body, and Christ was magnified as their Divine Lawgiver and King.

CHAPTER II.

STATE OF CHRISTIANITY DURING THE REIGNS OF ADRIAN, ANTONINUS PIUS, AND MARCUS AURELIUS.

Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Lyons and Vienne, Irenæus.

The reign of ADRIAN commenced without any new ediets against the Christians, but he either forgot, or was disinclined, to abrogate those which were enforced under the former emperor: hence persecution continued to annoy the church. The malicious pagan priesthood, with the help of their votaries, contrived, by evading the law against informers, to bring the flock of Christ to the slaughter. They were demanded by the furious infatuated populace for the public games, and the magistrates were too much inclined to indulge these cruel, ferocious requisitions. By these means multitudes perished, and the theatres of amusement streamed with Christian blood. Under these circumstances, Aristides, a citizen and philosopher of Athens, and Quadratus, bishop of that city, presented vindications of Christianity to the emperor, stating the injustice of such proceedings against their brethren. Serenius Granianus, the proconsul of Asia, joined his influence in the same eause. These remonstrances taken together, had a happy effect upon the mind of the prince, and he gave orders that in future the Christians should not be sacri

Chap. 2.

Antoninus Pius.

59

feed to the fury of the people, unless publicly charged and legally condemned by the Roman law. But alas, the great accuser of the brethren found means to keep alive the embers of a persecuting spirit, so that notwithstanding some little relief was afforded by the auspices of the emperor, yet the Christians found themselves far from being out of danger.

A new and unexpected source of suffering opened to Christians remaining in Judea. The Jews, ever willing to be deceived, embraced the pretensions of one Barchochebas (who called himself the star foretold by Balaam), and repaired to his standard; and because the disciples of Christ refused to enlist in this rebellion, many of them were put to the sword. This event, disastrous to those Christians thus circumstanced, may be considered rather as a political insurrection, than a persecution.

ANTONINUS Pius, a. d. 138, succeeded on the death of Adrian. This emperor, from all we can gather, seems not to be chargeable with martyr's blood. We have seen above, that the capital punishment of Christians was prohibited but upon conviction of real crime; so that the heathens invented another method of attack, by charging the vices of some few heretics upon the whole Christian body. They were accused of atheism, incest, infanticide, with other abominations. These calannies were refuted by Justin Martyr in his famous apology delivered to the emperor in the third year of his reign. "Antoninus was a man of sense and humaaity, and desirous of doing justice to all mankind." He commanded that the behaviour of magistrates towards the Christians should be regulated by the edict of Adrian. About this time some earthquakes proved disastrous to several Asiatic cities, which calamities were

60

Famous Edict.

Cent. 2.

ascribed to the fury of the gods, awakened by the spread of Christianity, and the impunity with which it escaped. Many of the Christians were sacrificed to the pretended anger of the offended deities. The wise and equitable An-** toninus was not to be imposed on by these measures, and accordingly published his own will and pleasure on the subject. His Edict deserves to be inserted here as a tribute to his memory.

"The Emperor to the common council of Asia.

I am quite of opinion that the gods will take care to discover such persons; for it much more concerns them to punish those who refuse to worship them than you, if they be able; but you harass and vex them, and accuse them of atheism and other crimes, which you can by no means prove. To them it appears an advantage to die for their religion, and they gain their point, while they throw away their lives, rather than comply with your injunctions. As to the earthquakes which have happened in past times or lately, is it not proper to remind you of your own despondency when they happened, to desire you to compare your spirit with their's, and to observe how serenely they confide in God? In such seasons you seem to be ignorant of the gods, and neglect their worship; and you live in the practical ignorance of the supreme God himself, and you harass and persecute to death those who do worship him. Concerning these men, some others of the provincial governors wrote to our divine father (Adrian), to whom he returned answer, that they should not be molested, unless they appeared to attempt something against the Roman government. Many also have signified to me concerning these men, to whom I have returned an answer, agreeable to the maxims of my father. But if any will still accuse any of them as such (as Christians), let the accused be

Chap. 2.

Marcus Aurelius.

61

acquitted, though he appear to be a Christian, and let the accuser be punished.”

This edict was set up at Ephesus, in the common assembly of Asia, and we are informed that it was put in execution. The emperor also wrote to the same purport to the other parts of his dominions. Then had the churches rest, and walking in the fear of God were edified and increased. After the lapse of twenty years, the death of this just and benign monarch made way for the accession of MARCUS AURELIUS a prince of a very different character, and severely the church found it so. He professed in the general measures of government to be an imitator of his predecessor, and as a sovereign he is well spoken of; but towards the Christians he carried it with great fury. Whether he formally revoked the ediets of Pius is uncertain, but, despising the apologies of Justin and others, he listened to the absurd calumnies of pagan devotees, and encouraged the faithless rabble to perjure themselves in the accusation of innocent Christians. The Martyrdom of Justin, of Polyearp, and of the confessors of Lyons and Vienne, stand as an indelible stain upon his character. The date of his reign is 161 to 180.

JUSTIN MARTYR,

Though by much the junior of Polycarp, yet his death stands first on the bloody catalogue of Aurelius. This great man was born at Neapolis* in Samaria, of gentile parents, and brought up to the study of philosophy. In these exercises he pursued a course of investigation which rather bewildered, than enlightened his mind. Dissatisfied with these studies, he gave himself to retire

* In scripture called Sychem.

F