pride, passions, and propensities of fallen man-Gospel made the moral reformation of its votaries a test of its truth-and that in an age of universal corruption— Human instrumentality employed in spread of Gospel inadequate to exigency-Its promulgators a few Jew- ish peasants—the most despised members of a despised Character of Gibbon as an historian-Would have discov- ered any defect in foundations of Christianity-Bound to give some cause of prodigious spread of Gospel- Denying divine agency, he assigned five causes merely human-His five causes stated-First cause-Zeal of primitive christians-Was met by counter zeal of Jews and heathen-Second cause-Doctrine of future life- Hell revealed by Gospel appalling and repulsive-Even its heaven not suited to tastes of depraved heart-Third cause- —Miraculous powers ascribed to primitive church -Arrogation of such powers, without their possession, a fraud easily detected-Fourth cause-Pure morals of early christians-Their pure morals proof of efficacy and truth of Gospel-Gibbon's attempt to explain their pure morals-Fifth cause--Union and discipline of christian republic-No federative union of churches until close of second century-And before then Gospel had achieved signal triumphs-No event in history THE GOSPEL ITS OWN ADVOCATE. CHAPTER I. JESUS CHRIST WAS A REAL PERSONAGE-AND THE GOSPEL WAS PUBLISHED AT THE TIME IT PURPORTS TO HAVE BEEN. Heathen testimonies-Passage from Tacitus-Its genuineness admitted by the infidel Gibbon-Character of Tacitus as an historian-Suetonius-Pliny-His letter to Trajan-Trajan's replyTheir genuineness admitted by Gibbon-Pontius Pilate--Usage of republican and imperial Rome for procurators of provinces to transmit to central government accounts of extraordinary events within their jurisdiction-Early Christian fathers constantly stated that Pilate had communicated to Tiberius an account of Christ's trial, death, and alleged resurrection, with the accompanying prodigies-No heathen writer ever denied existence of document-Yet pagan Rome suppressed it-Inference inevitable that she suppressed the document because it would have proved the prodigies accompanying the crucifixion and the consequent divinity of Jesus Christ. HAD the New Testament been found amidst the ruins of Pompeii, or on some desert island unmarked by human footsteps, the finder, though ignorant of its previous history, must have inferred its inspiration from the originality, holiness and grandeur of its contents. Yet would he have been aided in his exploration of the Sacred Pages by proof, derived from some independent and sure source, that Jesus Christ was not a fictitious personage, and that the newly discovered volume, detailing his birth, life, death, resurrection and doctrines, had been composed by his faithful contemporaries. We have, therefore, deemed it a fitting introduction to our remarks upon the internal evidences of Christianity, to show, from the direct confessions or speaking silence of the ancient pagan and Jewish enemies of our faith, that its reputed founder actually lived and taught; that he suffered martyrdom under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius Cæsar; and that the various books forming the Gospel were written and promulgated by his primitive disciples. To this preliminary object we shall devote the present chapter and that immediately ensuing. The great fire at Rome occurred in the tenth year of Nero's reign, about thirty years after the crucifixion; and the tyrant was more than suspected of being himself the incendiary. Forty years after the fire, Tacitus, long domiciled in the imperial capital, wrote, under the form of annals, his history of the four immediate successors of Augustus. Speaking of the conflagration, and of the efforts of Nero to divert suspicion from himself by substituting in his place some feigned criminals, Tacitus says: "With this view he inflicted the most exquisite torments on those men, who, under the vulgar appellation of christians, were already branded with deserved infamy. They derived their name and origin from Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, had suffered death by the sentence of the procurator, Pontius Pilate. For a while this dire superstition was checked, but it again burst forth, and not only spread itself over Judea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. The confessions of those who were seized discovered a vast multitude of their accomplices; and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting fire to the city, as for their hatred of human kind. They died in torments, and their torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses; others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs; others again, smeared over with combustible materials, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night. The gardens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied with a horse race, and honored with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of the christians deserved, indeed, the most exemplary punishment; but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration from the opinion that those unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant." We have, with a single verbal correction, adopted Gibbon's translation of this memorable passage. The persecution under Nero and the genuineness of the passage from Tacitus are admitted by the infidel historian of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," who says: "The most skeptical criticism is obliged to respect the truth of this extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated passage of Tacitus. The former is confirmed by the diligent and accurate Suetonius, who mentions the punishment which Nero inflicted on the christians, a sect of men who had embraced a new and criminal superstition. The latter may be proved by the consent of the most ancient manuscripts; by the inimitable character of the style of Tacitus; by his reputation, which guarded his text from the interpolations of pious fraud; and by the purport of his narration, which accused the first christians of the most atrocious crimes, without insinuating that they possessed any miraculous or even magical powers above the rest of mankind." 99% To appreciate the value of this authenticating * Gibbon's Rome, Vol. II. p. 399. |