provinces, preached the Gospel to their countrymen, and hence nearly every primitive church traces its faith back to the miracle of the first Christian Pentecost.

And thus was the Church of Christ established, confirmed, and sanctioned-that Church which is to endure for all ages. "Pentecost," says St. Chrysostom, "is the great day of the new and perfect law of grace in the Holy Ghost;" and, according to other Fathers of the Church, "it is the birthday of the Church of Christ." And thus was fulfilled the promise given to the Apostles that the Spirit of Truth would come and teach them all truth. They now appreciated the mission of Christ as one not of earth, but spiritual and exalted, and fearlessly proclaimed that He had come to set the world free from the bondage of error and sin and reconcile it with God. Weakness was replaced by strength, timidity by courage, and they went forth, regardless of every obstacle, to accomplish among the nations of the earth the work that had been committed to them. The Holy Ghost spoke by their mouths, touched the hearts of their hearers, rent the veil that shut out the truth from their minds, and made them of the community of saints.

As faith begets love, so the new Christians became brethren in the highest sense of the word. They had a common fund, and seven deacons-Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas-were appointed to distribute the charities impartially among the Hellenistic and Hebraizing Jews. The life of the Christians was that of children set free from bondage and born again in the Holy Ghost. They gave rise to a new order of things and constituted a distinct organization. The Kingdom of God was established and began to take definite shape, harmonizing the relations between the Church teaching and the Church taught; while the college of Apostles, conscious of the greatness of its heavenly mission, and strengthened by the fullness of power it conferred, were in perfect accord with the faithful, who believed in simplicity, acknowledged their subjection to the law of God, and humbly begged His grace.

Jerusalem, which soon contained five thousand believers,

2

who had been converted1 by the preaching and miracles of the Apostles, greater than those wrought by Christ Himself,3 became the center of the new community. They all persevered in the doctrines of the Apostles, in the communion of the breaking of bread, and in prayer.*

Although they frequented private houses for prayer, they did not cease either to hold open communion with the Jews or to attend at the temple until after the fatal day when the predictions of our Lord were fulfilled, Jerusalem destroyed, and the temple demolished. Then the Church freed herself forever from the shackles of Jewish rites, and became a distinct, definite, and visible society.

§ 44. The Jews Persecute the Christians.

The events which accompanied the death of Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost, had from the very first greatly perplexed and annoyed the Sanhedrin, and both Pharisees and Sadducees. They at first made a pretense of ignoring the growth of the Church of Christ; or, it may be, owing to the consideration and influence of some of the Christian converts,5 thought it the wiser course to tolerate the new society, as they had the followers of John. When, however, Peter wrought miracles, and John preached in the temple, and both announced the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, they were summoned before the high council, and asked by what right they did these things. "We preach," they said, with becoming firmness, "in the name of Jesus, whom you have crucified." And when the council had forbidden them to teach in His name, they answered with Christian frankness and simplicity, "We must obey God rather than men; we can

1 Acts ii. 47, iv. 4.

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1

not but speak of the things we have seen and heard." They were severely rebuked for this language, but set at liberty from fear of a riot among the people.

3

No dangers could check the zeal of the Apostles,2 and, after having been cast into prison and liberated by an angel, they again appeared teaching in the temple. From this time forward, the council, fearful of interfering with them, adopted the temporizing policy recommended by Gamaliel. "Let them take their course," said he, "if this work be of men, it will come to naught; if of God, you can not destroy it." 4 The fanatical Pharisees and Sadducees were for the time satisfied with this judgment, and the apostles, having been scourged, were dismissed with warnings as to their future conduct.

The doctrines of Christianity gained disciples everywhere, and the greater their number the more bitter and determined became the opposition of the Jews. This was increased when many of the most respected doctors of the synagogue embraced the new religion, and became its most zealous defenders. One of the consequences of this conflict between truth and error was the martyrdom of St. Stephen, who was stoned to death (A. D. 36), and thus became the protomartyr of the Church.

The discourse which he delivered before his death breathes a heavenly inspiration and the burning zeal of an apostle, and is replete with facts which the Jews could not controvert.

He told them that the old covenant had passed away and was succeeded by the new one introduced by Christ; that the Most High dwells not in temples made by the hands of men; and that the Jews were a stiff-necked race, who then, as of old, resisted the Holy Ghost.5

The Christians had, up to this time, been looked upon by the Pagans as a sect of the Jews; but the latter, urged on by

1 Acts iv. 19, 20, v. 29.

2 Acts iv. 31.

3 Acts v. 18-21.

*St. Chrysostom has a beautiful passage relating to this in his hom. 14, in Acta Apost.

5 Acts vii.

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a spirit of bitter hatred, were not slow to point out the difference to the Romans, who, seeing many persons of rank and distinction going over to the new religion, treated it as a religio illicita, and strictly enforced the laws contra peregrina sacra.1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees, putting aside their own quarrels, united in one common effort against the infant Church. The only effect of the persecution which followed was to spread Christianity throughout Judea and Samaria, countries which the preaching and miracles of Christ had already prepared for its reception, and among the Jews of Syria, Phenicia, and the isle of Cyprus. The Apostles, notwithstanding the persecution, remained at Jerusalem. Peter and John went to Samaria to impose hands on those whom the deacon Philip had converted and baptized,5 and found there many determined enemies among the leaders of the various sects, each of whom claimed to be the founder of a new religion. Such were Dositheus, Simon the Magician, and Menander. We shall have occasion to speak of their doctrines in paragraph fifty-nine.

4

§ 45. Saul the Persecutor-Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles.

+Hug, Introduction to the New Test., pt. II. Tholuck, Circumstances of St. Paul's life, his character and language (Miscellanea, pt. II., p. 272 sq.) +On the vocation, sufferings, and persecution of Paul the Apostle. (Bonn Periodical of the year 1843.) Bossuet in Chateaubriand's Genius of Christianity, ed. by †Prof. Koenig, Freib. 1857, Vol. I., p. 580–583.

There was a young Pharisee, who, during the first persecution, exhibited great energy in pursuing the Christians, and became notoriously conspicuous for his fanatical zeal at the death of Stephen. This was Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, a native and a Roman citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia.

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Greek letters and science were then ardently cultivated at Tarsus, and Saul, after he had completed his studies in that

city,' went up to Jerusalem, where he became a Pharisee, and, with Gamaliel for his master, eagerly applied himself to the study of Jewish theology.

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2

He was by trade a tent-maker, but this in no way either interfered with his love of study or checked his enthusiasm in the pursuit of knowledge. Impelled by the natural ardor of his character and the fanatical spirit of his sect, he took a leading part in the persecutions against the Christians. He was going up3 to Damascus on a mission of this kind, when our Lord, whom he had known in the flesh, appeared to him. The persecutor of the Church was converted, and became the most efficient and zealous propagator of her doctrines and the Apostle of nations. This was a surprise to many, but it soon became evident that Paul was, by his mental culture and great talents, by his energy of character and strength of will, but particularly by his great love of Christ and intimate union with Him, better fitted than any of the other Apostles for his high and holy mission.

5

"The simplicity of the Apostle," says Bossuet, "became terrible when united with the power of God. Idols went down before it, and the Cross of Christ was set up in their stead. Thousands, subdued by its hidden power, gave their lives to further God's glory. So profound were the mysteries which it brought to light, that the greatest minds felt no shame in frequenting the schools where the doctrine of Christ was taught, and drinking in there saving lessons at the feet of the Apostle Paul."

He contributed more than any other of the Apostles to carry the knowledge of the faith of Christ far and wide, and to make known the depth and richness of the teachings of the Gospel by the wonderful clearness and precision with

1Dionysius Longinus compares Paul to the Greek orators, Demosthenes, Lysias, Isocrates, and others. Paul, when occasion offered, cited the Greek poets, e. g. Tit. I., 12; Acts x. 28; 1 Cor. xv. 33.

5 Acts ix. 1-20, xxii. 4–16, xxvi. 12–20; 1 Cor. xv. 8, 9; 2 Cor. xii. 2-4. Gal. ii. 20; Phil. iv. 13.