Of which Christians, thus brought into his narrative, the
following is so much of the historian's account as belongs to our
present purpose: "They had their denomination from Christus, who, in the
reign of Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal by the procurator
Pontius Pilate. This pernicious superstition, though checked for a
while, broke out again, and spread not only over Judea, but reached the
city also. At first they only were apprehended who confessed themselves
of that sect; afterwards vast multitude were discovered by them." This
testimony to the early propagation of Christianity is extremely
material. It is from an historian of great reputation, living near the
time; from a stranger and an enemy to the religion; and it joins
immediately with the period through which the Scripture accounts extend.
It establishes these points: that the religion began at Jerusalem; that
it spread throughout Judea; that it had reached Rome, and not only so,
but that it had there obtained a great number of converts. This was
about six years after the time that Saint Paul wrote his Epistle to the
Romans, and something more than two years after he arrived there
himself.
Pages:
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480