No evidence remains by which it can be proved that the Christians were
more numerous in Pontus and Bithynia than in other parts of the Roman
empire; nor has any reason been offered to show why they should be so.
Christianity did not begin in these countries, nor near them. I do not
know, therefore, that we ought to confine the description in Pliny's
letter to the state of Christianity in these provinces, even if no other
account of the same subject had come down to us; but, certainly, this
letter may fairly be applied in aid and confirmation of the
representations given of the general state of Christianity in the world,
by Christian writers of that and the next succeeding age.
Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty years after Pliny, and one hundred
and six after the ascension, has these remarkable words: "There is not a
nation, either of Greek or barbarian, or of any other name, even of
those who wander in tribes, and live in tents, amongst whom prayers and
thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the universe
by the name of the crucified Jesus." (Dial cum Tryph.
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