They

much a matter of shame and disgrace as a matter of exultation and triumph. They confess, that Christ crucified was to the unconverted Jews a stumbling-block, and might well appear to the inquisitive Greeks no better than so much rank foolishness: yet they declare, that he is the power of God and the wisdom of God. They maintain, that, although he died upon the cross, he rose bodily from the grave on the third day, and afterwards ascended triumphant to heaven. acknowledge him to have been a man, despised and rejected of men, apparent in the form of a servant, poor and humble and mocked and slighted and trampled upon: but, at the same time, they assert, that he was born from a virgin without the coöperation of a mortal father; that he was the Word of God, with God in the beginning, and himself God; that by him (to wit by this crucified Jew) all things were made, and without him was not any thing made that was made; that he was the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person; that by him God made the worlds, and appointed him heir of all things; that, when he had himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high; that, for the suffering of death, he was crowned with glory and honour; that in him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins; that he (namely, the crucified Jew) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; that by him were all

things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; that all things were created by him and for him ; that he is before all things, and by him all things consist; that he (still the crucified Jew) hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; and that he (the Jew, who suffered death upon the cross) is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, that liveth and was dead, the first and the last, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty.

This is the aspect, under which the Gospel must have appeared, when it was first preached to the Gentiles, to the lordly Romans and to the philosophic Greeks. What then must they have thought of it and where was the human probability that they would embrace it? Can we much wonder, that, when such an apparently strange medley was presented to them and by such hands too as those of the apostles, they should turn from it and them with ineffable contempt ? Can we wonder, that by the Greeks the whole scheme should be viewed as rank foolishness? Can we wonder, that the Athenians should mock, or that a sober Roman governor should deem an apostle stark mad? Can we wonder, that a grave historian should describe the system, as a destructive superstition; which, springing up in the despised land of Judea, spread at length to Rome, whither all atrocious and shameful things, sooner

or later, from every quarter of the globe flow together and are celebrated *? Truly we can wonder at none of these things: the real wonder is, how the contemned Gospel (though Mr. Gibbon has contrived to persuade himself that it is no wonder at all) should have been accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every rank, and of every province in the Roman Empire. The fact itself is indisputable: the difficulty is, on any ordinary principles, to account for it.

Have we then sufficient grounds for believing, that Mr. Gibbon's five reasons are adequate to solve the problem of the astonishingly rapid propagation of Christianity?

Of these reasons, we have seen, that the two first, namely the inflexible pertinacity of the early Christians, and the circumstance of their teaching the doctrine of a future retributory state, do not in the slightest degree account for their remarkable success; and that the third, namely the ascription of miraculous powers to the Church, would inevitably, unless those powers were really possessed, be rather an impediment, than a furtherance, to the project of converting mankind to the Gospel. The whole stress therefore lies upon the two remaining reasons, namely the holy lives of the primitive Christians and the excellent discipline of the Christian Church. Hence we have only to inquire, whether these two reasons are sufficient to ac

*Tacit. Annal. lib. xv. § 44.

count for the extraordinary phenomenon before

us.

Mr. Gibbon thinks it no wonder, that, in an incredibly short space of time, Christianity, introduced and recommended and circumstanced in the mode which I have recently set forth, should have been cordially received as a divine revelation from one end of the world to the other; merely because the primitive Christians were men of pure and austere morals, and because the primitive Church was in an excellent state of discipline and union

Others may not unreasonably doubt, whether such a cause be alone adequate to produce such an effect; whether morality and discipline be sufficient to have brought about the general reception of Christianity, circumstanced as Christianity was at its first promulgation. They may suspect, that something more was necessary: they may hesitate, before they admit Mr. Gibbon's solution of the difficulty.

Each party, the admirers and the opponents of Mr. Gibbon, will be apt to charge one another with credulity: the former, because it is believed, that something more cogent than the five, or rather than the two, reasons is apparently requisite; the latter, because it is believed, that the whole matter is satisfactorily accounted for by the morality of the early Christians and the good discipline of their Church.

Which party be the most credulous in its esti

mate of cause and effect, must be left to the decision of the sober and candid and unbiassed inquirer.

III. Those persons, who deem Mr. Gibbon's five reasons insufficient, are wont, for the true solution of the difficulty, to resort to the scriptural history itself. There they find it constantly asserted, that the success of the early preachers of the Gospel was owing to two causes: the powerful operation of God's Spirit upon the hearts of those who were addressed; and the evidence afforded to their understandings by the frequent performance of miracles.

- 1. The first of these two causes was necessary, on account of the natural reluctance of man to embrace a life of danger and self-denial in the place of a life of safety and indulgence. Though the intellect may be convinced, the cordial assent of the will and the affections does by no means follow as a necessary consequence. We all know, that the head and the heart may often be completely at variance. To overcome therefore the unwillingness of some, the timidity of others, and the lingering hesitation of all, it was needful, that the mighty power of God should accompany the words of the apostles. Without this, few or none would have joined them, when they found what a sacrifice was required at their hands. Inveterate prejudices were to be overcome; long-formed evil habits were to be subdued; fears were to be conquered; courage was to be instilled; an ardent love to an unseen Redeemer was to be im