66 I shall therefore mention but one passage or two. Clemens of Alexandria, who had a thorough knowledge of what the philosophers taught, than whom no one was better read in the Greek learning, says, "Should any magistrate forbid the Greek philosophy, it would immediately vanish. But our doc“trine, even from the first preaching it, both kings "and tyrants, and tetrarchs and governors, together "with all their guards, and infinite numbers of men "forbad, warring against us, and endeavouring what "in them lies to cut us off; but it flourishes even "the more. For it does not die away as a human "doctrine, but remains as what cannot be hin"dered "." Celsus, having compared the danger which Christians underwent to that which befell 66 Socrates, Origen answers, "that the Athenians im"mediately repented of what they had done to So"crates. And as to Pythagoras, there was no grudge "retained against him after his death, and the Pythagoreans had their schools for a long time in Magna Græcia. But as for the Christians, the "Roman senate, the emperors, the army, the people, and the relations of those who believe, made "war against the Christian doctrine, and would "have suppressed it, vanquished by the onset of so great a number, had it not by a divine power kept up its head, and gained ground, so as to overcome "the whole world, which rose up against it c." 66 66 66 b Strom. 1. 6. p. 827. l. 16. с L. 1. p. 5, fin. et p. 6. CHAP. XIII. A further confirmation of principal facts. IT is related in the History of the Acts, that our Saviour went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil; that he was approved of God by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of the Jewish nation b that after his ascension to heaven, he conferred the Holy Ghost on his disciples, and enabled them to do the greatest works ; that according to the commission he had given them, they went forth to preach the gospel, and usually wrought signs and wonders wherever they came, and communicated the miraculous gifts of the Spirit to their converts. These things, I have already shewn, are fully confirmed by the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. John, and by the Epistles of the apostles Paul, Peter, and James. It remains, that I shew how far they are confirmed by other writers. That such gifts as these were certainly exercised in the first ages of Christianity, we have as many witnesses as there were converts to the Christian religion. For can it be imagined that persons would forsake the religious customs and practices they had been educated in, and embrace the Christian tenets, and this with the loss of all that was dear to them, and with the utmost hazard of their lives, if they had not seen the wonders wrought which we are speaking of? We have also the ex a Ch. x. 38. b Ch. ii. 22. © Ch. ii. 33. 66 press testimony of most, if not all the Christians, who have left any thing in writing behind them. St. Barnabas, who was the companion of the apostle Paul, in that short Epistle of his, which yet remains, speaking of Christ, says, "And finally teaching the people of Israel, and doing many signs "and wonders among them, he preached to them, "and shewed the exceeding great love which he "bare towards them 4." Quadratus, in an Apology which he made for the Christians, and presented to the emperor Adrian, affirms, "that our Saviour's "works were real and durable; that the persons "who were healed and raised to life by him con"tinued living and well, not only during his life, "but after his decease, for a long space of time, so "that some of them have reached even to our days" i. e. to the first part of the life of Quadratus, if not also of the emperor Adrian. Justin Martyr, in the Apology he offered for the Christians to the emperor Antoninus, and the Roman senate, says, "And that our Christ should heal all manner of 66 66 66 diseases, and raise the dead, was prophesied. Hear ye the words: At his coming the lame shall leap "as the stag, and the tongue of the dumb shall be 66 eloquent; the blind shall receive their sight, and "the lepers shall be cleansed, and the dead shall "be raised, and shall walk. And that he did these things, you may learn from the memoirs or regis"ters of what happened under Pontius Pilate f." 66 Tertullian, in his Apology, directed to the Roman magistrates, says of Christ, "that he by a d §. 5. f "word's speaking cast out devils, gave sight to the "blind, cleansed the lepers, healed the paralytic, re"stored the dead to life by a word; made the ele"ments themselves obedient, calming the storms, " and walking upon the seas." He afterwards adds, "that all these things did Pilate make known to "Tiberius Cæsar 8." Lucian the martyr also boldly appeals to the Roman Annals in the speech which he made to the emperor Maximinus at Nicomedia concerning the miraculous appearances at our Lord's crucifixion h. Clemens of Alexandria makes frequent mention of the miracles performed by our Saviour and his disciples. In one place he says, "A proof "that the Son of God was our Saviour, are the pro 66 phecies which went before, proclaiming him; also "the testimonies concerning him which accompanied "his birth. Moreover, after his ascension, his mira"culous powers both preached and openly shewn i :" in another place, having enumerated from the apostle Paul the gifts of the Holy Spirit, asserts of the apostles, "that they were filled with all these gifts k." 66 Origen, in his book against Celsus, says, "that persons were at the beginning made Christians by "miracles, being induced more by the wonders they "saw wrought to leave the religious customs and "tenets they had been educated in, and make choice ε C. 21. p. 20, B. et fin. Vid. et c. 5. p. 6, C. h Vid. Huet. Dem. Evang. p. 30, C. This speech is preserved in Ruffinus. i Strom. 1. 6. §. 15. p. 801. l. 17. 32. et k Strom. 1. 4. §. 21. p.625. 1. 13. Vid. et Pæd. l. 1. c. 2. p. 101, pr. et c. 10. p. 151. 1. 31. et Strom. 1. 2. §. 11. p. 454. l. 1. 4. §. 5. p. 575. 1. 23. et l. 6. §. 6. p. 762. 1. 31. et p. 764. 1. 19. et p. 827, pr. et Prophet. Eclog. p. 993. §. 15, 16. 66 "of others quite foreign from their own, than by "teaching and exhortation: for if it behove us to "use the appearance of reason concerning the first gathering of the Christian church, we shall say, "that it is not credible, either that the apostles of "Jesus, being private and illiterate persons, should "have the boldness to preach to men the Christian religion any other way than by the miraculous "works bestowed upon them, and the gift of ut"terance, that they might open and explain its doc"trines and institutions in an easy and intelligible "manner; or indeed that those who heard them should be changed from their own country man"ners and customs, which had been practised among "them for many ages, to others so foreign and dif"ferent from the opinions which they had been “educated in, without some very great power and "miraculous operations moving them thereto 1." Arnobius, writing to the heathen, who imputed our Saviour's miracles to art magic, says to them, "Can ye shew, can ye point out any one of all the magicians that ever were in the world who has done any thing like to Christ, even the thousandth part m ?" 66 66 66 66 The Christian writers of the first ages not only thus mention the wonderful works wrought by our Saviour and his apostles, but they assure us also, that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were continued down to them, and that many great and miraculous works were performed in their time. IL. 8. p. 408, paulo infra med. m Potestis aliquem nobis designare, monstrare ex omnibus illis magis, qui unquam fuere per sæcula, consimile aliquid Christo millesima ex parte qui fecerit? 1. 1. p. 25. |