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Show CHRISTIAN APOLOGIES 'I . 1 Paganism Insufficient. Testimony of I Tacitus. Derision. Burning of Rome. I Unbelief of Philosophers. Christianity I Suitable to All Classes. Justin's Con- version. His Debate With a Stranger. Love of Philosophy. His Dialogue with J Trypho. (Written for The Intermonntain Catholic.) I 1 hiving reviewed the Ten General Persecutions f , which 1 he early Christians were subjected, we J vjll again retrace our steps to show not so much J IN triumph of Christianity, but how the new reli- ! ii .il was adopted by the highest intellects and the : I L!, -lit.-st philosophers of the pagan world. The immoral code taught by paganism had sunk - followers into the lowest depths of degradation. I All that they idolized was opposed by the followers I :.i 'lirist. For three centuries the Empire was red- u( in ! with the blood of Christian martyrs. I I hiring the reign of Xero (64-68) a part of Rome 1 I .1 I hftn lest royed by fire, which was attributed I t" i!ie orders of Xero. Tacitus, referring to this I i;.r;lent in history Annal lib. xv. n. xlix., writes: j "To j'tit a stop to these reports, the Emperor ! pm iL'ht out crminals miserable wretches who were 1 ( l in abhorrence for their crimes, commonly call- f.) Christians and exposed them to the most cruel t 'lincnts. Christ, from whom they took their j i. nines, had suffered under the Procurator, Pon- I ins Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius, and his death liiid repressed for the time this execrable superstition. supersti-tion. But the torrent soon broke forth anew, not - r,lv in Judea, where it arose, but in Rome itself, ;!;. center where all disasters and crimes meet at and assume increased dimensions. Those who (.iny avowed themselves Christians were first prized, and afterwards, on their deposition, vast , ni altitudes were convicted not so much for the prime of setting fire to Rome as of hatred of the tvliole human race. Derision was added to their 1 torments; some were enveloped in the skins of Bi'ld beasts and thrown to the dogs to be devoured; f me were crucified ; the bodies of others were cov-I cov-I r;.'d with pitch and they were made to serve as ton hs to give light at night. Xero gave up his own pardens for the spectacle, and at the same time rpened the games of the circus where the Emperor ; mingled with the people dressed as a charioteer, I M' iiiking part in the chariot race." This celebrated Roman historian and noted le-fn le-fn orator knew nothing of the Christians whom .-) condemns. He knew that they were persecuted, ;iot for the burning of Rome, but for their opposi-:ion opposi-:ion to the pagan deities and gross immoralities ; tvliich were preached and practiced in the names of hchr deities. Yet the growth of the new religion nailt mi the blood of its divine founder could not : stopped or diminished in its growth. Whilst in :!; early Christian society most of its adherents ; longed to the humbler state of life, yet many 1 iitinguished philosophers became converts from j :..ipanisni, and were amongst the most ardent and I t'Tvi nt defenders of Vhristianity. These were no- : I- -ouls who w-re, to a -certain extent, inflamed f v' .iih the love of what was true, beautiful and good. I'iiaiiism did not appeal to the cravings of the I !;!. It lackfd morality 'and was not in accords' accord-s' H;rr with the dictates of reason. Religion, in its sn;i- --ne, soars higher than animal passion and. .' world of sense. Hence men of cultivated minds, 1 o were not totally depraved, rejected the absurd t on! immoral fables which were the foundation of If !:- v(!'gims worship of ancient Greece and Rome, li I w the philosopher, if any. believed in the reli-II reli-II Li' : i of ilie htate. That was for the ignorant and -aj.. r-itiou. Many of their philosophers, like I l'!;:'o. Socrates. Zeno, Aristides and many others, I i wi u- -( arching for moral truths and their re- I ! :;.!;- i.-. (ind, present a sad and deplorable state I i'.'-b.-ir investigations. Whilst rejecting the popu-I popu-I r ilion. they sometimes adopted grosser and I v oi-m- -wjiersi . ns. I !' i- und i. .le that the religion of Christ I 1 --erved u i e in one common bond the high f 'I ;iio iiiw, s ; i and the poor, the learned and I ' . i;Kti rate. . dameiital principles and mor-I mor-I ; ", -atis., m :dy the cravings of the soul, I : !1 the 1 of the philosopher's reason. I !!!, re we find m a ';cry early period some of the I r;-!,te-i jiaga'i philosophers embracing Christian- I i . refuting tin .ejections raised against it, and i; "- ts its divine origin. The earliest of these, ' . ' , lily and forcibly defended Christianity, were A ri-ii-le-, Quadratus and Justin. Quadratus was riii-.-iinary aiid disciple of the Apostles. The ' two were philosophers and converts. The '. -In-tin. gives an account of his conversion. !! wa born of pagan parents at Xeapolis, a of Samaria, about the end of the first ccn-" ccn-" ' ". A jtrofound student, he mastered every sys-' sys-' of Pi reek )hilosophy. Renowned as a Greek - ''" ''!;;) and philosopher, Justin, though born of I " parents, could not embrace the gross absurd- of iaganism. Love of truth forced him to seek realuatio'.i in the most famous schools of phil--'"i'i'.v. 'riiilosophy." he writes in his Dialogue v n Tryi)'io, n. o. uis truly. a great treasure, of ; price in the eyes of God to whom it leads, ' ' i in whose sight it alone can make us accept- ':." Justin thought that philosophy, and it alone, 'id -olve the problem of life. In the same Dia- - io. ). 2. he writes: "I resolved to confer with the r- .f Plato, who are held in high repute. of their principal teachers had just arrived in " o'ty. 7 pul myself in communication with ii . and after long conversations I found myself making fresh progress. The knowledge of worhl of intelligence transportefl me with joy; '-. ihenry of ideas gave wings to my understanding. Continued on Pae 5. ' ,; j : CHRISTIAN APOLOGIES. (Continued from page 1.) I fancied I had become learned in a short time, and flattered myself that I should soon arrive' at the contemplation- of God, which is the aim and end of Plato'sphilosophy. But Plato, like his master, Socrates, who were sound philosophers, laid down no principles that would lead to the knowledge of the one true God. Justin did not perceive that at the time he was devoting all the energies of his mind to the study of Plato's philosophy. The light of Christianity was yet hidden from him. He knew that Christians Chris-tians existed, but as they were despised and persecuted, perse-cuted, he too, in all probability, shared in the same feelings of disdain. He heard of the terrible crimes imputed to them arson, hatred, murder, etc. In his Dialogue with Trypho he says : "I also, when I was attached to Platonism, had heard of , the crimes imputed to Christians ;but when I saw them face death, and all that men are wont most to dread, without fear, I could not conceive it possible that they passed their lives in disorder disor-der and voluptousness. How was it possible to suppose that a man who was a lover of pleasure and intemperance, a slave to the flesh and worldly delights, de-lights, should court death which would deprive him of all these goods ? Far from running to meet certain cer-tain condemnation, would he not, on the contrary, conceal himself from the vigilance of the magistrates magis-trates in order to enjoy the pleasures of life as long as possible?" How forcible and cogent this argument. To givo any creed or form of religion a fair test, one must divest himself of all prejudice. JUSTIN'S CONVERSION. A profound philosopher and an ardent follower of Plato, to contemplate in silence Plato's philosophy, philos-ophy, he retired to the seashore, where he wished to be alone. He tells in his dialogue with Trypho Try-pho what happened when he met a venerable stranger strang-er in his solitude. "I did not expect to meet anyone any-one here." The stranger responded: "I am in trouble, about some of my friends who are traveling, travel-ing, and I came to see if by chance they might be visible in some point of the horizon. But what brings you to this solitude?" Justin answered: "As for me, I take delight in these rambles, because, be-cause, free from all distraction, I can here commune com-mune with myself at my ease; for solitude is eminently emi-nently favorable to philosophy." The stranger replied re-plied : "Ah ! you are one of those who love words without troubling yourself about actions or truth, and who neglect what is practical for the sake of vain speculations." Justin, honest, sincere in quest of truth, sought the solution of the problem only in philosophy. The stranger asked. "Does philosophy phil-osophy necessarily confer happiness?" To this query Justin replied: "Certainly; and philosophy alone can do so." Again came the rejoinder: "If nothing forbids it, explain to me what philosophy is, and what is the happiness of which it is the source." Justin's answer was : "Philosophy is the science of being, and the knowledge of truth ; happiness hap-piness is, the reward of this science and of this wisdom." wis-dom." Born in paganism, and knowing nothing of the true God, Justin's philosophy was without foundation founda-tion and could not solve the problem of life. This fact his companion clearly pointed out, saying: "At a distant period of our history, long before the time of those who pass for philosophers, there lived men who were blessed, just, beloved of God; they were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and foretold future fu-ture events, which have been fulfilled in our days. They were called prophets. These men alone had knowledge of the truth, and they announced it to men without weakness or fear; they were strangers to any thought of vainglory, and only taught what the Holy Spirit had given them to see and hear. Their writings still exist; whoever reads them with faith will derive from them great profit, and will be enabled to understand the beginning and end of things, and all that a philosopher ought to know. They do not proceed by way of demonstration ; they j are sincere witnesses of the truth and, above all, demonstration: the accomplishment of what they j announce compels us to believe their words. Be- i sides, the miracles they performed placed their testimony tes-timony above suspicion. They glorified God the Father, Creator of the universe, and announced to men His Son Jesus Christ, sent by Him. As for you, before all things, pray that the gates of light may be opened before you; for no one can see and understand these things unless God and His Christ give him understanding." In the same Dialogue he tells the effect of the words of the unknown man on him. "When the old man said these things and many more which I can- not relate here, he left me, recommending me to meditate on what I heard .Since then I have not seen him. But my soul, inflamed with holy desire, longed ardently to become acquainted with the Prophets and those men who are friends of Christ." Justin did study the sublime truths of Revelation Revela-tion and very soon embraced Christianity, to the defense of which he devoted the remainder of his life. He wrote two apologies, one to Antonius Pius (138-161), his two sons, and the Roman Senate, Sen-ate, refuting the calumnies against the Christians. So powerful was his appeal that it had the desired effect, according to Eusebius. His second apology, twenty-five years later, was addressed to Marcu3 Aurelius. For this he expected the martyr's crown. He was not disappointed, as he and a number of Christians were condemned to be scourged and afterwads beheaded. The death of the philosopher brought forth new defenders of the faith. F. D. (To be continued.) |