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Show CHURCH INDEFECTIBLE i f Christianity in the First Century. Early : ; Heresies. Spread of the New Law. St. ' ' , I Paul's Testimony. Pliny's. Pagan Tern- i ' . ; pies Abandoned. St. Irenaeus, Tertul- 1 ' lian. Arnobius Warned. St. Simon in J Africa. St. Mark, Egypt. Synod in Af-i rica. Gospel Preached in Italy, Gaul, 1 j Spain and Britain. Venerable Bede's! j ' Testimony. j - J ( Written fur The Intermountain Calholio.) ' ' "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will buiM ' " ; my church, and the gates of hell can not prevail : j . nguitist tuee." , - Volumes purporting to explain and give the' . ' i true meaning or interpretation of these words of ) . our Lord have been written. Like the words of ourj ! Lord at the Last Supper "This is my body" every'. j attempt to change their plain and natural meaning! i only augments th; difficulties of religion maker I and minifies th teachings of Christ. Waiving) i for the time what our Ird meant when he ad-1 . i dressed Simou, whose name wa- changed to Peter' ; i a rock, and assuming Christianity to be divin,j ; ! , we shall inquire into the prophecy contained in thai ; . ! ' text, "the gates of hell can not prevail against thea,"i i and ee how far it has been realized. ; The twelve apostle chosen by Christ end twicai j commissioned to preach His gospel were all, with ! the exception of St. John, who endured all the suf- feriugs of martyrdom, martyred. After their : ' death and the immediate promulgation of the gas- ' pel during the first century, Christianity had to contend against two forqus of heresy which wore- .. implanted by Jewish and pagan converts. The former maintained the obligation of the Mosaic j law, the latter strove to engTaft pugan teachings. J Without attempting to give the names of the many. , j j sectaries and the diversity of their beliefs, it is' ! ! historically evident that Christianity, notwithstand- ing the many obstacles it had to encounter, spread ': ' rapidly, and "the gates of hell did not prevail4. ! agairtst it." ' ' St. Paul write that the Christian faith was j ;. "spoken of in the whole world." (Rom. i, 8.) This! : ; was twenty-four years after the Ascension off ; j 1 Christ. Pliny the Yuun'gei'Tborn A. P. (52. died; i j 1 llfi). a Roman author, whilst governor of Bethania' r , ! . wrote Trojan regarding the spread of Christianity:', "A multitude of persons of every age. sex and con- . j '. dition. are placed in peril, for this superstitious' i ... contagion has gained not only the cities, but also' i i r the towns aud rural districts. The temples of th j ' gods are abandoned, the solemn sacrifices have been I ; long interrupted, and none purchase the victims.". i (Lio x, Ep. 97.) ! Half a century later. Justin Martyr in his Dia- ' I logue with Tryph 117 says: "Them is no people,- ' whether Greek or barbarian, among whom pra.vers ! I and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father, ? I and Creator of the world in the name of Christ crucified." St. Irenaus, martyred during the per-. ; j S- secution of Septimius Severus, A. I). 202. wrote: ;' ; ''The church is spread throughout the world, even j to the ends of the earth." This was in reply to tho j heresiarchs of his time. Tertullian in his epistle, j j Ad versus Judios VII. written in the third cen- tury, says: ''We are but of yesterday; and we fill e ? your cities, islands, castles, councils; your army. ! your palaces, and your senate. We have left you1 I only the temples." We quote Arnobius, the distin-i I' guished African rhetorician, a zealous advocate of! 'I paganism, until, as related by St. Jerome, ho was. 1 warned by heavenly admonitions to embrace Chri9-j ; M tianity. In his seven books of "Disputations" against the Gentiles, he tells us that in his time 1 ) ''there was no nation of barbarians that had not' ; ' been affected by the civilizing influence of Christ : ' tianity." 1 1 : r I These testimonies clearly demonstrate the rapidfi ; , growth of Christianity during the first three cen-j f ' ! " turies. I F ' In Asia the gospel was preached by the apostle. ' Barpnius in his "-;c'osiastic Annals" says that StJ ' : i , Simon preached the gospel in Africa. Whether thi be historically evident or not, it is certain that SU Peter sent his disciple and interpreter. St. Mark, to! ! ; Egypt, where he founded the see of Alexandria,! ? - ! being its first bishop. Notwithstanding the many-' ; obstacles the early missionaries had to contends ' with, Christianity spread rapidly among the EgypJ ! tiana. Eusibius in his history tells that at a coiin-J t ) ch held in Egypt, in 235. twenty bishops were pre J i ent. Tn northwestern Africa, according to TertuK ' ' ban. Christianity was introduced at an early date.' ' i ; Agrippinus in 215, presided at a synod at Carthage ' I i of which he was bishop, where seveaty African bish-j t I ops were present. St. Cyprian invoked two synods i ! f at Carthage. in 256. At one seventy-one bfshops' j were present, and at the other eighty-seven. In! I ! i Italy, Gaul, Spain and Britain, Christianity was! ; 1 ! ; implanted before the close of the second centnryj j ! It was preached in Italy by St. Peter and St. PauL j ; There is question of the Apostolic origin of tha : ; ohurch in Spain, though St Paul, in his epistle to I I 1 the Romans (xv, 24) writes: ,rWhen I shall begia i to take my journey into Spain. I hope," etc. In i ' i Gaul different opinions are held regarding the in- ! ; W troduction of Christianity. Some maintain' that 'III St. Luke preached there, others say that Lazarus, j i after the death of Christ, went to Gaul. Sulpetius - ' Severus in his sacred history says that "the first '' martyrs of Gaul suffered in the reign of Marcus j Aurelitim (161-180) ; for it was late when religion i found a resting place on that sid of the Alps." " : In Britain Venerable Bede in his history (I, c. 4),; i ?' says King Lucius wrote Pope Elutherius (177-192)' i ? asking to be received into the church, and that th' request was granted. Missionaries who were sent baptized the King and many of his subjects. Gil- .': ''. das, a British monk:, says the Gospel was preached, in his country about -the eighth vear of "YeroV reign (A. D. 2). nere we have all the historical evidence that . ' is needed to establish the fact that for the first thrw ' f centuries after the death of Christ, notwithstanding. notwithstand-ing. the many obstacles encountered in rjropa Continued oa Page 5. x j y ttirflMwMMi vmtlninW nil Church Indefectible. Continued from Page 1. gating His doctrines, His prophecy to Peter that "the gates of hell would not prevail against him," was verified. The causes of its rapid growth will next be considered. "Upon this rock, O Peter, I build my church. Thou keep ItB keys; andthis thine office: to feed my lambs and sheep. Chief shepherd I appoint thee; preach, teach, baptize, bap-tize, loose, bind, Confirm thy brethren. Other sheep seek ever thou to find. The Holy Ghost will guide thee; thou canst not err nor fail. Behold 1 all days I am with thee, though hell itself assail. - . This, then, the Great Commission; the Royal Charter Char-ter given, The means by which the sons of men attain to God in Heaven 1 'Pope Peter 1 Well, this chartered Church, what record can she show? Did she, in prompt obedience, prepare the fields, and sow? Did she, with faithful tendance, keep oil unto the light. However fierce the tempest, however long the night?" F. D. To be continued.) , i V |
