1 WE have discussed in the preceding book those subjects in ecclesiastical history which it was necessary to treat by way of introduction, and have accompanied them with brief proofs. Such were the divinity of the saving Word, and the antiquity of the doctrines which we teach, as well as of that evangelical life which is led by Christians, together with the events which have taken place in connection with Christ's recent appearance, and in connection with his passion and with the choice of the apostles.

2 In the present book let us examine the events which took place after his ascension, confirming some of them from the divine Scriptures, and others from such writings as we shall refer to from time to time.

CHAPTER I.

The Course pursued by the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ.

1 First, then, in the place of Judas, the betrayer, Matthias,[1] who, as has been shown[2] was also one of the Seventy, was chosen to the apostolate. And there were appointed to the diaconate,[2a] for the service of the congregation, by prayer and the laying on of the hands of the apostles, approved men, seven in number, of whom Stephen was one.[3] He first, after the Lord, was stoned to death at the time of his ordination by the slayers of the Lord, as if he had been promoted for this very purpose.[4] And thus he was the first to receive the crown, corresponding to his name,[5] which belongs to the martyrs of Christ, who are worthy of the meed of victory. 2 Then James, whom the ancients surnamed the Just[6] on account of the excellence of his virtue, is recorded to have been the first to be made bishop of the church of Jerusalem. This James was called the brother of the Lord[7] because he was known as a son of Joseph,[8] and Joseph was supposed to be the father of Christ, because the Virgin, being betrothed to him, "was found with child by the Holy Ghost before they came together,"[9] as the account of the holy Gospels shows.

3 But Clement in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes[10] writes thus: "For they say that Peter and James and John after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem."[11]

4 But the same writer, in the seventh book of the same work, relates also the following things concerning him: "The Lord after his resurrection imparted knowledge to James the Just and to John and Peter, and they imparted it to the rest of the apostles, and the rest of the apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas was one.[12] But there were two Jameses:[13] one called the Just, who was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and was beaten to death with a club by a fuller,[14] and another who was beheaded."[15] Paul also makes mention of the same James the Just, where he writes, "Other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother."[16]

5 At that time also the promise of our Saviour to the king of the Osrhoenians was fulfilled. For Thomas, under a divine impulse, sent Thaddeus to Edessa as a preacher and evangelist of the religion of Christ, as we have shown a little above from the document found there?

7 When he came to that place he healed Abgarus by the word of Christ; and after bringing all the people there into the right attitude of mind by means of his works, and leading them to adore the power of Christ, he made them disciples of the Saviour's teaching. And from that time down to the present the whole city of the Edessenes has been devoted to the name of Christ,[18] offering no common proof of the beneficence of our Saviour toward them also.

8 These things have been drawn from ancient accounts; but let us now turn again to the divine Scripture. When the first and greatest persecution was instigated by the Jews against the church of Jerusalem in connection with the martyrdom of Stephen, and when all the disciples, except the Twelve, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria,[19] some, as the divine Scripture says, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but could not yet venture to impart the word of faith to the nations, and therefore preached it to the Jews alone.[20]

9 During this time Paul was still persecuting the church, and entering the houses of believers was dragging men and women away and committing them to prison.[21]

10 Philip also, one of those who with Stephen had been entrusted with the diaconate, being among those who were scattered abroad, went down to Samaria,[22] and being filled with the divine power, he first preached the word to the inhabitants of that country. And divine grace worked so mightily with him that even Simon Magus with many others was attracted by his 11 words.[23] Simon was at that time so celebrated, and had acquired, by his jugglery, such influence over those who were deceived by him, that he was thought to be the great power of God.[24] But at this time, being amazed at the wonderful deeds wrought by Philip through the divine power, he reigned and counterfeited faith in Christ, even going so far as to receive baptism.[25]

12 And what is surprising, the same thing is done even to this day by those who follow his most impure heresy.[26] For they, after the manner of their forefather, slipping into the Church, like a pestilential and leprous disease greatly afflict those into whom they are able to infuse the deadly and terrible poison concealed in themselves.[27] The most of these have been expelled as soon as they have been caught in their wickedness, as Simon himself, when detected by Peter, received the merited punishment.[28]

13 But as the preaching of the Saviour's Gospel was daily advancing, a certain providence led from the land of the Ethiopians an officer of the queen of that country,[29] for Ethiopia even to the present day is ruled, according to ancestral custom, by a woman. He, first among the Gentiles, received of the mysteries of the divine word from Philip in consequence of a revelation, and having become the first-fruits of believers throughout the world, he is said to have been the first on returning to his country to proclaim the knowledge of the God of the universe and the life-giving sojourn of our Saviour among men;[30] so that through him in truth the prophecy obtained its fulfillment, which declares that "Ethiopia stretcheth out her hand unto God."[31]

14 In addition to these, Paul, that "chosen vessel,"[32] "not of men neither through men, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ himself and of God the Father who raised him from the dead,"[33] was appointed an apostle, being made worthy of the call by a vision and by a voice which was uttered in a revelation from heaven.[34]

CHAPTER II.

How Tiberius was affected when informed by Pilate concerning Christ.

1 AND when the wonderful resurrection and ascension of our Saviour were already noised abroad, in accordance with an ancient custom which prevailed among the rulers of the provinces, of reporting to the emperor the novel occurrences which took place in them, in order that nothing might escape him, Pontius Pilate informed Tiberius[1] of the reports which were noised abroad through all Palestine concerning the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus from the dead.

2 He gave an account also of other wonders which he had learned of him, and how, after his death, having risen from the dead, he was now believed by many to be a God.[2] They say that Tiberius referred the matter to the Senate,[3] but that they rejected it, ostensibly because they had not first examined into the matter (for an ancient law prevailed that no one should be made a God by the Romans except by a vote and decree of the Senate), but in reality because the saving teaching of the divine Gospel did not need the confirmation and recommendation of men.

3 But although the Senate of the Romans rejected the proposition made in regard to our Saviour, Tiberius still retained the opinion which he had held at first, and contrived no hostile measures against Christ.[4] 4 These things are recorded by Tertullian,[5] a man well versed in the laws of the Romans,[6] and in other respects of high repute, and one of those especially distinguished in Rome.[7] In his apology for the Christians,[8] which was written by him in the Latin language, and has been translated into Greek,[9] he writes as follows:[10]

5 "But in order that we may give an account of these laws from their origin, it was an ancient decree n that no one should be consecrated a God by the emperor until the Senate had expressed its approval. Marcus Aurelius did thus concerning a certain idol, Alburnus.[12] And this is a point in favor of our doctrine,[13] that among you divine dignity is conferred by human decree. If a God does not please a man he is not made a God. Thus, according to this custom, it is necessary for man to be gracious to God.

6 Tiberius, therefore, under whom the name of Christ made its entry into the world, when this doctrine was reported to him from Palestine, where it first began, communicated with the Senate, making it clear to them that he was pleased with the doctrine.[14] But the Senate, since it had not itself proved the matter, rejected it. But Tiberius continued to hold his own opinion, and threatened death to the accusers of the Christians."[15] Heavenly providence had wisely instilled this into his mind in order that the doctrine of the Gospel, unhindered at its beginning, might spread in all directions throughout the world.

CHAPTER III.

The Doctrine of Christ soon spread throughout All the World.

1 THUS, under the influence of heavenly power, and with the divine co-operation, the doctrine of the Saviour, like the rays of the sun, quickly illumined the whole world;[1] and straightway, in accordance with the divine Scriptures,[2] the voice of the inspired evangelists and apostles went forth through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

2 In every city and village, churches were quickly established, filled with multitudes of people like a replenished threshing-floor. And those whose minds, in consequence of errors which had descended to them from their forefathers, were fettered by the ancient disease of idolatrous superstition, were, by the power of Christ operating through the teaching and the wonderful works of his disciples, set free, as it were, from terrible masters, and found a release from the most cruel bondage. They renounced with abhorrence every species of demoniacal polytheism, and confessed that there was only one God, the creator of all things, and him they honored with the rites of true piety, through the inspired and rational worship which has been planted by our Saviour among men.

3 But the divine grace being now poured out upon the rest of the nations Cornelius, of C?sarea in Palestine, with his whole house, through a divine revelation and the agency of Peter, first received faith in Christ;[3] and after him a multitude of other Greeks in Antioch,[4] to whom those who were scattered by the persecution of Stephen had preached the Gospel. When the church of Antioch was now increasing and abounding, and a multitude of prophets from Jerusalem were on the ground,[5] among them Barnabas and Paul and in addition many other brethren, the name of Christians first sprang up there,[6] as from a fresh and life-giving fountain.[7]And Agabus, one of the prophets who was with them, uttered a prophecy concerning the famine which was about to take place,[8] and Paul and Barnabas were sent to relieve the necessities of the brethren.[9]

CHAPTER IV.

After the Death of Tiberius, Caius appointed Agrippa King of the Jews, having punished Herod with Perpetual Exile.

Tiberius died, after having reigned about twenty-two years,[1] and Caius succeeded him in the empire.[2] He immediately gave the government of the Jews to Agrippa,[3] making him king over the tetrarchies of Philip and of Ly-sanias; in addition to which he bestowed upon him, not long afterward, the tetrarchy of Herod,[4] having punished Herod (the one under whom the Saviour suffered[5]) and his wife Herodias with perpetual exile[6] on account of numerous crimes. Josephus is a witness to these facts.[7] Under this emperor, Philo[8] became known; a man most celebrated not only among many of our own, but also among many scholars without the Church. He was a Hebrew by birth, but was inferior to none of those who held high dignities in Alexandria. How exceedingly he labored in the Scriptures and in the studies of his nation is plain to all from the work which he has done. How familiar he was with philosophy and with the liberal studies of foreign nations, it is not necessary to say, since he is reported to have surpassed all his contemporaries in the study of Platonic and Pythagorean. philosophy, to which he particularly devoted his attention.[9]