Such was the condition of the Jews. Meanwhile the holy apostles and disciples of our Saviour were dispersed throughout the world.[1] Parthia,[2] according to tradition, was allotted to Thomas as his field of labor, Scythia[3] to Andrew,[4] and Asia[5] to John,[6] who, after he had lived some time there,[7] died at Ephesus. Peter appears to have preached in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia[9] to the Jews of the dispersion. And at last, having come to Rome, he was crucified head-downwards;[10] for he had requested that he might suffer in this way. What do we need to say concerning Paul, who preached the Gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum,[11] and afterwards suffered martyrdom in Rome under Nero?[12] These facts are related by Origen in the third volume of his Commentary on Genesis.[13]

CHAPTER II.

The First Ruler of the Church of Rome.

After the martyrdom of Paul and of Peter, Linus[1] was the first to obtain the episcopate of the church at Rome. Paul mentions him, when writing to Timothy from Rome, in the salutation at the end of the epistle.[2]

CHAPTER III.

The Epistles of the Apostles.

One epistle of Peter, that called the first, is acknowledged as genuine.[1] And this the ancient elders[2] used freely in their own writings as an undisputed work.[3] But we have learned that his extant second Epistle does not belong to the canon;[4] yet, as it has appeared profitable to many, it has been used with the other Scriptures.[5] The so-called Acts of Peter,[6] however, and the Gospel[7] which bears his name, and the Preaching[8] and the Apocalypse,[9] as they are called, we know have not been universally accepted,[10] because no ecclesiastical writer, ancient or modern, has made use of testimonies drawn from them.[11] But in the course of my history I shall be careful to show, in addition to the official succession, what ecclesiastical writers have from time to time made use of any of the disputed works,[12] and what they have said in regard to the canonical and accepted writings,[13] as well as in regard to those which are not of this class. Such are the writings that bear the name of Peter, only one of which I know to be genuine[14] and acknowledged by the ancient elders.[15] Paul's fourteen epistles are well known and undisputed.[16] It is not indeed right to overlook the fact that some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews,[17] saying that it is disputed[18] by the church of Rome, on the ground that it was not written by Paul. But what has been said concerning this epistle by those who lived before our time I shall quote in the proper place.[19] In regard to the so-called Acts of Paul,[20] I have not found them among the undisputed writings.[21]

But as the same apostle, in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans,[22] has made mention among others of Hermas, to whom the book called The Shepherd[23] is ascribed, it should be observed that this too has been disputed by some, and on their account cannot be placed among the acknowledged books; while by others it is considered quite indispensable, especially to those who need instruction in the elements of the faith. Hence, as we know, it has been publicly read in churches, and I have found that some of the most ancient writers used it. This will serve to show the divine writings that are undisputed as well as those that are not universally acknowledged.

CHAPTER IV.

The First Successors of the Apostles.

THAT Paul preached to the Gentiles and laid the foundations of the churches "from Jerusalem round about even unto Illyricum," is evident both from his own words,[1] and from theaccount which Luke has given in the Acts.[2]

And in how many provinces Peter preached Christ and taught the doctrine of the new covenant to those of the circumcision is clear from his own words in his epistle already mentioned as undisputed,[3] in which he writes to the Hebrews of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.[4] But the number and the names of those among them that became true and zealous followers of the apostles, and were judged worthy to tend the churches rounded by them, it is not easy to tell, except those mentioned in the writings of Paul. For he had innumerable fellow-laborers, or "fellow-soldiers," as he called them,[5] and most of them were honored by him with an imperishable memorial, for he gave enduring testimony concerning them in his own epistles. Luke also in the Acts speaks of his friends, and mentions them by name.[6]

Timothy, so it is recorded, was the first to receive the episcopate of the parish in Ephesus,[7] Titus of the churches in Crete.[8] But Luke,[9] who was of Antiochian parentage and a physician by profession,[10] and who was especially intimate with Paul and well acquainted with the rest of the apostles,[11] has left us, in two inspired books, proofs of that spiritual healing art which he learned from them. One of these books is the Gospel,[12] which he testifies that he wrote as those who were from the beginning eye witnesses and ministers of the word delivered unto him, all of whom, as he says, he followed accurately from the first.[13] The other book is the Acts of the Apostles[14] which he composed not from the accounts of others, but from what he had seen himself. And they say that Paul meant to refer to Luke's Gospel wherever, as if speaking of some gospel of his own, he used the words, "according to my Gospel."[15] As to the rest of his followers, Paul testifies that Crescens was sent to Gaul;[16] but Linus, whom he mentions in the Second Epistle to Timothy[17] as his companion at Rome, was Peter's successor in the episcopate of the church there, as has already been shown.[18] Clement also, who was appointed third bishop of the church at Rome, was, as Paul testifies, his co-laborer and fellow-soldier.[19] Besides these, that Areopagite, named Dionysius, who was the first to believe after Paul's address to the Athenians in the Areopagus (as recorded by Luke in the Acts)[20] is mentioned by another Dionysius, an ancient writer and pastor of the parish in Corinth,[21] as the first bishop of the church at Athens. But the events connected with the apostolic succession we shall relate at the proper time. Meanwhile let us continue the course of our history.