Nicolaus and the Sect named after him.

At this time the so-called sect of the Nicolaitans made its appearance and lasted for a very short time. Mention is made of it in the Apocalypse of John. (1) They boasted that the author of their sect was Nicolaus, one of the deacons who, with Stephen, were appointed by the apostles for the purpose of ministering to the poor. (2) Clement of Alexandria, in the third book of his Stromata, relates the following things concerning him. (3) "They say that he had a beautiful wife, and after the ascension of the Saviour, being accused by the apostles of jealousy, he led her into their midst and gave permission to any one that wished to marry her. For they say that this was in accord with that saying of his, that one ought to abuse the flesh. And those that have followed his heresy, imitating blindly and foolishly that which was done and said, commit fornication without shame. But I understand that Nicolaus had to do with no other woman than her to whom he was married, and that, so far as his children are concerned, his daughters continued in a state of virginity until old age, and his son remained uncorrupt. If this is so, when he brought his wife, whom he jealously loved, into the midst of the apostles, he was evidently renouncing his passion; and when he used the expression, 'to abuse the flesh,' he was inculcating self-control in the face of those pleasures that are eagerly pursued. For I suppose that, in accordance with the command of the Saviour, he did not wish to serve two masters, pleasure and the Lord. (4) But they say that Matthias also taught in the same manner that we ought to fight against and abuse the flesh, and not give way to it for the sake of pleasure, but strengthen the soul by faith and knowledge." (5) So much concerning those who then attempted to pervert the truth, but in less time than it has taken to tell it became entirely extinct.

CHAPTER XXX.

The Apostles that were married.

Clement, indeed, whose words we have just quoted, after the above-mentioned facts gives a statement, on account of those who rejected marriage, of the apostles that had wives. (1)"Or will they," says he, (2) "reject even the apostles? For Peter (3) and Philip (4) begat children; and Philip also gave his daughters in marriage. And Paul does not hesitate, in one of his epistles, to greet his wife, (5) whom he did not take about with him, that he might not be inconvenienced in his ministry." And since we have mentioned this subject it is not improper to subjoin another account which is given by the same author and which is worth reading. In the seventh book of his Stromata he writes as follows: (6) "They say, accordingly, that when the blessed Peter saw his own wife led oat to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, and saying, 'Oh thou, remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed, and their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them." This account being in keeping with the subject in hand, I have related here in its proper place.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The Death of John and Philip.

The time and the manner of the death of Paul and Peter as well as their burial places, have been already shown by us. (1) The time, of John's death has also been given in a general way, (2) but his burial place is indicated by an epistle of Polycrates (3) (who was bishop of the parish of Ephesus), addressed to Victor, (4) bishop of Rome. In this epistle he mentions him together with the apostle Philip and his daughters in the following words: (5) "For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the last day, at the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, (6) who sleeps in Hierapolis, (7) and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; (8) and moreover John, who was both a witness (9) and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and being a priest wore the sacerdotal plate. (10) He also sleeps at Ephesus." (11) So much concerning their death. And in the Dialogue of Caius which we mentioned a little above, (12) Proclus, (13) against whom he directed his disputation, in agreement with what has been quoted, (14) speaks thus concerning the death of Philip and his daughters: "After him (15) there were four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip, at Hierapolis in Asia. Their tomb is there and the tomb of their father." Such is his statement. But Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions the daughters of Philip who were at that time at Caesarea in Judea with their father, and were honored with the gift of prophecy. His words are as follows: "We came unto Caesarea; and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode with him. Now this man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." (16) We have thus set forth in these pages what has come to our knowledge concerning the apostles themselves and the apostolic age, and concerning the sacred writings which they have left us, as well as concerning those which are disputed, but nevertheless have been publicly used by many in a great number of churches, (17) and moreover, concerning those that are altogether rejected and are out of harmony with apostolic orthodoxy. Having done this, let us now proceed with our history.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, suffers Martyrdom.

It is reported that after the age of Nero and Domitian, under the emperor whose times we are now recording, (1) a persecution was stirred up against us in certain cities in consequence of a popular uprising. (2) In this persecution we have understood that Symeon, the son of Clopas, who, as we have shown, was the second bishop of the church of Jerusalem, (3) suffered martyrdora. Hegesippus, whose words we have already quoted in various places, (4) is a witness to this fact also. Speaking of certain heretics (5) he adds that Symeon was accused by them at this time; and since it was clear that he was a Christian, he was tortured in various ways for many days, and astonished even the judge himself and his attendants in the highest degree, and finally he suffered a death similar to that of our Lord. (6) But there is nothing like hearing the historian himself, who writes as follows: "Certain of these heretics brought accusation against Symeon, the son of Clopas, on the ground that he was a descendant of David (7) and a Christian; and thus he suffered martyrdom, at the age of one hundred and twenty years, (8) while Trajan was emperor and Atticus governor." (9) And the same writer says that his accusers also, when search was made for the descendants of David, were arrested as belonging to that family. (10) And it might be reasonably assumed that Symeon was one of those that saw and heard the Lord, (11) judging from the length of his life, and from the fact that the Gospel makes mention of Mary, the wife of Clopas, (12) who was the father of Symeon, as has been already shown. (13) The same historian says that there were also others, descended from one of the so-called brothers of the Saviour, whose name was Judas, who, after they had borne testimony before Domitian, as has been already recorded, (14) in behalf of faith in Christ, lived until the same reign. He writes as follows: "They came, therefore, and took the lead of every church (14a) as witness (15) and as relatives of the Lord. And profound peace being established in every church, they remained until the reign of the Emperor Trajan, (16) and until the above-mentioned Symeon, son of Clopas, an uncle of the Lord, was informed against by the heretics, and was himself in like manner accused for the same cause (17) before the governor Atticus. (18) And after being tortured for many days he suffered martyrdom, and all, including even the proconsul, marveled that, at the age of one hundred and twenty years, he could endure so much. And orders were given that he should be crucified." In addition to these things the same man, while recounting the events of that period, records that the Church up to that time had remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin, since, if there were any that attempted to corrupt the sound norm of the preaching of salvation, they lay until then concealed in obscure darkness. But when the sacred college of apostles had suffered death in various forms, and the generation of those that had been deemed worthy to hear the inspired wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then the league of godless error took its rise as a result of the folly of heretical teachers, (19) who, because none of the apostles was still living, attempted henceforth, with a bold face, to proclaim, in opposition to the preaching of the truth, the 'knowledge which is falsely so-called.' (20)

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Trajan forbids the Christians to be sought after.

So great a persecution was at that time opened against us in many places that Plinius Secundus, one of the most noted of governors, being disturbed by the great number of martyrs, communicated with the emperor concerning the multitude of those that were put to death for their faith. (1) At the same time, he informed him in his communication that he had not heard of their doing anything profane or contrary to the laws,--except that they arose at dawn (2) and sang hymns to Christ as a God; but that the), renounced adultery and murder and like criminal offenses, and did all things in accordance with the laws. In reply to this Trajan. made the following decree: that the race of Christians should not be sought after, but when found should be punished. On account of this the persecution which had threatened to be a most terrible one was to a certain degree checked, but there were still left plenty of pretexts for those who wished to do us harm. Sometimes the people, sometimes the rulers in various places, would lay plots against us, so that, although no great persecutions took place, local persecutions were nevertheless going on in particular provinces, (3) and many of the faithful endured martyrdom in various forms. We have taken our account from the Latin Apology of Tertullian which we mentioned above. (4) The translation runs as follows: (5) "And indeed we have found that search for us has been forbidden. (6) For when Plinius Secundus, the governor of a province, had condemned certain Christians and deprived them of their dignity, (7) he was confounded by the multitude, and was uncertain what further course to pursue. He therefore communicated with Trajan the emperor, informing him that, aside from their unwillingness to sacrifice, (8) he had found no impiety in them. And he reported this also, that the Christians arose (9) early in the morning and sang hymns unto Christ as a God, and for the purpose of preserving their discipline (10) forbade murder, adultery, avarice, robbery, and the like. In reply to this Trajan wrote that the race of Christians should not be sought after, but when found should be punished." Such were the events which took place at that time.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Evarestus, the Fourth Bishop of the Church of Rome.

In the third year of the reign of the emperor mentioned above, (1) Clement (2) committed the episcopal government of the church of Rome to Evarestus, (3) and departed this life after he had superintended the teaching of the divine word nine years in all.