The gospel its own advocate

Preface

It may be justly inferred from the title-page to this volume, that it treats mainly of the internal evidences of Christianity. For should the Gospel assume the form of a living, speaking man, and, like Paul before Agrippa, plead, with outstretched hand, its cause before the countless myriads of human kind, it would doubtless place its chief reliance on its own Sacred Pages. Nevertheless, the author will not deem himself precluded by the title-page from sometimes overstepping the line generally regarded as the boundary between the intrinsic and external departments of the evangelical proofs. Those departments are not hostile or foreign territories, in their mutual relations ; and an essay on the one may occasionally invoke aid from the other, without essentially violating the laws of its unity.

iv

PREFACE.

Nor does the author mean to profess by the title-page, that he is about to condense within his narrow bounds all the inherent demonstrations of the divinity of the New Testament. Those demonstrations are exceedingly numerous ; they multiply under every fresh perusal of the Holy Volume ; and he can only select from the inexhaustible storehouse such views as have most forcibly impressed themselves on his own meditations.

The scriptural prophecies, and their stupendous fulfilments, are usually classed in the external department of the christian proofs. Yet the author, irrespective of mere geographical distinctions, would gladly have attempted their discussion, had his limits allowed it. The argument from prophecy is one of the most powerful weapons in the armory of sacred truth. The christian fathers thought it even more conclusive than that founded on miracles; and it is stronger now than it was when the fathers wrote. It has gathered new confirmation from the lapse of centuries. But it requires a minute exposition of all the predictions of the Old Testament, as well as of the New, and a close historical survey

PREFACE.

V of their wonderful accomplishments, perfected and progressive. The subject would supply ample materials for an independent work of no inconsiderable length. Had the author attempted to abridge it within his brief essay, he would, by mutilating, have rendered powerless, so far as in him lay, the mighty argument founded on prophecy fulfilled.

Chapter I

JESUS CHRIST WAS A REAL PERSONAGE — AND THE GOSPEL WAS PUBLISHED AT THE TIME IT PURPORTS TO HAVE BEEN.

PAGE

Heathen testimonies — Passage from Tacitus — Its genuineness admitted by the infidel Gibbon — Character of Tacitus as an historian — Suetonius — Pliny — His letter to Trajan — Trajan's reply — Their genuineness admitted by Gibbon — Pontius Pilate — Usage of republican and imperial Rome for procurators of provinces to transmit to central government accounts of extraordinary events within their jurisdiction — Early christian fathers constantly stated that Pilate had communicated to Tiberius an account of Christ's trial, death, and alleged resurrection, with the accompanying prodigies — No heathen writer ever denied existence of document — Yet pagan Rome suppressed it — Inference inevitable that she suppressed the document because it would have proved the prodigies accompanying the crucifixion^ and the consequent divinity of Jesus Christ, 15

CHAPTER H

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

Further heathen testimonies — Celsus wrote against Christianity about one century after promulgation of Gospel — Extracts from his works — Admits that Jesus Christ was a real Personage — And that Gospel was written by his primitive disciples — Admits generally the Gospel history — Virtually admits its miracles —

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CONTENTS.

Doctor Doddridge's estimate of the extracts from Celsus — Porphyry wrote against Christianity about the year two hundred and seventy — Speaks of Jesus Christ as a real Personage — and of Gospel as written by his primitive disciples — Some extracts from his works — Emperor Julian wrote against Christianity about the year three hundred and sixty — Admits reality of Jesus Christ and antiquity of Gospel — Extracts from his works — Jewish testimonies — Josephus — The Mishna —The Talmuds, 40

Chapter III. Divine Revelation Was Coeval With The Creation Of Man

Any supernatural communication from God a divine revelation — No matter what its form or subject — Human race not from everlasting — Man created without instinct of brutes, or innate ideas to guide him — Our primeval ancestors at their creation were but grown-up infants — Utterly inexperienced, they would have perished from hunger, thirst, cold, or casualties, without supernatural instruction — Such instruction a divine revelation — General expectation of heathen world before birth of Christ that moral light was about to dawn, . . . .68

Chapter IV. The Theology Of The Gospel

Works of God and of man distinguishable by inspection — Whether God or man made Gospel is determinable by its internal evidence — Moral attributes of God not discoverable by reason — Yet reason perceives divine truthfulness of their delineation in Gospel — Style of Bible — Atonement beyond mortal contrivance — Yet when revealed, reason must recognize it the work of God — The Trinity — A mystery too profound and startling for impostors to have incorporated into work of fiction, 83

CONTENTS.

ix

Chapter V. The Morality Of The Gospel

Gospel system of ethics like solar system in fewness and simplicity of its principles — Consists in love to God and love to man — Regulates thoughts and intents of heart — Disclaims heroic virtues — Places humility in front rank of its graces — Has chivalry of its own — Paul and Julius Caesar contrasted — Other evangelical graces — Forgiveness of injuries — Universal beneficence — Victory over world — Sanctions of Gospel, . . . 105

Chapter VI

. THE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST.

Difficulty of delineating character — Especially that of perfect man — Delineation of perfect man reserved for fishermen of Galilee — They had no human model — Difficulty enhanced by the fact that the Christ of the Gospel enshrined the second person of the Trinity — Infidelity gains nothing by supposing that Christ was the deceiver and his biographers the dupes — Enacting perfect character more difficult than even delineation of one — His blended meekness, lowliness and majesty — His humiliation surpassed what mere man would have voluntarily endured or conceived — His piety — His benignity — His beneficence — Cases of Bartimeus — the sinful woman who anointed his feet — the prodigal son — his restoring Lazarus to life — his weeping over Jerusalem, 128

CHAPTER VIL

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

Wisdom of Jesus Christ — His sermon on the mount — Other cases of his unearthly wisdom — He was the pa- 1*

X

CONTENTS.

tron and personification of holy friendship — His parting interview with his disciples — His simplicity — His manner of teaching — His indifference to human fame — Silence of Gospel concerning his personal appearance, . 143

Chapter VIII. The Same Subject Continued

Trial of Jesus Christ — His grandeur and humility — Incidents of his trial — Conduct of Judas — No other traitor ever induced by compunctious visitings to commit suicide — His remorse and self-murder were dying confessions of the innocency and godhead of his Master — Fall and penitence of Peter — Conduct of Pontius Pilate — The crucifixion of Jesus Christ — He spoke seven times from the cross — And as man never spoke — Bad men could not have forged the character of Jesus Christ if they would — And good men would not have forged it if they could — Extract from Rousseau, . . .157

Chapter IX. The Miracles Of The Gospel

Miracles of Christianity internal proofs of divinity — Science of juridical evidence applied to christian history — Writers of Gospel not deceived — Miracles palpable to senses — abiding in effects — infallible — no collusion — open and public — continued for years in presence of friends and foes — Writers of Gospel had good sense and sound understanding— Deposed from personal knowledge — Paul knew with certainty whether miracles of his conversion and those wrought by himself were real — Writers of Gospel eight in number — Testimonies equivalent to judicial depositions, . .177

CONTENTS.

XI

Chapter X. The Same Subject Continued

PAGE

Writers of Gospel not deceivers — Truth has a manner of its own — Directness, simplicity, and ingenuousness of evangelical witnesses — Examples of their candor — Pureness of their moral character — Proved by their writings — by history — by the confessions of infidels — Had not primitive christians been of pure character, new faith would not have outlived its Founder — Writers of Gospel consistent in narratives, doctrines, and precepts, without studied uniformity, .... 200

Chapter XI The Same Subject Continued

Writers of Gospel had no motive to deceive — Not moved by revenge— or prejudice — or hope of temporal emolument — or desire to gain fame by tales of wonder — Incurred by their testimony certain obloquy, privations and sufferings, and probable torture and martyrdom — Conditions of discipleship foretold from beginning — Martyrdom, though not always proving orthodoxy, proves sincerity of victims, 215

Chapter XII. The Same Subject Continued

Auxiliary and supplemental witnesses to christian miracles — Gospel made miracles test of its divinity — Age of miracles continued about seventy years — During miraculous age all christians had sure means of ascertaining genuineness of miracles — Bore testimony to their genuineness by perilous adhesion to persecuted faith — Miracles the evidences of title to the promised inheritance above — Seekers after truth of Gospel would scrutinize closely these evidences before giving up all to purchase inheritance — Witnesses to miracles thus mul-

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CONTENTS.

tiplied to many thousands — Each witness testified by his act as strongly as he could by his pen or oath — Argument of Leslie drawn from institutions of Baptism, Lord's Supper, and christian Sabbath — New Testament and Old parts of same system — If Gospel forged, so were Jewish Scriptures, 229

CHAPTER XIII. hume's objection to miracles.

Miniature of Hume's theory — Vagueness in his use of term experience — General uniformity of nature's laws proved by human testimony — So may any exceptions to that uniformity — On Hume's theory miracles not to be believed on evidence of our own senses — Evidence of senses not more infallible than well-sustained testimony of our fellow-men — Man lives in world of miracles, and is himself a miracle — No objection to miracles that they are designed to authenticate a system of religion — Such miracles imbued with intrinsic probability — No impostor ever founded new system of faith on miracles, 244

Chapter XIV. The Miracle Of The New Birth

Regeneration wrought by special power of Holy Ghost against laws of our fallen nature — It is a miracle endorsing and authenticating Gospel — Each true believer " hath the witness in himself" that he has been born again, and that Gospel is true — Miracle of new birth evidence to all the world of Gospel's truth — Each participant of eucharist makes solemn affirmation by the act of participation that, according to his best belief, he has been born again — Such affirmation equivalent to deposition in court — These depositions amount to many hundreds of millions — Deponents all deceivers, or deceived; or else new birth a reality, and Gospel from God — New birth standing miracle, . . . 259

CONTENTS.

xiii

Chapter XV. The Moral Incongruities Of Man

PAGE

Man in his moral being destitute of harmony of organization belonging to other creations of God — Is compound of meanness and majesty — at once brutal and godlike — Elements of his contrarious nature in collision with each other — Philosophy could not explain the enigma — Bible explains it — Man made upright and pure — but sinned and fell — Thoughts on the apostasy — The fall the only solution of mysteries of our being — Sin unnatural evil — Usurper of human heart — Man an enemy to God — hence he takes his name in vain — and worships idols — Man not originally made a God-hater by God himself — Conscience and sin not twin brothers of same birth — Gospel's solution of mysteries of our being proof of its divinity — Cause suggested of God's delay in final punishment of sin, 280

Chapter XVI. The Promulgation Of The Gospel

Early and rapid spread of Gospel proved by Gospel itself, and by secular and ecclesiastical histories — Formidable impediments to its progress — Was exclusive and uncompromising — Opposed to prejudices and expectations of Jews — Country of its origin awakened prejudices of gentiles — Heathen superstition deeply entrenched in minds of nations — Retainers of polytheism roused themselves to oppose invasion of Christianity — Recoiling from open argument, they employed foulest slanders — Polytheism closely interwoven with civil government — which was invoked and came to her rescue — Roman empire embraced whole civilized world — Sufferings in Nero's gardens specimens of other sufferings — General population joined in persecuting christians — Intrinsic impediments Gospel had to encounter — Opposed to

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CONTENTS.

pride, passions, and propensities of fallen man — Gospel made the moral reformation of its votaries a test of its truth — and that in an age of universal corruption — Human instrumentality employed in spread of Gospel inadequate to exigency — Its promulgators a few Jewish peasants — the most despised members of a despised nation — Contrast between martial conquests and the conquests achieved by Gospel, 297

Chapter XVII. The Same Subject Continued

Character of Gibbon as an historian — Would have discovered any defect in foundations of Christianity — Bound to give some cause of prodigious spread of Gospel — Denying divine agency, he assigned five causes merely human — His five causes stated — First cause — Zeal of primitive christians — Was met by counter zeal of Jews and heathen — Second cause — Doctrine of future life — - Hell revealed by Gospel appalling and repulsive — Even its heaven not suited to tastes of depraved heart — Third cause — Miraculous powers ascribed to primitive church — Arrogation of such powers, without their possession, a fraud easily detected — Fourth cause — Pure morals of early christians — Their pure morals proof of efficacy and truth of Gospel — Gibbon's attempt to explain their pure morals — Fifth cause — Union and discipline of christian republic — No federative union of churches until close of second century — And before then Gospel had achieved signal triumphs — No event in history parallel to primitive spread of Christianity — Imposture of Mohammed — Modern missions, .... 324

THE

GOSPEL ITS OWN ADVOCATE.

Chapter I

JESUS CHRIST WAS A REAL PERSONAGE AND THE GOSPEL WAS PUB- LISHED AT THE TIME IT PURPORTS TO HAVE BEEN.

Heathen testimonies — Passage from Tacitus — Its genuineness admitted by the infidel Gibbon — Character of Tacitus as an historian — Suetonius — Pliny — His letter to Trajan — Trajan's reply — Their genuineness admitted by Gibbon — Pontius Pilate — Usage of republican and imperial Rome for procurators of provinces to transmit to central government accounts of extraordinary events within their jurisdiction — Early Christian fathers constantly stated that Pilate had communicated to Tiberius an account of Christ's trial, death, and alleged resurrection, with the accompanying prodigies — No heathen writer ever denied existence of document — Yet pagan Rome suppressed it — Inference inevitable that she suppressed the document because it would have proved the prodigies accompanying the crucifixion and the consequent divinity of Jesus Christ.

Had the New Testament been found amidst the ruins of Pompeii, or on some desert island unmarked by human footsteps, the finder, though ignorant of its previous history, must have inferred its inspiration from the originality, holiness and grandeur of its contents. Yet would he have been aided in his exploration of the Sacred Pages by proof, derived from some independent and sure source, that Jesus Christ was not a fictitious personage, and that the newly discovered volume, detailing his birth, life, death, resurrection and doctrines, had been composed by his faithful contemporaries. We have, therefore, deemed it a fitting introduction to our remarks upon the internal evidences of Christianity, to show, from the direct confessions or speaking silence of the ancient pagan and Jewish enemies of our faith, that its reputed founder actually lived and taught ; that he suffered martyrdom under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius Caesar ; and that the various books forming the Gospel were written and promulgated by his primitive disciples. To this preliminary object we shall devote the present chapter and that immediately ensuing.

The great fire at Rome occurred in the tenth year of Nero's reign, about thirty years after the crucifixion ; and the tyrant was more than suspected of being himself the incendiary. Forty years after the fire, Tacitus, long domiciled in the imperial capital, wrote, under the form of annals, his history of the four immediate successors of Augustus. Speaking of the conflagration, and of the efforts of

HEATHEN TESTIMONIES.

Nero to divert suspicion from himself by substituting in his place some feigned criminals, Tacitus says :

" With this view he inflicted the most exquisite torments on those men, who, under the vulgar appellation of christians, were already branded with deserved infamy. They derived their name and origin from Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, had suffered death by the sentence of the procurator, Pontius Pilate. For a while this dire superstition was checked, but it again burst forth, and not only spread itself over Judea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. The confessions of those who were seized discovered a vast multitude of their accomplices ; and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting fire to the city, as for their hatred of human kind. They died in torments, and then* torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses ; others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs ; others again, smeared over with combustible materials, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of the night. The gardens of Nero' were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied with a horse race, and honored with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of the christians deserved, indeed, the most exemplary punishment ; but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration from the opinion that those unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant."

We have, with a single verbal correction, adopted Gibbon's translation of this memorable passage. The persecution under Nero and the genuineness of the passage from Tacitus are admitted by the infidel historian of the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," who says :

" The most skeptical criticism is obliged to respect the truth of this extraordinary fact, and the integrity of this celebrated passage of Tacitus. The former is confirmed by the diligent and accurate Suetonius, who mentions the punishment which Nero inflicted on the christians, a sect of men who had embraced a new and criminal superstition. The latter may be proved by the consent of the most ancient manuscripts ; by the inimitable character of the style of Tacitus ; by his reputation, which guarded his text from the interpolations of pious fraud ; and by the purport of his narration, which accused the first christians of the most atrocious crimes, without insinuating that they possessed any miraculous or even magical powers above the rest of mankind."*

To appreciate the value of this authenticating

* Gibbon's Rome, Vol. II. p. 399.

HEATHEN TESTIMONIES.

testimonial, we must bear in mind, not only the profound acquaintance of Gibbon with the events and writings of the Augustan age and his consequent capacity to detect any interpolation in the Roman classics, but also his virulent hostility to the faith of the cross, to which the world is, perhaps, indebted for his immortal work, and which would have impelled him to expose to detestation and contempt any imposture favoring the new religion, and to cast its obloquy on the christian name. Nothing but the affectation of historic impartiality could have wrung from him his concession of the genuineness of a passage so adverse to the hopes of infidelity, so confirmatory of the facts of the Gospel.

The classic Tacitus was a stranger to the treasures of evangelical truth. It is not likely that he ever had in his hands a copy of any part of the Gospel. Had he known its pure ethics and sublime theism, he would not have termed it a " dire superstition nor would he have condemned the primitive christians " for their hatred of human kind/' Even Gibbon, in an ostentatious ebullition of assumed candor, declares :

" If we seriously consider the purity of the christian religion, the sanctity of its moral precepts, and the innocent as well as the austere lives of the greater number of those who, during the first ages, embraced the faith of the gospel, we should naturally suppose that so benevolent a doctrine would have been received with due reverence even by the unbelieving world ; that the learned and polite, however they might deride the miracles, would have esteemed the virtues of the new sect ; and that the magistrates, instead of persecuting would have protected an order of men who yielded the most passive obedience to the laws, though they declined the active care of war and government."*

But Tacitus, though he had not studied the Gospel, had profoundly studied the annals of his country. Nothing in its history was beyond his grasp or beneath his notice. He narrated facts with a precision and accuracy never surpassed by a secular historian. His success in literature was equalled by his acquirements in the science of human nature. He was familiar alike with the court and with the closet. Born only about twenty years after the crucifixion, he was almost contemporary with Jesus of Nazareth. Upon his boyish imagination had been impressed the tragedy in the gardens of Nero ; his manly eye had watched the phenomenon of the Gospel's progress ; the very name of the new sect

* Gibbon's Rome, Vol. II. p. 374.

HEATHEN TESTIMONIES.

pointed to their Founder ; no peradventure can rest upon the facts stated in the extract from Tacitus. That memorable passage is plenary proof that Jesus Christ really lived and taught and suffered martyrdom under the sentence of Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius ; and that he was the Author of Christianity, which survived his crucifixion, and, having overspread Judea, had, anterior to the great conflagration, made its entrance into the imperial city.

" The diligent and accurate Suetonius," as Gibbon correctly describes him, speaks thus of the primitive faithful in narrating the events of Nero's reign ; " The christians, a set of men of a new and mischievous superstition, were punished."

During the years one hundred and six and one hundred and seven of the christian era, Pliny was intrusted by the emperor Trajan with the government of Bithynia and Pontus, distant provinces upon the Euxine. He found the provinces, notwithstanding their remoteness from Judea, filled with christians, and in one of those years wrote to his imperial master for instructions how he was to proceed with them. The letter of Pliny and the answer of Trajan, now extant, are unquestionably genuine. Even Gibbon admits their authenticity ;

and thence argues in favor of the lenity of the Roman government towards the christian sect.* The letter and answer are familiar to every scholar, but they cannot be too often in print ; and as we may have occasion to refer to them in various parts of our argument, we here present them entire in the nervous translation of Milner :

PLINY TO TRAJAN.

" Health. It is my usual custom, Sir, to refer all things of which I harbor any doubts to you. For who can better direct my judgment in its hesitation, or instruct my understanding in its ignorance ? I never had the fortune to be present at any examination of christians before I came into this province. I am, therefore, at a loss to determine what is the usual object of inquiry or of punishment, and to what length either of them is to be carried. It has also been with me a question very problematical, whether any distinction should be made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust ; whether any room should be given for repentance, or whether the guilt of Christianity, once incurred, is incapable of being expiated by the most unequivocal retraction ; whether the name itself, abstracted from any flagitiousness of conduct, or the crimes connected with the name, be the object of punishment. In the mean time this has been my method with respect to those who were brought before me as christians. I asked them

* Gibbon's Rome, Vol. II p. 409, 410.

HEATHEN TESTIMONIES.

whether they were christians; if they pleaded guilty, I interrogated them twice afresh, with a menace of capital punishment. In case of obstinate perseverance, I ordered them to be executed. For of this I had no doubt, whatever was the nature of their religion, that a sullen and obstinate inflexibility called for the vengeance of the magistrate. Some were infected with the same madness, whom on account of then* privilege of citizenship, I reserved to be sent to Rome to be referred to your tribunal. In the course of this business, informations pouring in as is usual when they are encouraged, more cases occurred. An anonymous libel was exhibited with a catalogue of names of persons who yet declared that they were not christians then or ever had been ; and they repeated after me an invocation of the gods and of your image, which for this purpose I had ordered to be brought with the images of the deities. They performed sacred rites with wine and frankincense and execrated Christ, none of which things I am told, a real christian can ever be compelled to do. On this account I dismissed them. Others, named by an informer, first affirmed and then denied the charge of Christianity, declaring that they had been christians but had ceased to be so, some three years ago, others still longer, some even twenty years ago. All of them worshipped your image, and the statues of the gods, and also execrated Christ, and this was the account which they gave of the nature of the religion they once had professed, whether it deserves the name of crime or error ; namely, that they were accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight, and to repeat among themselves a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by an oath with an obligation of not committing any wickedness, but on the contrary, of abstaining from thefts, robberies and adulteries ; also of not violating their promise, or denying a pledge ; after which it was their custom to separate and meet again at a promiscuous, harmless meal; from which last practice they, however, desisted after the publication of my edict, in which, agreeably to your orders, I forbade any societies of that sort.

On which account I judged it the more necessary to inquire by torture from two females, who were said to be deaconesses, what is the real truth, but nothing could I collect, except a depraved and excessive superstition. Deferring, therefore, any further investigation, I determined to consult you. For the number of culprits is so great as to call for serious consultation. Many persons are informed against of every age, and of both sexes, and more still will be in the same situation. The contagion of the superstition hath spread, not only through cities, but even villages and the country. Not that I think it impossible to check and to correct it. The success of my endeavors hitherto forbids such desponding thoughts ; for the temples, once almost desolate, begin to be frequented ; and the sacred solemnities, which had long been intermitted, are now attended afresh ; and the sacrificial victims are now sold everywhere, which could once scarce find a purchaser. Whence I conclude that many might be reclaimed were the hope of impunity on repentance absolutely confirmed."

HEATHEN TESTIMONIES.

TRAJAN TO PLINY.

" You have done perfectly right, my dear Pliny, in the inquiry which you have made concerning christians. For truly no one general rule can be laid down, which will apply itself to all cases. These people must not be sought after. If they are brought before you and convicted, let them be capitally punished ; yet with this restriction, that if any renounce Christianity and evidence his sincerity by supplicating our gods, however suspected he may be for the past, he shall obtain pardon for the future on his repentance. But anonymous libels in no case ought to be attended to ; for the precedent would be of the worst sort, and perfectly incongruous to the maxims of my government."

The letter of Pliny was written about seventy years after the crucifixion ; and it carries along with it plenary demonstration that, at the time of its date, Christianity had thoroughly pervaded the provinces of which he was governor. He says ; "Many persons are informed against of every age and of both sexes, and more still will be in the same situation. The contagion of the superstition hath spread not only through cities, but even villages and the country." He affirms that until the adoption of his vigorous measures against the innovating faith, the temples of the polytheists had been

THE GOSPEL ITS OWN ADVOCATE.

deserted, their profane solemnities long intermitted, and that the sacrificial victims could scarcely have found a purchaser. This strong language is used without limitation ; it is applied, not to particular sections alone, but to the entire countries under his jurisdiction.

Nor did Pliny intimate that the evangelical religion had just risen, like a sudden meteor, above the horizon. He reports that some of the prisoners, though they had denied under the terrors of threatened death that they were then christians, admitted that they had been such more than twenty years before. It follows that more than twenty years before their examination, and therefore within the first half-century after the crucifixion, the Gospel had accomplished its triumphal march even to the sequestered borders of the Black Sea. The letter of the Roman governor caused no surprise at the imperial court. The emperor treated " the contagion" of Pontus and Bithynia, not as a strange phenomenon peculiar to those provinces, but as a noxious poison common to his vast dominions.