T I I K D I V I N E O R I G I N CHRISTIANITY A H I S T O R I C A L F A C T . Ü itoti A Ê K i i W T H E D I V I N E O R I G I N OF C H I ^ Ï S T I A N I T Y Ä H I S T O R I C A L F A C T BT Rev. L. Besse, S.J. T B I C H I N O P O L Y : ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE PRESS 1897. PERMISSU SUPERIORUM T H E D I V I N E O R I G I N OP C H R I S T I A N I T Y A H I S T O R I C A L F A C T . ONE of the most striking features of C h r i s - tianity is its historical character. Christianity is above all a historical f a c t : the whole of it is founded on divine facts. T h e Prophecies which foretell the advent of the Messiah or Christ, upon earth, the prodigies wrought by Moses, the promulgation of the D e c a l o g u e on Mount * Sina, the birth of Jesus Christ, H i s miracles, the conversion of the world to Christianity by the Apostles, are so many facts ; they b e l o n g to history. O u r demonstration of the divine origin of Christianity may be summed up in the follow- i n g syllogism. I s „Speefei 1 l^wfecflans J 4 1. A religion the origin of which is due to a series of divine facts that cannot be denied without denying historical certainty itself, is manifestly a divine religion. 2. N o w , the origin of Christianity is due m w h i c h t h e l a t t e r sums u p t h e m a m customs a n d 20 Clement of Alexandria, (A.D. 2 I 7 ) W R O T E commentaries on the B o o k s of the N e w Testament, and a kind of concordance of the Gospels. In those of his writings which are still extant, we find 5 7 7 quotations from the Gospel, 19 from the Acts, 488 from St. Paul Ammonias of Alexandria, (F A. D . 2 ? Q ) wrote a concordance of the four Gospels. Tertullian, a priest of Carthage ( f A D 245) speaks at length of the four Gospels, and quotes them 1550 times, the Acts 9 7 times, o. Paul 1124 times. Now what is the conclusion that imposes itself upon the mind of the thoughtful and doctrines of Christianity in his dava ^ s r a & B e S ^ writings, dating f r o m t h ? e T o f he firtt or ^ mmsm. e a r l y as thTs." 7 ' f * a n d ^ f i n i t e l y afc Tablet. ' 21 unprejudiced reader, after such testimonies coming from men commendable both by thek learning and their holiness of life, some of whom sealed their faith: with their blood, amidst the most dreadful torments; from men, I say, whobelonged to different countries, many of whom had never seen or known the others, and nevertheless -spoke in precisely the same way o f ' the Four Gospels, whether at Rome or in Gaul, in Syria or Asia Minor in Alexandria o r Carthage ? T h e obvious conclusion is that thè Gospels are authentic. A n d if We consider that in the very' first age of the Church there were countless here- tic»;'who attempted to found their errors upon thè Gospels interpreted by private judgment; thàt 'there wére infidels, sophists, such as Celsus, Porphyrias, T u c i a n , Julian the Apos- tate, etc., who made the most" violent attacks upon the Christian religion, and in order to discredit its followers appealed to the contents of their sacred Books, without ever questioning 22 their genuiness, our demonstration becomes overwhelming. A t that early period, both Christians and non-christians, faithful and heret.cs, agreed together to admit the authen- ticity of the G o s p e l s . Such is the argument which St. Augustine H o o years a g o urged upon- his infidel or heretical opponents. " O y e unfortunate enemies of your own souls, what writings will ever have any weight of authority, if the writings of-the Evangelists: and of the Apostles are destitute o f , i t ? W h a t will be the book the authorship of which is certain, if the writings which, the Church established by the Apostles themselves and' so conspicuously made known ' among* all- nations, pronounces and holds to be of t h e Apostles m a y be doubted to b e of the Apostles? H o w do we know that the books, of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Varron, and other similar authors, ate rightly ascribed to them, but by the non-interrupted evidence of 23 successive ages ? Many have written copiously o n the ecclesiastical letters, not with a canoni- c a l authority, it is ¡true, but with the scope of either aiding their" brethren or acquiring learning. H o w d o we know wh'af are thé b o o k s which are of such authors, except by the fact that af-nhe time each one of them wrote his bodies, he devulged them and made them known to as many people as he c o u l d , and thence by this notice uninterrupted and more widely communicated f r o m one to another to posterity, they came down even to our own a g e ; so that if we were asked to w h o m does each b o o k b e l o n g , we would not b e at a loss to give the proper answer ? Such being the case, w h o could be so obstinately blind as to say that the C h u r c h of the Apostles, so trustworthy, and the consent of so many brethren, d o not deserve that their writings should b e faithfully handed down to posterity, even though they have occupied the sees of the Apostles by a most certain succession 24 down to the present bishops, and since this privilege is so easily granted to the writings of any author whatever, both out of the Church and in the C h u r c h ? " (Contra Faust 1 33, c. 6.) II. I N T E R N A L ARGUMENTS. In the first part we have quoted the evi- dences of contemporary or subsequent writers irt b e h a l f of the authenticity of the Gospels. These are confirmed'by the fruitless attempts ¿iade by'critics to find in them arguments to the contrary. Nay their contents themselves, the style and the way iri which facts are related exhibit all those characteristics which betray writers of that p e r i o d . ' T h e style is full of hebraic idioms, which fact shows that the writers were all Hebrews, although they wrote in Greek. T h e narrative is simple, full of details, as becomes eye or ear-witnesses. In a word their contents wojiderfully agree with all that is known to us from profane and sacred history, ethnology and archoeology, about the re]igi.ous and civil customs of the Jewish nation at the period referred to. n . The Four Gospels have been handed down to lis in their INTEGRITY, i.e. without any substantial corruption. i • A boojc is said to be entire and without corruption, when nothing has been added to, nothing taken away from, and nothing mixed with what was originally written by its author: m other words, when in the course of time it has undergone no change, either by addition,„ by suppressive or by interpolation. 2. ' W h e n we affirm the integrity of the four Gospels, we mean o.nly the substance of the narrative, as that is quite sufficient for our purpose. For it cannot be denied that as time went on, npt a few slight and accidental alterations were introduced into the primitive text, such has the dropping of words, changing of synonyms, etc., at a time when printing was unknown, and copies of the holy writings could be had only by means of amanuenses, o r copiysts. In order to prove our second assertion, therefore w e ' m u s t " establish (a) that the Gospels could not possibly b e corrupted in their broad lines, (b) and as a matter of fact, that they were not corrupted. I. The corruption of the Gospels was not possible. T h e r e are three reasons for it : ( i ) the nature of the G o s p e l s ; ( 2 ) the time in which these alterations would have to have been made (3) the persons by w h o m they might be supposed to have been made. A . N A T U R E OF THE F O U R G O S P E L S . — W h a t are t h e y ? T h e y are sacred writings of the greatest importance to the whole of the Chris- tian society as well as to individuals. F r o m the outset of Christianity, they were looked upon as the celestial archives and the divine constitutions of the Church, containing a doctrine revealed from on H i g h and the rule of Christian life. U p o n them depended the nature of those most sacred and difficult duties which the first Christians were to accustom themselves to. In those early times, there were no, so to speak, born Christians as now 29 all w h o embraced Christianity were converts f r o m Judaism or Heathenism. T h e r e f o r e , they needed strong reasons to give up their first religion and adopt the new one, with its doctrines so contrary to their prejudices, and its moral prescriptions so hard to nature, so opposed :to their inclinations, such as chastity*, love of enemies, .etc. M a r k . that n o t seldom they had to practise heroic acts of virtue and to endure martyrdom rather than renounce their faith. I s it credible that the new converts would have voluntarily submitted to their new obligations) imposed upon them in the name of G o d , if they had not had the evidence that the facts related tn the Gospels were true, and therefore that the G o s p e l s were authentic and without any substantial alteration ? A g a i n , what weré these B o o k s ? Sacred •writings looked upon by all Christians as H o l y Scripture inspired by G o d , an object of veneration for the faithful, of the most zealous 4 ? a r e for the Pastors of the Church. T h e y 30 were b o o k s well known to all, since they were read publicly in the Meetings, on Sundays. T h e i r text was so familiar to all that the writers of the primitive Church, seem naturally to weave into their speech and their writings innumerable passages of the Gospels, quoted from memory. A s to the faithful they were able to correct the mistakes of the reader, and to protest against any change made in the translation used by the Latin Church. * T h e y were b o o k s to which all Catholics, heretics and pagans alike, were accustomed to appeal in their controversies, either to defend the truth, or to attack the Christian * W e have of this a r e m a r k a b l e instance in t h e opposition t h e n e w t r a n s l a t i o n of t h e S c r i p t u r e s b y St. J e r o m , m e t w i t h every where, m e r e l y because t h o u g h t h e m e a n i n g was t h e same, m a n y n e w words h a d been introduced. The same is evinced b y t h e f a c t t h a t t h e Christians of Hippo in A f r i c a , t h o u g h mostly fishermen, w e r e able t o correct S t . Augustine, while preaching, w h e n h e used one word for a n o t h e r . 31 religion. W a s then any alteration of moment possible in such b o o k s , u p o n which the de- fenders and the foes of Christianity alike had their eyes ever jealously fixed to find in them a ground for their respective claims ? B . T H E V A R I O U S P E R I O D S O F T I M E . — N o epoch can b e assigned when the supposed change could have taken place, the alteration been made. In the first century and the be- ginning of the second, the Apostles and their immediate disciples, the authors of the B o o k s and their successors, would have raised an outery against the falsifiers. I n the second century, the Gospels were already disseminated throughout the whole world, in all the Christian Churches, and any alteration, in order to be universal, would have required the connivence of all the Churches, which owing to the special care of the Pastors, the countless copies made of the originals, and their numerous translations is simply impossible. 32 Later on the corruption would have been still more impossible. In the great persecu- tions of the third century, many martyrs, lay as well as ecclesiastics, gave their lives rather than betray the sacred Scriptures, whilst those who by fear of torments handed them over to the tyrants, were covered with infamy, called traitors, deprived of their functions, and excommunicated. C . T H E P E R S O N S :to w h o m the custody of the H o l y Scriptures was e n t r u s t e d , afford fresh guarantee of their being preserved f r o m corruption. F o r it is not credible that m e n who considered the Gospels as sacred B o o k s written under the inspiration of G o d , and who were ready to suffer death rather than ¿How them to fall into the hands of infidel tyrants would have deliberately consented to the least alteration in them. But further, the heretics, who were always on the look out to attack the true Church would not have failed to accuse the Catholic of corrupting the Gospels, if they had attemp- ted to d o so, for they themselves more than once were charged with d o i n g so for the purpose of giving an inspired ground to their errors. So by the very fact that the G o s p e l s were in the hands of both Catholics and heretics, no change was possible, without its b e c o m i n g at once detected. A n additional proof is supplied to us in the fact that the Church has always been extremely careful in admitting b o o k s into her catalogue or canon. Many b o o k s were written after the first century, bearing the names of some of the Apostles, and quite a literature sprang up with the pretension of dealing with the life of Jesus Christ, and the foundation of the C h u r c h . But the C h u r c h rejected them all as apocryphal, preserving only the four G o s p e l s received at the begin- ing. T h i s watchfulness shows how impossible any change in their text was. II. As a matter of fact the Gospels never were corrupted. A c c o r d i n g to the rules laid down by critics, a book I said to be without notable corrup- tion ( i ) when the most recent copies of it compared with the most ancient oifer no serious d i f f e r e n c e ; ( 2 ) when the number of copies thus compared is very great, (3) when the copies are compared not only with other copies, but also with numerous versions and commentaries in various languages, and are found to agree substantially. N o w this work of comparison has been very carefully done in respect of the four G o s p e l s in this centmy. Learned critics, mostly Germans and E n g l i s h have with indefatigable patience, ransacked old libraries for ancient manuscripts of the N e w Testament, and not without success. It would take a volume to relate all the discbv- eries made in the last fifty years. T h e names 35 of Tischendorf, Cureton, and others are well k n o w n , and the result has been that no subs- tantial difference -has been found between the texts already known and the ancient manus- cripts newly discovered. III. The Authors of the Gospels are TRUSTWORTHY. T o be trustworthy an Author needs two conditions, science and veracity. I n other words, we are bound to give credit to an author when we find that he ( i ) could not have been deceived about the facts h e relates, (2) he would not have deceived if he could, and (3) could not have deceived even if he would. N o w the authors of the F o u r G o s p e l s knew so well the facts related or alluded to by them, that they could not have been deceived; they are so candid in their writings that they could never have intended to deceive any b o d y ; and they wrote at such times and in such places, that their fraud would have been detected at once, if they had but attempt- ed to deceive the world. Therefore, the authors of the Gospel are trustworthy. j . They knew the facts which they reported, and could not have been deceived ahout them. i . F o r the writers of the N e w Testament are eight in number, viz.. four Evangelists, S S . Matthew, M a r k , L u k e , John, and four writers of the Epistles, viz., S S . Peter, Paul, James and Jude. ( W e mention here all the writers of the N e w Testament, as the veracity of the Evangelists receives an additional proof f r o m their testimony). T h e y agree together so substantially in their relation of the same events that n o con- tradiction can b e pointed out. I s there any tribunal in the world w h o would refuse to admit the testimony of eight witnesses w h o thus agree together? and such w i t n e s s e s ? T h e y are exceptionally serious m e n ; their p r u d e n c e and wisdom is manifest in their very writings, and what history teaches us of 38 their personal character and judgment p l a c e s them above ordinary witnesses. F i v e of them SS. Matthew, John, Peter, James and Jude, as b e i n g Apostles of Jesus' Christ were eye-witnesses of the chief e v e n t s they record, and the three others SS. L u k e Mark and Paul, were immediate disciples o f the Apostles, their contemporaries, and heard from their mouth, and from those w h o h a d lived with Jesus, as for instance from M a r y , the Mother of Jesus Christ, such facts as they may not have witnessed personally. Let us add that the narrative of each, although brief and concise, is nevertheless accurate and exact, and often corroborated b y Others. N o wonder therefore, if they confidently put forward their quality of witnesses, for instance St. Joim, 19. 35: " H e that saw it hath given testimony, and his testimony is true, and he knoweth that he said true, that y o u also may believe," and 31. 34: " T h i s is that disciple 39 Who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things, and we know that his testimony is true," i. Epistle of St. John, I. 1 3 : " T h a t which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of. the W o r d of life T h a t which we have seen and have heard we declare unto y o u . " T h a t constant preoccupation that they were speaking as witnesses of the facts narrated in the G o s p e l s and alluded to in other b o o k s , i s visible throughout the N e w Testament« See St. Peter, 2 Ep. 1-16; St. Luke, 1, 1 - 2 ; Acts, 1, 21;—2, 32 - 3 , 1 5 , - 4 , 20;—5, 32; - 1 0 , 39, 4 1 , - 1 3 , 3 1 - 9 , 28;—1 Cor. 11, 22; —15, 5—8., etc. 2 . W e know the witnesses.' L e t us consider the facts themselves to which they give evi- dence. T h e s e are neither trifling nor hidden facts, such as may easily have given room f o r 40 a e c e p n o n . T h e y were obvious, sensible and easily perceptible by any one who e n j o y e d the right use of his senses. T h e y were mostly public and of the widest notoriety; they were not observed, in p a s s i n g or by chance but of set purpose and during several years, and they were of the mightiest importance, as the salvation of mankind depended upon them. It is impossible that eye or ear-witnesses, be mistaken about such facts. I I . These witnesses would not have deceived us, if they could. T h i s character of theirs is illustrated chiefly b y the holiness of their life, their candour, their unanimity, their self-denial, and their martyrdom. 1. Their life. A s we know f r o m their history, these witnesses were not only honest, in the vulgar sense, of the word, but they reached a high degree of sanctity, and recom- mended by their examples the sublime doctrine they preached to the world. 2. Their candour shows itself in their writings. T h e i r narrative breathes throughout a wonderful sincerity, simplicity, humility, modesty. T h e y candidly confess even things that might bring shame upon themselves, such as their ignorance, ambition, jealousy, cowardice, fear, abandonment of Christ, the triple denial of St. Peter, the incredulity o { the Apostles, especially of St. T h o m a s , their 42 sins whatever they be, as the reader can easily understand by recollecting a few passages o f the G o s p e l . O n the other hand, the events are related with great clearness and ingenuity. T h e r e is- no rhetorical display; no appeal to the imagi- nation and the senses. Everything is address- ed to the intelligence. T h e y speak of the marvellous and surprising actions of Jesus . Christ, of H i s incredible sufferings, with such equanimity and calmness that they seem t o be free-from human passion. A r e these the characteristics of witnesses capable of deceiv- i n g voluntarily? 3- Their unanimity. T h i s is the crucial test of the veracity of witnesses. If they are numerous and agree together, without any probability of a previous understanding, w e may rely upon their deposition. N o w such previous understanding is alto- gether improbable and we may say never took place. T h e Authors of the N e w Testament, 43 eight in number, wrote their B o o k s at differ- ent periods of time, in different places and for various purposes. Nevertheless they a g r e e in the main facts, and differ only as to t h e style, the elocution and the order of t h e narrative. St. John Chrysostom judiciously remarks about the four Gospels, that " if the four Evangelists had said the same things t o a word, nobody would have believed they had written at different times and places. H a d they been at variance so as not to relate a n y - thing common, the enemies of Christianity would have charged them with telling l i e s . " T h e r e f o r e this agreement w h i c h d o e s n o t exclude all diversity is a sign of their veracity. 4. Their self-denial. Fraud and f o r g e r y always originate f r o m self-interest. N o w the Authors of the N e w Testament had no interest in deceiving the world by giving a false history of Jesus Christ. N a y , their very interest w o u l d , under ordinary circumstances have deterred them from such a fraud. F o r , in p u b l i s h i n g 44 their writings they knew but too well w h a j opposition they would encounter both f r o m the Jews and the Heathen. For, the Jews l o o k e d upon themas blasphemous and impious m e n , whereas in the eyes of the Heathen they were but contemptible fools. T h e y were therefore by their writings as the sequel indeed has shown but too evidently, courting per- secution. T h e instinct of self-preservation o u g h t therefore to have dictated to them quite an opposite course of action, when they saw how dangerous it was to preach and write as they did. 5- -Their martyrdom. But, on the con- . trary, far from giving up the preaching of the G o s p e l , all of them endured the most dreadful torments and death itself, in confirmation of t h e facts they preached. N o w there is no stronger mark of the veracity of a witness, than his dying to corroborate his testimony. III. These Authors could not have deceivd the world, even if they would. For the motives to inquire into the deceit and the means to discover it were at hand, and in sufficient number. Motives. T h e J e w s , t h e Heathen and the Christians were equally interested in discard- i n g all false statements and erroneous records about the origin of Christianity. T h e Jews, because it was to them a ques- t J of a most important event, the turning point of their national history, v i , „ the c o m i n g nHhe Messiah whom they had been expecting f o r ^ t e e n centuries, ^ d to this that having been the authors of the death of J ^ . C h m t they had every interest , in contradicting the N a t i v e of the Gospel, and « M M » * * they had sentenced to death, not a G o d a s * said in the Gospel, but a mere man, a false prophet, an impostor. Finally they expected 46 a ~ Mess,ah who would rid them of the R o m a n j o k e , and give them sway all over the world H o w c o u l d they have consented to admit of a « e d G o d , and of . h a t S , P a u , c a . L l ' scandal of the C m « ? u o s s • ai>d however, this it E : ; ; e r t o a d m i t M t h e a u t ^ o f ^ r , t ' S t 0 , t h e H e a t h ^ - ^ e y had to believe that t h e , S a l v a , d e p e n d e d o n t h e a t G o d crucified as a criminal by a R o m a n th R P e ° p l e in the eyes of the Greeks and the R o m a n s . Before admitting what St Paul he d i v , n i t y 0 f a crucified man, before p l a c i n g their hope of salvation in a Jew whose doctrine was preached by ignorant people, before con forming ^ l i v e s t o doctrine taught b y his man and his disciples, they would certain- £ have sat,sfied themselves of the truth of the G o s p e , ; otherwise, in no other case wouW they have consented to become Christians. 47 T h e Christians themselves looked upon those Sacred B o o k s as their code of doctrines a n d morals. Therefore, if they were careful not to receive b o o k s written by others than the disciples of Christ, m u c h more must have they have been satisfied that their contents were true. Means. T h e means of detecting the false- h o o d were at hand. x. T h e facts recorded in the G o s p e l were altogether recent and contemporary. T h e y were also public and known to thousands of m e n . Consequently innumerable witnesses were still alive a m o n g both the Heathen and the Jews who could have borne testimony to the massacre of the Innocent children, the adoration of the K i n g s , the public life of Jesus Christ, His Passion, death and Resur- rection.. H a d all these been untrue, it would have been denied and contracdicted on all sides.* * R e a d X Cor. 15. 48 2. T h e s e writers did not publish their b o o k s in secret, but in the face of the world, before Christians, Jews, heretics, heathen, priests, philosophers, politicians, magistrates. T h e language they used, except St. Matthew, was the Greek, which was then spoken throughout the whole R o m a n Empire, at R o m e , L y o n s , Alexandria and in Asia M i n o r ; and soon after their b o o k s were translated into the vernaculars. T h e y were so sure of their statements that they appealed to the testimony of their readers themselves, as in their addresses to the Jews, they sometimes appealed to the evidence of their hearers. S e e Act. 2. 2 2 ; 26. 26. etc. 3. Finally, they published their b o o k s b e - fore a highly cultured generation, in the age of Augustus, so famous in the history of Letters and Arts. T h e consequences of the high doctrine and of the moral teaching of the G o s p e l were so important, bearing on what is most opposed to human passions, entailing 49 the most difficult duties, that it could not but be desirable to reject thehi by proving the insincerity and falsehood of the writers of the Gospel. But n o b o d y contradicted them, nobody accused them of b e i n g at variance with history. O n the contrary the world on ex- amination was convinced and believed them. " T h e f e are, says St. Augustine, three things quite incredible, which however have actually taken place. I t is incredible that Christ should have arisen f r o m the dead with H i s flesh, and with H i s flesh ascended into heaveh;-^it is incredible that the world should have believed a thing so i n c r e d i b l e ; — i t is incredible that m e n of mean condition, m e n of nothing, few in number, ignorant, should have so efficaciously persuaded the world at large, even the learned, of so incredible a thing. Of these three things, our opponents refuse to admit the first, but they are c o m p e l l e d to witness the second, without b e i n g able to account for it, unless they believe the third." D A P P E N D I X . I n order to make our demonstration moré complete, let us add a strong confirmation given to the truth of the events related in N e w Testament. i . E v e r y b o d y admits that the sublimity of the G o s p e l has no parallel in any other b o o k whatever. In the assumption that all the facts related therein aré false, how could they have b e e n invented ? H o w could rude fishermen, Jews without learning, have conceived and described the person of Jesus Christ, a charac- ter so beautiful, sublime and divine that to its likeness n o ancient philosopher ever ap- p r o a c h e d ? H o w could they have hit upon such pure and admirable moral doctrine ? " Shall we say that the history of the G o s p e l is a pure invention ? M y friend, it is not so that tales are invented, and the facts about Socrates which n o b o d y calls in doubt, are less attested than the facts about Jesus Christ. 51 Indeed to admit this is to postpone the diffi- culty, without resolving it. It would b e more inconceivable that several men of their Own accord, should have f o r g e d this b o o k (the Gospel), than that one man should have supplied the subject thereof. N e v e r w o u l d Jewish writers have hit upon such tone and s u c h - m o r a l doctrine. T h e G o s p e l exhibits such characteristics of truth, so great, so striking, so perfectly inimitable, that the inventor thereof would be more astonishing than its h e r o . " (J. J. Rousseau, Emile, IV). 2. Profane b o o k s , written even by Jews and Pagans, confirm many of the facts m e n - tioned in the New Testament. Tacitus, (Annals, 1. 15. n. 44) relating the martyrdom of many Christians at R o m e under Nero, s a y s : " T h e author of this name Christ was, under T i b e r i u s E m p e r o r , put to death by the Procurator Pontius Pilate." Thalus, a Greek writer of the same century, attests that in the eighteenth year of T i b e r i u s , 82 in which Christ died, a sudden darkness was seen at full noon. Phlegon, the favourite of Adrian, bears witness to the same fact. " I n the fourth year of the two hundredth and second (202) Olympiad (the eighteenth year of T i b e r i u s , in which Christ suffered), there was an eclipse of the sun, surpassing all those which had taken p l a c e previously. T h e day at noon was so changed into the darkest night, that the stars appeared, and an earthquake destroyed the city of N i c e . " (Tertul., A p o l . c. 21). Suetonius, vita Claudii c . 25., vita Nerpnis, c. 16. P l i n y t h e Y o u n g e r , 1. xp, Ep- 9 7 j in his letter to T r a j a n - Maerobius, Saturaal. 2. 0. 4, relating the murder of the holy Innocents mentions the j u d g m e n t passed by A u g u s t u s on k i n g H e - rod's cruelty " that it was better tp be the swine of H e r o d ' s than his s o n . " 53 Chalcidius, in Timaea, mentions the appar rition of a star when Jesus Christ was horn, k and the adoration of the K i n g s . Celsus, Julian the Apostate, and others speaking of the miracles of Jesus Christ, do not call them in doubt, but they ^tribute them to magic, or try to find contradictions between the four Gospels, Flavius Josephus, Antiquities U 18. c. 3 ; 1. 17. c. 7 ; 1. 20. c. 8. speaks of St. John the Baptist, of Jesus Christ and several other facts mentioned in the Gospel. T h e s e facts were so notorious that the first Christian apologists, in their Apologies offered to the Emperors on behalf of the Christians, were not afraid to appeal to the public archives of the Empire in order to confirm their statements. St. Im- cien priest of Antioch, in his interrogatory before he endured martyrdom, said to his judges: " R e q u i r i t e in annalibus vestris: inye* nietis, temporibus Pilati, Christa patiente, fugato sole, interruptum tenebris diem." " In,-- 54 quire in your a n n a l s : y o u will find, that in the time of Pilate, when Christ suffered, the , sun vanished and the day was interrupted by J darkness." Tertullian in his A p o l o g y , with the same boldness sends his contradictors to the archives of R o m e to ascertain both the birth and the death of Jesus Christ. Of the death he s a y s : " Et tamen eum mundi casum rela- tuni in arcanis vesiris habetis." However that event of the world (the eclipse of the sun that took place at the death of Jesus Christ) is related in your secret archives." Of H i s birth he s a y s : " De censu denique Augusti, quatn testem fidelissimum Dominica nativitatis Ro- mana archiva custodiunt." " T h e Roman archives preserve the census made under Augustus as a most faithful witness of the birth of the L o r d . " (Tert. 1. cont Marcion," c. 7.) St. Justin appeals to the Acts of Pilate, ist. A p o l . n, 34 and 35. _ V- v 55 After relating Christ's Passion and death, he a d d s : " Atque hcec ita gesia esse ex Actis sub Pontio Pilato confectis discere potestis" " and that these things thus happened, you may learn frOm the Acts written under Pon- tius Pilate." Shall we add that all the monuments of that-period that are still extant give a full con- firmation to the narrative, of the Evangelists ? old coins, medals, stones, inscriptions, slabs, sculptures and pictures of the Catacombs, narrate in their way the same facts. But that proof would lead us too far. Let it be enough to say that the learned Bultet wrote a book to prove the divinity of Christianity by its found- ation, borrowing his testimonies only from pagan and Jewish authors of the four first centuries. W e shall quote the last words of his work which shall be the conclusion of ours :•-- " Jews and pagans make a twofold a v o w a l : they acknowledge expressly the prodigies of 56 Jesus Christ and H i s disciples, and supply us with the facts with which we have c o m p o s e d the history of the establishment of Christianity; but these facts suppose of necessity the reality of those miracles. " N o w facts acknowledged by those w h o have the greatest interest to deny them, must be considered as indisputable. T h e miracles of Jesus and H i s disciples attain therefore the highest degree of certainty. " I t is pr6ved that G o d is the author of these miracles. G o d therefore has authorized and founded the Christian religion, arid a religion that is approved by G o d , and is the work of G o d H i m s e l f , is Certainly true. T h e r e f o r e the Christian religion is true."