ON THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIA- PREACHING OF ST. PAUL. (Concluded from p. 205.) AFRENCH author, who was engaged in refuting the opinion that St. Paul, St. Philip, and St. Luke, preached the Gospel in Gaul, which he justly represents to be about as well founded as the deri vation of the first kings of France, from Francio, son of Priam-has the following quotation from Tillemont: For as to the objection which some have brought forward, that according to Scripture and tradition, the Gospel was carried, by the Apostles, all over the World, even prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, all which can be adduced did not prevent St. Austin from be lieving that, in his time, there were many nations of Africa, among whom it had not been introduced, and several, where it had not been even preached. St. Frumentius established it in Ethiopia, in the fourth century. History assures us that the Goths, and other barbarians of the North, had not the faith till the time of Valerian; and that Iberia received it under Constantine, by means of a female slave." (Mem. Eccles, tom 4.) M. De Chiniac goes on to observe:-"St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, written about year 58, says also, that their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the earth.' Rom. x. 18. But doubtless, this must be understood of the countries in which God had ordained that the Apostles should preach the Gospel; for they afterwards traCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 113. the velled into many places, whither they had not before penetrated, because they had received no directions to that effect. Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Jerome, and some other fathers, assert that St. Paul preached in Spain. From thence some have concluded that the Apostle passed through Gaul, leaving Trophimus at Arles, Sergius Paulus at Narbonne, and Crescens at Vienne. It is, however, very probable, that St. Paul was never in Spain. Pope Gelasius especially denies it; and it is no unimportant consideration, that not the slightest trace is to be found in Spain, of the preaching of St. Pault; for what some modern Spaniards have said does not merit the least attention. We find, indeed, that St. Paul proposed to himself a journey into Spain; but we have no proof that he accomplished his design. How can we be assured that, on this occasion, as on many others, the Spirit of God did not induce him to alter his intention? What appears certain is, that in the Epistles written from Rome, where St. Paul was not then going to make any stay-Præteriens videam vos-the Apostle says nothing more about going into Spain, but constantly observes that he desires, and hopes, speedily to return to the East, being waiting only till Timothy could join him; provided also, that he came shortly; which intimates that he would depart before his arrival, if it were long delayed. St. Athanasius, who is brought forward to prove that St. Paul preached in Spain, only says, that the Apos Concil. Lab. tom. iv. p. 253. Rom. xv. 28. tle was ready to go thither* un oxvaL. It is the same with St. Cyril of Jerusalem. There is every reason to believe that the other fathers knew nothing further; and that, though they have spoken more positively, they have only presumed upon what St. Paul himself says to the Romanst." The above arguments are perfectly applicable to the question in hand; since, if it can be proved that St. Paul did not visit Spain, it will be admitted to be even much less probable that he ever entered England. It now only remains to consider one more circumstance, which has been conceived to favour the opinion of St. Paul's passage hither. Smollett says, Nor was this (Pomponja Græcina) in all likelihood, the only fair patroness of this religion in Britain; for there is great reason to believe that the Claudia mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistles, was the same British lady, afterwards celebrated by the poet Martial, inasmuch as the Apostle, in his second Epistle to Timothy, takes notice of Claudia and Pudens; and Martial names this very Fudens as the husband of Claudia Rufina." In answer to this, it may be observed, that though the identity of Claudia should be admitted, which, however, Bishop Stillingfleet doubts §) it will by no means follow that she was converted by St. Paul, or by any other minister in Britain; where, indeed, it does not appear, that although a British wo man, she ever lived. For (to use Athan, ad Dracont. p. 956. + Dissertation sur le Tems où la Religion Chretienne ut etablie dans les Gaules, par M. De Chiniac, in Pelloutier's Histoire Des Celtes, vol. vi. p. 253. Dr. Whitby has the following remark upon Rom. xv. 24. "Whensoever I take my journey into Spain," &c. "Here is an evidence that St. Paul, in purposes of this nature, was not assisted by the Holy Ghost, they being purposes, which, by the providence of God, he was prevented from fulfilling." Hist. Eng. vol. i. p. 112. the words of an old Chronicle)" at the commandment of the tyrant Nero (say they *, from Tacitus,) many noble Britons were brought to Rome, who there remaining their confederates, they held it an honour to have their children named after the nobilitie of the Romans: and from Claudius Cæsar was this lady Claudia named, who, according to her worth, was matched in marriage to Rufus, a gentleman of Rome, then a Coronelit, after a Senator, &c. for his sweetness of behaviour called Pudens, who by his grave persuasions, caused Martial to reform many things in his writings; and by him is commended for his humanity, piety, learning, and eloquence; as also his wife Claudia the Britain, for her beauty, faith, learning, and languages. And Archbishop Usher expressly says: "Claudia Britanna, uxor Pudentis, et mater Lini Episcopi Romani, Romæ fidei Christianæ celebris fuisse dicitur §." It will not be improper to mention here, the opinions which have been held by some authors hitherto unnoticed. Grotius, in his zeal to prove that it was "agreeable to the wisdom of Providence to give the widest circulation to the best of doctrines," includes (besides England) America, and the inmost recesses of the North, in his catalogue of the countries which received the Gospel, either by the means, or, at least, in the days, of the Apostles. As there can be little doubt that neither America nor Ireland were known to the ancients, we may venture to exclude them at once; and, perhaps, we shall be inclined to consider as equally "fabulous and heroic" the tale respecting St. Thomas's tomb Archbishop Parker, and Bale. + Colonel-answering to a military tribune. Usher says he was a "Centurio," or a "Primipilaris, first Captain of a legion." Speed's Chronicle, b. vi. c. 9. 1073. Brit. Eccles. Antiq. Index Chron. p. Grot. De Verit. Lib. ii. Num. 18. on the coast of Coromandel*, and that which Spanheim rejects, of St. Andrew's sojourn among the Anthropophagi. But a quotation which Grotius (with another view) gives us in a note, from Chrysostom+, has led me to form a conjecture, upon the probability of which I must leave the reader to decide. I imagine, then, that in the enumeration of the tongues which the Apostles were enabled to speak, on the day of Pentecost, are included all that they ever did speak; and, I believe, that an investigation of their subsequent labours and travels, as far as authentic and probable history details them, will confirm the idea. Neither is it absolutely necessary to suppose that they even visited all the countries mentioned in the Acts. The whole assembly were Jews, though some are denominated Parthians, Medes and Elamites §; and it is possible that for the temporary accommodation of these latter, the power of speaking their language was conferred on the Apostles. If, * Mr. Biddulph, in mentioning this, ob serves" His martyrdom is said to have taken place at Malipur, the metropolis of a kingdom on the coast of Coromandel, not far from the influx of the Ganges into the Gulph of Bengal." Coll. on St. Th. Day, vol. v. Malipur, or Maliapour, is, however, situated only a league from Madras, many hundred miles south of the Ganges. "Venit Spiritus Sanctus in linguarum specie, dividens unicuique orbis regiones, quas instituerent, et per concessum linguæ donum velut codicillis quibusdam desiniens terminos mandati ipsis magistralis imperii." Rom. vi. To the same purpose Estius, Ad Act. ii. 6. "Fortè etiam ex hac doni istius varietate, intellexerunt Apostoli, ad quas quisque gentes proficisci deberet prædicaturus Evangelium; nempe ad eas, quarum linguis loquendi donum accepisset." Acts ii. 9. Hebrew and Greek, with their various dialects, and Latin, were the only languages necessary. Mr. Biddulph conceives St. Paul to have spoken the Celtic, or ancient language of Britain. Triplex erat Judæorum dispersio atque captivitas: 1. Sub Salmanasare. Hi nunquam in patriam redierunt: Ex his erant hîc dicti Parthi, Medi, Elamita. Poli. Syn. Acta ii. 5. however, we admit that the scene of the Apostles' labours was extended to Parthia, it will still be far more circumscribed than some would have us believe. you It has been supposed by some, that the gift of tongues ended with the day on which it was bestowed; but I am rather of opinion with Mr. Biddulph, that the cessation was gradual." At least, it is evident from Scripture, that the gift was subsequently renewed, and extended to others than the first pants of it: since St. Paul, who particihad not been converted at that time, writes to the Corinthians: "Speak, I not with more tongues than all+" And elsewhere, among the variety of gifts, he mentions that of" divers kinds of tongues +."If it be objected, that St. Paul says; "Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world;" it may be replied, in addition to what M. De Chiniac has already observed on this passage, that the Apostle evidently here adopts an hyperbolical or figurative mode of speaking; of which, instances innumerable are to be found in the Scriptures §. *Donum hoc linguarum non erat perpétuum, nec ultra illum diem duravit, nec nisi sedentibus super eos linguis: nam ablatis linguis cessavit miraculum. Alioqui quid opus habuisset Petrus Græcarum literarum interprete, quem Patres omnes ipsi assignant nempe Marco, Poli Syn. Ubi Supr. ↑ 1 Cor. xiv. 8. 1 Cor. xii. 10. As for instance, on this very subject, it is sail, Acts ii. 5, that "there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." On which Estius has this remark. "Hyperbole in eo quod dicitur, ex omni natione quæ sub cœlo est ; quasi dicet ex nationibus multis diversissimis et remotissimis. Nisi hoc modo intelligas; ex omni natione dispersionis Judæorum." See also a learned dissertation by Gomarus;- "An Christus pro omnibus et singulis hominibus sit mortuus;" in which the meaning of the expression omnes gentes, as used in Scripture, is fully considered. Op. Theol. p. 453. Fol. Amstel. But to return to the subject:-Although Grotius, on the authority of the fathers, has placed Britain upon his catalogue, it will be sufficient to recur to the arguments which have been already brought forward, in order to prove that he has done it erroneously. Cave, in his general view of the first Century, seems inclined to believe that St. Paul visited Spain at least; and (Script. sec. Apost. p. 8.) says of Paul," Carcere solutus, Cretam et nonnulla forsan occidentis loca peragravit." Bishop Pearson asserts that St. Paul went into Spain; and grounds his opinion upon the authority of the fathers already mentioned. Of this country he takes no notice †. While some have conveyed the Apostle to the "storm-swept Orcades," the historian of Anglesey would fain persuade us to believe that Mona was the principal scene of his labours; and that he even hastened through England, in order to attack Druidism penetrali in sede. He supports his conjecture, by the circumstances of a brass medal having been found among the rubbish of an old circular entrenchment, and called Bryn Gwyn, in that island, which he concludes to have belonged to one of the first planters of Christianity, who there lost it, together with his life. But Mr. Owen, the editor of the second edition, says of this medal, "It must be acknowledged to have been of much later date than our author supposes; and of little or no account.' -Rowlands's Mona Antiqua, pp. 139 & 297. On the other side of the question, to the authorities already produced, may be added that of Witsius, who deems it uncertain whether St. Paul was ever in Spain; because, while he was confined at Rome, he seemed to have altered his intention of going thither, and to have proposed a journey into the East ‡. Hist. Liter. + Annal. Paulin. A. D. 63. + Maletem. Prælect, De Vit. Paul. Sect. 12, Fol. Amstel. The Bishop of Lincoln, in his Elements of Theology, vol. I. expresses a similar opinion with respect to Spain. Milner, in his History of the Church of Christ *, has the following passage concerning St. Paul. Having obtained his liberty, in the year 63, he most probably would soon fulfil his promise to visit the Hebrews; after which he might see his Colossian friends There is no certain account of his coming either to Jerusalem or to Colosse; but most probably he executed what he had a little before promised. That he ever visited Spain, or our Island, is, to say no more, extremely doubtful. Of the last, there is a very unfounded report; and of the former, no other proof, than the mention of his intention in the Epistle to the Romans, which had been written in the year 58, since which time, all his measures had been disconcerted. And if he once more made an Asiatic tour, after his departure from Rome, there seems not time enough for his accomplishing the Western journey, as he suffered martyrdom on his return to Rome, in 64 or 65." I shall be excused for adding one more quotation: Mr. Newton observest, "We are told by some that in pursuance of the design St. Paul had long before expressed, he went into Spain, and from thence to Gaul, now called France: nor have endeavours been wanting to prove, that he preached the Gospel even in the British Isles. That he, at some time, accomplished his desire of visiting Spain, is not improbable; but we have no certain evidence that he did so. Much less is there any ground for supposing that he was either in France or Britain. From his own writings, however, we have good reason to believe that upon his dismission from Rome, he revisited the churches of Syria, and some other parts of Asia; *Vol. I. p. 109. + Eccles. Hist. Works, vol. III. p. 198. 8vo. edit. for, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he mentions his purpose of seeing them, in company with his beloved Timothy; and, writing to Philemon, who lived at Colosse, he requests him to prepare him a lodging, for that he hoped to be with him shortly." Upon the whole, then, it seems reasonable to believe, that Christianity was introduced into Britain, at a much later period than has been assigned by many. Milner observes, that "it is very doubtful whether our country was at all evangelized in the first century;" and even respecting the third century, we find him saying: "It is rather from the natural course of things, and from analogy, than from any positive, unexceptionable testimony, that we are induced to conclude that the divine light must have penetrated into our country +." We may well say, "Who can hope to propose any certainty amid such discordancy of those who have undertaken to settle the computation of time? It will be more advisable at once to relinquish doubtful authorities, than to make positive affirmations at the expense of truth." It is, however, certain, that at whatever time the Gospel may have been first introduced among the British, it was far from being perfectly received till a late period; since a council, held at Chalchyth, in Cumberland, (to which county, a part of the Britons had retired from the aggressions of the Saxons,) A. D. 787, found it necessary to condemn, as a Pagan impiety, the custom of wearing no clothes, and of, painting the body, which still prevailed in the northern provinces §. • Vol. I. p. 140. + Ibid. p. 511. Sed quis certi aliquid proferet in tanta eorum, qui temporis rationem supputarunt discrepantia? Præstat autem incertos relinquere authores, quam cum detrimento veritatis certo aliquid affirmare.-Baselii Hist. Relig. in Belg. § Vide Hist. des Celtes, vol. ii. Before I conclude, I would take the liberty of noticing an inadvertency into which Mr. Biddulph has fallen, in the following passage. Antiquity, in all its forms, has ever presented charms peculiarly captivating to the human imagination. Few can avoid sympathizing with Johnson's heightened emotion on the shores of Iona: few can behold the mouldering remains of feudal greatness, or monastic severity, and refuse to linger among them. The tales of heroism which enchanted our youth, are scarcely rejected by our riper years; and the holy splendors of ecclesiastical story have universally become the subject of national celebration. We are not less naturally desirous to associate ourselves with that which we venerate and admire. Hence, the disputes among churches, concerning martyrs, founders, and relics; and hence, the pardonable wish of attributing an apostolic origin to the English Church. How far the gratification of that wish is consistent with historic truth, has been attempted to be shewn. Whatever may be the impression which the preceding pages have left on the mind of the reader, he will not hesitate to acknowledge with Witsius, that "the prosperity of a church does not always depend upon the eminence of its founder: Neither is he that planteth any thing; neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase" H. N. T. S. "We recollect that the time of our Lord's nativity was an æra of general tranquillity among the nations of the earth; and that the churches throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, having rest from tumult and persecution, were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the Acts ix. 31. Coll. for 5th Sund. Trin. The comforts of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied."" passage in the Acts, here cited, refers to the rest of the churches, about the year 39 or 40, after a four years' persecution, which arose on the death of Stephen; and cannot be admit tid as even illustrative of the tranquillity which reigned at Christ's birth (which was a political tranquillity), and can still less be identified with it. Non semper felicitas ecclesiarum a fun. datorum prærogativis pendet. Qui plantat, nihil est; et qui rigat nihil; sed Deus, qui incrementum dat, omnia.-De Vit. Paul. Sect. 9. |