\1/ Cp. Zahn's Weltkehr and Kirche wahrend der drei ersten jahrhunderte (1877) ; Ramsay in Expositor, vol. viii., Dec. 1903, pp. 401 f. ("Travel and Correspondence among the Early Christians ") [also reproduced in his Letters to the Seven Churches, 1904, ch. i. ], his Church: in the Roman Entfiire, pp. 364 f., and his article on "Travel" in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. "It is the simple truth that travelling, whether for business or for pleasure, was contemplated and performed under the empire with an indifference, confidence, and, above all, certainty which were unknown in after centuries until the introduction of steamers and the conse­quent increase in ease and sureness of communication." Compare the direct and indirect evidence of Philo, Acts, Pliny, Appian, Plutarch, Epictetus, Aristides, etc. lren., iv. 30. 3 : " Mundus pacem habet per Romanos, et nos sine timore in viis ambulamus et navigamus quocumquc voluerimus" (" The world enjoys peace, thanks to the Romans, and we can travel by road and sea wherever we wish, unafraid"). One merchant boasts, in an inscription on a tomb at Hierapolis in Phrygia, that lie voyaged from Asia to Rome seventy-two times (C.LG., 3920). The author of Acts treats Paul's journey from ^-Ephesus to Jerusalem and his return by land as a simple excursion (xviii. 21-32). No excessive length of time was needed to cover the distances.. In twelve days one could reach Alexandria from Neapolis, in seven from Corinth. With a favourable wind, the voyage from Narbo in Southern France to Africa occupied only five days (Sulpic. Sever., Dial., i. 3) ; from the Syrtes to Alexandria took six days (ibid., i. 6). The journey by land from Ephesus to Antioch in Syria certainly took a month (cp. Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., i. 3) ; but there were rapid messengers who traversed the empire' with incredible speed. Of one it is said (Socrates, H.E., vii. 1g), οντσs ό Παλλάδιοs μεγίστην ο ύσαν τών ' Ρωμαίων άρχήν μικράν έδειξε τή ταχντητι ("This Palledius made the huge empire of Rome seem small by his speed "). Cp. Friedlander's Sittengeschichte (vol. ii., at the beginning). For the letters, cp. Deissmann's Bible Studies (Eng. trans., 1gol) and Wehofer's Untersuch. cur altchristl. Epistolographie (in " Wiener akad. Sitzungsber., Philos.-Hist. Klasse, cxliii., 1901," pp. 102 f). Norden (Antike Kunstprosa, p. 492) observes : "The epistolary literature, even in its artless forms, had a far greater right to exist, according to the ideas of the age, than we can understand at the present day. The epistle gradually became a literary form into which any material, even of a scientific nature, could be thrown loosely and freely."

\2/ Read the sixteenth chapter of Romans in particular, and see what a number of Paul's acquaintances were in Rome.

\3/ See Caspari, Quellen z. Taufsymbol, vol. iii. (1875).

\4/ Abercius turned up at Rome and on the Euphrates from Hieropolis in Phrygia.

\5/The apostolic age is left out of account. It is very probable, I think, that Simon Magus also really came to Rome. Ignatius was taken thither from Antioch against his will, but several Christians accompanied him of their own accord. John, too, is said to have come to Rome, according to an early but poorly authenticated legend.

• Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (Eus., H.E., iv. 14, v. 24).
• Valentinus the gnostic, from Egypt (Iren., iii. 4. 3).
• Cerdo the gnostic, from Syria (Iren., i. 27. 1, iii. 4. 3).
• Marcion the heretic, from. Sinope (Hippolytus, cited in Epiph., I-Iwr. ; xlii. 1 f.).
• Marcellina the heretic (Iren., i. 25. 6).
• Justin the apologist, from Samaria (see his Apology; also Euseb., HE., iv. 11).
• Tatian the Assyrian (Drat. xxxv.).
• Hegesippus, from the East (Eus., H.E., iv. 22, according to the voro,uri a-ra of Hegesippus).
• Euelpistus, Justin's pupil, from Cappadocia (Acta Justini).
• Hierax, Justin's pupil, from Cappadocia (Acta Ju.stini).²
• Rhodon, from Asia (Eus., H.E., v. 13).
• Irenieus, from Asia (Eus., H.E., v. 1-4; [Martyr. Polyc., append.]).
• Apelles, Marcion's pupil (Tertull., de Prwscr., xxx. ; though Apelles may have been born. at Rome), from______ ?
• Florinus, from Asia (Errs., HE., v. 15. 20).
• Proclus and other Montanists from Phrygia or Asia (Eus., H .E., ii. 25, iii. 31, vi. 20; Tertull., adv. P9-ax.,' 1).
• [Tertullian, from Carthage (de Cultu Fern., i. 7 ; Eus., II. E., ii. 2).]
• Theodotus, from Byzantium (Epiph., Her., liv. 1).
• Praxeas, from Asia (Tert., adv. Pi-ax., 1).
• Abercius, from Hieropolis (see his inscription).
• Julius Africanus, from Emmaus (Keo-rot).
• Alcibiades, from Apainea in Syria (Hippol., Philos., ix. 13).
• [Prepon the Marcionite, an Assyrian (Hippol., I' hi to s., vii. 31).]
• Epigonus, from Asia (Hipp., Philos., ix. 7). [372]
• Sabellius, from Pentapolis (Theodoret, Hair. Fab., ii. 9).
• Origen, from Alexandria (Eus., HL'., vi. 14).
• Many Africans, about the year 250 (Cyprian's epistles).\7/

  \6/ Euelpistus and Hiierax, however, were probably involuntary travellers ; they seem to have come to Rome as slaves.

  \7/Different motives prompted a journey to Rome. Teachers came to prosecute their vocation, others to gain influence in the local church, or to see this famous church, and so forth. Everyone was attracted to the capital by that tendency to make for the large towns which characterizes each new religious enterprise. How eagerly Paul strove to get to Rome!

Shortly after the middle of the second century, Melito of Sardes journeyed to Palestine (Eus., HE., iv. 26), as did Alexander from Cappadocia (Eus., H.E., vi. 11) and Pionius froth Smyrna (about the middle of the third century : see the Acta Pionii) ; Julius Africanus travelled to Alexandria (Eus., H.E., vi. 31); Hermogenes, a heretic, emigrated from the East to Carthage (Theophilus of Antioch opposed him, as did Ter­tullian); Apelles went from Rome to Alexandria (Tert., de Prwscr., xxx.) ; during the Decian persecution and afterwards, Roman Christians were despatched to Carthage (see Cyprian's epistles); at the time of Valerian's persecution, several Roman brethren were in Alexandria (Dionys. Alex., cited by Euseb., HE., vii. 11); while Clement of Alexandria got the length of Cappadocia (Eus., HE., vi. 11). This list is incomplete, but it will give some idea of the extent to which the travels of prominent teachers promoted intercommunication.

As for the exchange of letters, \8/ I must content myself with noting the salient points. Here, too, the Roman church occupies the foreground. We know of the following letters and despatches issued from it :­-

\8/The churches also communicated to each other the eucharist. The earliest evidence is that of Irenaeus in the letter to Victor of Rome (Eus., H. E., V. 24. 15).

• The pastoral letter to Corinth (i.e., the first epistle of Clement), c. 96 A.D.
• The " Shepherd" of Hermas, which (according to Vis., ii. 4) was sent to the churches abroad.
• The pastoral letter of bishop Soter to Corinth (i.e., the homily he sent thither, or 2 Clem.). The letter in reply, from Dionysius of Corinth, shows that Rome had for decades been in the habit of sending letters and despatches to a number of churches.
• During the Montanist controversy, under (Soter) Eleutherus and Victor, letters passed to Asia, Phrygia, and Gaul.
• During the Easter controversy, Victor issued letters to all the churches abroad.
• Pontian wrote to Alexandria, assenting to the condemnation of Origen.
• During the vacancy in the Papacy after bishop Fabian's death, letters passed to Carthage, to the other African churches, and to Sicily ; the Roman martyrs also wrote to the Cartha­ginian.
• Bishop Cornelius wrotee numerous letters to Africa, as well as to Antioch and Alexandria.
• Bishop Stephanus wrote to Africa, Alexandria, Spain, and Gaul, as well as to all the churches abroad during the contro­versy over the baptism of heretics. He also sent letters and despatches to Syria and Arabia, following the custom of his predecessors.
• Letters of bishop Xystus II. to Alexandria.
• Letters of bishop Dionysius to Alexandria.
• A letter and despatches of bishop Dionysius to Cappadocia.
• A letter of bishop Felix to Alexandria.
• Letters to Antioch during the trouble caused by Paul of S amosata.

Among the non-Roman letters are to be noted: those of Ignatius to the Asiatic churches and to Rome, that written by Polycarp of Smyrna to Philippi and other churches in the neighbourhood, the large collection of those written by Dionysius of Corinth (to Athens, Lacedoemon, Nicomedia, Crete, Pontus, Rome), the large collections of Origen's letters (no longer extant), of Cyprian's (to the African churches, to Rome, Spain, Gaul, Cappadocia), and of Novatian's (to a very large number of churches throughout all Christendom : no longer extant), and of those written by Dionysius of Alexandria (pre­served in fragments).\9/ Letters were sent from Cappadocia, Spain, and Gaul to Cyprian (Rome) ; the synod which gathered in Antioch to deal with Paul of Samosata, wrote to all the churches of Christendom ; and Alexander of Alexandria, as well [374]   as Arius,, wrote letters to a large number of churches in the Eastern empire.\10/

\9/ He even wrote to the brethren in Armenia.

\10/ Evidence for all these letters will be found in my Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur, vol. i.

The more important Christian writings also circulated with astonishing rapidity.\11/ Out of the wealth of material at our disposal, the following instances may be adduced:­

\11/ On this point also I may refer to my History of the literature, where the ancient testimony for each writing is carefully catalogued. Down to about the reign of Commodus the number of Christian writings is not very striking, if one leaves out the heretical productions ; but when the latter are included, as they must be, it is very large.

• Ere the first half of the second century expired, the four gospels appear to, have reached the majority, or at any rate a very large number, of churches throughout the empire.
• A collection of Paul's letters was already known to Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, and all the leading gnostics.
• The first epistle of Clement (addressed to Corinth) was in the hands of Polycarp (at Smyrna), and was known to IrenEeus at Lyons, as well as to Clement of Alexandria.
• A few weeks or months after the epistles of Ignatius were composed, they were collected and despatched to Philippi ; Irenmus in Lyons and Origen in Alexandria were acquainted with them.
• The Didache was circulated in the second century through East and West alike.
• The "Shepherd" of Hermas, in its complete form, was well known in Lyons, Alexandria, and Carthage, even in the second century
• The Apology and other works of Justin were known to Irenmus at Lyons, and to Tertullian at Carthage, etc. Tatian was read in Alexandria.
• By the close of the second century, writings of Melito, bishop of Sardes (during the reign of Marcus Aurelius) were read in Ephesus, Alexandria, Rome, and Carthage.
• As early as about the year 200 A.D., writings of Irenteus (who wrote c. 190) were read in Rome and Alexandria, whilst, like Justin, he was known at a later period to Methodius in Lycia.
• The writings of several authors in Asia Minor during the [375] reign of Marcus Aurelius were read in Alexandria, Carthage, and Rome.
• The "Antitheses" of the heretic Marcion were known to all the larger churches in the East and West by the end of the second century.
• The apocryphal Acta Pauli, originating in Asia, was prob­ably read in all the leading churches, and certainly in Rome, Carthage, and Alexandria, by the end of the second century.

Numerous writings of the Roman Hippolytus were circulated throughout the East. What a large number of Christian writings were gathered from all parts of the world in the library at Cmesarea (in Palestine) is known to us from „the Church, History of Eusebius, which was written from the material in this collection. It is owing primarily to this library, which in its way formed a counterpart of the Alexandrian, that we possess to-day a coherent, though very limited, knowledge of Christian antiquity.\12/ And even previous to that, if one takes the trouble (and it is no trouble) to put together, from the writings of Celsus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alex­andria, and Origen, their library of Christian works, it becomes evident that they had access to an extensive range of Christian books from, all parts of the-church.

^\12/ Compare on this point the two tables, given in my Litleratur-Geschichte, vol, i. pp. 883-886, of " Early Christian Greek Writings in old Latin Versions," and "Early Christian Greek Writings in old Syriac Versions." No writing is translated into a foreign language until it appears to be indispensable for the purposes of edification or of information. Compare, in the light of this, the extraordinary amount of early Christian literature which was translated at an early period into Latin or Syriac. It is particularly interesting to ascertain what writings were rendered into Latin as well as into Syriac. Their number was considerable, and this forms an unerring aid in answering the question, which of the early Christian writings were most widely circulated and most influential. Very little was trans lated into Greek from Latin (Tertullian's Afiology, Cyprian's epistles) in the pre­Constantine period.

These data are merely intended to give an approximate idea of how vital was the intercourse, personal and epistolary and literary, between the various churches, and also between promi­nent teachers of the day. It is not easy to exaggerate the significance of this fact foission and propaganda of Christianity. The co-operation, the brotherliness, and moreover [376] the mental activity of Christians, are patent in this con­nection, and they were powerful levers in the extension of -the cause. Furthermore, they must have made a powerful impression on the outside spectator, besides guaranteeing a certain unity in the development of the religion and ensuring the fact that when a Christian passed from the East to the West, or from one distant church to another, he never felt himself a stranger. Down to the age of Constantine, or at any rate until the middle of the third century, the centripetal forces in early Christianity . were, as a matter of fact, more powerful than the centrifugal. And Rome was the centre of the former tendencies. The Roman Church was the catholic church. It was more than the mere symbol and representative of Christian unity ; to it more than to any other Christians owed unity itself.

So far as I know, the technical side of the spread of early Christian literature has not yet been investigated, and any results that can be reached are far from numerous.\13/ We must realize, however, that a large number of these writings, not excluding the oldest and most important of them, together with almost all the epistolary literature, was never "edited" in the technical sense of the term-never, at any rate, until after some generations [377] had passed. There were no editions of the New Testament (or of the Old?) until Origen (i.e., the Theodotian), although Marcion's New Testament deserves to be called a critical re­vision and edition, while revised editions.were meant by those early fathers who bewailed the falsification of the Bible texts by the gnostics. For the large majority of early Christian writings the exemplars in the library at Caesarea served as the basis for editions (i.e., transcripts) from the fourth and fifth centuries onwards. Yet even after editions of the Scriptures were published they were frequently transcribed at will from some rough copy. From the outset the apologies, the works of the gnostics (which were meant for the learned), and any ecclesiastical writings designed, from Irenteus downwards, for the educated Christian public, were published and circulated. The first instance of a bishop collecting and editing his own letters is that of Dionysius of Corinth, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (Eus., H.E., iv. 23).

\13/ Cp. however, what Sulpicius Severus (Dial., i. 23, in the light of iii. ry) says of his little volume on "The Life of S. Martin." Postumianus, the interrogator, says : "Nunquam a dextera mea liber iste discedit. nam si agnoscis, ecce -- et aperit librum qui veste latebat -- en ipsum 1 hic mihi, inquit, terra ac marl comes, hic in peregrinatione tota socius et consolator fuit. sed referam tibi sane, quo liber iste penetrarit, et quam nullus fere in orbe terrarum locus sit, ubi non nrateria tam felicis historiae pervulgata teneatur. primus eum Romanae urbi vir studiossimus tui Paulinus invexit; deinde cum tota certatim urbe raperetur, exultantes librarios vidi, quad nihil ab his quaestiosius haberetur, siquidem nihil ilia promptius, nihil carius venderetur. hic navigationis meae cursmn longe ante' praegressus, cum ad Africam veni, iam per totam Carthaginem legebatur. solus cum Cyrenensis ille presbyter non habebat, sed me largiente descripsit. nam quid ego de Alexandria loquar? ubi paene omnibus magis quam tibi notus est. hic Aegyptum, Nitriam, Thebaidain ac tota Memphitica regna transivit. hunc ego in eremo a quodam sene legi vidi," etc. (" That book never leaves my right hand. Look, said he-and he showed the book under his cloak-here it is, my com­panion by land and sea, my ally and comforter in all my wanderings. I'll tell you where it has penetrated ; let me tell you, pray, how there is no single spot where this blessed story is not known. Paulinus, your great admirer, brought it first to Rome. The whole city seized on it, and I found the booksellers in delight, because no demand was more profitable, no book sold so keenly and quickly as [377b] yours. I found it before me wherever I sailed. When I reached Africa, it was being read in Carthage. That presbyter of Cyrene did not only possess it; at my expense, he wrote it out. And what shall I say of Alexandria, where nearly everyone knows it better than you do yourself. Through Nitria, the Thebais, and all the Memphis district it has circulated. I saw it also being read in the desert by an old anchorite," etc. ). This refers, of course, to a book which appeared about 400 A.D., but the description, even when modified, is significant for an earlier period.

Unedited or unpublished writings were naturally exposed in a special degree to the risk of falsification. The church­fathers are full of complaints on this score. Yet even those which were edited were not preserved with due care.\14/ [378]

\14/ To give one or two instances. Dionysius of Corinth found that his letters were circulating in falsified shape even during his own lifetime ; lie comforts himself naively with the thought that even the Scriptures shared the same fate (so, apropos of Origen's writings, Sulpic. Sever., Dial., i. 7). Irenaeus adjures all future copyists of his works not to corrupt them, and to copy out his adjuration (Eus., HE., v. 20). But the most striking proof of the prevailing uncertainty in texts is afforded by the fact that only a century and a half after Cyprian an attempt was actually made to set aside all his letters on the baptism of heretics as forgeries. Augustine's remarks on the matter are quite as remarkable (Ep. xciii. 38). He regards the hypothesis as possible, though he does not agree with it : " Non desunt, qui hoc Cyprianum prorsus non sensisse contendant, sed, sub eius nonrine a prae­sumptoribus atque mendacihus fuisse confictum. neque enim sic potuit integritas atque notitia litterarum unius quamlibet inlustris episcopi custodivi quemadmodum scriptura canonica tot linguarum litteris et ordine ac succession celebrationis [378b] ecclesiasticae custoditur, contra, quam tamen non defuerat qui sub nominibus apostoloruni multa confingerent frustra quidem, quia illa sic commendata, sic celebrata, sic nota est" (" There are, indeed, some people who assert that Cyprian did not hold such opinions at all, but that the correspondence has been composed in his name by daring forgers. For the writings of a bishop, however distinguished, could not indeed be preserved in their integrity, like the holy canonical Scriptures, by ecclesiastical order and use and regular succession-though even here there have actually been people who issued many fabrications under the names of apostles. It was useless, however, for Scripture was too well attested, too well known, too familiar, to permit of them succeeding in their designs"). -1^-low Tertullian fared with the second edition of his anti-Marcion, he tells us himself: " Haste composi­tionem nondum exevzplariis suffectavi fraude tune fratris, dehinc apostatae, amisi, qui forte descripserat quaedam mendosissime et exhibuit frequentiae" (" I lost it, before it was finally published, by the fraud of one who was then a Christian brother but afterwards apostatized. Ile happened to have transcribed part of it very inaccurately, and then he published it"). -Tire author of the Life of Polycarp observes that the works, sermons, and letters of that writer were pilfered during the persecution by the knavery of unbelievers.

To what extent the literature of Christianity fell into the hands of its opponents, is a matter about which we know next to nothing. Tertullian speaks quite pessimistically on the point (de Testim., i.), and Norden's verdict is certainly true (Kunstprosa, pp. 517 f.) : " We cannot form too low an estimate of the number of pagans who read the New Testament.... I believe I am correct in saying that pagans only read the New Testament when they wanted to refute it." Celsus furnished himself with quite a considerable Christian library, in which he studied deeply before he wrote against the Christians ; but it is merely a rhetorical phrase, when Athenagoras assumes (Suppl., ix.) that the emperors knew the Old Testament. The attitude of the apologists to the Scriptures, whether they are quoting them or not, shows that they do not pre­suppose any knowledge of their contents (Norden, loc. cit.). Writings of Origen were read by the Neoplatonist philosophers, who had also in their hands the Old Testament, the gospels, and the Pauline epistles. We may say the same of Porphyry and Arnelius. One great obstacle to the diffusion of the Scriptures lay in the Greek version, which was inartistic and offensive (from the point of view of style),\15/ but still more in [379] the old Latin version of the Bible, which in many parts was simply intolerable. How repellent must have been the effect produced, for example, by reading (Baruch ii. 29) "Dicens: si non audieritis vocis ineae, si sonos magnos hagininis iste avertatur in minima in gentibus, hubi dispergain ibi."\16/ Nor could Christianity in the West boast of writers whose work penetrated far into the general literature of the age, at a time when Origen and his pupils were forcing an entrance for them­selves. Lactantius, whose evidence is above suspicion,\17/ observes that in Latin society Christians were still considered "stulti " (Instit., v. ^I f.),\18/ and personally vouches for the lack of suitable and skilled teachers and authors; Minucius Felix and Tertullian could not secure "satis celebritatis," whilst, for all his admirable qualities as a speaker and writer, Cyprian "is unable to satisfy those who are ignorant of all but the words of our religion, since his language is mystical and designed only for the ears of the faithful. In short, the learned of this world who chance to [380 ] become acquainted with his writings are in the habit of deriding him. I myself once heard a really cultured person call him 'Coprianus' [dung-man] by the change of a single letter in his name, as if he had bestowed on old wives' fables a polished intellect which was capable of better things" (“ placere ultra verba sacramentum ignorantibus non potest, quoniam mystica hunt quae locutus est et ad id praeparata, ut a solis fidelibus audiantur : denique a doctis huius saeculi, quibus forte scripta eius innotuerant, derideri solet. audivi ego quendam hominen1 sane disertum, qui eum immutata una litera ' Coprianum' vocaret, quasi quod elegans ingenium et melioribus rebus aptum ad aniles fabulas contulisset ").

\15/ Nearly all the apologists (cp. even Clem. Alex., Protrept., viii. 77) tried to justify the "unadorned " style of the prophets, and thus to champion the defect. Origen (Ilom. viii. r, in Jesunz Nave, vol. xi. P. 74) observes : "We appeal to you, 0 readers of the sacred books, riot to hearken to their contents with weariness and disdain for what seems to be their unpleasing method of narration " (" Depre­camur vos, 0 auditores sacroruni voluminum, non cum taedio vel fastidio ea quae leguntur, audire pro co quod minus delectabilis eorum videtur esse narratio ") ; cp. Horn. viii. t, in Levit., vol. ix. p. 313, de Princzjh., iv. 1. 7, iv. 26 [the divine nature of the Bible all the more- plain from its defective literary style), Cohort. ad Grtec., xxxv.-xxxvi., xxxviii.

\16/Even the Greek text, of course, is unpleasing : λέγωv' *εáv  μη *ακoύσητε τ*ηs φων*ης μου, ε*ι μ*ηv *η βsμβησιs *η μεγáλη *η πολλ*η α*υτη . On the style of the New Testament, cp. Norden, Die antike Kunstprosa(1898), pp. 516 f. ("Educated people could not but view the literary records of the Christians as stylistic monstrosities").-- Arnobius (i. 58) writes of the Scriptures : "They were written by illiterate and uneducated men, and therefore are not readily to be credited" ("Ab indoctis hominibus et rudibus scripta suit et idcirco non swat facili auditione credenda "). When he writes (i. 59) : " Barbarismis, soloecismis obsitae sunt res vestrae et vitioruni deformitate pollutae" (" Your narratives are overrun by barbarisms and solecisms, and disfigured by monstrous blunders "), he is reproducing pagan opinions upon the Bible. Compare the remarks of Sulpicius Severus, and the reasons which led him to compose his Chronicle of the World ; also Augustine's Confess., iii. 5 (9). The correspondence between Paul and Seneca was fabricated in order to remove the obstacles occasioned by the poor style of Paul's letters in the Latin version ( cp. my Litt. Geschichte, i., p. 765).

\17/ No doubt he is anxious to bring out his own accomplishments.

^\18/ Cp. on this the extremely instructive treatise " ad Paganos " in the pseudo­August. Qucest. in Vet. et Nov. Test., No. 114- Underlying it is the charge of stupidity levelled at Christians, who are about thirty times called " stulti." The author naturally tries to prove that it is the pagans who are the stupid folk

In the Latin West, although Minucius Felix and Cyprian (ad Donatum) wrote in a well-bred style, Christian literature had but little to do with the spread of the Christian religion ; in the East, upon the contrary, it became a factor of great importance from the third century onwards.

[381]

CHAPTER II

METHODS OF THE MISSION : CATECHIZING AND BAPTISM,
THE INVASION OF DOMESTIC LIFE

ANYONE who inquires about the missionary methods in general, must be referred to what has been said in our Second Book (pp. 86 f.). For the missionary preaching includes the missionary methods. The one God, Jesus Christ as Son and Lord according to apostolic tradition, future judgment and the resurrection-these truths were preached. So was the gospel of the Saviour and of salvation, of love and charity. The new religion was stated and verified as Spirit and power, and also as the power to lead a new moral life, and to practise self-control. News was brought to men of a divine revelation to which humanity must yield itself by faith. A new people, it was announced, had now appeared, which was destined to embrace all nations ; withal a primitive, sacred book was handed over, in which the world's history was depicted from the first day to the last.

In 1 Cor. i.-ii. Paul expressly states that he gave a central place to the proclamation of the crucified Christ. He summed up everything in this preaching ; that is, he proclaimed Christ as the Saviour who wiped sins away. But preaching of this kind implies that he began by revealing and bringing home to his hearers their own impiety and unrighteousness ( άσέβεια κα ì ι z δκέιυ ) .  Otherwise the preaching of redemption could never have secured a footing or done its work at all. Moreover, as the decisive proof of men's impiety and unrighteousness, Paul adduced their ignorance regarding God and also regarding idolatry, an ignorance for which they themselves were to blame. To prove that this was their own fault, he appealed to the conscience [382] of his hearers, and to the remnant of divine knowledge which they still possessed. The opening of the epistle to the Romans (chaps. i.-iii.) may therefore be considered to represent the way in which Paul began his missionary preaching. First of all, he brought his hearers to admit " we are sinners, one and all." Then he led them to the cross of Christ, where he de­veloped the conception of the cross as the power and the wisdom of God. And interwoven with all this, in characteristic fashion, lay expositions of the flesh and the Spirit, with allusions to the approaching judgment.

So far as we can judge, it was Paul who first threw into such sharp relief the significance of Jesus Christ as a Redeemer, "and made this the central point of Christian preaching. No doubt, the older missionaries had also taught and preached that Christ died for sins (1 Cor. xv. 3) ; but in so far as they addressed Jews, or people who had for some time been in contact with Judaism, it was natural that they should confine themselves to preaching the imminence of judgment, and also to proving from the Old Testament that the crucified Jesus was to return as judge and as the Lord of the messianic kingdom. Hence quite naturally they could summon men to acknowledge him, to join his church, and to keep his commandments.

We need not doubt that this was the line taken at the outset, even for many people of pagan birth who had already become familiar with some of the contents and characteristics of the Old Testament. The Petrine speeches in Acts are a proof of this. As for the missionary address, ascribed to Paul in ch. xiii., it is plainly a blend of this popular missionary preaching with the Pauline manner; but in that model of a mission address to educated people which is preserved in ch. xvii.\1/ the Pauline manner of missionary preaching is perfectly distinct, in spite of what seems to be one vital difference. First we have an exposi­tion of the true doctrine of God, whose main aspects are succes­sively presented (monotheism, spirituality, omnipresence and omnipotence, creation and providence, the unity of the human race and their religious capacities, spiritual worship). The state of mankind hitherto is described as " ignorance," and therefore [383] to be repented of; God will overlook it. But the new era has dawned : an era of repentance and judgment, involving faith in Jesus Christ, who has been sent and raised by God and who is at once redeemer and judge.\2/ Many of the more educated missionaries, and particularly Luke himself, certainly preached in this fashion, as is proved by the Christian apologies and by writings like the "Preaching of Peter." Christian preaching was bent on arousing a^- feeling of godlessness and unrighteous­ness ; it also worked upon the natural consciousness of God ; but it was never unaccompanied by references to the coming judgment.

\1/ The address in xiv. 15 f, is akin to this.

\2/ Whatever be the origin of the address in Acts xvii. 22-31 and the whole narrative of Paul's preaching at Athens, it remains the most wonderful passage in the book of Acts ; in a higher sense (and probably in a strictly historical sense, at some vital points) it is full of truth. No one should have failed especially to recognize how closely the passage fits into the data which can be gathered from 1 Cor. i. f. and Rom. i. f., with regard to the missionary preaching of Paul. The following points may be singled out:­-

• (a) According to Acts xvii. 18, "Jesus and the Resurrection" were decidedly put in the front rank of Paul's preaching. This agrees with what may be inferred from I Cor. i. f.
• (b) As Rom. i. ig f. and ii. 14 f. prove, the exposition of man's natural know­ledge of God formed a cardinal feature in the missionary preaching of Paul. It occupies most of the space in the address at Athens.
• (c) In this address the judgeship of Jesus is linked on directly to the " ignor­ance" which has replaced the primitive knowledge of God   ( καθότι έστησεν ήμέραν έν ι j μέλλει κρίνειν τήν σ * ικουμένην έν δικαιοσύνη έν άνδρα ψ ωιρισεν ), precisely as Rom. ii. 14 f. is followed by ver. 16 (EV j µspa ilre Kp & ήμέρα * υ τε κρίνει δ θεος τα κρνπτα τ * ών άνθρώπων δια Χριστού ' Ιησον )
• (d) According to the Athenian address, between the time of "ignorance" and the future judgment there is a present interval which is characterized by the offer of saving faith (ver. 31). The genuinely Pauline character of this idea only needs to be pointed out.
• (e) The object of this saving faith is the risen Jesus (ver. 31)-a Pauline idea of which again no proof is necessary.

The one point at which the Athenian address diverges from the missionary preaching which we gather from the Pauline letters, is the lack of prominence assigned by the former to the guilt of mankind. Still, it is clear enough that their " ignorance " is implicitly condemned, and the starting-point of the address ( Ε άγνοουντε s ενσεβειτε , το " ντο έγώ καταγγέλλω νμ * ιν )   made it almost impossible to lay any greater emphasis upon the negative aspect of the matter.

Several important features of Paul's work as a pioneer missionary may be also recognised in I Thessalonians (cp. Acts xx. 18 f.). But it does not come within the scope of the present volume to enter more fully into such details.

The address put into the mouth of Paul by the "Acta Pauli" [384] (Acta Theclae, v.-vi.) is peculiar and quite un-Pauline (compare, however, the preaching of Paul before Nero). Strictly speaking, it cannot even be described as a missionary address at all.. The apostle speaks in beatitudes, which are framed upon those of Jesus but developed ascetically. A more important point is that the content of Christian preaching is described as "the doctrine of the generation and resurrection of the Beloved " (διδασκαλία τής τε γεννήσεως κα ì της ύναστύσεως τοϋ ήγα πη μένου ), and as "the message of self-control and of resurrection" ( λόγος τής έγκρ αι τείας και αναστάσεως ). ^\3/

\3/ A brief and pregnant missionary address, delivered by an educated Christian, is to be found in the Acta Apollonii (xxxvi. Q. The magistrate's demand for a brief statement of Christianity is met thus : ο * ύτο s δ σωτήρα ήμων ' Ιησούς Χριστο s ,5 όνθρωπο s γενόμενο s έν τη ' Ιουδαία κατα παντα δίκαιος κα 1 πεπληρωμένοι Θεία σοφία , φιλανθρ ώ πω s έδίδαξεν ι ημάς τις ό τών ϋλων θεος και τι τέλος άρετϊ 7 ς έπί σεμνην πολιτειαν αρμό ς ον προς τας τών ϋνθρώπων ψυχάς • & ς δια τον παθείν έπαυσεν τας αρχας των αμαρτιών (" This Jesus Christ our Saviour, on becoming man in Judaea, being just in all respects and filled with divine wisdom, taught us-in his love for men-who was the God of all, and what was that end of virtue which promoted a holy life and was adapted to the souls of men ; by his sufferings he stopped the springs of sin "). Then follows a list of all the virtues, including the duty of honouring the emperor, with faith in the immortality of the soul and in retribution ; all of these were taught by Jesus µETA 7roxAfijs airo&c t€ws. Like the philosophers and just men before him, however, Jesus was persecuted and slain by "the lawless," even as one of the Greeks had also said that the just man would be tortured, spat upon, bound, and finally crucified. As Socrates was unjustly condemned by the Athenian sycophants, so did certain wicked persons vilify and condemn our Teacher and Saviour, just as already they had done to the prophets who foretold his coming, his work, and his teaching ( προεϊπον * υτι τυιούτός τις άφίξεται πάντα δίκαιος καί ένάρετυς , ύ ς είς παντας εύ πσιήσας άνθρώπούς e π ' άρεττη πείσει σέβειν ταν πάντων θεόν , υ ν ήμεϊς φθάοαντες τιμώμεν ,. f τι έμαθομεν σεμνάς ε τυλαι ς ουκ ήδειυεν . καΙ ον πεπλανήμεθα : they predicted that "such an one will come, absolutely righteous and virtuous, who in beneficence to all men shall persuade them to reverence that God of all men whom we now by anticipation honour, because we have learnt holy commands which we knew not, and have not been deceived ").

The effect of connected discourses, so far as regards the Christian mission, need not be overestimated ; in every age a single stirring detail that moves the heart is of greater weight than a long sermon. The book of Acts describes many a person being converted all at once, by a sort of rush. And the descrip­tion is not unhistorical. Paul was converted, not by a missionary, but by means of a vision. The Ethiopian treasurer was led to believe in Jesus by means of Isaiah liii., and how many persons [385] may have found this chapter a bridge to faith ! Thecla was won over from paganism by means of the "word of virginity and prayer" ( λόγος της παρθενίας κα ì της προσευχής Acta Theclae, ch. vii.), a motive which is so repeatedly mentioned in the apocryphal Acts that its reality and significance cannot be called in question. Asceticism, especially in the sexual relationship, did prevail in wide circles at that period, as an outcome of the religious syncretism. The apologists had good grounds also for declaring that many were deeply impressed and eventually con­vinced by the exorcisms which the Christians performed, while we may take it for granted that thousands were led to Christianity by the stirring proclamation of judgment, and of judgment close at 'hand. Besides, how many simply succumbed to the authority of the Old Testament, with the light thrown on it by Christianity ! Whenever a proof was required,_, here was this book all ready.\4/

\4/ Strictly speaking, we have no mission-literature, apart from the fragments of the " Preaching of Peter" or the Apologies, and the range of the latter includes those who are already convinced of Christianity. The New Testament, in particular, does not contain a single missionary work. The Synoptic gospels must not be embraced under this category, for they are catechetical works, intended for the instruction of people who are already acquainted with the prin­ciples of doctrine, and who require to have their faith enriched and confirmed (cp. Luke i. 4). One might with greater reason describe the Fourth gospel as a missionary work ; the prologue especially suggests this view. But even here the description would be inapplicable. Primarily, at any rate, even the Fourth gospel has Christian readers in view, for it is certainly Christians and not pagans who are addressed in xx. 31. Acts presents us with a history of missions ; such was the deliberate intention of the author. But ch. i. 8 states what is merely the cardinal, and by no means the sole, theme of the book.

The mission was reinforced and actively advanced by the behaviour of Christian men and women. Paul often mentions this, and in 1 Pet. iii. 1 we read that men who do not believe the Word are to be won over without a word by means of the conduct of their wives.\5/ The moral life of Christians appealed [386] to a man like Justin with peculiar force, and the martyrdotns made a wide impression. It was no rare occurrence for outsiders to be struck in such a way that on the spur of the moment they suddenly turned to Christianity. But we know of no cases in which Christians desired to win, or actually did win, adherents by means of the charities which they dispensed. We are quite aware that impostors joined the church in order to profit by the brotherly kindness of its members ; but even pagans never charged Christianity with using money as a missionary bribe. What they did allege was that Christians won credulous people to their religion with their words of doom, and that they promised the heavy-laden a vain support, and the guilty an unlawful pardon. In the third century the channels of the mission among the masses were multiplied. At one moment in the crisis of the struggle against gnosticism it looked as if the church could onl _y continue to exist by prohibiting any intercourse with that devil's courtezan, philosophy ; the CC simplices et idiotae," indeed, shut their ears firmly against all learning.\6/ But even a Tertullian found himself compelled to oppose this standpoint, while the pseudo-Clementine Homilies made a vigorous attack upon the methods of those who would [387] substitute dreams and visions for instruction and doctrine. That, they urge, is the method\7/ of Simon Magus! Above all, it was the catechetical school of Alexandria, it was men like Clement and Origen, who by their patient and unwearied efforts won the battle for learning, and vindicated the rights of learning in the Christian church. Henceforward, Christianity used her learning also, in the shape of word and book, for the purpose of her mission (i.e., in the East, for in the West there is little trace of this). But the most powerful agency of the mission during the third century was the church herself in her entirety. As she assumed the form of a great syncretistic religion and managed cautiously to bring about a transforma­tion which gnosticism would have thrust upon her violently, the mere fact of her existence and the influence exerted by her very appearance in history wielded a power that attracted and captivated men.

\5/Details upon Christian women follow in Book IV. Chap. II. But here we may set down the instructive description of a Christian woman's daily life, from the pen of Tertullian (ad Uxor., II. iv, f.). Its value is increased by the fact that the woman described is married to a pagan.

" If a vigil has to' be attended, the husband, the first thing in the morning, makes her an appointment for the baths ; if it is a fast-day, he holds a banquet on that very day. If she has to go out, household affairs of urgency at once come in the way. For who would be willing to let his wife go through one street after another to other men's houses, and indeed to the poorer cottages, in order to visit [386b] the brethren? Who would like to see her being taken from his side by some duty of attending a nocturnal gathering ? At Easter time who will quietly tolerate her absence all the night? Who will unsuspiciously let her go to the Lord's supper, that feast which they heap such calumnies upon? Who will let her creep into gaol to kiss the martyrs' chains? or even to meet any one of the brethren for the holy kiss? or to bring water for the saints' feet? If a brother arrives from abroad, what hospitality is there for him in such an alien house, if the very larder is closed to one for whom the whole storeroom ought to be thrown open i . . . . Will it pass unnoticed, if you make the sign of the cross on your bed or on your person f or when you blow away with a breath some impurity? or even when you rise by night to pray ? Will it not look as if you were trying to engage in some work of magic ? Your husband will not know what it is that you eat in secret before you taste any food." The description shows us how the whole daily life of a Christian was to be a confession of Christianity, and in this sense a propaganda of the mission as well.

^\6/ Tert., adv. Prax. iii.: "Simplices quique, ne dixerim imprudentes et idiotae, quae maior semper credentium pars est " (" The simple-I do not call them senseless or unlearned-who are always the majority ") ; cp. de leeszzwt, ii. Hippolytus, at the beginning of the third century, calls Zephyrinus, the bishop of Rome, an ì διώτης and αγ ρύμματος (Plzilos., ix, rr), and Origen often bewails the large number of ignorant Christians.

\7/See Homil. xvii. 14-19, where censure is passed on the view that it is safer "to learn by means of an apparition than from the clearness of truth itself ( ύπο οπτασίας άκούειν . παρ ' αύτής εαρ y είας , 14); ύ οπτασία πιστεύων , we read , δράματι και ευπνιψ α γμοεϊ τίνι πιστεύει (" He who believes in an apparition or vision and dreams, does not know in whom he is believing "). Cp. _17: κα i άσεβεϊς δραματα κα ~ ενύπνια ύληθή βλέπουσιν τψ ενσεβεϊ έμφύτιψ και καθαρφ άναβλύξει τψ " νψ " το άλήθες , ον ούκ σπονδαζ μενού , άλλά συνσει άγαθοϊς διδόυενον ("Even impious men have true visions and dreams . . . . but truth bubbles up to the natural and pure mind of the pious ; it is not worked up through dreams, but vouchsafed to the good through their under­standing"). In § 18 Peter explains that his own confession (Matt. xvi.) first became precious to himself when Jesus told him it was the Father who had allowed him to participate in this revelation. Tb E~wOEV SL' o,rTao^-Lmv Kal Evvavfwv Srixwovlval TL obs Eo'TLV aaoKaxtpews axxa opyils ("The declaration of anything external by means of apparitions and dreams is the mark, not of revelation, but of wrath divine "). In § t9 a negative answer is given to the question " whether anyone can be rendered fit for instruction by means of an apparition" ( εί τις δι ' ιπτασίαν προ r διδασκαλ ( αν σοφισθήναι δύναται ).

When a newcomer was admitted into the Christian church he was baptized. This rite ("purifici roris perfusio," Lactant., iv. 15), whose beginnings lie wrapt in obscurity, certainly was not introduced in order to meet the pagan craving for the mysteries, but as a matter of fact it is impossible to think of any symbolic action which would prove more welcome to that craving than baptism with all its touching simplicity. The mere fact of [388] such a rite was a great comfort in itself, for few indeed could be satisfied with a purely spiritual religion. The ceremony of the individual's immersion and emergence from the water served as a guarantee that old things were now washed away and gone, leaving him a new man. The utterance of the name of Jesus or of the three names of the Trinity during the baptismal act brought the candidate into the closest union with them ; it raised him to God himself. Speculations on the mystery at once commenced.\8/ Immersion was held to be a death ; immersion in relation to Christ was a dying with him, or an absorption into his death ; the water was the symbol of his blood. Paul himself taught this doctrine, but he rejected the speculative notions of the Corinthians (I Cor. i. 13 f.) by which they further sought to bring the person baptized into a mysterious connection with the person who baptizes. It is remarkakle how he thanks God that personally he had only baptized a very few people in Corinth. This is not, of course, to be taken as a depreciation of baptism. Like his fellows, Paul recognized it to be simply indispensable. The apostle is merely recollecting, and recollecting in this instance with satisfaction, the limitation of his apostolic calling, in which no duty was imposed on him beyond the preaching of the word _of God. Strictly speaking, baptism does not fall within his jurisdiction. He may perform the rite, but commonly it is the business of other people. In the majority of cases it implies a lengthy period of instruction and examination, and the apostle has no time for that : his task is merely to lay the foundation. Baptism marks therefore not the act of initiation but the final stage of the initiation.

\8/Magical ideas were bound up from the very first with baptism ; cp. the baptism v r p Tap vexp e' at Corinth and Paul's attitude towards it (1 Cor. xv. 29).

^" Fiunt, non nascuntur Christiani"; men are not born Christians, but made Christians. This remark of Tertullian (Apol., xviii.)\9/ may have applied to the large majority even after the middle of the second century, but thereafter a companion feature arose in the shape of the natural extension of Christianity through parents to their children. Subsequently to that period the practice [389] of infant baptism was also inaugurated ; at least we are unable to get certain evidence for it at an earlier date.\10/ ' But whether infants or adults were baptized, baptism in either case was held to be a mystery which involved decisive consequences of a natural and supernatural kind. The general conviction was that baptism effectually cancelled all past sins of the baptized person, apart altogether from the degree of moral sensitiveness on his own part ; he rose 'from his immersion a perfectly pure and perfectly holy man. Now this sacrament played an extremely important role in the mission of this church. It was an act as intelligible as it was consoling ; the ceremony itself was not so unusual as to surprise or scandalize people like circumcision or the taurobolium, and yet it was something tangible, something to which they could attach themselves.\11/ [390] Furthermore, if one added the story of Jesus being baptized by John-a story which was familiar to everyone, since the gospel opened with it-not merely was a fresh field thrown open for profound schemes and speculations, but, thanks to the precedent of this baptism of Jesus, the baptism to which every Christian submitted acquired new unction and a deeper content. As the Spirit had descended upon Jesus at his own baptism, so God's Spirit hovered now upon the water at every Christian's baptism, converting it into a bath of regeneration and renewal. How much Tertullian has already said about baptism in his treatise de Baptisrno ! Even that simple Christian, Hermas, sixty years previous to Tertullian, cannot say enough on the topic of baptism ; the apostles, he exclaims, went down into the under­world and there baptized those who had fallen asleep long ago.

^\9/ Cp. de Testim., i. : " Fieri non nasci solet christiana anima." Those born in Christian homes are called " vernaculi ecclesiae't ( cp. de Anima, li.).

 \10/ Here, too, I am convinced that the saying holds true, " Ab initio sic non erat."

^\11/ At the same time, of course, people of refined feeling were shocked by the rite of baptism and the declaration involved in it, that all sins were now wiped out. Porphyry, whose opinion in this matter is followed by Julian, writes thus in Macarius Magnes ( iv. tg ) : " We must feel amazed and truly concerned about our souls, if a man thus shamed and polluted is to stand out clean after a single immersion, if a man whose life is stained by so much debauchery, by adultery, fornication, drunkenness,, theft, sodomy, murder by poisoning, and many another shameful and detestable vice-if such a creature, I say, is lightly set free from it all, throwing off the whole guilt as a snake sheds its old scales, merely because he has been baptized and has invoked the name of Christ. Who will not commit misdeeds, mentionable and unmentionable, who will not do things which can neither be described nor tolerated, if he learns that he can get quit of all these shameful offences merely by believing and getting baptized, and cherishing the hope that he will hereafter find forgiveness with him who is to judge the living and the dead ? Assertions of this kind cannot but lead to sin on the part of anyone who understands them. They teach men constantly to be unrighteous. They lead one to understand that they proscribe even the discipline of the law and righteousness itself, so that these have no longer any power at all against unrighteousness. They introduce a• lawless life into an ordered world. They raise it to the rank of a first principle, that a man has no longer to shun godlessness at all-if by the simple act of baptism he gets rid of a mass of innumerable sins. Such, then, is the position of matters with regard to this boastful fable." But is Porphyry quite candid in this detestation of sacraments and their saving efficiency in general, as well as in his description of the havoc wrought upon morals by baptism ? As to the latter point, it is of course true that the practice of postponing baptism became more and more common, even as early as the second century, in order to evade a thorough-going acceptance of the Christian life, and yet to have the power of sinning with impunity (cp., e.g., Tert., de Pwnit., vi.). Even strict teachers advised it, or at least did not dissuade people from it, so awful seemed the responsibility of baptism. No safe means could be found for wiping off post-baptismal [390b] sins. Yet this landed them in a sore dilemma, of which they were themselves quite conscious. They had to fall in with the light-minded l Cp. Tertullian, loc. cit. and de Baptismo ; at a later date, the second book of Augustine's Confessions. Justin, however, declares that baptism is only for those who have actually ceased to sin (Apol., i. 61 f.).

It was as a mystery that the Gentile church took baptism from the very first,\12/ as is plain even from the history of the way in which the sacrament took shape. People were no longer satis­fied with the simple bath of baptism. The rite was amplified ; new ceremonies were added to it; and, like all the mysteries, the holy transaction underwent a development. Gradually the new ceremonies asserted their own independence, by a process which also is familiar. In the treatise I have just mentioned, Tertullian exhibits this development at an advanced stage,\13/ but [391] on the main issue there was little or no alteration; baptism was essentially the act by which past sins were entirely cancelled.

^\12/ This sacrament was not, of. course, performed in secret at the outset, nor indeed for some time to come. It is not until the close of the second century that the secrecy of the rite commences, partly for educative reasons, partly because more and more stress came to be laid on the nature of baptism as a mystery. The significance attaching to the correct ritual as such is evident as early as the Didache (vii.), where we read that in the first instance running water is to be used in baptism ; failing that, cold standing water ; failing that, warm water ; failing a sufficient quantity even of that, mere sprinkling is permissible. The comparative freedom of such regulations was not entirely abolished in later ages, but it was scrupulously restricted. Many must have doubted the entire efficacy of baptism by sprinkling, or at least held that it required to be supplemented.

\13/On the conception and shaping of baptism as a mystery, see Anrich's Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einftuss auf das Christe,:tum (1894), PP- 84 f-, 168 f., 179 f., and Wobbermin's Religionsgeschich. Studien z. Frage d. Beeinflussung [391b] des Urchristentums durch das antike Mysterienwesen (2896), pp. 143 f. The latter discusses o- σφραγίς , σφραγίξειν , φωτισμός , φωτ 1 ζιν , and σύμβολον , , the technical baptismal terms. The mysteries are exhibited in greatest detail by the Pistis Sophia.

It was a mysterium salutare, a saving mystery ; but it was also a mysterium tremendimi, an awful mystery, for the church had no second means of grace like baptism. The baptized person must remain pure, or (as 9. Clem., e.g., puts it) " keep the seal pure and intact." Certain sects attempted to introduce repeated baptism, but they never carried their point ; baptism, it was steadily maintained, could never be repeated. True, the sacra­ment of penance gradually arose, by means of which the grace lost after baptism could be restored. Despite this, however, there was a growing tendency in the third century to adopt the custom of postponing baptism until immediately before death, in order to make the most of this comprehensive means of grace.

No less important than baptism itself was the preparation for it, Here the spiritual aspect of the Christian religion reached its highest expression ; here its moral and social force was plainly shown. The Didache at once corroborates and elucidates the uncertain information which we possess with regard to this point in the previous period. The pagan who desired to become a Christian was not baptized there and then. When his heart had been stirred by the broad outlines of the preaching of the one God and the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour and redeemer, he was then shown the will and law of God, and what was meant by renouncing idolatry. No summary doctrines were laid down, but the "two ways" were put before him in a most com­prehensive and thoroughgoing fashion ; every sin was tracked to its lurking-place within. He had to renounce all sins and assent to the law of God, nor was he baptized until the church was convinced that he knew the moral code and desired to follow it (Justin, Apol., I. Ixvii .: λούσαι τόν πετ r εισμένον κα ì συγκατατε ­ Θειμένον , , "to wash him who is convinced and who has assented to our teaching").\14/ The Jewish synagogue had already drawn [392] up a catechism for proselytes and made morality the conditio