The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times (1893) (14597401117)

Identifier: storyofourchrist00bird
Title: The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Bird, Frederic Mayer, 1838-1908 Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901
Subjects: Church history
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa., Peerless Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress



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REMAINS OF A ROMAN AQUEDUCT. despotism, which the emperors now imitated; such is still the wretched practicein Turkey and other Mohammedan lands. In Italy the faithful no longer suffered for their faith ; if they still resortedto the catacombs, it was rather from precaution than from fear of active enemies.Maxentius was a loose reprobate, dangerous to all mens wives and daughtersalike. If a Christian matron, the wife of a senator, submitted to a voluntarydeath rather than to the loss of her honor, it was her beauty, not her Chris-tianity, which marked her out as the victim of the tyrant. In France andBritain believers were protected, as far as possible, by Constantius and hisgreater son, who succeeded him in 306. But in the East their condition was noway bettered, for the Caesar Maximin was the worthy pupil of his uncle Galerius.Apologies may be made for some earlier persecutors; but these two, though
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177 178 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. not without ability, were bloodthirsty tyrants. Even on grounds of policy theycan hardly be defended, for the stars in their courses fought against them, andby this time not only the best brain and conscience of the empire, but a largeshare of its population, was Christian. They lived to retrace their steps, towithdraw their edicts, and to confess that their atrocities had been a hugemistake. For all that could be done had no other effect than this, to winnow the grainand separate the tares from the wheat. The followers of Jesus might losetheir bravest and best; but the spirit of these survived, their example animatedmany. Now, as always, the blood of the martyrs was the Churchs seed. Thesurvivors met in secret, they preserved their sacred books, they would not giveup their principles. They were too many to be exterminated, too firm to beovercome. The inborn sense of human rights, the modern reverence for con-science, were constantly displayed by