"Rulers of the Roman Empire," he begins, "you surely can not forbid the Truth to reach you by the secret pathway of a noiseless book. She knows that she is but a sojourner on the earth, and as a stranger finds enemies; and more, her origin, her dwelling-place, her hope, her rewards, her honors, are above. One thing, meanwhile, she anxiously desires of earthly rulers—not to be condemned unknown. What harm can it do to give her a hearing?... The outcry is that the State is filled with Christians; that they are in the fields, in the citadels, in the islands. The lament is, as for some calamity, that both sexes, every age and condition, even high rank, are passing over to the Christian faith.
"The outcry is a confession and an argument for our cause; for we are a people of yesterday, and yet we have filled every place belonging to you—cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your very camp, your tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum. We leave to you your temples alone. We can count your armies: our numbers in a single province will be greater. We have it in our power, without arms and without rebellion, to fight against you with the weapon of a simple divorce. We can leave you to wage your wars alone. If such a multitude should withdraw into some remote corner of the world you would doubtless tremble at your own solitude, and ask, 'Of whom are we the governors?'
"It is a human right that every man should worship according to his own convictions ... a forced religion is no religion at all.... Men say that the Christians are the cause of every public disaster. If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not rise over the fields, if the heavens give no rain, if there be an earthquake, if a famine or pestilence, straightway they cry, Away with the Christians to the lion.... But go zealously on, ye good governors, you will stand higher with the people if you kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to the dust; your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. God permits us to suffer. Your cruelty avails you nothing.... The oftener you mow us down the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed. What you call our obstinacy is an instructor. For who that sees it does not inquire for what we suffer? Who that inquires does not embrace our doctrines? Who that embraces them is not ready to give his blood for the fulness of God's grace?"
Another writer has said: "The church in this period appears poor in earthly possessions and honors, but rich in heavenly grace, in world-conquering faith and love and hope; unpopular, even outlawed, hated and persecuted, yet far more vigorous and expansive than the philosophies of Greece, or the empire of Rome; composed chiefly of persons of the lower social ranks, yet attracting the noblest and deepest minds of the age, and bearing in her bosom the hope of the world; conquering by apparent defeat and growing on the blood of her martyrs; great in deeds, greater in sufferings, greatest in death for the honor of Christ and the benefit of generations to come."
This triumph of early Christianity over Paganism was a theme worthy of the song. "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ." Even before the death of the apostles, according to the younger Pliny, the temples of the gods in Asia Minor were almost forsaken. No wonder, then, that even the inhabitants of heaven were called upon to rejoice at so great a victory attained by the followers of the Lamb. But the same voice also says, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." This represents the violence of the Pagan party upon its defeat, being exasperated to the exercise of greater opposition and cruelty wherever the means and the power were still in their hands. Cast down from his exalted position in the heavens—the religious sphere—his ecclesiastical prestige lost, he had no place to abide but in the earth—the political kingdom—whence he took up arms, and "woe to the inhabitants of the earth." But "the days of Paganism in the empire were numbered." The Devil knew that he had but a short time, therefore he came down in great wrath. This is in accordance with the facts of history. Paganism did not die an easy death, but struggled hard and long.
When cast from his high position, however, the dragon "persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child." The true idea expressed in the original is that he pursued the woman, and this signification is indicated by what follows—"To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." The time as a definite period signifies one year; hence a time, times, and half a time would be three and one-half years, or twelve hundred and sixty days, as before explained. There is an apparent incongruity or contradiction of statement in reference to the symbols here; but it is a contradiction that when rightly understood throws light upon the whole subject. It will be noticed that the woman and Michael with his angels symbolize the same object—the people of God. Under the latter figure they were triumphant and the dragon was defeated. Yet after he was cast down, he turned upon the woman and pursued her, and thus, the church appeared to be the defeated party. According to this, then, the Pagan party is represented as prevailing soon after he met defeat and the church apparently defeated soon after her period of triumph. Here again we have two separate symbols of the same object in order to represent two of its different phases.
This is explained satisfactorily by noticing carefully the facts. The woman, who is always the true church composed of holy people, was at first identical with the visible church, or the great body of Christians, and in this condition was successful in spreading the pure gospel and casting down the powers of iniquity symbolized by the dragon. But the dragon politically, as symbolized by his being a beast from the natural world, with heads and horns, remained in power for some time, his religious prestige only being lost. Christianity did not attempt to cast down the dragon in the sense of destroying the civil empire. As is well known, a great spiritual declension followed the period of the church's greatest triumph, which decline drove the woman, or the true church, into the wilderness; hence to all appearances the church became a defeated party. About this same time, the dying cause of Paganism revived for a season in terrible severity in the latter part of the third century; hence to all appearances the dragon was triumphant. This supreme effort of Paganism's to regain its former position will be better understood in connection with what follows regarding the flood which he cast out of his mouth. But that the dragon was not permanently triumphant is shown by the fact that he afterwards resigned his power and position unto the beast. Chap. [13:2].
As to the meaning of the "two wings of a great eagle" given the woman to aid her in her flight, I am not able to say positively. Some apply them to "the grace and providence of God which watched over the church"; others to the "spiritual gifts of faith, love," etc., which, like supporting wings, bore the church above her enemies. But I can not see how the wings of a great eagle can properly symbolize such things. They are not drawn from the right source. Perhaps nothing more is intended by the wings than to denote the fact of her successful flight. That this idea is the correct one seems quite clear when we consider the fact that the remarkable deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage is set forth under the same figure, that of eagles' wings. "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Ex. 19:4. With the wings of such a powerful bird she was able to escape, so that the dragon could not overtake her.
"And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." Here is a peculiar combination of symbols from different departments—the serpent, a flood of water, the woman, and the earth. The last two as allies is a very unusual circumstance. Some refer the flood of waters to heresies that arose in, or was connected with, the hierarchy about this time; but in that case how could it be said that it was the serpent that cast it out? Others apply it to errors that the Pagan party introduced baptized with the name of Christianity, when they professed to become converts at a later period. It is certainly an appropriate figure of speech to say a flood of error or of false doctrine; but whether a flood of water is a proper symbol of the same is another question. I do not think it is. Water, being an object of nature, would point us to something political. False doctrines are usually symbolized by something different from objects in nature.