The History of Christianity / Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.

by John S. C. Abbott

HE inspired narrative of Luke, contained in the Acts of the Apostles, brings down the history of Christianity through a period of thirty years after the ascension of our Saviour,—to A.D. 62. The subsequent career of the apostle Paul is involved in much obscurity. It is generally supposed, from allusions in his letters, that he was soon brought to trial, and acquitted, in the year of our Lord 63. From Rome he probably returned to Jerusalem, and thence visited Ephesus, Laodicea, and Colosse. Afterwards he returned to Rome by the way of Troas, Philippi, and Corinth. Rome presented to him the widest and most important field of labor, and on that account he probably decided to spend the remainder of his life there; and there he suffered martyrdom (it is supposed, in the year of our Lord 65), as will be related in subsequent pages.

But it is necessary for us now to retrace our steps a little, and to turn back a few leaves of the pages of history. Luke, in his narrative, has conducted Paul to Rome, then proud mistress of the world, containing a population variously estimatedfrom two to four millions. Rome was the central and apparently impregnable fortress of pagan superstition; and it was in Rome, in deadly struggle with her wicked emperors and her degraded populace, that some of the greatest victories of Christianity were won. The strife between paganism and the religion of Jesus continued for centuries, and developed heroism on the part of the Christians to which no parallel can be found in secular annals.

It will be remembered, that, when Jesus was crucified as a malefactor upon Mount Calvary,—the sacrificial Lamb of God, bearing in his own wonderful person, as both God and man, the mysterious burden of the world’s atonement,—Tiberius Cæsar, the adopted son and heir of Octavius Cæsar, or Cæsar the August, sat upon the imperial throne. It was in the eighteenth year of the reign of Tiberius that Jesus was crucified. This event, the crucifixion of the Son of God,—probably the most wonderful which has occurred during the annals of eternity,—produced no impression whatever; was unknown in the distant palaces of Rome.

The death of Tiberius strikingly illustrates the depravity of the times. He had retired to the Island of Capreæ, where, in a palace of the most luxurious surroundings, he surrendered himself to almost every conceivable indulgence of sin. For six years he remained there, while conspiracies and revolts agitated the empire. There was a young man in his suite by the name of Caligula, son of the renowned general Germanicus, whom Tiberius, through jealousy, had put to death.

Caligula was one of the vilest of the vile. He ingratiated himself in the favor of the tyrant by pandering to all his wickedness, and by the most sycophantic adulation. At length, the death-hour of Tiberius tolled. Remorse, with scorpion-lashes, hovered over his dying-bed. He resorted to every expedient to repel reflection, and to close his eyes against the approach of the king of terrors. In pursuit of health, he had left Capreæ, and was at Misenum, near Naples. Caligula had, with many other courtiers, accompanied him.

The wretched emperor, reclining upon his couch, was takenwith a fainting-fit. His physician, feeling his pulse, said, “His life is ebbing fast.” All thought him dying. The courtiers abandoned the powerless monarch, who had no longer any favors to grant, and gathered tumultuously with their congratulations around Caligula, declaring him to be emperor. In the midst of their hilarity, Tiberius, to the consternation of all, revived; but he was weak and helpless, and could be easily put out of the way. A few of the courtiers entered his chamber, and pressed a pillow upon his face; and, after a brief and feeble struggle, the smothered king lay still in death. Caligula, who was, if possible, still more infamous than Tiberius, was now decorated with the imperial purple.

It is stated by Justin and other early writers, that Pontius Pilate, after the crucifixion of Christ, wrote to the Emperor Tiberius, giving an account of his death, his resurrection, and of the miracles which he had performed; and that Tiberius proposed to the Roman senate that Jesus should be recognized as one of the gods, and that his statue should be placed in a niche in one of the temples of paganism. The senate, for some unexplained reason, did not accede to this request.

Caligula, elated by his accession to sovereign power, surrendered himself to the uncontrolled dominion of lusts and passions, which had already been rendered furious and untamable by long years of indulgence. It is difficult to account for the cruel and senseless atrocities perpetrated by this monster upon any other supposition than that he was a madman, or that fiends had taken possession of his person.

He erected a temple of gold; placed in it a statue of himself, which he ordered to be dressed every day in clothes similar to those which he should that day wear; and, declaring himself to be a god, constrained his subjects to worship his statue with divine honors. The degraded populace, without religion, without any moral principle, hesitated not to bow in adoration before this image of the most contemptible of men. The most rare delicacies which money could purchase were offered in sacrifice at his shrine. His wife, and even his horse, were ordained as priests to officiate in his temple. The insaneluxury which he displayed surpassed all that had hitherto been known. His baths were composed of the most costly liquids. His table service was of solid gold. Even in his sauces he had jewels dissolved, that they might be more costly. He built a stable of marble for his favorite horse, and fed him with gilded oats from a manger of ivory.