[162] Clem. Alex. Protrept. cx. init.
[163] 1 Cor. i. 21.
[164] Wordsworth, Excursion iv.
[165] Ἀταραξία (Epicurean): αὐτάρκεια.
[166] The words 'era of Christianity' are used intentionally rather than the more precise 'era of Christ,' because anything which (without being influenced unless in the most impalpable way by Christianity) prepared the world through the first and even the second century of the era to receive the Gospel may be fairly included as preparation for the revelation of Christ.
[167] Capes, Age of Antonines.
[168] Philosophy of the Greeks: Eclectics, p. 20 (tr. Alleyne).
[169] Gospel of the Resurrection (3rd ed.), p. 72. It is interesting to notice that according to so dispassionate an observer as M. Gaston Boissier (La Religion Romaine d'Auguste aux Antonins), who has done so much to trace the better tendencies of the Imperial period, the evidence suggests some such distinction, even as regards some of the main practical results of Christianity. For example, there was a tendency to ameliorate slavery on principles of general humanity, but there was no hint of a possibility of an end to slavery. There were some signs of mutual interest between classes, but no progress towards the effective appearance of a true philanthropy such as the Christian. In such cases, however, the validity of the distinctions must be debatable and fluctuating. It is absolute as regards the Incarnation.
[170] Bk. V. c. xi. The New Monarchy.
[171] Edersheim's Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah: Schürer, History of the Jewish People in the time of Jesus Christ.