TRAJAN.

to make all other people subject to him. But the supreme God sent his Son to hinder this injustice, which Son appeared in the shape of a man ; yet his body was a phantom which was transferred to Simon the Cyrenian, who suffered in his stead. He held that the souls which obey the precepts of the Son of God will ascend to God; the punishment of others is a transmigration, according to the doctrines of Pythagoras, whom he followed in several particulars. The moral system of Basilides is said to have allowed nearly every species of iniquity; but there is good evidence that he himself recommended purity of life. One Christian writer, Agrippa Castor, published against Basilides, but his works have perished.

84. About the time of Saturninus and Basilides,

Elxai.}
there arose in Palestine one Elxai, or Elxus, a
Jew, who is said to have founded the sect of the Elcesaites,
or Helkesaites, called also Ossenians, and Sampsæans, who
were so wild and unsettled in their opinions, that they
could not properly be called either Jews or Christians,
though in several particulars they agreed with both.

HADRIAN., Hadrian, fifteenth
Emperor of Rome.

A.D. 117.

85. Trajan died in the year 117, and was succeeded by his nephew Ælius Hadrianus, a Prince of admirable accomplishments, yet proud, envious, and revengeful. He rebuilt Jerusalem 62 years after its destruction by Titus, and called it Ælia Capitolina; he also erected a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, on the site of Solomon's Temple, which provoked the Jews to revolt in

84. Who were the Elcesaites?

85. By whom, and when, was Jerusalem rebuilt, after its destruction by Titus? Give a narrative of the revolt of the Jews under Hadrian; and explain the effect this had upon the early Christians. Which was the last dispersion of

the year 132, under an impostor named Bar-Cochebas,* HADRIAN who gave himself out as the very star foretold by Balaam, and committed great outrages upon the Christians, because they would not join his standard and acknowledge him as the expected Messiah. The Romans, probably, learned from this to distinguish more accurately than they had heretofore done between Jews and Christians. This impostor acted more like a robber than a king; but his followers increased so much that a fierce and bloody contest was maintained against the power of Rome for nearly four years. At length Bitthera, a strong place not far from Jerusalem, whither vast numbers of Jews had retired as to a last refuge, fell before Julius Severus in 135, and the revolt was suppressed after terrific slaughter. This was the last and most dreadful dispersion of the Jews: they were forbidden to come in view of their own land, except for one hour on the anniversary of the day when Titus took Jerusalem (August 10); becoming sojourners in all nations, and, like Cain, fugitives and vagabonds through the world. Yet a Christian Church still continued at Jerusalem, or Ælia, some members of which were doubtless Jews by descent; so that it would seem that the prohibition from entering the city was directed only against Jews who had not been converted to Christianity.

Apologies of Quadratus and Aristides.

86. Hadrian passed several years in
travel, in the course of which he paid

more than one visit to Athens. Having
lost its Bishop, Publius, under Trajan's

*From a Hebrew word, which | defeat he was called Bar-Chosbeas, signifies son of a star. After his son of a lie.

the Jews? Does it appear probable that Jews and Christians were still regarded by the Romans as one class?

86. Who was Quadratus? To what Emperor was his Apology addressed ?

HADRIAN.

persecution, the Church at this place fell into a low con-
dition, for want of a head. But Quadratus being consti-
tuted Bishop, retrieved the ancient spirit of religion. A
heavy persecution was raging when Hadrian
A.D. 125.
was in the city, about the year 125, which
induced Quadratus to present an Apology* or defence to the
Emperor in writing, vindicating Christianity from the
calumnies of its enemies, and explaining its true character
to the heathen. About the same time, Aristides, a Christ-
ian philosopher of Athens, presented another apology to
Hadrian; but neither this nor that of Quadratus has come
down to us.

Hadrian's
Decree.

}

office of accusers.

87. The law of Trajan was a great rsstraint to the enemies of the Christians, because few persons were willing to assume the dangerous But at the seasons of the public gamest they excited the populace to demand the destruction of the Christians, and these clamours could hardly be disregarded without risk of an insurrection. In the year A.D. 126. 126, Serenus Granianus, Proconsul of Asia, represented to the Emperor the injustice of immolating men convicted of no crime, at the pleasure of a furious mob. In consequence of this representation, reaching him

*This is the earliest of those interesting works which were presented to Roman Emperors.

It was an ancient custom of the Romans, that the people,

when assembled at the public games, might demand what they pleased of the Emperor or Magistrates.

Give the date of it. What was the nature and object of it? Was any other Apology presented about this time? *[Note.] What was the earliest Apology presented to a Roman Emperor?

87. In what respect was the law of Trajan a restraint upon the enemies of Christianity? [Note.] What was the Roman custom at the public games? In what way was this turned to the hurt of the Christians? To whom did

close upon the Apologies which we have mentioned, Hadrian HADRIAN. addressed a decree to Minucius Fundanus (the successor of Granianus), and other presidents of provinces, forbidding the Christians to be put to death, unless accused in due form and convicted of offence against the laws; and ordering that if the charge were only calumny, the author of it should be punished "according to the heinousness of so mischievous a design." This decree was more favourable to the Christians than that of Trajan, inasmuch as the latter made perseverance in the profession of Christianity a capital offence, whereas the former required violation of the laws before the infliction of punishment, and provided a penalty for false accusers.

}

The Work of
Celsus.

88. Although Hadrian himself did not sanction the persecution of the Christians, and although his reign was not unfavourable to the progress of the Gospel, there is no doubt the followers of Christ were by this time beginning to suffer greater and more systematic attacks than any which had heretofore befallen them. The very progress of Christianity may in some measure account for the virulence with which it began to be opposed. It was assailed by the patrons of the ancient superstition, who confounded it with the absurdities of Gnosticism, with railings, calumnies, and libels; and Celsus, an Epicurean or Platonic* philosopher,

So called because they be- | visible world were much more lieved that the sentiments of Plato sublime and rational than those respecting the deity and the in- of the other philosophers.

Hadrian address a decree upon the subject of Christianity; and what was the
nature of it? In what respect was Hadrian's reply to a Proconsular applica-
tion upon the subject of the Christians, more favourable than that of Trajan ?
88.
Who was Celsus, and in what reign did he live? Who answered his

HADRIAN, attacked it in a very elaborate treatise, styled The Word

of Truth ('Anons λòyos), of which only a few portions
have come down to us in the confutation of it by Origen,
published in the middle of the third century. Celsus dealt
in slander, as Origen's answer to him shows, and attempted
to overthrow the Christian religion by the play of his wit,
which is not distinguished for elegance and refinement.
He criticised certain parts of the New Testament; spoke
of the expectations of the Jews and divisions in the
Church; and argued against a Providence, the Fall, and
Redemption.
Carpocrates.}

A.D. 130.

89. Certain heretics called Carpocratians, from Carpocrates* of Alexandria, arose about the year 130. They held the principal Gnostic errors, and maintained that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary in the ordinary course of nature, and was superior to other men in nothing but greatness of soul. By their scandalous immoralities and impieties, and the incredible licence to sin which their system involved, they brought an odium upon Christianity in general. They persuaded themselves that there was no such thing as evil in nature, but only in men's imaginations; and that as the passions were implanted in man by the Supreme Being, obedience to their dictates was the duty of all mankind.

* Eusebius accounts him the father of the Gnostics.

† Carpocrates was the first

heretic who asserted the simple humanity of Christ.

great work against Christianity? Has it come down to us? How do we obtain information as to its contents? Briefly state what some of these were. 89. When did Carpocrates flourish? Give an account of his tenets. *[Note] What does Eusebius say of him. t[Note.] Who first asserted the simple humanity of Christ?