, 1880-05-09

~ ~ I4at 70 upnold the old laWi. Bas
His merits for the beleveF @ iuIienHy Sf1 ~
salem with Its Bishop James, with wilton ctlirrh
ise; rGseh was 81 IN close alancc;sent outopposiion
whose role in the Judaixtng purity wds that az
kini Of f. tlmd trimmer between The, Ebionlto
ana paullne extremes, Gang to tome With so,ne
arva a these ftss ter
Protestants made Il kind of{log1nn Of the denial
that he had over been theEb thus dethrontng the
Ghristendo1n rs the lineal so6Gcssor of St. Peter
For the Roman Catholic assumption Of st. Peters
arrival at tome in A. D::Isaand bis Pontiacnte
hcnnn proved IN detail that there was 10 tangi-
o!e evidence; while, to mention nothing else, tho
slience ;1S Of s. m Paurs Epistle to tho l.onlans
Acts were quite conclusive agaipst it. On tho
other hand, ho marshaled a POWERFUL array Of
arguments for answering in the affirmative the
question rs to Peters h,tvtng visited home after
Paul. Peters martyrdom Is attested by ex-
tremely ancient evidence. and the somewhat
later tradition which connects it with the Nero
probability In Its favor, The mystical Babylon
whence he dntes his epistle eau only be Romo,
i was quito admissible that Peter came to
hoelsof Paul, and with view to neutratize bis
influence. About the yeur 80 the Christian
community WAS In state of spiritual excite
twenty years Of calm waiting for tho end which
followed tho death OF jesus.
n. Renan, after deplortng the mystery which
Christianity, addressed himself to penetrate, as
far IS WAS possible, the veil which hides from
US the circumstances Of tho death of Potter and
The likelicst view was TINT both perishcd in the
great massacre OF the Christians ordained by
Nero. As to the fact OF such massacre there
WAS no room for doubt, since we had it on the
authority Of Tncitus It wns an episode in the
history OF the great fire Of Rome, which broke
out on July 1e, A. D. 81. and not only destroyed
fAnjrx r>H
which the city cons lsted: but reduced seven
more to blackened walls. Or this frIshtful dis
aster, tho suspicion which Nero fell undor Of
which the tyrant abandoned tho Christians to
the rising wuves Of the public wrnth, II. Rcnan
gave most graphic recital. It was but too
Of making tho new religlonists the scape.
goats Of his own crime: They. we're still
worse hated than himeclf: The horror they
the bigoted mob that they had at least fed, if
they had not lighted the flames. Some strict
Jews would not carry money because 1t bore
through any city gnte surmountcd By statue.
The song over burning Rome in the Apocalypse,
written four years aud a half afterwards, most
likely borrowed some traits from the great fire
OF A. D. 81. The exultation there expressed was
too congenial to tho pions sectaries, who wcro
not unlikely to have been in spirit tho saints
regarded as just cxpiation: Nero offered his
gardens across the Tiber for the shows, III which
tho victims were to DC tho CHRISTMAS tlad IN tQ0
skins OF wild beasts whllo others dressed In gar
ments saturated with oil and pitch ser%cd as
living torches to illuminate the horrid scene.
II. Renan described this fete Of Nero's gardens
on the lst OF August, day which he could
only compare with that Of Golgotha, OF suni-
cientiy realistic detail. The event i, was one
of the most solemn In tho history OF Christiani~
t.. After rcmarktng that the so[idlty Of build
Ing is in proportion to the virtue, the sacrifices
the devotion deposited on the foundation -stone'
he added. that fanatics alone Gun found any
thing. Judaism lives on still because OF the
intense frenzy Of its prophets and nnnal1sts;
Christianity by means Of its witnesses $685. Nsro's o.,
marked out Rome, now the city Of martyrs, ns
destined to play, = signal part IN the history Of
Christianity, and to be its second Holy City. Il
was the taking possession OF the Vatican Eli
BY a kind Of trlumPhal procession unknown i tili
then. The hateful md braluless Emperor did
net see that he was founding new order Of
whose provisions would be matter Of claim at
tho end OF 1,s00 years. u. Renan proceeded to
argue that Peter and Paul were both 1nartyred
at this epoch, and not improbabty in tho manner
attested by tradition. namely, Peter being
cruclt1ed with his head downward and Paul by
beheading.