History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
Publisher: Kessinger Publishing
Published: June 30, 2004
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 684
ISBN-13: 9781419124167
Subjects: European history: BCE to c 500 CE; History: World; History; History - General History; Ancient Rome; Ancient - Rome
First sentence: If we seriously consider the purity of the Christian religion, the sanctity of its moral precepts, and the innocent as well as austere lives of the greater number of those who during the first ages embraced the faith of the gospel, we should naturally suppose, that so benevolent a doctrine would have been received with due reverence, even by the unbelieving world; that the learned and the polite, however they may deride the miracles, would have esteemed the virtues, of the new sect; and that the magistrates, instead of persecuting, would have protected an order of men who yielded the most passive obedience to the laws, though they declined the active cares of war and government.