ECBATANA. 



being six cubit* in length .ind three in breadth. Daniel 

 is said liy Josephus to have built one of its nn>it mag- 

 nificent palaces, some of the beams of which wore of 

 Hvrr, and the rest of cedar plated with gold. This 

 splendid edifice afterwards served as a tmiiMilcum to 

 the king* of Media; and ia affirmed by the last men- 

 tioned author to Itave l>een entire in his time. Tin n- 

 are no traces now remaining of these lofty building ; 

 nd even the scite of this celebrated city has become a 

 subject of dispute among modem travellers. Sir John 

 C'hardin fixes upon Tauris as the most probable situa- 

 tion ; but, at the same time, admits that no remarkable 



ruin- nre to IK> ern there; and that thr materials of 

 . which h.-uc IM-CII found, are different from those 

 which tlie Modes employed in the structure of their 

 palaces. Others suppose it to t>c Hamedun ; and .some 

 Gasbin in tlie province of Yerrack. Merodaeh, whom 

 some sappose to have Wen NebucfaadMnw, overthrew 

 Dcjoces, Hint defaced his capital, A. M. jJ4-7 ; ami it 

 was more fatally pillaged by tlie army of Alexander, 

 A.M. .'CUS. See AiicitHt L'liii'. Hut. vol. v. p. 4; 

 Judith, c. i. v. 2, 4-; Herodotus, 1. i. c. 98; Chardin 

 I'ot/HS'' rn I'crsr, vol. i. p. 181 ; Joseph. Anita. 1. x. ; 

 Quint. Curt. 1. v. 8. ( 9 ) 





ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



ri- 1 HERE are two aspects in which tlie church of Chriit 

 *|J "*? presents itself to the notice of impartial history. It 

 """V" may either be regarded in its connection with tlie civil 

 and political establishments existing in the world, or it 

 may be viewed as a separate and distinct society, reared 

 upon its own principles, and possessing a character and 

 features exclusively belonging to ft. Ecclesiastical his- 

 tory therefore respects, cither the support which Chris- 

 tianity has received from the secular power, together 

 with the benefits or the disadvantages IT suiting from this 

 support; or as it respects the internal administration of 

 the church, its constitution and discipline, its doctrine 

 and its worship. Under the first of these heads, we 

 shall be able to trace the rise and tlie decline of priestly 

 usurpation, and especially that of the papacy ; and un- 

 der the second, we shall have it in our power to mark 

 the revolutions of theological opinion, connected as they 

 have uniformly been with those of philosophy and litera- 

 ture, during the long period of eighteen centuries. 

 Under the one or the other of the divisions now men- 

 tioned, almost every thing interesting or profitable in 

 ecclesiastical history may be conveniently introduced. 

 hi the following article, therefore, we shall endeavour 

 to keep these divisions steadily in view. 



Divuion f The -period of eighteen centuries, above alluded to, 

 the subject may be separated into four great portions. The first 

 extends from the birth of 'Christ to the reign of Con- 

 stantine A. D. 325, when Christianity became the re- 

 ligion of the empire. The second reaches onward 

 from the time of C'onstantine to the year 755, when the 

 supremacy of the Pope was acknowledged, and his tem- 

 poral dominion established. The third portion extends 

 from the acknowledgment of the Pope's supremacy and 

 the establishment of his temporal dominion, to the era 

 f the Reformation, about the year 1.580. And the last 

 portion includes the interval between die era of the re- 

 .ibrmation and the present time. 



CHAP. I. 



The History of the Church from the Birth of Christ to 

 the reign qfConstaiitine, A. D. 32.5, when Christianity 

 became tlie Religion of the Empire. 



In the 753d year of Rome, and in the reign of Au- 

 gustus Caesar, Jesus Christ was born. The place of 

 his nativity was Bethlehem in Jtulea, and his reputed 

 father was Joseph, a carpenter of Galilee. At the time 

 cf his birth, the whole world was at peace. The events 

 f our Saviour's life, which are recorded in the four 

 evangelical bietorics that have come down to i=, ore 



well known to his followers, and it is upon the efficacy 

 of his vicarious suffering.-' and propitiatory death, that oil lii-ti>ry 

 all true Christians builtl their hopes of everlasting hap- '^v""*' 

 piness. Sometime previous to his ascension into heaven, 

 the founder of our religion gave a charge to hi" apostles, 

 commanding them to preach the doctrine which he had 

 taught them, and assuring them that they should be 

 furnished with extraordinary gifts as the evidences of 

 their commission. The words of the charge, which has 

 been preserved by the evangelist Matthew, are these, P vcn to 

 " Go ye, awl teach all nations, baptizing them in the *l'* ll * ! ' 

 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 

 ('.host." And another of the inspired writers informs 

 us, that they were instructed to wait at Jerusalem, till 

 they should " receive power" by miraculous communi- 

 cation from heaven. In obedience to their Master's in- 

 junction, we find the apostles remaining in the Jewish 

 capital, and " when the day of Pentecost was fully 

 come" they were all assembled in one place. " And 

 suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rush- 

 ing mighty wind, and it filled all the liouse where 

 they were sitting; and there appeared unto them clo- 

 ven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 

 And they were all filled with tlie Holy Ghost, and did 

 speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." 

 In this way the promise of Jesus was accomplished. 

 The Holy Ghost was poured forth in mighty strength 

 upon the apostles. They w ere furnished -with extra- 

 ordinary powers, and especially with the gift of tongues. 

 And Saul of Tarsus having seen Jesus after his ascen- 

 sion, " as one born out of due time," and having been 

 miraculously called to the apostleship, those first mis- 

 sionaries of the faith, proceeded in the great work of 

 turning mankind from darkness to light, from ignorance 

 and wickedness, to knowledge, to righteousness, and to 

 peace. 



The reception of the new doctrine varied according 

 to the circumstances in which the apostles were placed. 

 In general, however, it met with a very great degree 

 of opposition, and the preachers were frequently re- 

 duced to the necessity of exercising their functions at 

 the hazard of their lives. 



The Jews, having persecuted our Saviour from the Sects amog 

 commencement of his ministry, and having at length 'he Jew* 

 succeeded in putting him to dc.-tth, could not be ex- 

 pected to treat his disciples with greater lenity. At 

 this time, there were three sects, or descriptions of men, 

 considered in a religious and political point of view, 

 among the Hebrew people; and each of these sects 

 seemed to vie with the others, in marked and zealous 

 opposition to the Christian cause. Howver much they 





