54 PIONEERS OF EVOLUTION PART 



theology, doctrines of the Trinity, of the Virgin 

 Birth, and whatever else could be inferentially ex- 

 tracted from the Scriptures, and blended with foreign 

 ideas. -The growing complexity of creed called for 

 interpretation of it, and this obviously fell to the 

 overseers or bishops, chosen for their special gifts of 

 ' the grace of the truth.'. These met, as occasion 

 required, to discuss subjects affecting the faith and 

 discipline of the several groups. Among such, pre- 

 cedence, as a matter of course, would be accorded to 

 the overseer of the most important Christian society 

 in the Empire ; and hence the prominence and 

 authority, from an early period, of the bishop of 

 Rome. In the simple and business-like act of his 

 election as chairman of the gatherings lay the germ 

 of the audacious and preposterous claims of the 

 Papacy. 



On the pagan side, the course of development is 

 not so easily traced. To determine when and where 

 this or that custom or rite arose is now impossible ; 

 indeed, we may say, without exaggeration, that it 

 never arose at all, because the conditions for its 

 adoption were present throughout in human tenden- 

 cies. The first Christian disciples were Jews : and the 

 ritual which they followed was the direct outcome of 

 ideas common to all barbaric religions, so that certain 

 of the pagan rites and ceremonies with which they 

 came in contact in all parts of the Empire fitted-in with 

 custom, tradition, and desire. * And this applies, with 

 stronger force, to the converts scattered from Edessa, 

 east of the Euphrates, to the Empire's westernmost 

 limits in Britain. Moreover, we know that a policy 

 of adaptation and conciliation wisely governed the 



