IN CHURCH HISTORY. 29 



tained in contemporaneous histories, and the 

 traditions which have been preserved to us. 



No complete history lias ever been prepared. 

 Enough, however, has been given to show the 

 spirit of the Church, its principles, and its mar- 

 vellous extension in the face of all obstacles. 



While many were commissioned, as time went 

 on, to assist in the work of founding the Church, 

 the apostles seemed to have been ever the most 

 earnest and most successful laborers. Asia, Europe 

 and Africa, the three continents then known, 

 were travelled by them, and myriads were converted 

 to the faith. 



DIVISION OF APOSTOLIC LABORS. 



No complete record has been left us of the 

 separate work done by each of the apostles in 

 sowing the seeds of divine truth and in organizing 

 the society of believers in different places. 



The Book of the Acts of the Apostles gives us 

 an account of their labors and the labors of the 

 disciples in a general way in the city of Jerusalem ; 

 speaks of their dispersion by reason of persecution ; 

 and then is concerned mainly with the history of St. 

 Paul. 



The labors of St. fames, the elder, the brother of 

 St. John, were speedily brought to an end, for 

 during the persecution of the Christians in Jerusa- 



