removed all obstacles. He ascended the throne of the Caesars--the
first Christian emperor.

Place, profit, power--these were in view of whoever now joined
the conquering sect. Crowds of worldly persons, who cared nothing
about its religious ideas, became its warmest supporters. Pagans
at heart, their influence was soon manifested in the paganization
of Christianity that forthwith ensued. The emperor, no better
than they, did nothing to check their proceedings. But he did not
personally conform to the ceremonial requirements of the Church
until the close of his evil life, A.D. 337.

TERTULLIAN'S EXPOSITION OF CHRISTIANITY. That we may clearly
appreciate the modifications now impressed on
Christianity--modifications which eventually brought it in
conflict with science--we must have, as a means of comparison, a
statement of what it was in its purer days. Such, fortunately, we
find in the "Apology or Defense of the Christians against the
Accusations of the Gentiles," written by Tertullian, at Rome,
during the persecution of Severus. He addressed it, not to the
emperor, but to the magistrates who sat in judgment on the
accused. It is a solemn and most earnest expostulation, setting
forth all that could be said in explanation of the subject, a
representation of the belief and cause of the Christians made in
the imperial city in the face of the whole world, not a querulous
or passionate ecclesiastical appeal, but a grave historical
document. It has ever been looked upon as one of the ablest of
the early Christian works. Its date is about A.D. 200.

With no inconsiderable skill Tertullian opens his argument. He