fair to conclude that the tree which bears nothing else is also bad. If
the bishops, and clergy, and missionaries were ignorant, sensual,
tyrannical, and superstitious, they are none the less the
representatives of Christianity, and if these are not true Christians,
_where are the true Christians_ from A.D. 324 to A.D. 1,500?

We propose, in this section, to practically condense the dark side of
Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History," as translated from the Latin by Dr.
A. Maclaine (ed. 1847), only adding, here and there, extracts from other
writers; all extracts, therefore, except where otherwise specified, will
be taken from this valuable history, a history which, perhaps from its
size and dryness, is not nearly so much studied by Freethinkers as it
should be; its special worth for our object is that Dr. Mosheim is a
sincere Christian, and cannot, therefore, be supposed to strain any
point unduly against the religion to which he himself belongs.

During the second and third centuries the Christians appear to have
grown in power and influence, and their faith, made up out of many older
creeds and forming a kind of eclectic religion, gradually spread
throughout the Roman empire, and became a factor in political problems.
In the struggles between the opposing Roman emperors, A.D. 310-324, the
weight of the Christian influence was thrown on the side of Constantine,
his rivals being strongly opposed to Christianity; Maximin Galerius was
a bitter persecutor, and his successor, Maximin, trod in his steps in
A.D. 312, and 313, Maxentius was defeated by Constantine, and Maximin by
Licinius, and in A.D. 312 Constantine and Licinius granted liberty of
worship to the Christians; in the following year, according to Mosheim,
or in A.D. 314 according to Eusebius, a second edict was issued from
Milan, by the two emperors, which granted "to the Christians and to all,
the free choice to follow that mode of worship which they may wish ...