imitive traditions arose, and
of those by whom they were collected and edited: and the difficulty of
making allowance for these prepossessions is enhanced by our ignorance
of the exact dates at which the documents were first put together; of
the extent to which they have been subsequently worked over and
interpolated; and of the historical sense, or want of sense, and the
dogmatic tendencies of their compilers and editors. Let us see if
there is any other road which will take us into something better than
negation.

There is a widespread notion that the "primitive Church," while under
the guidance of the Apostles and their immediate successors, was a
sort of dogmatic dovecot, pervaded by the most loving unity and
doctrinal harmony. Protestants, especially, are fond of attributing to
themselves the merit of being nearer "the Church of the Apostles" than
their neighbours; and they are the less to be excused for their
strange delusion because they are great readers of the documents which
prove the exact contrary. The fact is that, in the course of the first
three centuries of its existence, the Church rapidly underwent a
process of evolution of the most remarkable character, the final stage
of which is far more different from the first than Anglicanism is from
Quakerism. The key to the comprehension of the problem of the origin
of that which is now called "Christianity," and its relation to Jesus
of Nazareth, lies here. Nor can we arrive at any sound conclusion as
to what it is probable that Jesus actually said and did, without being
clear on this head. By far the most important and subsequently
influential steps in the evolution of Christianity took place in the
course of the century, more or less, which followed upon the
crucifixion. It is almost the darkest period of Church history, but,
most fortunately, the beginning and the end of the period are brightly
illuminated by the contemporary evidence of two writers of whose
historical existence there is no doubt,[74] and against the
genuineness of whose most important works there is no widely-admitted
objection. These are Justin, the philosopher and martyr, and Paul, the
Apostle to the Gentiles. I shall call upon these witnesses only to
testify to the condition of opinion among those who called themselves
disciples of Jesus in their time.

Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, which was written
somewhere about the middle of the second century, enumerates certain