state of disquietude. Idolatry was so interwoven with the very
texture of society that the adoption of the new faith sometimes abruptly
deprived an individual of the means of subsistence. If he was a
statuary, he could no longer employ himself in carving images of the
gods; if he was a painter, he could no more expend his skill in
decorating the high places of superstition. To earn a livelihood, he
must either seek out a new sphere for the exercise of his art, or betake
himself to some new occupation. If the Christian was a merchant, he was,
to a great extent, at the mercy of those with whom he transacted
business. When his property was in the hands of dishonest heathens, he
was often unable to recover it, as the pagan oaths administered in the
courts of justice prevented him from appealing for redress to the laws
of the empire. [287:1] Were he placed in circumstances which enabled him
to surmount this difficulty, he could not afford to exasperate his
debtors; as they could have so easily retaliated by accusing him of
Christianity. The wealthy disciple could not accept the office of a
magistrate, for he would have thus only betrayed his creed; neither
could he venture to aspire to any of the honours of the state, as his
promotion would most certainly have aggravated the perils of his
position. Our Saviour had said--"I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes shall be
they of his own household." [287:2] These words were now verified with
such woeful accuracy that the distrust pervading the domestic circle
often imbittered the whole life of the believer. The slave informed
against his Christian master; the husband divorced his Christian wife;
and children who embraced the gospel were sometimes disinherited by
their enraged parents. [287:3] As the followers of the cross
contemplated the hardships which beset them on every side, well might
they have exclaimed in the words of the apostle--"If in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." [287:4]

In the first century the very helplessness of the Church served
partially to protect it from persecution. Its adherents were then almost
all in very humble circumstances; and their numbers were not such as to
inspire the sovereign with any political anxiety. When they were
harassed by the unbelieving Jews, the civil magistrate sometimes