he highest rank
in heaven, he said, "He that is greatest among you shall be your
servant." "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted." Till our day the successor of
Saint Peter calls himself "Servant of the servants of God." Christ
drew to himself by preference the poor, the sick, women, children,--in
a word, the weak and the helpless. He took all his disciples from
among the populace and bade them be "meek and lowly of heart."

=The Kingdom of God.=--Christ said that he had come to the earth to
found the kingdom of God. His enemies believed that he wished to be a
king, and when he was crucified, they placed this inscription on his
cross, "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews." This was a gross
mistake. Christ himself had declared, "My kingdom is not of this
world." He did not come to overturn governments nor to reform
society. To him who asked if he should pay the Roman tax, he replied,
"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things
that are God's." And so the Christian accepted what he found
established and himself worked to perfect it, not to remodel society.
To make himself pleasing to God and worthy of his kingdom it was not
necessary to offer him sacrifices or to observe minute formulas as the
pagans did: "True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and
truth." Their moral law is contained in this word of Christ: "Be ye
therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

THE FIRST CENTURIES OF THE CHURCH

=Disciples and Apostles.=--The twelve disciples who associated with
Christ received from him the mission to preach his doctrine to all
peoples. From that time they were called Apostles. The majority of
them lived in Jerusalem and preached in Judaea; the first Christians
were still Jews. It was Saul, a new convert, who carried Christianity
to the other peoples of the Orient. Paul (for he took this name) spent
his life visiting the Greek cities of Asia, Greece, and Macedonia,
inviting to the new religion not only the Jews, but also and
especially the Gentiles: "You were once without Christ," said he to
them, "strangers to the covenant and to the promises; but you have
been brought nigh by the blood of Christ, for it is he who of two
peoples hath made both one." From this time it was no longer necessary
to be a Jew if one would become a Christian. The other nations,
disregarded by the law of Moses, are brought ne