History of the First Ten Persecutions, History 1 · Chapter 2
CENT I. Chap. 2.
AFter the Lordes resurrection, his twelue Apostles were indued with grace from aboue, and sent Apostles.foorth to conqu…sse all people to the obedience of Christ: whose trauailes the Lord so wonderfully blessed, that within a short time many thousands of all nations & languages, whom God had appointed to eternal life were conuerted to the faith of Christ. This conquest that Christ made by the ministerie of 12. poore and contemptible men is more worthy to be called a conquest, then all the valiant exploites of CYRVS, ALEXANDER, CAESAR, and other conquerours. For he made this conquest by a small handfull of poore and infirme disciples: also he conquessed not only the bodies of men, but also their hearts to his obedience, & finally hee made this conquest not by shedding of peoples blood, but by preaching of his owne death and blood shed for the redemption of many. Neither conquessed hee free men to make them slaues, as other conquerours had done but they who were slaues indeede to Satan, vntounto thē he gaue the libertie of the sons of God. Now these 12. Apostles the more faithfully they laboured in the worke of their ministery, the worse were they intreated by the vnthankfull world, according as Christ had forctold, Iohn 16. The most part of them were put to death, the rest were not free of many painfull sufferings & rebukes which they willinglysustained for the Name of Christ. PETER & PAVL are supponed to hauehave beene martyred at Rome, ANDRO to hauehave beene crucified in Achaia, MATTHEW beheaded in Ethiopta, IAMES the brother of IOHN was beheaded by HEROD in Iudea, Acts 12. IAMES the sonne of AIPHEVS called IVSTVS was throwne downe headlong from the pinacle of the Temple of Jerusalem, SIMON of Canaan was crucified in the dayes of TRAIANVS, for he was an hundreth and twentie yeeres old, when he suffered martyrdome, Euseb, eccles. hist. lib. 3. cap. 32 Ierom. catalog. script. eccles. BARTHOLOMEW is said till hauehave bene martyred in Armenia, and SIMON ZELOTES, to hauehave bene crucified in Brittaine IOHN died at Ephesus, PHILIP in Hierapolis. FVNCTIVS calleth the towne Hierosopolis, Iudas LEBBEVS at Edessa, THOMAS in India, and MATTHIAS in Ethiopia, Ierom. catal. script. ecccles.
As concerning the Euangelists they were fellow-labourers Euangelists.with the Apostles in the worke of Christ, and were also partakers with them of Christs sufferings. The Euangelist MARKE died in Alexandria, Funct. chronol. LVKE in Buhynia, others say in Constantinople, Ierom. PHILIP, who first was a Deacon, and afterward an Euangelist, died in Cesarea, BARNABAS in: the Isle of Cyprus. Where TIMOTHIE and TITVS did compleete their dayes it is not certainly knowne. CHYTRAEVS opinion anent TIMOTHIE I hauehave alreadie declared. IEROM supponeth that TITVS died in Candie. The successours of the Apostles & Euangelists are not to bee reckoned as the successours of Emperours: because hee who next obtaineth the Emperiall diademe and place of The true successours of the Apostles.gouernement, is counted the successour of the defunct Emperour. But he who obtaineth a faithfull Pastors chaire, and teacheth a doctrine contrarie to that which a faithfull Pastor hath taught, is to be counted a grieuous Wolfe stepped vp into his roome, Acts 20. And NAZIANZENVS calleth such a man an aduersarie standing vp into the place of a faithfull Pastor, darkenesse succeeding to light, a tempest succeeding to calme weather, & madnesse obteining place where right reason was wont to bee, Nazian. in orat. in laudem Athanasu. And therefore those Bishops and doctours following, who keepe inviolably that forme of wholesome doctrine which they receiued from the Apostles, these, I say, alanerly are to be counted true successours of the Apostles. Of this number was LINVS Bishop of Rome, who after the martyrdomes of PETER and PAVL gouerned Bishops of Rome. Linus.that Church 10. yeeres, 3. months, 12. daies. EUSEBIVS thinketh this is that same LINVS of whō the Apostle PAVL writeth in the last chap. of his 2. epist. to TIMOTHIE, Eubulus & Pudens & Linus, & Claudia salute thee. Eccl. hist. lib. 3. cap. 2. After him succeded ANACLETVS, and gouerned 9. yeeres 3 months, 10. dayes, and after him CLEMENS, ruled 11. yeeres, EVSEBIVS also thinketh this is that CLEMENS of whom the Apostle PAVL writeth to the Philip. cap. 4, ver. 3. Yea I beseech thee faithfull yoke-fellow helpe those women which laboured with me in the Gospell, with Clement also and with other my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the booke of life. IGNATIVS Bishop Ignatius.of Antioch had his heart so inflammed with the louelove of Christ, that when his dissolution was neere approaching, he saide to the Romaines: nowe doe I begin to be the disciple of Christ, I couet for no thing that can be seene with bodily eyes, to the ende that I may enjoy Iesus Christ: let the fire, the crosse, the beasts, the breaking of bones, convulsion of members, and bruising of the whole body, and the torments of the deuill sease vponupon me, prouiding I may bee partaker of Iesus Christ. He was deuoured with beasts in the dayes of TRAIANVS, and so patiently indured death for the Name of Iesus, that he allured the deuouring beasts to approach neere vntounto his body, that it beeing ground with the teeth of beastes, he might be found as fine flowre in the house of his father, Euseb. eccles. hist. lib. 3. cap. 36. About the same time also flourished PAPIAS Bishop of Hierapolis, Papias.who was a man of great authoritie, because of his neerenes to the Apostles dayes, yet leaning more to the report of the doctrine of the Apostles, then to the certaintie of their own writings, he fell into the errour of the Chiliastes, who imagined that Christ should raise the godly first, & liue with them a thousand yeeres in this earth in all kinde of delicat pleasures, Euseb. eccles. hist. lib. 3. cap. 39.