The honour of having been the first to introduce the Christian faith into our island has also been claimed for James the son of Zebedee, who was killed by Herod, Acts xii. 2 ; and for Aristobulus, to whom, with his household, a salutation is addressed by Paul, Piom. xvi. 10. On the ground of som.e statements which occur in the martyrolo- gical calendar of the Greek church, Bishop Taylor and Dr Cave are inclined to believe that Simon Zelotes must have been in Britain. " But at last," it is said, " having
96 ANIMADVERSIONS ON A TREATISE
with him. That the gospel was preached here m the apostles' days, either by him or some other evangelist, is certain, and taken for granted on all hands; nor can om- author pretend that it came hither from Rome, but grants it to have come immediately from Palestine. Whether this doth not overthrow the main of his plea in his whole discourse, concerning our dependence upon Rome for our religion, I leave to prudent men to judge. Thus far, then, we are equal. As the gospel came to Rome, so it came to England ; to both from the same place, and by the same authority, the same ministry. All the question is, Whether religion they brought with them? that now
come to Britain, and enlightened many by the Avord of the gospel, being crucified and put to death by the unbelievers, he lies buried there." — Meuologia Grseca ad diem 10 Maii. According to the Roman martyrology, however, he sufifered martyrdom in Persia. No definite conclusion seems likely to emerge from the sifting of authorities so vague and contradictory, unless it be the utter uncertainty of all such traditions.
Simon Metaphrastes, a writer of the tenth century, would have us to believe that Peter visited Britain. Baronius, perhaps from the wish, so natural to a Romanist, that every tradition tending to enhance the reputation of Peter, and to prove his connection with the western church, shoxild be found true, extends credit to the story of Meta- phrastes. It is accompanied, however, with details grossly inconsistent with authentic history, and is not supported by the testimony of any previous writer.
There is, however, some amount of historical evidence, which, if not conclusive, is at least entitled to respectful considei^ation, in favour of the notion that the Christian church was first planted in Britain by the apostle Paul. Four authorities are gene- rally cited in order to justify this opinion, — Clemens Romanus, Eusebius, Jerome, and Theodoret. Clejiens ("Epist. ad Corinth.," epist. i. cap. 5) speaks of Paul as "having preached the gospel in the east and the west, having come to the bounds of the west, — £5r; TO Tipfia tyi; "hviriu;, — and having testified before the rulers;" and immediately adds, " 'I'hus he departed out of the Avorld," etc. The question as to the precise import of this statement very much hinges on the intei^pretation to be affixed to the Gi-eek words which we have just quoted. Dr Da'\adson (see his "Introduction to the New Tes- tament," vol. ii. p. 98) sifts them very carefully, and doubts if they can be held to im- ply more than that Paul had reached Rome ; while Neander founds upon them in proof that he miist have visited Spain. In relation to the Corinthians, Rome might be the west intended by Clement ; and had a region more to the west than Rome been intended by him, it is probable he would have spoken of Paul as having gone, not having come, to the " bounds of the west." Moreover, the statement of the apostolic father, in its scope and continviity, appears to identify the place where Paul bore his testimony before the rulers, and departed from this world, with " the boundary of the west," to which, by the preceding clause, he is represented as having come. These r^asOnings are of great weight in favour of the view which Dr Davidson adopts ; but the strength of the phrase, ro r'i(!J.a, rns "Svritat, is hardly exhausted if we understand it to embrace a longitude not raoie distaJit from Corinth than Italy; and the intercourse of eastern nations with Spain was by no means so scanty and limited that the Corinthians, on perusing the letter of Clement, would naturally think of Rome as the extreme verge of the western world. The use of ixSav may Ijc explained in relation to the point from which the apostle might have been viewed by Clement as commencing his journey. EtSEBius simply informs us, in his " l^vangelical Demonstration" (lib. iii. cap. 7), that some of the apostolic body liad cro.s.sed the seas Wi ra; KaXov/iUcc; EpfrraviKas vnaou;, — " to what ai'e called the British islands." However valuable this testimony may be in proof of the early intro- duction of Christianity into Britain, it sheds no light on the question whether Paul was the founder of the British church. Jerome, too, commenting on Amos v., employs language far too indefinite to supply us with evidence on the point: " St Paul having been in Spain, went from one ocean to another." Then follows a comparison of Paul s labours to the Sun of Righteousness, " of whom it is said, that ' his going forth is from the end of the earth, and his circuit unto the ends of it.' " Theodoret gives the most distinct testimony which can be quoted from ancient writers on this subject : " St Paul,"