THE facts concerning the introduction of Christianity into Britain cannot be stated accurately—at least, at present—and the difficulties of doing so are such, that in all probability they never will be precisely before the mind; but, on the other hand, the arguments in favor of its introduction before the end, of the first century are so strong, as to leave little doubt upon the matter.
Some fifty years before Christ the armies of Rome invaded Britain, but they made only a temporary impression upon its warlike inhabitants, and not until the year 43 of the Christian era did imperial Rome set herself to the task of conquering the thickly populated island. Centuries before Rome had set her eyes upon Britain, its shores had been visited by Phoenician traders, who, sailing up the Mediterranean, trafficked with Britain for lead, and even with the dwellers upon the shores of the Baltic for amber. These ardent explorers and traders had settlements on the Scilly Islands, and a regular trade with the people of Cornwall and Devon. In time the Greeks took up the trade, and so long as five hundred years before Christ, they established a colony at Marseilles, and reached Britain by a land route over France through Brittany. They established a trade center in the Isle of Wight and dealt with the British of the south coast. Later still, the Roman traders sought out the products of the island, and bartered for skins and other raw materials. Thus for many centuries civilization and commerce, working towards the setting sun, from the shores of Palestine, Greece, and ancient Rome, established trade routes from the East, to the islands of the West.
Observance of these facts lends considerable importance to the legends or traditions respecting the introduction of Christianity into Britain. The East and the West were connected together by the bonds of trade, which bonds had existed for hundreds of years; and a perfectly simple and natural explanation is afforded to the stories of missionaries coming from Judea in the East, and visiting the heathen in Britain in the West.
The Scriptures do not instruct us as to the missionary labors of the various apostles, but they transmit to us the Lord's commission to them to go forth into all the world and to preach the Gospel to every creature, and they, also inform us that they did so go forth, and that in their labors the Lord worked with them. Further, we are told that the order of executing their commission was first Jerusalem and Judea, next Samaria, and lastly the uttermost parts of the earth. By means of the gifts of tongues and of healing bestowed upon these early workers in evangelization, the attention of all peoples was at once commanded, while the " signs and wonders and divers miracles " accompanying their words, demonstrated to the heathen the power of the living God, and the folly of trusting in their idols. St. Paul describes their work, saying how Christ wrought by him" to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God."
Jerusalem first, and afterward Antioch, where the disciples were known distinctively as Christians, were in turn the great centers whence the Gospel issued, and whence it spread in the process of the first century, over Asia Minor into Italy and Macedonia, and eventually into Spain, Gaul, and Britain.
The Scriptures, being silent on the missionary labors of the apostles generally, do not give us the longings of their hearts for the salvation of the heathen, excepting in the case of the apostle Paul, and those with him. With his evangelic yearnings of soul, for Jew and for Gentile, we are acquainted, and from his own words written at Corinth we are aware how he desired to make his "journey into Spain," visiting the city of Rome as he did so.
His visit to Spain would occur in the year 64, and it is generally accepted that he passed some two years in the West of Europe. We quote the well-known authorities for this visit. Clement, writing in the first century, states that the apostle Paul had preached the Gospel "in the East and in the West"; that he "had gone to the extremity of the West"—which certainly includes Spain, and which some suppose embraces Britain also; and that he "had instructed the whole world "—i.e., the Roman world—"in righteousness!' Both Chrysostom and Jerome mention St. Paul's labors in his going ``to Spain" and "in the West"; so that the early Church fully recognized that the apostle's purpose, expressed in his epistle to the Romans, was duly realized.
There is nothing improbable in the apostle himself visiting Britain, but there is no proof that he did so. He was about seventy years of age when he was in Spain, and was then Paul the aged," to use his own words. But if physically unfitted to endure the hardship of visiting Gaul and Britain, his undimmed energy of spirit would lead out his desires to the brave people of Britain, whose struggles with great Rome were on everyone's lips. His heart ever reached to the regions beyond, and we may well imagine a firm foundation for the legend that his companions in the Gospel visited Britain's shores. The traders' boats already mentioned, calling at the Spanish coast towns on their way to the islands of the West, or the overland trade route to the same destination across Gaul and Brittany, afford a simple and natural accomplishment of the tradition. In like manner the traditions of visits to Britain by missionaries from Jerusalem are seen to be by no means improbable stories. We need not assign a name to the companion of St. Paul who is stated to have visited the island, and declare him to be the Aristobulus of Romans 16:1010Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household. (Romans 16:10); nor need we affirm that Joseph of Arimathea was the missionary from Jerusalem, according to the tradition of the Romish Church. But by the teaching of Scripture, the statements of the early fathers of the Church, and the ancient legends respecting mission work in Britain, we are entitled to believe that before the first century closed, our Lord's command," Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," had led the feet of His servants to the extreme west of the pagan empire of Rome.
We now turn our thoughts to the Church in the city of Rome in order to trace, if possible, any connection with it and Britain. And first, it will be necessary to say a few words on the Church in Rome itself. The date of the entrance of Christianity into Rome and the name of the founder of the Church there, are absolutely unknown; neither are there traditions as to its founders as is the case with the Church in Britain. But there can be no doubt that the Jewish "strangers of Rome," converted to The Faith at Pentecost, returning to the imperial city, spread the truth amongst their numerous fellow countrymen resident there, and also amongst the Gentiles. That, very early, Churches were planted in the countries and districts mentioned in connection with the day of Pentecost is not to be doubted. From Pentecost, until the time when St. Paul wrote his epistle to the saints and beloved of God in Rome, little is known of the Church in that city, but some few facts can be gathered by reading the apostle's epistle, Some of those addressed had been Christians before the apostle; the believers generally were well instructed and well able to build up one another; and they were widely known for their obedience to the faith.
History marks the growth of the Church in Rome in the first century, and testifies to the constancy of its numerous martyrs. But faithful and constant as were these believers, the apostle does not refer to their missionary and evangelic zeal as he did to that of the Churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. He does not address the Christians in Rome as a Church, but rather in their individual capacity, and singles out families and households for his salutations, which may possibly indicate the difficulties encompassing the Church in Rome in the days of the pagan emperors.
By natural and most simple causes Britain was brought, in the persons of many of her sons, into touch with Rome. In the year AM. 43 Rome once again set about the bloody work of subjugating Britain, and for some years fierce battles raged in the island, and British prisoners and hostages were forwarded to Rome. At length the heroic Caradoc, or Caractacus, gathered the tribes together, and for nine years defied Rome's legions. His stronghold was on the borders of Wales. During his defense his name was on all lips in Rome, and when at length he was brought captive to the city, every eye was anxious to gaze upon the proud and indomitable Briton who for so long had struggled with the masters of the world. When Caractacus was brought before the Emperor Claudius, un-subdued in spirit, he advanced to his throne, and said: “If I had had, O Cæsar, in prosperity a prudence equal to my birth and fortune, I should have entered this city as a friend and not as a captive ... My present condition is as glorious to you as it is humiliating to myself." Then, defending his course, he continued:" If you Romans aspire to universal dominion, does it follow that men must willingly become your slaves!... And now, should you resolve to put me to death, my story will be soon forgotten. Preserve me, and my name shall live an eternal instance of your clemency." His noble words procured to him and his family release, hut of his future we know nothing. Legends as to St. Paul's interviews with members of the family of Caractacus exist in Wales, and it is not at all improbable that members of it were converted to the Christian faith, and that they returned as missionaries of Christ to their own land.
Further Roman victories in Britain caused A.D. 59 the fall of Druidism, which must have stood as fiercely against The Faith of Christ as the paganism of Rome itself in the time of Nero.
The intercourse between Britons brought to Rome and the Christians there, and the numerous Christians who served in the Roman legions, and also the foreign Christians who visited Britain for purposes of trade, would all account for much in the tradition which speaks of Christianity entering Britain in the first century. But all such means would be non-apostolic, and of the character of the ordinary mission work of our own times. Apostolic missionary work was conducted with apostolic power, accompanied by the gift of tongues and miracles,, as we have already observed. St. Paul was martyred in 67 or 68, and it is not necessary to follow the traditions which associate the first century Christianity in Britain with the apostle John, whose work lay in Asia, nor with others of the apostles whom legend credits with the evangelization of Britain.