CHRISTIANITY

The religion of Jesus Christ from the period when the disciples " were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts, xi. 26.) down to the present day, the main doctrines of the gospel, and the great moral principles which it reveals and confirms, have been preserved without interruption in the church. But notwithstanding this substantial unity, it cannot be denied that the character of the religion has been very materially coloured throughout all its history by the circumstances and genius of different nations and ages. The first marked forms of opinion which acquired consistency among the general body of Christians tended, in two very different directions. The Juii/iiiing Christims clung to the ordinances of the elder religion, and strove to teach the separation from ita lightsibie; under the names of Nazareans, , they existed as late as the fourth century, but ceased after the first to exercise'A°>0any very extensive influence on the church. The speculative C iristians placed figurative interpretations both on the external facts and mysteries of the religion, or [s. 244]