Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/47

Rh The renown of Pantenus extended beyond the limits of the Roman Empire; and some Indian merchants, drawn by commerce to Alexandria, before the year 179, took occasion to make themselves acquainted with the holy doctor, the head of the Christian school, and besought him to proceed to their country, in order there to combat the doctrines of the Brahmins by those of Jesus Christ.

There were many holy-minded men at that time to be found, under the name of Evangelists, who, full of zeal for the service of God, were willing, after the example of the apostles, to renounce every worldly prospect, and devote themselves wholly to the propagation of the Christian religion. Pantenus was of this number; and yielding to the entreaties of an envoy, sent to him from India, he gave up his school, and in 189 quitted Egypt, and set out for those remote countries, though not without the permission of the Bishop of Alexandria, who appointed him preacher of the Gospel to the Oriental nations.

On arriving in India, Pantenus found indications of the faith having been already preached there; but he again announced Jesus Christ to the Brahmins and philosophers of the country. History, however, gives us no further details concerning his mission, than that he found in the hands of some Christians, a Gospel of St. Matthew in the Hebrew character. It is supposed, that, after having devoted some years to evangelical labours in India, he returned to Alexandria, and recommenced his former occupation. It is certain that he was still living when Origen was filling, with much