Page:The ancient Irish church.djvu/16

 are not offered to the Father and Maker of the universe, through the name of the crucified Jesus.' But in the year 400 it needed not that an apologist should direct attention to the fact. The old worships were already for the most part forgotten. The temples of the gods had been destroyed or turned to Christian uses. The spread of Christianity was in some respects a more striking fact then than it is even at the present moment, for the diffusion of knowledge and the discoveries of modern times have revealed to us the existence of millions who have not as yet heard the sound of the Gospel; whereas in that age men's minds never went much beyond those countries which were subject to the imperial power. 'All the world' was to them synonymous with the Roman Empire, and in this sense, 'all the world' was Christian.

This abundant success was not without its serious drawbacks. The converts in the earliest ages were gathered from those whose hearts God had touched, and who, having been brought to a true knowledge of the Saviour, were ready to make any sacrifices and to endure any persecutions for His name's sake. But the case was far different when, after the conversion of Constantine, Christianity became the religion of the State, and multitudes changed their faith without abandoning their superstition. Men who had been taught that they should worship some god, but that it mattered little which, might easily become converts; but they were scarcely the class of men who would aid in preserving the purity and zeal of the earlier ages.

Accordingly we find that the fourth century, although it was a time when large numbers were added to the Church, was not an age of real missionary enterprise. Instances are recorded of