of nature, but such was the popular belief in regard to him, if not in his own time, a century or two later.

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Apollonius of Tyana, so called, was a native of Tyana, a city of Cappadocia, located about four hundred miles north of Jerusalem, and fifty or sixty miles north of Tarsus, the home of the Apostle Paul. Apollonius was born probably in the year 2 B. C., two years after the commonly accepted date of the birth of Jesus, and lived about a hundred years. His biography, written about 200 A. D., relates that before his birth an Egyptian god appeared to his mother, and to her inquiry as to whom she would bring forth the god replied, Thou shalt bring forth me.' At the birth of Apollonius, which occurred in a meadow, a flock of swans surrounded his mother and sang; while at the instant of birth a thunderbolt appeared in the sky, but instead of falling to the earth it rose aloft and disappeared. The people, so says the biographer, called Apollonius the son of Jupiter, but he denied such origin. In youth he was a prodigy of beauty and learning. He resolved not to marry. journeyed about, everywhere reforming religions. maintained absolute silence for a period of five years. traveled to India and Babylon. From the Arabians he learned the language of animals. He interpreted dreams and visions. He went to Ephesus and produced a plague there, the disease breaking out after he had gone to Smyrna. He transported himself instantly back to Ephesus and put an end to the plague by having the people stone a demon, which took various forms. He cast out demons. He restored to life a young woman apparently dead. Egypt he recognized in a tame lion the soul of a former king of that country.

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He

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In

Apollonius, the narrative goes on, was brought before the Emperor Domitian and charged with being an enchanter. In the course of his examination before the Emperor, he stated that he ate nothing but fruits of the earth and wore garments made from products of the earth only, because thereby he caused 'no injury to pitiable animals.' To the question why men called him a god he answered, 'because every man who is good is entitled to that appellation.' Domitian acquitted him, but expressed a determination to detain him for a time in order to hear him farther, whereupon Apollonius vanished from the tribunal. Two early writers, one of them unfriendly to Apollonius, relate

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that at the moment Domitian was assassinated Apollonius, though far away, informed the people about him that the tyrant was slain. There are various accounts of his death; one, that he disappeared in a temple at Lindus; another, that the gates of a temple at Crete opened for him and, after he had entered, closed behind him without the hand of man, whereupon the temple resounded with the songs of virgin voices, Leave earth; come to heaven; come, come!' After his death he appeared to a young man at Tyana who had questioned the immortality of the soul, and conversed with him on the subject.

"Such in outline is the biography of Apollonius, as written by Philostratus about the year 210. For several centuries after his death Apollonius was worshiped as a god in many parts of the world. Without doubt he was a very remarkable man, wise, philanthropic, good. Whether the accounts of his miracles date from the time of his life, or, what is more likely, were invented during the century following his death, is uncertain and immaterial. The stories were accepted implicitly by Christians as well as pagans, the Christians attributing the alleged miracles to sorcery. Tillemont, the great French Catholic historian of the seventeenth century, thought Apollonius was in league with Satan. Fortunately we are not left without material for forming an independent judgment in regard to Apollonius. Some of his epistles have come down to us, addressed to societies, philosophers, and monarchs. Let me read you a few passages that will give you a better idea of him:

"The truth is not concealed from us, how beautiful it is to have all the earth for one's country, and all men for brothers and friends; . . . and that wheresoever any one may be, or in whatever manner born, whether barbarian or Greek, he is still a man.'

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Here you have the doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man.

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Again:

"There is no death. Nothing really is originated, and nothing ever perishes, but only now comes into sight and now vanishes; . . . but is always the same, differing only in motion and condition. . . . No thing is ever created, or destroyed.'

"Here we have the doctrine of the indestructibility of matter.

"Again, Apollonius speaks of the Eternal God, who be.

comes all, in all, and through all, and who, if he were to clothe himself in names and forms, would suffer loss and damage in his own nature.' Writing to a brother who had lost his wife, Apollonius said:

“It is destined that whatever has reached perfection must pass away. Let not, therefore, the loss of your wife in the ripeness of age shock you, and do not, because something is called death, deem life better than it, since life is held inferior by every wise person. If there had been anything to be reprehended in your wife, you might reasonably be cast down. But she was. . . everything to be desired. . . . For tears I have not been able to write more, and more than this I have not thought necessary.’

“Finally, in proof of the profound respect in which Apollonius was held by the most intelligent, learned, and powerful persons of his time, hear the remarkable tribute of the Emperor Titus, to whom, after his accession, the philosopher wrote, counseling moderation. Titus replied:

"In my own name and in that of my country, I give you thanks, and will be mindful of those things. I have indeed taken Jerusalem, but you have captured me.'

"The later pagan Emperors are said to have worshiped Jesus, Abraham, and Apollonius as holy men, as the Emperors themselves were worshiped after their death by succeeding generations. Tyana, as the birthplace of Apollonius, was held sacred and exempted from the jurisdiction of the Roman governors. A contemporary of Apollonius said of him,' We have a god living among us.' Another writer, nearly four hundred years after the death of Apollonius, said of him, 'In truth, I am not sure that there is to be found in all past ages another philosopher whose life equals this man's; certainly not in this age.'

And the man about whom all this was said, lived at the same time with Jesus.

"I think I have said enough to remind, or convince, you that in the early centuries of Christianity there were other names besides that of Jesus which were held not merely in great respect but in religious veneration. Jesus and the religion which, after his death, was founded upon his life and teachings, largely through the efforts of the Apostle Paul, had not, in the centuries immediately following the time of Jesus and Apollonius, gained such ascendency throughout the Roman world as in after time. Moreover, the alleged presence of divinity in humanity was not in that

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age looked upon with such doubt and suspicion of imposture as in this time of scientific inquiry, when men are quick and persistent to apply the injunction attributed to Paul: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.""

CHAPTER 23

TRYING TO SQUARE THE CIRCLE

"WELL, what do you think of it?" inquired Craig, when he and Granger had reached the open air.

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To me it comes like a revelation." replied Granger, in a tone so full of feeling that Craig turned to look at him. It has been years since I last gave much thought to Christian evidences," Granger went on, nor have I ever before heard these matters presented as they were to-night. I supposed I had these questions all settled. But I am going to hear what Dr. Harlow has to say further about this thing." The two young men walked some distance in silence. "I can't understand it," said Granger at length, as if thinking aloud.

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Can't understand what?" inquired Craig.

"Why, how it is that the Roman world, especially the intelligent, learned, cultured part of it, both in the time of Christ and afterwards, should ignore or despise Christ and his teaching, and at the same time pay such honor to a man like Apollonius. There's an inconsistency in such action utterly inexplicable, it seems to me, from the Christian standpoint."

Each Sunday evening thereafter found Granger and Craig among the small audience at the lectures of Dr. Harlow. A few other University students attended more or less regularly. Granger and Craig usually discussed the lectures on their way home, and sometimes their talk was prolonged to a late hour. On one of these occasions, toward the end of February, the two young men had returned to their room, and without lighting the lamp stood warming their toes on the steam pipes and looking out into the moonlit stillness of the icy winter night. Finally Craig turned suddenly to Granger, and in a tone and manner quite unusual to him burst forth:

Granger, I've about made up my mind to drop these Sunday evening lectures."

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You don't mean it, Stuart?" queried Granger in surprise. "Your interest in them is nearly if not quite as great as mine. You surely don't grudge yourself the time to attend a lecture once a week, on Sunday evening, upon such a subject and with such a speaker!

I

"O, it isn't lack of time or lack of interest," responded Craig. "On the contrary, it is precisely because I am getting altogether too deeply interested in the lectures. find myself growing more and more unsettled religiously. I can't see where it is going to end, or what I am going to get in place of the convictions I have held. I am afraid that if I go on hearing Dr. Harlow's talks, and thinking of this subject and discussing it with you as we have been doing, I shall wind up without any clearly defined religious beliefs at all; and the thought of such an outcome is repugnant, almost unbearable, to me.”

After a slight pause Granger replied:

"I think I understand your state of mind, Stuart, because up to a certain point it is my own as well. We both began attending these lectures with the sole aim to get at the truth, if there were any truth that we hadn't already got at through our orthodox rearing. Like you, I have found my orthodox views, which I deemed impregnable, gradually shaken, until now-”

Granger stopped.

"Go on," said Craig.

"I don't know whether I ought to go on or not," answered Granger, doubtfully. "I don't know whether I ought to try to influence you in this matter. And indeed what I say I say not for the purpose of leading you against your judgment; but if you are sure you want me to, I will tell you how it all looks to me."

This time it was Craig who paused, as though deciding a momentous question.

"Yes, Paul," he finally said, "I want you to speak. You have given more thought to this question than I, and you are better prepared by mental bent and training to deal with it. Besides, I should be ashamed to confess that after our years of friendship the time has come when I dare not listen to you, whatever the phase of life or thought under consideration."