contain, be that story; that which these men delivered, and for which
they acted and suffered as they did? This question is, in effect, no
other than whether the story which Christians have now be the story
which Christians had then? And of this the following proofs may be
deduced from general considerations, and from considerations prior to
any inquiry into the particular reasons and testimonies by which the
authority of our histories is supported.

In the first place, there exists no trace or vestige of any other story.
It is not, like the death of Cyrus the Great, a competition between
opposite accounts, or between the credit of different historians. There
is not a document, or scrap of account, either contemporary with the
commencement of Christianity, or extant within many ages afar that
commencement, which assigns a history substantially different from ours.
The remote, brief, and incidental notices of the affair which are found
in heathen writers, so far as they do go, go along with us. They bear
testimony to these facts--that the institution originated from Jesus;
that the Founder was put to death, as a malefactor, at Jerusalem, by the
authority of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate; that the religion
nevertheless spread in that city, and throughout Judea; and that it was
propagated thence to distant countries; that the converts were numerous;
that they suffered great hardships and injuries for their profession;
and that all this took place in the age of the world which our books
have assigned. They go on, further, to describe the manners of
Christians in terms perfectly conformable to the accounts extant in our
books; that they were wont to assemble on a certain day; that they sang
hymns to Christ as to a God; that they bound themselves by an oath not
to commit any crime, but to abstain from theft and adultery, to adhere
strictly to their promises, and not to deny money deposited in their
hands;* that they worshipped him who was crucified in Palestine; that