And in times and places where there was not much persecution, people could become and continue Christians who neither were nor professed to be very devoted persons.
The advent of a new religion, making serious and impressive claims to embody a new revelation from on high, is not a frequent occurrence.
Of course the case of the Christian Church planted among the nations must differ, in various ways, from that of any sect forming in connection with religious awakening in a territory of professing Christianity.
For the standard of Christian life was to be strained to a higher pitch; more fasting was required, and more careful separation from the manners and enjoyments of the world; celibacy and martyrdom had great value set upon them, and second marriages were prohibited.
