To such a degree did the teaching of our faith flourish at that time(2) that even those writers who were far from our religion did not hesitate to mention in their histories the persecutions and martyrdoms which took place during that time. And they, indeed, accurately indicate the time. For they record that, in the fifteenth year of Domitian, Flavia Domitilla, daughter of a sister of Flavius Clemens, who was at that time one of the consuls of Rome, was exiled with many others to the island of Pontia(3) in consequence of testimony borne to Christ. Period II. The Post-Apostolic Age: A. D. 100-A. D. 140 The post-apostolic age, extending from circa 100 to circa 140, is the age of the beginnings of Gentile Christianity on an extended scale. It is marked by the rapid spread of Christianity, so that immediately after its close the Church is found throughout the Roman world, and the Roman Government is forced to take notice of it and deal with it as a religion (§§ 6, 7); the decline of the Jewish element in the Church and extreme hostility of Judaism to the Church (§ 5); the continuance of chiliastic expectations (§ 10); the beginnings of the passion for martyrdom (§ 8); as well as the appearance of the forms of organization and worship which subsequently became greatly elaborated and remained permanently in the Church (§§ 12-15); as also the appearance of religious and moral ideas which became dominant in the ancient Church (§§ 11, 12, 16). The literature of the period upon which the study of the conditions and thought of the Church of this age must be based is represented principally by the so-called Apostolic Fathers, a name which is convenient, but misleading and to be regretted. These are Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Ignatius, Polycarp, Papias, Hermas; with the writings of these are commonly included two anonymous books known as the _Didache_, or _Teaching of the Twelve Apostles_, and the _Epistle to Diognetus_. From all of these selections are given.(4) § 5. Christianity and Judaism The Christian Church grew up not on Jewish but on Gentile soil. In a very short time the Gentiles formed the overwhelming majority within the Church. As they did not become Jews and did not observe the Jewish ceremonial law, a problem arose as to the place of the Jewish law, which was accepted without question as of divine authority. One solution is given by the author of the so-called Epistle of Barnabas, which should be compared with the solution given by St. Paul in his epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans. The number of conversions from Judaism rapidly declined, and very early an extreme hostility toward Christianity became common among the Jews. (_a_) Barnabas, _Epistula_, 4, 9.