Eusebius has not deceived himself--he only hoped to deceive others. If the Essenes were not Christians, then it is evident that much which is claimed as original in Christianity was copied from them. "Basnage has examined with the most critical accuracy the curious treatise of Philo, which describes the Therapeutæ. By proving that it was composed as early as the time of Augustus, he has demonstrated, in spite of Eusebius and a crowd of _modern Catholics_, that the Therapeutæ were neither Christians nor monks." (_Decline and Fall_, Vol. I. page 283, chapter xv., note 162.) "Much dispute has arisen among the learned concerning this sect. Some have imagined them to be Judaizing Gentiles; but Philo supposes them to be Jews, by speaking of them as a branch of the sect of the Essenes, and especially classes them among the followers of Moses. Others have maintained that the Therapeutæ were an Alexandrian sect of Jewish converts to the Christian faith, who devoted themselves to monastic 'life. But this is impossible, for Philo, who wrote before Christianity appeared in Egypt, speaks of this as an established fact" (Buck's _Theological Dictionary_.') And now, what has become of the Therapeutæ?--of their sacred writings? Where are their Elders, their Deacons and the Presidency of the Episcopate, or Bishops? All writers agree that they soon disappeared after the introduction of Christianity. "How long," continues Buck, "this sect continued, is uncertain, but it is not improbable that after the appearance of Christianity in Egypt, it soon became extinct." Gibbon, in speaking of the disappearance of this sect from history, says: "It still remains probable that they changed their names, preserved their manners, and adopted some new article of faith." (Vol. I. page 283, n. 162.) This sect did not mingle and lose itself in the huge mass of Pagans, for between the two there was no neutral ground on which they might meet and agree. The antagonism between them had continued too long, and there was traditional hatred on both sides. Paul threw the doors of the church wide open, and, as we shall see, the Therapeutæ soon entered, and by their numbers took possession, and barred them against the founder and all his followers. What did the Therapeutæ do with their sacred writings, which, Eusebius claims, were nothing more than our present Gospels? To suppose that they abandoned and destroyed them altogether is not possible, considering their antiquity, and the veneration in which they were held for generations. CHAPTER IV. THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH. It is a question of great interest in history, if nothing more, when and where it was that the Christian Church, in the form in which it has come down to us, had its origin.