India Christiana. A discourse, delivered unto the Commissioners, for the Propagation of the Gospel…

However, We are not so much at a Loss, How and When the Gospel was first Preached unto the Americans. We cannot be of the Persuasion, that it was done by the Mouth, or near the Age of the Apostles; or that All the World Evangelized by them, was much without the Bounds of the Roman Empire. Tho' Justin Martyr tells us, That [[Greek or Hebrew],] there was no kind of Men tho' never so Barbarous, among whom GOD the Father was not in the Name of a Crucified JESUS then called upon: Tho' Irenaeus tells us, That [sicut Sol, Creatura Del in Universo Mundo] the Gospel had like the Sun, shone upon all Nations. Tho' Tertullian tells us, ⟨p. 26⟩That [Loca abditarum multarum Gentium, and, Adspice universas Nations, and, In Provincijs omnibus quas Sol oriens atque Occidens Lustrat,] the most hidden Nations, all of them, even all that the Rising or Setting Sun shone upon, had the Name of CHRIST then adored among them. Tho' Jerome tells us, That [Pellitorum turba Populorum, and, Scythiae frigora fervent calore Fidel,] The Scythians and People that were clad with nothing but Skins, were then warmed with the Light of the Gospel: And, tho' Chrysostom tells us, That [[Greek or Hebrew]] in whatever Land the Sun looks upon, and even without the Bounds of their World, a Worship was there paid unto our Crucified SAVIOUR. And Theodoret adds, That the Preachers of the Gospel had carried it [[Greek or Hebrew]] unto all the Men in the World. These Flourishes, are to be understood with their proper Limitations. Nor can we think, That because Nicephorus tells us, of Matthew's carrying the Gospel unto the Man-eaters, he must therefore be a Preacher to the Americans. Nor shall we believe the Legends we have had about either the Apostle Thomas, or a Lord-Thomas, Eight hundred Years after him, until we can see Malabar & Brosile holding a nearer Communication with one another. But considering ⟨p. 27⟩how imperfect and spurious a Gospel it is, that the Spaniards have given to their Indians, and how the boa• Conversion of the Pagans (whereof sometimes one poor Friar, if we may believe Martinus de Valentia, and others of the Fraternity, has Baptized some Hundreds of Thousands) among them, has been little other than a Change of Idolatries: We may truly say, The First Planters of NEW-ENGLAND, are the First Preachers of the Pure Gospel to the Americans, that we certainly know of.