Until then ( 106 or 107 A.D. at the martyrdom of Symenon ) the church remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin, for those who attempted to corrupt the healthful rule of the Savior's preaching if they existed at all, lurked in obscure darkness. But when the sacred band of the Apostles and the generation of those to whom it had been vouchsafe to hear with their own ears the divine wisdom had reached the several ends of their lives, then the federation of godless error took its beginning through the deceit of false teachers, who, seeing that none of the Apostles still remained, barefacedly tried against the preaching of the trust the counter -proclamation of knowledge, falsely so-called." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 111, Chap. xxxii.)
