The next day the general edict of persecution was published. It was enacted that the ecclesiastical edifices, styled by the Apostasy “churches,” in all the provinces of the empire, should be demolished to their foundations; and the punishment of death was pronounced against all who should presume to hold any secret assemblies for the purpose of religious worship. And as it was understood, that the doctrines of the faith of Christ were all contained in the writings of the prophets and apostles,