/O.^lji. 'Ol. ^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^^ Presented by""^e.^^ . C "^ . S^^Orx^. kBR 145 .W43 1840 \ Wharey, James, 1789-1842. | Sketches of church history! I SKETCHES OT CHURCH HISTOR\ COMPRISING A REGULAR SERIES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, FROM THE BIRTH OP CHRIST TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. BY THE^ REV. JAMES WHAREY. A SEW BDITIOIT RBVISED AND COBRECTED. PHILADELPHIA : ' PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by A. W. MITCHELL, M. D., the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Stereotyped br S. DOUGLAS WTETH, No. 7 Pear St, Philadelphii Printed by WM. S. MARTIEN CONTENTS Preface, 7—12 CENTURY I. Introductory remarks.— 1. State of the world in the beginning of the Christian era.— 2. Life and Death of Christ —3. Ex- traordinary success of the Gospel— 4. Form and order of the primitive churches.— 5. Errorists in the primitive churches.— 6. Persecution. 13 — 27 CENTURY II. Spread of the Gospel. — 2. Persecution under the Roman Emperors. — 3. Rise of Monachism. — 4. Origin of the dis- tinction between Bishop and Presbyter.— 5. Fathers.- 6. Rites and Ceremonies.— 7. Heretics. ... - 27—40 CENTURY III. Persecution under Decius. — 2. Boundaries of the church extended.— 3. Learning.— 4. Increase of the power and au- thority of bishops. — 5. Writers. — 6. Theology corrupted. — 7. Ceremonies multiplied.— 8. Heresies. - - 40 — 50 CENTURY IV. Persecution under Diocletian. — 2. Constantine. — 3. Julian the Apostate. — 4. Learning. — 5. The church corrupted by its connexion with the State. — 6. Writers. — 7. Corruptions in Doctrine. — 8. Controversies. — 9. Ceremonies. — 10. Donatists. —11. Arian heresy. 50—71 CENTURY V. General interests of Christianity. — 2. Learning. — 3. Form and government of the Church. — 4. Degeneracy of the clergy. — 5. Monkery. — 6. Writers. — 7. Theology. — 8. Super- stitious and human inventions. — 9. Mystics. — 10. Vigilan- tius. — 11. The Donatists. — 12. Arians. — 13. Nestorians. — 14. Eutychians.— 15. Pelagians. - - - ..71—99 iii IV CONTENTS. CENTURY VI. General interests of Christianity. — 2. Literature. — 3. Monk- ery. — 4. Theology. — 5. Rites and Ceremonies. — 6. Sects. 99—108 CENTURY VII. Extension of Christianity. — 2. Mohammedism. — 3. Litera- ture. — 4. The Roman church receives the title of head of all the churches — 5. State of religion. — 6. Sects.— 7. Mon othelites. - 108—117 CENTURY VIII. Extension and sufferings of the church. — 2. Increase of cor- ruptions and power among the clergy. — 3. Slate of religion —4. Literature. — 5. Controversies. - - - 117 — 127 CENTURY IX. The Church still extended in the West. — 2. Saracens and Normans. — 3. Ignorance and corrupt lives of the clergy. — 4. Pope Joanna. — 5. Power and profligacy of the Poniins. — 6. Monkery. — 7. Relics. — 8. Learning and theology. — 9. Con- troversies. — 10. Grace and Predestination. — 11. Contests be- tween the pontiffs of Rome and Constantinople — 12. Rites and ceremonies. — 13. Ancient sects. - - 128 — 147 CENTURY X. External state of Christianity. — 2. Literature. — 3. Wretched morals of the clergy. — 4. Doctrinal perversions and extrava- gances. — 5. Ceremonies. — 6. Paulicians. - - 147 — 154 CENTURY XI. Efforts to extend Christianity. — 2. The Quwadeg,^ commen- ced — 3. Dictates of Hildebrand. — 4. Profl^acy oTtne Monks. — 5. Arrogance of the Pope. — 6. Berengarius opposes Tran- substantiation. — 7. Paulicians migrate to the West. 154—166 CENTURY XIL Effort* still made to convert the barbarous tribes of the West. — 2. Prester John. — 3 Crusades — 4. Learning. — 5. Arrogancy of the Popes, and profligacy of all Orders. — 6. Su- perstition. — 7. Indulgences. — 8. The Petrobrussians. — 9. Henricians. — 10 Waldensee. .... 166—176 CONTENTS. CENTURY XIII. Mogul empire. — 2. Crusaders. — 3. Learning. — 4. Tyranny 01 the popes. — 5. Monks. — 6. Dominicans. — 7. Franciscans, — 8. Theology.— 9. Flagellants'I^^lO. Rites and ceremonies. — 11. Inauieition. — 12. Brethren of the Free Spirit. -"^^ 177—197 CENTUBI XIV. Religious wars,^^ — 2. Literature. — 3. Pope's claims of au- -■"thority, and bull Unam Sanciam. — 4. Two popes. — 5. Men- dicants.— 6. John Wickliffe. — 7. Contests of Franciscans.— 8. Cellites.— 9. Theology.— 10. Ceremonies.— 11. Sects. 197—209 CENTURY XV Spread of popery, and depression of ihe Greek church. — 2. Revival of learning in Western Europe. — 3. Corruption of the popish church. — 4. Western schism, and Council of Constance. — 5. John Huss and Jerome burnt.— 6. Council of Bale. — 7. Religious fraternities. — 8. Lollards, Waldenses. Calixtines, and Taborites.— 9. Fanatical sects. - 209—220 CENTURY XVI. CHAPTER L Corrupt state of the church.— 2. Profligate lives of the popes. — 3. Profligacy of the clergy. — 4. Monks. — 5. Inquisition, and ignorance of spiritual teachers. — 6. Indulgences. — 7. Re- vival of learning. — 8. Witnesses for the Troth.'" - 221 — ^227 CHAPTER XL Luther opposes indulgences. — 2. Pope's first bull, which Luther burns. — 3. Joined by Melancthon — 4. Luther at Worms. 5. Carolostadt.— 6. Zwingle. — 7. Dispute among the Refbrmers. — 8. War of the Peasants. — 9. Diets of Spire. —10. Anabaptists. — 11. Council of Trent, and the pacifica tion ratified at Augsburg. — 12. England. — 13. Scotland. — 14. Ireland.— 15. Netherlands. - - - 227-241 CHAPTER III. •he Jesuits. — % Francis Xavier.— 3. Profligacy of the popes. — 4. Bull In Coena Domini. — 5 Points contested in the Ro- man church.— 6. Oriental churches. - - 242—247 I* * VI CONTENTS. CIIAPrER IV. Adiaplutiistic and Synergistic controversies. — 2. Flaciua — 3. Osiauder.— 4. Consubstantiation.— 5. Huber. 247—251 CHAPTER V. Switzerland.— 2. Calvin.— 3. France.— 4. Scotland. — 5. Eng- land. — (). iMoravians and Waldenses. — 7. Doctrinal views of the Ixeformed.- 8. Anabaptists, or Mennonites. — 9. Men- no Simonis. — 10. Division of the Mennonites. — 11. So- cmians. 252—271 CENTURY XVII. Mis3io:i.s of the Roman church. — l. China. — 3. Japan. — 4. Protestant Missions. — 5. Popish Missions in Africa and South .America. — fi. Protestant Missions in North America. —7. Infidelity. — 8. Learning. — 9. Popes.— 10. Efforts of Rome to reclaim Protestants.— 11. Abyssinia. — 12. Monks. 13. Jesuits.— 14. Dominicans and Jansenists. — 15. Quielists. — 16. Lutheran church. — 17. Syncretism. — 18. Pietism. — 19 Reformed churches. — 20. Arminian system. — 21. Synod of Dort. — 22. England. — 23. Arminians. — 24. Quakers.— 25. English Baptists. — 26. Socinians- - - - 272 — 307 CENTURY XVIII. Romish Missions.— 2. Protestant Missions.— 3. Infidelity. — 4. The Bull Unigenitus. — 5. Jesuits and Jansenists. — 6. Greek and Lutheran churches.— 7. Moravians. — 8. British churches. —9, Churches in the United States — Presbyterian. — 10. Episcopalian.— 11. Methodist- 12. Baptist. - 307—317 Appendix, • • 318 — 334 PKEFACE. The idea has too generally prevailed, that church history belongs only to theologians, and that it could be neither important nor interesting to the common reader. Hence there is perhaps no branch of knowledge, of which the mass of people are more ignorant, than the history of the Church of Christ in the world. Most of our church histories are too volumiinous for the generality of readers : and this is one reason, perhaps, why the sub- ject has been so much neglected. Few branches of study would be found more interesting as an amusement ; certainly none, fuller of affecting and important inci- dent. Even the lover of romantic subjects would find many events recorded in the his- tory of the Church, of quite as powerful in- terest, as any of the dreams of fiction. And how much better would it be for our youth, to employ their leisure hours, and their sea- sons of recreation, in storing their minds with the interesting facts developed in the history of the Church of God in the world, than in (vii) Vlll TREFACE. « feeding their imaginations with ideai fancies ! How mucii more profitable and rational to be employed in laying up knowledge in re- gard to the history of the Church, that has so direct a bearing upon the happiness of man here, and his hopes and prospects hereafter, than to spend so much time, as many do, in pursuing the mere vagaries of a wild imagi- nation, that have no real existence either in the present or the future world ; and that often tend only to corrupt the heart, and dis- qualify the person, as well for living in this world, as for dying and going to a better ! But the study of church history would be found, not only interesting and amusing, but highly profitable, in guarding and fortifying the mind against those errors that are so often introduced under the pretence of being some new discovery ; but which, on examination, will be found to be only some exploded no- tion of a former day, brought forward with some little modification, perhaps, and under a new name. Scarcely a new notion is broached, or a new sect springs up, but they will be found to have their prototypes in some opinion, or sect of antiquity. How much a correct knowledge of the past history of the Church would be calculated to guard the minds of people from being insnared and led PKEFACE. IX away by such errors, it is easy to see. And hence we discover the importance of this knowledge, to every individual, and espe- cially to every member of the Church. But there is another reason why the study of church history should be encouraged and promoted in this Protestant country, as far as practicable : and that is, to guard against the influence and proselytism of the Roman Catholic Church. Great efibrts are making by that body to gain an extensive influence, and establish a permanent footing in the United States. What can be calculated more effectually to guard our people against the insidious approaches and pretensions of that apostate communion, than to have a general knowledge of the past history of the Church, diffused through society ? It is there we learn what have been the spirit and practice of that Church, ever since she first assumed to be the only catholic and infallible church on earth ; and claimed the right, as the vicar of Christ, and the representative of God himself upon earth, to exercise spiritual dominion over every nation. There we learn how the na- tions of Europe have suffered under her do- mineering influence, and how she has ever waged a war of extermination against all that are not of her communion, whenever X PREFACE. and wherever she has had the power to do so And in this she is the same that she ever was. She has not given up her claim to in falUbiUty, and therefore cannot change. The history of the Church developes to our view the whole rise, increase, and consummation of this mystery of iniquity. Let our people be well acquainted with the history of the Churcji, and we shall have but Uttle to fear from Roman Catholic influence. Finally: The Church is the kingdom. of God in this world ; and would any one be willingly ignorant of the history of this king- dom ? The histories of the kingdoms of this world are eagerly sought and read, although we may have no connexion with them ; shall we not, then, seek an acquaintance with the kingdom of God in the world, with which we do hold a most important connexion ? The history of the Church, as an interesting branch of general knowledge, ought not to be neglected ; but when it is considered as that Church or kingdom of God in the world, in which each individual is regarded as a subject, or a rebel ; and in which each one is, finally,to be saved or lost ; surely its history ought to be eagerly sought, and diligently studied. In these Sketches, I have followed the ar- PREFACE. XI rangement of Dr. Mosheim ; from whose Ec- clesiastical History, together with the notes of his translator, Dr. Murdock, most of the facts and materials are taken : so that this might be called an abridgment, or compend of that valuable work. When I have quoted the language of the author, I have generally employed marks of quotation. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY CENTURY 1. Introductory remarks.— 1. State of the world in the beginning of the Christian era. — 2. Life and Death of Christ. — 3. Ex- traordinary success of the Gospel. — 4. Form and order of the primitive churches. — 5. Errorists in the primitive churches, — 6. Persecution. The history of the Christian church may be con- sidered as commencing with the birth of Jesus Christ, its divine Head. The four Evangelists narrate the interesting and solemnly important transactions and events, which terminated the old, and ushered in the new dispensation. The church of the new and spiritual dispensation, or the Christian church, was not fully organized under the New Testament form until the day of Pentecost, when the promised Spirit was " poured out upon them," to " lead them into all truth." Then the apostles were " endued with power from on high," and were completely qualified for their work. After this we find them under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who doubtless directed them in all their public official acts, and in their writ- ings, or at least, superintended and overruled their conduct, so as to preserve them from error. And hence the Christian church is called the " minis- tration of the Spirit." (2 Cor. iii. 8.) The two 2 13 14 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. sacraments of the Christian church, baptism and the Lord's supper, were instituted by Ciirist him- self; but the particular officers of the church, its forms of worship, and modes of government and discipline, were left to be settled by the apostles, as occasion required, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The history of the church may be divided into internal and extei-nal ; the former relating to the purity of its doctrines, the piety of its members, the nature of its ceremonies, its modes of worship, its discipline, and its institutions ; the latter re- specting its extension, outward prosperity and ad- versity, and the external circumstances which had influence on its character. In regard to time, the history of the church may be divided into four grand periods; 1. From the birth of Christ to Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, about the beginning of the fourth century. 2. From Constantine to Charlemagne, king of France, in the eighth century, by whom the Papal power was greatly promoted. 3. From Charlemagne to Lu- ther, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, by whom the Reformation was commenced. 4. From Luther to the present time. These four grand periods may also be subdivided into centuries. L The coming of Christ, about the end of four thousand years from the creation, is said to be " in the fulness of time ;" by which we may un- derstand, that in the providence of God, there was a particular preparation and fitness in the state of the world at that time for his coming. At the birth of Christ, the Roman Empire was extended over almost the whole of the then known world ; it was in its meridian glory, and stood firm upon its " legs of iron." (Dan. ii. 33.) The FIRST CENTURY. 15 arts and sciences had arrived at their greatest height in the heathen world, and philosophy had exerted all its powers. But in a religious point of view, the whole world was in a most deplorable condition. Among the Jews, indeed, the worship of the true God was maintained, but in a very- corrupt state. They taught for doctrines the commandments of men, and were devoted to the mere forms and externals of religion, while the spirit and morality of it were almost wholly ne- glected. They were divided into three principal sects among themselves ; the Pharisees^ the Sad- ducees, and the Essenes. The Pharisees were the most numerous and popular sect, who prided them- selves on their punctilious observance of the external forms and ceremonies of religion. They added many things to the law of Moses, upon the author- ity of their doctors, which additions were called the traditions of the elders. But their religion was little more than a hypocritical pretence. The Sadducees were a kind of sceptics of that day. They denied the existence of angels, and of a future state ; rejected traditions, and received the five books of Moses as of superior authority to the other Scriptures ; and appear to have regarded religion as a mere matter of state policy. Many of the wealthy, and of those who occupied high stations, belonged to this sect. The Essenes were a kind of monastic order, who retired from society, and spent their time in solitude and devo- tion. We read also of the Herodians ; but these it is probable, were not so properly a religious sect, as a political party. They were the favour- ers of Herod the Great, and of that government which he exercised under the authority of tho 1(5 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Romans. The state of the Jewish church called loudly for a reformation. In the heathen world, the knowledge of the true God was almost wholly lost. The most wretched polytheism and idolatry every where prevailed. The discovery was completely made, and the practical truth fully developed, that " the world by wisdom knew not God." It seems to be the policy of God's government, to permit man to try his own strength first ; and to afford extraordinary aid, when every other means has failed. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Thus it is, he exalts his own almighty power, and " hides pride from man." A general expectation existed, not only among the Jews, but throughout the East, founded upon the predictions of the Jewish prophets, that a very extraordinary personage should arise in Judea, about this time, who should establish a kingdom over the whole world. Flence the alarm of Herod, when it was said that Christ was " born king of the Jews ;" and fhe consequent murder of the children of Bethlehem. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus, speak very expressly of this expectation as being very general throughout the East ; and as being founded on predictions contained in the sacred books. Virgil plainly alludes to this ex- pectation ; and uses almost the very language of some of the prophets respecting the Messiah, in his fourth Eclogue, inscribed PoUio. The general acquaintance with the Greek language that then existed throughout the East, in consequence of the conquests of Alexander the Great; and the previous translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into that language by the direction of Ptolemy Phila- delphus, were no doubt designed, in the provi- FIRST CENTURY. 17 dence of God to prepare the way of the Lord, and to facilitate the spread of the gospel. That state of general peace which existed throughout the Roman empire under the prosperous reign of Augustus Csesar, was peculiarly fitted for the advent of the Prince of Peace. II. In the fulness of time, when God in his pro- vidence had thus prepared the world for it, Christ made his appearance. His birth was indeed mi- raculous, and attended with extraordinary circum- stances ; but his condition, according to ancient prophecies, was mean and contemptible. " He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Until he entered upon his pubHc ministry, at about the age of thirty, he seems to have resided with his parents in poverty and obscurity, and to have excited little or no public attention. He was preceded by John the Baptist, whose ministry seems to have formed a connecting link between the Jewish and Christian dispensations. It par- ticipated with both, but belonged properly to neither. By him Christ was baptized in Jordan, and thus was consecrated to his priestly office ; and at the same time, he received the unction of the Holy Ghost, who descended upon him " in bodily form, like a dove." His commission and authority as a divine teacher, were announced by a miraculous voice from heaven, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." During his public ministry, whicn lasted about three years, he manifested the most entire devo- tion to the glory of God and the good of man. He lived the most blameless and holy life, taught the most pure and heavenly doctrines, and con- firmed his divine character by a succession of the 2* 18 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. most extraordinary miracles. But the Jews, who expected a temporal deliverer in their Messiah, were offended in him, and by their influence with Pilate the Roman governor, procured his cruci- fixion. " He was numbered with the transgres- sors ; for the transgression of my people was he stricken." But on the third day, according to his own prediction, he rose again from the dead ; and after meeting with his disciples, and conversing with them on various occasions, for the space of forty days, he ascended up to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. III. Only a few days after his ascension, accor- ding to his promise, the Spirit was poured out on the disciples, on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand converts were added to the church. From this time the word of the Lord began to take root and spread. At this feast of Pentecost there were great numbers of Jews and Jewish proselytes present, from almost all the surrounding countries ; and many of them were probably converted on that occasion ; and when they returned home, carried the gospel with them. These would be pioneers to the apostles in their future travels throuoh those countries, and greatly assist them in establishing churches. Paul was raised up by the providence of God, and called in a most extraor- dinary manner, from being a most virulent perse- cutor, to be the great apostle of the gentiles. By his abundant labours, assisted by various compan ions, the gospel was spread in a short time, throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and the islands of the Archipelago ; and churches established in all their principal cities. To what extent the gospel was preached by the apostles themselves, except so far as indicated in FIRST CENTURY. 19 the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, is involved in great obscurity. From the most ancient tra- ditions, which have reached us, (more to be relied on than those of later date, and yet not greatly to be trusted,) it appears more or less probable, that Peter extended his labours beyond Judea and Syria, to Babylon, and to parts of Asia Minor; that Matthew, Jude, and Thomas, penetrated still farther eastward, to Persia, Parthia, and India ; that Andrew and Philip spent some portion of their time, the latter in Phrygia, and the former along the shores of the Black sea ; that James, the son of Alpheus, remained at Jerusalem, till his martyrdom, shortly before the destruction of that city ; and that Bartholomew went to Arabia, and John to Ephesus, after the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus, where he lived to an advanced age. But although we are left to glean only a few uncertain and unsatisfactory statements re- specting the apostles, beyond what the New Tes- tament records of them ; it is, nevertheless, certain, that in the first century, and even during the lives of the apostles themselves, Christianity ob- tained a considerable prevalence throughout a great part of the then known world. The spread of the Christian religion in the first century, is truly wonderful ; and can be accounted for only on the supposition, that it was the Lord's doing. " The cause must have been divine that enabled men, destitute of all human aid, poor, friendless, neither eloquent nor learned, fishermen, publicans, and moreover Jews, that is, persons odious to all other nations, in so short a time, to persuade so great a part of mankind to abandon the religions of their fathers, and to embrace a new religion, which is opposed to the natural dis- 20 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. positions of men." In the hands of these weak, but heaven-commissioned, and heaven-directed instruments, the gospel was the " power of God, and the wisdom of God unto salvation." They were no doubt much aided m exciting an interest, and making an impression upon the minds of men, and in stopping the mouths of gainsayers, by the miraculous powers with which they were endowed. Their general want of human learning was no doubt more than compensated by the extraordi- nary influences of the Holy Spirit which were afforded to them, and the gift of tongues by which they were enabled to speak languages which they had never learned. Their humble, devoted, blame- less lives too, would gain them credit and influ- ence. But nothing will account for the extraor- dinary spread of the gospel, opposing as it did, the passions, prejudices, and worldly interests of all men, but the supposition that it was accompanied by the mighty power of God. It was " mighty through, Godj to the pulling down of strongs holds." IV. The organization of the church by the apostles, and during the first century, was most simple ; and seems to have been modelled after the form of the Jewish Synagogue. The officers were, 1. Elders or Bishops, uho laboured in word and doctrine. These were their public teachers — the pastors of churches, who led in their wor- shipping assemblies, and publicly instructed the people. Of these there were frequently several in the same church, especially the large churches collected in the principal cities. They seem to have stood upon a perfect parity or equality of office ; except that, for the sake of order, one was FIRST CENTURY. 21 chosen president or moderator. This president was sometimes called the angel of the churchy as a similar officer in the Jewish Synagogue was called angel or messenger. To this angel of each of the seven Asiatic churches, are the several epistles in the Revelation addressed. These bishops or pastors of churches were chosen by the people, on account of their wisdom, piety, and aptness to teach ; and were regularly set apart to their office by the " laying on of the hands of the Presbytery." We may suppose that they were generally supported by the people among whom they laboured ; according to the particular direction of Christ and his apostles on this head.* 2. Elders who ruled — who assisted in the gov- ernment and discipline of the church ; but who did not engage in the business of public instruction. There was a similar class of officers in the Jewish Synagogues, called Rulers of the Sy7iagogue, These lay elders might be properly regarded as the representatives of the people, and the guardians of their rights. Their business was to inspect the conduct of the members, to keep order in their public assemblies, and to assist the bishops in the proper administration of the ordinances and disci- pline of the church.+ 3. Deacons, who were the public servants of the church, managed its secular concerns, and had particular oversight of the funds, and the charities of the church. The forms of worship in the first century, were *0n the subject of this paragraph, consult Dr. Miller on the Christian Ministry. T See on this subject, Dr. Miller's Essay on the Nature, &c of Ruling Elders. 22 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. plain and simple. Their public assemblies were held on the first day of the week, commonly in private houses, or in some building appropriated to that purpose. There is no account of churches built and consecrated to the worship of God, sooner than about the beginning of the third century. These meetings, in time of persecution, were often after night, or before day in the morning. Here prayers were offered, the Scriptures read, short addresses made to the people by their public teach- ers, the Lord's supper was celebrated, accompanied with the singing of hymns ; and the whole was closed with free will offerings of money or provi- sions to their common stock, and the feast of cha- rity. This feast of charity seems to have been intended for the benefit of the poor. They who were wealthy, and could afford it, brought some- thing with them, on which they made a com- mon meal ; the poor, and strangers, who could bring nothing, being allowed a full share. Con- verts seem at first, to have been admitted to the communion of the church upon a simple profes- sion of their faith. V. Even in this first century, several errors made their appearance, and heresies began to spring up. A difference of opinion very early arose between the Jewish and gentile converts, about the necessity of an observance of the rules of the Mosaic law. This subject called together the first council or synod, which was held by the apostles at Jerusalem, and decided upon this question, as we read in the 15th chapter of Acts. When Jews were converted to Christianity, it waS; natural that they should still retain some leaning towards the opinions they had formerly entertained, and a pa?'tiality for their old ceremo- FIRST CENTURY. 23 nies and institutions. These prejudices, which are natural to the human mind, would not fail to give to Christianity a peculiar model among Jew- ish converts, suitable to their particular views and feelings. A spice of the old leaven still retained, would leaven the new lump. This thing we find the apostles often labouring to correct ; and the whole epistle to the Hebrews seems mainly de- signed for this purpose. In like manner, when heathen converts were received into the church, it was natural they should bring with them some taint of their old philosophy, and former super- stitions ; and some fondness for the rites and ceremonies of their idolatrous worship. Long established opinions are seldom entirely eradica- ted, and old habits, with which we have been brought up, are not likely to be totally renounced. Sometimes the teachers of religion were too indul- gent to those prejudices ; and in order that the gospel might be the less oifensive, tolerated in their new converts, opinions and practices little consistent with it. An indulgent feeling of this sort was natural, and duly regulated, was very proper. Thus Paul was made " all things to all men, that by all means he might save some." But the principle was often carried too far. From these sources, therefore, we shall find, springing up many of the errors and heresies that deformed the beauty, and marred the peace of the church, during the first three or four centuries. Some of them were Jewish, but most of them of heathen origin ; and all proceeded from the same source, a fondness for old opinions and practices, and a disposition to yield as far as possible to these Jewish and heathen prejudices, and thus in a good degree, to remove the offence of the cross. In- 24 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. deed we shall find, that when Christianity became the established religion of the Roman Empire, and took the place of paganism, it assumed, in a great degree, the forms and rites of paganism, and par- ticipated in no small measure of its spirit also. Christianity as it existed in the dark ages, might be termed, without much impropriety of language, baptized paganism. " At the head of all the sects," says Dr. Mos- heim, " which disturbed the peace of the church, stand the Gnostics. Under this appellation, are included all those in the first ages of the church, who modified the religion of Christ, by joining with it the Oriental philosophy, in regard to the source of evil, and the origin of this material uni- verse." They were divided into a number of particular sects or parties, but seem to have held the following errors in common. They taught that Jesus Christ is inferior to the Father ; that he did not possess a real body, and consequently did not really suffer ; that evil dwells essentially in matter ; and therefore they denied the future resurrection of the body, and enjoined severe bod- ily penances and mortifications, and held other notions of like character, derived from that false philosophy which they professed, and upon which they attempted to ingraft Christianity. The followers of Simon Magus are reckoned by some, among the Gnostic sects, which, in this century, corrupted the gospel. But, according to the best evidence we possess, Simon, after the memorable rebuke given him by the apostle, (Acts viii. 20 — 23,) became, not a corrupter, but a persevering enemy of Christianity. The Nicolaitans are generally supposed to have been a branch of the Gnostics, although this FIRST CENTURY. 25 ^ uncertain. They rather appear to have been a class of Antinomians, who turned the grace of God into iasciviousness. The Docetae, a Gnostic sect, received their name from their distinguishing tenet, that Jesus had not a real, but only an ap- parent human body, and that consequently his sufferings on the cross were only in appearance. Cerinthus, who was cotemporary with John, the apostle, taught, on the contrary, that Jesus had a real body, and indeed was merely a man, the son of Joseph and Mary ; but that, at his baptism, the Christ, a being of superior nature, descended on . him in the form of a dove, remained in him during his public ministry, and leaving him, when he was apprehended by the Jews, ascended again to hea- ven ; so that not Christ, but Jesus died. It is related by Irenoeus, on the authority of Polycarp, wha was acquainted with John, that this aged apostle once going into a bath at Ephesus, discovered Cerinthus there ; upon which, leaping out of the bath, he hastened away, saying, he was afraid lest the building should fall on him, and crush him along with the heretic. The Nazarenes and Ebionites were Judaizing Christians, that sprung up in the first century, but were not organized into distinct sects, until the second century. The Nazarenes differed little from the orthodox, except that they adhered to the rites of the Mosaic law. The Ebionites denied the Divinity of Christ, rejected the Jewish Scrip- tures, except the five books of Moses, and all of Paul's epistles. The writers of the first century are the apostles and apostolic fathers. At what time, and by whom. the books of the New Testament were collected into one volume, is uncertain ; but it is certain 3 20 ECCLKSIASTICAL HISTORY. that before the middle of the second century, the most of them were read in every Christian church, and regarded as the divine rule of faith and prac- tice. Tlie apostolic fathers are, Clement, bishop of Rome, and author of the Epistles to the Corin- thians ; Ignatius, disciple and companion of the apostles, who suffered martyrdom under Trajan, being exposed to wild beasts in the theatre at Rome ; Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who suffered martyrdom at an extreme age, in the middle of the second century. Several works ascribed to these fathers, are known to be spurious ; others are doubtful ; and those, which are generally re- ceived as genuine, are not free from interpola- tions. VI. From the very beginning, the church has been called to suffer persecution. This was first from the Jews, and about the time that Stephen was stoned to death, persecution seems to have raged very high ; so that the disciples were com- pelled to make their escape, and to flee into distant countries. After this, we are told (Acts xii. 1.) that " Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church." James he killed with the sword, and Peter he imprisoned. And this he did to gain favour with the Jews. But the Jewish power was then limited, and soon after destroyed, by the utter destruction of their city and temple by Titus, and the final dispersion of their nation. Nero was the first Roman emperor that persecu- ted the Christians; and his cruelty was extreme. He falsely accused them of setting fire to the city of Rome, of which crime he was guilty himself. Multitudes were put to the most excruciating death in a variety of ways. The streets of the city, and his pleasure gardens, were illuminated at night by SECOND CENTURY. 27 the burning of those whom he caused to be sewed up alive in garments covered over with pitch. This persecution commenced about A. D. 64, and raged until the death of Nero, about four years. Paul and Peter are said to have suffered martyr dom at Rome during this persecution ; the one by fiecapitation, the other by crucifixion, with his head downwards. This manner he chose, as being less honourable than that in which his Lord had been crucified. The fury of this persecution subsided after the death of Nero, until it was re- newed, near the end of the century by Domitian ; a character little inferior to Nero for baseness and cruelty. Under this persecution the apostle John was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Revelation. It has been said upon the authority of Tertullian, that he had been previously thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and came out unhurt. But this is doubted. CENTURY II. 1. Spread of the Gospel. — 2. Persecution under the Roman Emperors. — 3. Rise of Monachism. — 4. Origin of the dis- tinction between Bishop and Presbyter.— 5. Fathers.— 6. Rites and Ceremonies. — 7. Heretics. I. The obscure lights of the early history of the church do not enable us to decide with certainty, what nations received Christianity during the second century ; but there are unexceptionable witnesses who inform us, that in the early part of this century, in nearly all the East, and among 28 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the Germans, the Spaniards, the Celts, the Britons, and other nations, Christ was worshipped as God. About the middle of this century, Pothinus, Iren- seus, and others went from Asia into Gaul, and established churches in Lyons and Vienne. Po- thinus was the first bishop of Lyons, and Irenaeus succeeded him after his death, A. D. 177. About this time Lucius, a king or nobleman of England, sent to Rome, or to Gaul, as some think more probable, for a supply of religious instructors. The rapid propagation of Christianity is ascribed by the writers of the second century, almost ex- clusively to the efficient will of God, the energy of divine truth, and the miracles wrought by Christians. The Scriptures were translated into various languages at an early period. The Italic, the Syriac, the Egyptian, and Ethiopic, are the most noted versions of this age ; but at what time they were severally made, is not ascertained. It seems to be established on undoubted authority, that the power of working miracles continued to some extent in the church during this century. II. The Roman Emperors of this century were Trajan, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Verus, Commodus, and Severus. The first four of these were remarkable for their gentle and equitable character ; yet the Christians suffered not a little under each of them. The celebrated letter of Pliny, governor of Bithynia, to Trajan, asking instruction how he should proceed in re- gard to the Christians, w^ho had become very nu- merous, has been often published. Trajan directs that they should not be sought after : but when regularly accused and convicted, if they refused to return to the religion of their fathers, they should be put to death The Pagan priests who SECOND CENTURY. 29 saw their temples deserted, and their idolatrous worship falling into disrepute, stirred up the popu- lace at the seasons of the public shows and games, to demand of the governors of provinces, the de- struction of the Christians ; and these demands could not be disregarded without danger of insur- rection. To prevent this lawless procedure, Adrian passed an edict that they should not be put to death, unless accused in due form, and con- victed of some crime. In order to bring their case under that law, they were often accused of the most enonnous crimes; — such as impiety or athe- ism, because they refused to worship the gods of the heathen, — incest, infanticide, and even the eating of the flesh of murdered children. When Asia Minor was visited with earthquakes, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, the Christians were accused as the cause of bringing the wrath of the gods upon the land ,* and under this charge, were treat- ed by the populace with great violence and out- rage. Under Marcus Aurelius, a little after the middle of this century, a severe persecution raged against the Christians, in which Polycarp and Justin Martyr suffered death. The charges brought against Christians called forth a nuniber of afjologies — among which are those of Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tatian, and Tertullian. By these, the base charges brought against the Chris- tians by their enemies were refuted. The letter of Pliny above referred to, bears honorable testi- mony to their peaceable inoffensive character. III. The doctrines of the church in the second century, were summed up in a few simple articles, expressed in what has since been called the Apos- tles' Creed, This creed was not composed by the apostles ; but it was in very early use. Its com- 30 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. mon form, in general use in the fourth century, was as follows : " I believe in God the Father, almighty ; and in Christ Jesus, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, rose on the third day from the dead, as- cended to heaven, sits on the right hand of the Father, whence he will come to judge the living and the dead ; — and in the Holy Spirit ; the holy church ; the remission of sins ; the resurrection of the body." The Scriptures were regarded as the standard of faith and practice, and were con- stantly read and appealed to ; and as f* as prac- ticable, were put into the hands of the people. There were some in this century who undertook to write comments on the Scriptures ; but their writings have not come down to our times. In this century, the monastic life began to be in some repute ; and they who secluded themselves from societ)^ and spent their days in prayer, fasting, &c. were regarded as having attained a higher degree of sanctity. These notions grew out of the philosophy of the day, which taught that they who would be perfect, must mortify their bodily appetites, retire from the world, and spend their time in contemplation. In conformity with that same philosophy, which taught two codes of mor- ality, one for the higher, the other for the lower class of society, they began to make a like dis- tinction among the precepts of Christ, enjoining stricter rules of life upon those who aspired to be saints, than upon the common people. They that would attain to an eminent degree of holiness and communion with God were directed to ema- ciate their bodies by watching, toil and hunger, to abstain from wine, flesh, matrimony and world- SECOND CENTURY. 31 ly business ; to spend much time in retirement, engaged in prayer, contemplation, and other reli- gious duties. Such were called ascetics^ and re- garded as saints of a superior order. They dis- tinguished themselves by peculiarity of dress, but did not during this century, seclude themselves entirely from society, and form regular associa- tions, as they afterwards did. Pious frauds began to be practised at an early period. Both the Pla- tonic and Pythagorean philosophy taught that it was -right and commendable to lie, and to deceive, in order to promote a good end. The Jews living in Egypt had adopted this sentiment before the Christian era. From these sources it spread among Christians, and was the source of much evil in after ages. Books were forged under false names, in order to give them more interest and authority. Fictions were published for the truth, and books were altered and interpolated with the like good motive. But a good end can never jus- tify sinful means. IV. In the beginning of this and in the prece- ding century, the churches were all bound to- gether by a common faith and government. Hence, when a question arose about the necessity of Jewish observances, the question was not set- tled by the church of Antioch, where it arose, or by each congregation for itself; but the apostles and elders came together, as a synod, at Jerusa- lem, to consider and determine the matters, and sent down their decrees to all the churches to be observed. The bishops were now, as then, parochial, presiding over single churches. When there were several in the same church, as seems to have been commonly the case in the large towns, for the sake of order and convenience. 32 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: and in conformity with the plan of the Jewish synagogue, one was chosen to preside, whose busi- ness it was, by common consent, to exercise a general supervision and control over the whole church. He, of course, would be chosen to this office who was superior in age, gravity, talents, &c. By degrees these senior presiding presby- ters, began to assume the exclusive title and pre- rogative of bishops, and to claim for themselves a superior grade of office and authority, especially in the more prominent cities. Here we find the origin of that distinction that regards bishops as a superi- or order of clergy, which was afterwards establish- ed, and is still maintained in several branches of the Christian church, but which has no foundation in the New Testament, where bishop and presby- ter are convertible terms, nor in the apostolic age, when there appears to have been a perfect parity of the gospel ministry. In the latter part of the second century, " it be- came customary," says Dr. Mosheim, " for all the Christian churches within the same province, to unite and form a sort of large society or com- monwealth ; and in the manner of confederate re- publics, to hold their conventions at stated times, and there deliberate for the common advantage of the whole confederation. These conventions of delegates from the several churches, assembled for deliberation, were called by the Greeks, Sy- nods^ and by the Latins, Councils ; and the laws agreed upon in them, were called canons, that is rules. These councils gradually subverted the perfect equality and parity of all bishops which existed in the early times. For it was neces- sary that one of the confederate bishops of a province should be entrusted with some authority SECOND CENTUKY. 33 and power in those conventions, over the others. And hence originated the prerogatives of Metro- politans, so called because they occupied the chief city or metropolis, of that region over which each one presided. And, lastly, when the custom of holding these councils had extended over the Christian world, and the universal church had acquired the form of a vast republic, compos- ed of many lesser ones, certain head men were to be placed over it in different parts of the world, as central points in their respective countries. Hence came the Patriarchs ; and ultimately, a Prince of Patriarchs, the Roman Pontiff." This distinction amongst the ministers of the gospel was also promoted and confirmed by repre- senting them to be the successors of the Jewish priests, and that the church should assume the form of the temple service and organization, in- stead of those of the synagogue, according to which it had been first modelled. This began to be done soon after the reign of Adrian, upon the second destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews lost all hope of seeing their commonwealth restor- ed. This idea may have been very innocently suggested at first, as being very plausible ; but it was afterwards abused to the introduction and sanction of many very pernicious errors. Bi- shops were now made to correspond with the chief priests ; pre.sbyters with the priests ; and deacons with the Levites, among the Jews. Hence the term priests applied to the ministers of the gospel, altars in churches, sacrifices offered, as that of the mass in the Roman Catholic church, tithes, first fruits, clerical garments, &c. V. Among the fathers of this century who ren- dered themselves famous by their writings, was 34 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Justin Martyr, so called because he suffered mar tyrdom. lie was a converted philosopher, learn- ed and pious. His writings are numerous and erudite, but his style harsh, and his opinions some- times unsound. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in France. His writings that remain are five books against heretics. Athenagoras, an able and elo- quent writer. His Apology for the Christians, and his treatise on the resurrection, display both learning and genius. Theophilus, bishop of An- tioch, has left three books in defence of Christi- anity. Clemens Alexandrinus, a man of great reading, but his love of philosophy led him into great errors. Tertullian, a native of Carthage, and bred a lawyer. He possessed great genius, but it was wild and unchastened. His piety was active and fervent, but also gloomy and austere. It is difficult to say which were greater, his ex- cellencies or defects. VI. Rites and ceremonies began in this century to be considerably increased. This was done in order to conciliate the minds of Jews and Pagans to Christianity. " The Christians were pronounced atheists," says Dr. Mosheim, " because they were destitute of temples, altars, victims, priests, and all that pomp, in which the vulgar suppose the essence of religion to consist. For unenlight- ened persons are prone to estimate religion by what meets their eyes. To silence this accusa- tion, the Christian doctors thought they must in- troduce some external rites, which would strike the senses of people ; so that they could maintain, that they really had all those things of which Christians were charged with being destitu^*^, though under different forms." The same author tells us that " many ceremonies took their rise SECOND CENTURY. 35 from the custom of the Egyptians, and of almost all the eastern nations, of conveying instruction by images, actions, and sensible signs and em- blems. The Christian doctors, therefore, thought it would be advantageous to the cause of Christi- anity, to place the truths, which are necessary to be known in order to salvation, as it were, before the eyes of the multitude, who with difficulty con- template abstract truths." Meetings for public worship were held in pri- vate houses, caves, and places where the dead were buried, on the first day of the week, (called in conformity with heathen custom, Sunday^ and sometimes on the seventh, which was the Jewish Sabbath. These meetings were frequently after night, or before day in the morning. Their reli- gious exercises consisted in prayers, reading the Scriptures, short discourses on Christian duty, singing hymns, the Lord's supper, and love feasts. Justin Martyr gives the following account of their manner of worship : " On the day which is call- ed Sunday, all, whether dwelling in the towns or in the villages, hold meetings ; and the memoirs of the apostles, and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as the time will permit ; then, the reader closing, the President in a speech, ex- horts and excites to an imitation of those excellent examples ; then we all rise and pour forth united prayers; and when we close our prayer, as was before said, bread is brought forward, and wine and water ; and the President utters prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people respond by saying amen ; and a distribu- tion and participation of the things blessed, takes place to each one present, and to those absent, i is sent by the deacons. And those who are pros 36 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. perous and willing, give what they choose, each according to his own pleasure ; and what is col- lected, is deposited with the President, and he carefidly relieves the orphans and widows, and those who from sickness or other causes are needy, and also those in prison, and- the strangers that are residing with us, and in short, all that have need of help. We all commonly hold our assemblies on Sunday, because it is the first d^, on which God converted the darkness and matter, and framed the world ; and Jesus Christ our Sa- viour, on the same day, arose from the dead." Justin makes no mention here of singing as a part of the public worship of Christians. But Pliny in his epistle, assures us, " that they were accus- tomed to assemble on a certain day before light, and sing a hymn by turns among themselves to Christ as to God," and both the New iTestament, and all antiquity, recognize singing, as part of Christian worship. That there were no public prescribed Liturgies now in use, is manifest. We never find the ex- pression, " reading prayers," which afterwards became current, used in this century, or for seve- ral subsequent centuries. On the contrary, offi- ciating ministers are said to pour out prayers « according to their ability" — " with their utmost strength" — to pray " from the heart" — and " with- out a monitor." They are represented as pray- ing with their hands lifted up, or stretched forth toward heaven ; — with " the eyes of their bodies closed, and the eyes of their minds lifted up to- ward heaven." These expressions preclude the possibility of prayers having been read from a prescribed form. Anniversary festivals were observed in this SECOND CENTURY, 37 century, in memory of the Saviour's death and resurrection ; and of the descent of the Holy Spi- rit on the day of Pentecost. The former was called Pasr.ha, the Passover, or, as we are ac- customed to term it, Easter. This name was de- rived from the Teutonic goddess Eostre, whose festival was annually celebrated by our Saxon ancestors in April, for which the first Roman missionaries, toward the close of the sixth centu- ry, substituted, as was their method then, the paschal feast. A dispute arose at an early period between the Eastern and Western churches about the time of celebrating Easter. The Asiatic churches kept it on the same day that the Jews kept their Passover, which was the fourteenth day, or full moon, of the first Jewish month, which might fall on any day of the week. The Latin churches kept Easter always on that Sunday which was the first after the same fourteenth day, or first full moon of the new year. The Jews be- gan their ecclesiastical year with the new moon of March. This difTerence in the time of holding Easter, was the cause of much contention between the East and West, until it was finally settled by the Council of Nice, in favour of the Latin mode, (A. D. 325.) The other festival, in commemora- tion of the descent of the Spirit, called the Pente- cost^ received from our ancestors, many centuries after this, the name of Whitsunday or white Sun- day^ because it was one of the stated times for the administration of baptism, when they who were baptized were clothed in white garments, in token of that spiritual purity they were believed to have obtained in baptism. In the celebration of the Lord's supper, the bread and wine were consecrated with certain 4 38 ECCLESIASTICAL IlISTORV. prayers uttered by the bishop of the congregation. The bread was broken into small pieces, and the wine mixed with water. Portions of the conse- crated elements were sent to the absent and the sick, in token of fraternal affection. " There is much evidence," says Dr. Mosheim, " that this most holy rite was regarded as necessary to the attainment of salvation : and I therefore dare not accuse of error, those who believe that the sacred supper was, in this century, given to infants." Baptism was performed at Easter and Whitsun- tide, the prevalent mode* of which was the im- mersion of the whole body in water in the name of the Trinity. Adults were required to repeat the Creed, to renounce all their sins, with the devil and his pomp. The baptized were signed with the cross, anointed, and commended to God by prayer and imposition of hands. They had milk and honey given them to eat, and were clothed in white garments. No other sponsors than parents were now known, nor for several centuries after- wards, if the parents were living, and professed to be Christians. If they were either dead, or deem- ed unqualified to offer their children in baptism, the children were presented for this ordinance by any w^ho were willing to undertake their religious education. Baptism was called regeneration, and the sign began to be regarded as the thing sig- nified. VII. The heretics of this century were chiefly of two classes — Jewish converts who adhered to the rules and ceremonies of the Mosaic law ; and various tribes of Gnostics, who corrupted Christi- * See Wall's Hist, of Infant Baptism, Part II. chap. ix. page 352, &c. SECOND CENTL'RY. 39 mity by combining with it different systems of heathen philosophy. Ot^ the first were the Naza- renes, who adhered to the rites of Moses ; and the Ebionites who not only adhered to the rites of Moses, but also to the traditions of the Elders, and also denied the Divinity of Christ. Of the Gnos- tics, were the followers of Marcion, Basilides, Va- lentinus, Tatian, &c. One Montanus pretended to be the Comforter, promised by Christ. He at- tempted no change in doctrine, but professed to be commissioned to perfect the moral system taught by Christ and his disciples. He prescrib- ed very rigid rules of life, forbade second marri- ages, refused to restore the lapsed, and discounte- nanced learning ^nd philosophy. Among his fol- lowers were two very opulent ladies, Priscilla and Maximilla, who with others, uttered prophecies after the example of their master, whom they call- ed tlie Paraclete, or Comforter. This sect, which spread considerably, was advocated by Tertullian, a man of genius, but constitutionally austere and gloomy. At the end of the second century, within a little more than one hundred and fifty years after the first preaching of the gospel, it is obvious to re- mark the changes already introduced into the Christian church, Christianity began already to wear the garb of heathenism. The seeds of most of those errors that afterwards so entirely overran the church, marred its beauty, and tarnished its glory, were already beginning to take root. Min- isterial 'parity^ which had undoubtedly existed un- der the ministry of the apostles, was now begin- ning to yield to the encroachments of ambition, and that distinction of grades began to be estab- lished that ended in the Papal Hierarchy, That 40 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. respect and sanctity began to be ascribed to exter- nal austerities, which in alter ages overran the church with monachism. Ceremonies began to be added, which continued to increase, until, un- der papal authority, the whole of religion was made to consist of little else. But these things are easily accounted for, as they are congenial with the natural corruption, prejudices, and pro- pensities of the human heart. CENTURY III. 1. Persecution under Decius — 2. Boundaries of the church extended.— 3. Learning. — 4. Increase of the power and au- thority of bishops. — 5. Writers. — 6. Theology corrupted.— 7. Ceremonies multiplied. — 8. Heresies. I. In this century, the church enjoyed more fa- vour and toleration in general from the Roman government than before ; and several of the em- perors even showed themselves friendly, so that they were supposed by some to have secretly em- braced the Christian faith. Many Christians were to be found holding high offices both in the court and in the army ; and under most of the emperors, no impediment lay in their way to the attainment of the highest public stations and hon ours. Yet they were liable tc suffer great trou- bles from popular tumults, often excited against them by pagan priests ; and also from magistrates and governors of provinces who were unfriendly to them, and whose avarice often led them to op- press the Christians in order to extort money from THIRD CENTURY. 41 them. In this way, niciny suffered martyrdom, imprisonment, &;c., under the most Iriendly of the emperors. But several of the emperors of this century published severe edicts against the Chris- tians. The most terrible was that of Decius, (A. D. 249) by which " the governors were command- ed, on pain of forfeiting their own lives, either to exterminate all Christians utterly, or bring them back by pains and tortures to the religion of their fathers." This persecution was more dreadful than any that preceded it, because it extended over the whole Roman empire, and because of the se- vere tortures and cruelty used to compel Chris- tians to apostatize, and offer incense to the heathen idols. Multitudes were cut off in every part of the empire by various species of punishment : and many, dismayed rather by a dread of long con- tinued tortures, than of death itself, professed to renounce Christ, and procured safety for them- selves, either by offering incense Iftfore the idols, or by the payment of money. Much dispute after- ward arose in the church, respecting the terms upon which these lapsed persons should be restor- ed to Christian fellowship. Some were for en- forcing the severe penance prescribed by the laws of the church, while others were for a milder treatment. This controversy issued in the schism of the Novatians. Gallus, the successor of Deci- us, renewed the persecution in A. D. 251 ; and Valerian afterwards in A. D. 257. Under this last emperor, suffered Cyprian, bishop of Car thage, Sixtus, bishop of Rome, and Laurentius, a deacon of Rome, who was roasted before a slow fire. II. The boundaries of the church were extend- ed m this century, but in what countries, to what 4* 42 ElX'LESIASTICAL FIISTORY. extent, and by what means is not so Certain. The Goths, a barbarous people, dwelling on the west of the Black Sea, were converted to Christianity Dy means of certain Christian ministers whom they had carried captive from Asia. Seven pious missionaries, whose names are recorded, migrated into France, about the middle of the century, and founded churches in Paris, Tours, Aries, and sev- eral other chief towns. In Germany, a number of churches were established, and Scotland, it is probable, received the gospel in this century. Miracles, although less common, were still per- formed, Mosheim tells us, by many Christians. The translation of the Scriptures into various lan- guages, and the labours of Origen in dissemina- ting copies of them, were doubtless a means of aiding the progress of Christianity. The influ- ence of the gospel in reforming the morals, and improving the character and condition of men, had much effe^f in the same way. The church never wielded a sharper weapon against its ene- mies than the holy lives of its members. III. Learning in this century, greatly declined. Longinus, the rhetorician, however, who is still read in our schools, and Dion Cassius, a fine his- torian, lived in this century. The school of Am- monius became very celebrated, who attempted to amalgamate Christianity with the old heathen systems of religion and philosophy. Christ was consorted with Pythagoras, Apollonius, and the like ; and their miracles and mighty works were compared with his. The design of this school was, to combine all systems of religion and phi- losophy into one ; but they disagreed among them- selves. Porphyry distinguished himself in this school, as a very subtle opposer of Christianity THIRD CENTURY. 43 Many doctors of the church, and particularly Ori- gen, were deeply tinctured with this kind of phi- losophy, and hence arose many of the errors and corruptions of the church. IV. The power and authority of bishops as a superior order of the clergy, were much advanced in this century ; but they did not as yet hold an independent rank. Cyprian himself, the boldest defender of episcopal power and authority, " did not presume to determine any question of moment by his own authority, or without the advice and consent of his presbyters, and was accustomed to take the sense of the whole church on subjects of peculiar interest." Yet episcopal pre-eminence was claimed : and in order to support such claim, new doctrines were taught, namely — that bishops are the successors of the apostles^ and as such are amenable to none hut God only — that the whole church is founded upon the bishop, and that no one is a true member, who is not submissive to his bishop — that bishops represent Christ himself, and govern and judge in his name. Hence, in fol- lowing ages, all bishops styled themselves vicars of Christ. " This change in the form of ecclesiastical gov- ernment was followed by a corrupt state of the clergy. For although examples of primitive piety and virtue were not wanting, yet many were ad- dicted to dissipation, arrogance, voluptuousness, contention, and other vices. Many bishops now affected the state of princes, and especially those who had charge of the more populous and wealthy congregations ; for they sat on thrones, surround- ed by their ministers, and other ensigns of their ghostly power and perhaps also dazzled the eyes and the minds of the populace with their splendid 44 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. attire. The presbyters imitated the example oi' their superiors, and neglecting the duties of their office, lived in indolence and pleasure. — This em- boldened the deacons to make encroachments upon the office and prerogatives of the presbyters." They were no longer willing to perform those meaner offices, to which they had once cheerfully submitted. This, together with the increase of ceremonies, made way for the introduction of new offices. Sub-deacons^ door-keepers^ readers^ exor- cists^ &c. were now added. These last named owed their origin to the doctrine of the new Pla- tonic school above mentioned, adopted by Chris- tians, " that evil spirits have a strong desire after the human body, and that vicious men are not so much impelled to sin by their natural depravity, and the influence of bad examples, as by the sug- gestions of some evil spirit, lodging within them." " Marriage was allowed to all the clergy, from the highest rank to the lowest. Yet those were counted more holy and excellent, who lived in celi- bacy. For it was the general persuasion, that those who lived in wedlock, were much more ex- posed to the assaults of evil spirits than others : and it was of immense importance that no impure or malignant spirit should assail the mind or the body of one who was to instruct and govern others. Such persons therefore wished, if pos- sible, to have nothing to do with conjugal life." And much corruption soon resulted from the adop- tion of such opinions, especially in the church in A-frica. V. "Of the writers of this century, the mosL distinguished for the celebrity of his name and for ihe extent of his writings, was Origen, a presby- ter, and catechist of Alexandria, a man truly great. THIRD CENTURY. 45 and a luminary to the Christian world. Had his discernment, and the soundness of his judgment been equal to his genius, his piety, his industry, his erudition, and his other accomplishments, he would deserve almost unbounded commendation. He published the first Polyglot Bible, called his Hexapla. He stood at the head of the interpre- ters of Scripture of that day ; but unfortunately he philosophized too much, and preferred the alle- gorical and mystical sense of Scripture, to the lite- ral. " He taught that the words, in many parts of the Bible, convey no meaning at all, and in some places, where he acknowledged there was some meaning in the words, he maintained that under the things there expressed, there was con- tained a hidden and concealed sense, which was much to be preferred to the literal meaning of the words." This concealed sense he divided into the moral and the mystical ; and these he preferred and sought after, to the utter neglect and con- tempt, frequently, of the literal meaning of the words. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, was the most distinguished writer among the Latins. " The epistles and tracts of this distinguished and elo- quent man, breathe such a spirit of ardent piety, that almost no one can read them without feeling his soul stirred within him. Yet Cyprian would doubtless have been a better writer, if he had been less studious of rhetorical ornaments; and a better bishop, if he had been more capable of controlling his temper, and of discriminating between truth and error." He was indefatigable and efficient in his episcopal office, preached and wrote incessant- ly, and accomplished more in ten years, than most men in a long life. He possessed great mtrepidi- 46 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ty of character, was a severe disciplinarian, and entertained high ideas of episcojial power and pre- rogative. He has therefore always been a fa- vourite with those who have held to the superi- ority of bishops. Other writers of this ceniury were, Julias Africanus, Hipj)olylus^ Grcgorij, Dionyaius the Great, Methodius, Minucius Fe- lix, &c. VI. The theology of this century was adultera- ted with the doctrines of the New Platonic Phi- losophy. Origen, who was a great admirer of this philosophy, employed it in explaining the doctrines of the gospel ; and this led him to the allegorical method of interpreting the Scriptures, in which he had many admirers and followers. The ?fiys- tic theology also had its rise toward the latter end of this century, but its authors are unknown. It arose from the same source of error, the Platonic Philosophy. They who embraced it, taught that " reason in us is an emanation from God himself, and comprehends the elements or first principles of truths, human and divine. Yet they denied that men, by their own efforts and care, can excite this divine spark within them ; and therefore they disapproved of the endeavours of men to gain clear perceptions of latent truths by means of de- finitions, discrimination, and reflection. On the contrary they maintained that silence, inaction, solitude, repose, the avoidance of all active scenes, and the mortification and subjugation of the body, tended to excite this internal reason to put forth its hidden energies, and thus to instruct men in divine things." Such views as these induced many to retire into the deserts, and emaciate their bodies by fasting and hardships, that so they might excite the divine word within them. THIRD CENTURY. 47 Among the controversies that divided Christians in this century the most consideral)le were, con- cerning the ^millenniums the hcqitAsm of lieretAcs^ and conc(!rning Orv^en. By some it was main- tained that Christ would come and dwell on the earth a thousand years, during which period the sainis should enjoy all the delights of a terrestrial paradise; understanding Rev. xx. 1 — 6 and simi- lar passages, in a literal sense. Origen success- fully opposed this doctrine. The controversy ahout baptism respected the validity of it when performed by heretics. Some held that baptism in such a case was invalid, and should be repeated ; others denied that it should ever be repeated. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and Stephen, bishop of Rome, seem to have been at the head of this controversy. The contests concerning Origen were moved by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, who was probably influenced by envy and hatred more than any thing else. He accused Origen in his absence, before an assembled council, and divested him of his ministerial character. VII. In this century, ceremonies were greatly increased. Public preaching began to assume a more regular form, in houses appropriated to the worship of God. Longer prayers were made, and more ceremony used, in the administration of the Lord's supper. It was believed by all to be abso- lutely necessary to salvation ; and therefore they universally desired infants to be partakers of it. Baptism was publicly administered, twice a year, to candidates who had gone through a long pre- paration and trial, none being present as specta- tors, but such as had been themselves baptized. This rite was supposed to secure the remission of sins ; and the imposition of the bishop's hands, to 48 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. confer the gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary for living a holy lif(^ None were admitted to bap- tism, before they were exorcised, and declared to be free from tlie servitude of the devil. The per- sons bai)tized returned home, decorated with a crown and a white robe ; the first being indicative of their victory over the world and their lusts, and the latter of their acquired innocence. Greater sanctity and necessity were now attributed to fasting than was done before, because it was the general belief that demons laid fewer snares for the abstemious, and those that fared hard, than for the full fed, and such as lived generously. There were no Liturgies yet prescribed by the church. Public prayers were conducted according to the discretion of each pastor. Some composed pray- ers for their own use ; and some of the more eminent, for the use of their less accomplished neighbours. The fact is, that, as piety declined, and as pastors became less and less able to pray extemporaneously to acceptance, they availed themselves of such helps as they could obtain. But forms were not generally, and far less exclu- sively, used now, or for several hundred years afterwards. There was supposed to be great efficacy in the sign of the cross, against all sorts of evils, but especially against evil spirits : they were careful therefore to cross themselves when about to undertake any important business. The burning of incense was introduced into many churches. The Christians originally abhorred the use of incense in public worship, as being a part of the worship of idols. Its use was first permit- ted at funerals, against offensive smells. After- wards it was used at the induction of magistrates THIRD CENTURY. 49 and bishops, and also in public worship, to temper the bad air of crowded assemblies in hot countries, and at last degenerated into a superstitious rite. VIII. Among the heretics that sprung up in this century, were the 3Ianicheans, the followers of Manes, a Persian by birth, and one of their Magi before his conversion to Christianity. He pro- fessed to be the paraclete, or Comforter, that Christ promised to send, and had therefore author- ity to develope more fully the system which he had left incomplete. The doctrine of Manes was a motley mixture of the tenets of Christianity with the ancient philosophy of the Persians. He combined these two systems, and applied and ac- commodated to Jesus Christ, the characters and actions which the Persians attributed to the god Mithras. He rejected the whole of the Old Tes- tament, and many parts of the New, and published a gospel of his own. His rules of life were very severe. He directed his disciples that would be perfect, to abstain from flesh, eggs, milk, fish, wine, all intoxicating drink, wedlock, and all amorous gratifications ; and to live in a state of the severest penury, nourishing their emaciated bodies with bread, herbs, pulse, and melons, to abstain from active life, and be divested both of love and hatred. The Sabellians, the followers of Sabellius an African bishop. He denied a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, and held that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were three titles or fuiictions of the same person. The Paidians, disciples of Paul of Samosata, « He taught that the Son and Holy Spirit exist in God, just as reason and the operative power, do in mah ; that Christ was born a mere man ; but 5 60 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. that the wisdom or reason Aoyo?) of the Father descended into him, and enabled him to teach and worlv miracles ; that on account of" this union of the divine word (Aoyoj) with the man Christ, we might say, Christ was God, though not in the proper sense of the word." He may be consid- ered as the father of the modern Socinians ; and his errors were severely condemned by the Coun- cil of Nice. The Novatians, called also Cathari, that is, pure. They refused to restore persons to the communion of the church who had fallen into any great sin after baptism ; because they held that baptism was the only means in the hands of the church of remitting sins, which being once per- formed, could not be repeated. Properly speak- ing, the Novatians were, in the modern accepta- tion of the term, schismatics rather than heretics. CENTURY IV. 1. Persecution under Diocletian. — 2. Constantine. — 3. Julian the apostate. — 4. Learning. — 5. The church corrupted by its connexion with the State. — 6. Writers. — 7. Corruptions in Doctrine. — 8. Controversiea — 9. Ceremonies. — 10. Donatists. — 11. Arian heresy. I. At the beginning of this century, the church enjoyed peace ; but it was soon, broken by a ten years' persecution under Diocletian and his son-in- law, Galerius Maximianus, excited and carried on chiefly by the latter. This persecution was most severe and cruel Houses filled with Christ- FOURTH CENTURY. 51 ians were set on fire, and numbers, tied hand and foot, or with weights affixed to them, were cast into the sea. In Phrygia, a whole city with all its inhabitants, was burnt to ashes, because not an individual in it would offer sacrifice to the heathen idols. It is related that 17,000 were slain m one month's time, and that during the continuance of this persecution, in the province of Egypt alone, no less than 144,000 Christians died by the vio- lence of their persecutors ; besides 700,000 that died through the fatigues of banishment, or the public works to which they were condemned. This persecution was brought to an end by the death of Galerius Maximianus ; or rather by an edict which he published while labouring under a terrific and lingering disease, of which he soon after died. II. Some years previous to the death of Gale- rius, Constantino, afterwards called the Great, had succeeded, on the death of his father, to the empire of the West. His sagacity enabled him to dis- cover that it was the best policy to protect the Christians ; in this, his colleague Maxentius im- itated him, and while persecutions raged in the eastern provinces of the empire, the church, throughout the provinces of Africa, Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Britain, enjoyed a season of repose. Constantino, urged sometimes by necessity, and oftener by ambition, commenced in A. D. 312, and carried on, with some intervals, a series of wars with the other emperors, which, in A. D. 324, terminated in his remaining the sole occu- pant of the imperial throne. Inclined from the first to give equal protection to the Christians with his other subjects, he afterwards favoured them, and finished by establishing their religion as that 52 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the Roman Empire. In this manner, he was the instrument of Providence in delivering the chiircii from the grievous persecutions, which, hitherto the superstition, prejudices, and malice of heathen priests and magistrates had excited ; and in so completely overturning tlie pagan system, that it could never afterwards recover from the shock, or succeed in re-assuming its former posi- tion and influence. How far Constantino himself experienced the power of that religion which he favoured, cannot now be known satisfactorily. He rather appears to have regarded Christianity with the eye of a statesman, than of a disciple ; and the story of his conversion, from having seen a vision of a cross, on the eve of his victory over Maxentius, admits of serious doubt.* The three sons of Constantino the Great, namely, Constan- ti?ie II., Constantius^ and Constans^ succeeded him in the empire ; and they continued, as he had done, to promote the Christian religion. They even used coercive measures, which of course only made nominal Christians. A law was en- acted in the year 342, that all the heathen temples should be shut up, and that no person should be allowed to go near them. All sacrifices, and all consultations of the oracles and soothsayers, were prohibited, on pain of death, and confiscation of property. Constantino the Great had allowed to the clergy, the former privileges of the pagan priests ; and permitted legacies to be left to the churches, which were every where erected and enlarged. He was gratified with seeing the bishops assume great state ; for he thought the more respect the bishops commanded, the more inclined the pagans would be to embrace Christ- FOURTH CENTURY. 53 ianity : and thus ho introduced the love of pomp and display among the clergy. III. Hut tilings assumed a very different face after JuiuDi^ comnionly called the Apostate^ ob- tained possession of the whole Roman empire, A. D. 861. He was educated in the Christian reli- gion, but apostatized to paganism ; and the princi- pal object which he had in view during his short reign seems to have been, to destroy Christianity, and to reinstate heathen idolatry in all its former glory. And this he attempted to do, not so much by direct measures, (for he affected the character of great moderation and liberality,) as by man- agement and artifice. He endeavoured to reform the pagan idolatry, by introducing improvements in it derived from the Christian worship. He pro- moted the divisions among Christians, and took sides with heretics. He deprived the clergy of many privileges which they had enjoyed, and com- pelled them to perform military duty. He shut up the Christian schools, in which philosophy and the liberal arts were taught. He wrote books against the Christians, in which he employed the power of ridicule. He showed much partiality to the Jews, and allowed them to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem in order to confute and falsify the pre- dictions of Scripture. This the Jews attempted, but were obliged to desist, before even the founda- tions were laid. For balls of fire issued from the ground, accompanied with a great explosion and a tremendous earthquake, which dispersed both the materials that were collected, and the workmen. The truth of this fact seems to be fully attested, although some have called it in question. By these means, had the life of this apostate emperor been 5* 54 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. spared, it is probable that paganism would have soon been restored in ail its glory. But before the end of two years, he was cut off by a wound re- ceived in battle, in an expedition he had under- taken against Persia. The remaining emperors of tliis century were friendly to Christianity, and did much to exterminate paganism, especially TkcodoslKS ike Great, so that by the end of the century, it had fallen into general neglect, and contempt. The Christians were severely persecuted in Persia, in this century, through the influence of the Magi, and of the Jews, who represented them 10 the king as enemies, and traitors against the governn}ent. The gospel was extended among the Abyssinians, the Armenians, the Goths, &c., but it is to be supposed that much of the primitive apostolic zeal and activity to propagate the gospel had now subsided. Most of the miracles of this century are of a doubtful character. Things were often regarded as miraculous, that were only extra- ordinary. Christianity had now become popular, and a large proportion, perhaps a large majority, of those who embraced it, only assumed the name, received the rite of baptism, and conformed to some of the external ceremonies of the church, while at heart, and in moral character, they were as much heathens as they were before. Error and corruption now came in upon the church like a flood. IV. The predominant philosophy of this centu- ry was what is called Modern Platonism. This system, while it gave the highest praise to Plato, yet taught that the great principles of all philoso- phical and religious truth were to be found equally in all s^cts, and that they differed from each other PV)URTH CEXTURY. 55 only in their method of expressing thenn ; and that by a proper interpretation of their respective sen- timents, they might easily be united in one body. It is easy to see how much this philosophy, into >vhich many doctors of the church drank pretty deeply, was calculated to encourage the amalga- mation of heathen notions and practices with Christianity. From the time of Constantine the Great, Christians devoted much more attention to the study of philosophy and the liberal arts, than they had done before ; and the emperors omitted no means that might awaken and cherish a thirst for learning. Schools were established in many of the towns ; libraries were formed, and literary men were encouraged by stipends, by privileges, and by honours. This was done in order that Christian teachers might be able to cope with their heathen adversaries. Still there were many, both bishops and presbyters who were entirely desti- tute of all science and learning. And there was a considerable party also opposed to all learning, especially philosophical learning, as destructive of true piety. All the ascetics^* monks^ and ere- mites, were inclined to this party ; and all those who estimated piety by the sanctity of the counte- nance, the sordidness of the dress, and the love of solitude. And of the latter class there were not a few. V. Under Constantine the Great, the church first became connected with the state, and in its government was accommodated to such connexion, * Ascetic signifies a person who subjects himself to severe religious exercises, such as fasting, walking on his bare knees, wearing sackcloth, &c. Monk means one who secludes him- self from the temporal concerns of life, and devotes himself to religion. Eremite or hermit signifies one who retires from the abodes of man to spend his days in some solitary desert. 56 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. upon principles of state policy. The emperor placed himself at the head of the church, usurped supreme power over it, and claimed the right of modelling and controlling it in such manner as would best subserve the public good. And so de- lighted, no doubt, were the bishops with the idea of having the emperor at the head of the church, and of being entirely released from the troubles and persecutions which they had suffered under heathen emperors, that there was not found one disposed to question his right to exercise this most unscriptural usurpation. " My kingdom," says Christ, " is not of this world ;" and the touch of the state, has never failed to contaminate the church. So it was now. The rank which bish- ops began to claim in the preceding century, as a superior order of clergy, became now, by the en- couragement of their emperor, firmly established, and presbyters were excluded from any participa- tion in their councils. " The former rights of the presbyters and of the people were engross- ed chiefly by the bishops, while those of the whole church, were transferred to the emperors or to their provincial governors and magistrates ; so that by the close of this century, only the shadow of the ancient form of church government remained. The first (Ecumenical or general coun- cil was called by the order of Constantine, which met at Nice, a town of Asia Minor, in the year 325. It was judged proper that causes of great importance, and affecting the church universally, or the general principles of Christianity, should be judged and settled by a convocation of the whole church. There never was a general coun- cil, properly so called, in which the whole church FOI^RTII CENTURY. 57 was represented, although the Papists reckon eighteen of them. In accommodating the ecclesiastical administra- tion to that of the state, it became necessary that new grades of honour and pre-eminence should be introduced among the bishops. " The princes among the bishops were those who had before held a pre-eminent rank, namely, the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria ; with whom the bishop of Constantinople was joined after the im- perial residence was transferred to that city. These four prelates answered to the four prcetori- an prefects^ created by Constantine ; and, perhaps, even in this century, bore the Jewish title of Pa- triarchs. Next to these were the exarclis, corres- ponding with the civil exarchs, and presiding each over several provinces. The metropolitans came next, v.'ho governed only single provinces. After them ranked the archbishops who had the inspec- tion only of certain districts of country. The bishops brought up the rear, whose territories were not in all countries of the same extent." The administration of ecclesiastical affairs, Constantme divided into internal and external. The former, relating to the doctrines of religion, forms of wor- ship, functions of the priests, &c., he left to the bishops and councils. The latter relating to the external condition of the church, its discipline, the rank, honours, and emoluments of its officers, &c. he took upon himself. Hence he and his succes- sors assembled councils and presided in them, as- signed judges for religious disputes, decided dis- putes between bishops and their people, determined the limits of episcopal sees, &c. " The first among the bishops, in respect to rank and dignity, was the bishop of Rome. Anc 58 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORr. this pre-eminence was not founded solely on pop- ular reeling and prejudice of long standing, and which various causes had given rise to ; but also on those grounds, that commonly give priority and greatness in the estimation of mortals. Foi he exceeded all other bishops, in the amplitude of the church over which he presided, in the magni- tude of his revenues and possessions, in the num- ber of his assistants or ministers of various de- scriptions, in the weight of his influence with the people at large, and in the sumptuousness and magnificence of his style of living. These indi- cations of power and worldly greatness were so fascinating to the minds of Christians even in this age, that often most obstinate and bloody contests took place at Rome, when a new pontiff was to be created by the suffrages of the priests and peo- ple." Yet it is abundantly testified that the bishops of Rome did not, in this age, possess supreme power and jurisdiction in the church. They were citizens of the commonwealth, and obeyed the laws and mandates of the emperor, as other citi- zens. No one of the bishops acknowledged that he derived his authority from the plenary power and authority of the bishop of Rome ; but all main- tained that they were the ambassadors and minis- ters of Jesus Christ, and that their authority was derived from above. When the seat of empire was removed from Rome to Constantinople, and that see raised to patriarchal dignity, the bishop of Constantinople began to emulate the power and prerogatives of the bishop of Rome. In a council assembled at Constantinople, in 381 by Theodo- sius the Great, it was decreed that the bishop of Constantinople should be next to the bishop of Rome. This gave great offence to the bishop of FOURTH CENTUKY. 59 Alexandria, and afterwards gave rise to those un- happy contests between the pontiffs of old and new Rome, that were protracted through several centuries, and finally produced a separation be- tween the Latin and Greek churches, which exists to this day. VI. Among the writers of this century, are Eusebius, bishop of Cossarea in Palestine ; a man of great reading and erudition, and who acquired immortal fame by his labours in ecclesiastical his- tory — Athanasius bishop of Alexandria, famous as opposer of Arius, and who, although not the author, has unconsciously furnished a name for the Athanasian Creed — John, surnamed Chrysos- tom. " For overpowering popular eloquence Chrysostom had no equal among the fathers." He was a while patriarch of Constantinople ; but his preaching and discipline were too strict for that corrupt metropolis. The empress, therefore, the lax clergy, and many of the courtiers conspiring against him, upon the ground of many false or frivolous charges, he was finally expelled, and died soon afterwards. The spirit of the man, and his style of writing may be seen from the following extract of a letter written to a friend during his exile. " When driven from the city, I cared no- thing for it. But I said to myself, if the empress wishes to banish me, let her banish me : the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof If she would saw me in sunder, let her saw me in sun- der ; I have Isaiah for a pattern. If she would plunge me in the sea, I remember Jonah. If she would thrust me into the fiery furnace, I see the three children enduring that. If she would cast me to the wild beasts, I call to mind Daniel in the den of lions. If she would stone me, let her (>0 KCCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Stone mc ; I have before me Stephen, the proto- martyr. If she would take my head from me, let her take it ; I have John the Baptist. If she would deprive me of my worldly goods, let her do it ; naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. An apostle has told me, " God respecteth no man's person ;" and " if 1 pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." And David clothes me with armour, saying, " I will speak of thy testimony before kings, and will not be ashamed." Other authors of this date were Basil the Great, bishop of the Cappadocian Csesarea ; Cyril, of Jerusalem ; Epiphanius of Sa- lamina ; the two Gregories, of Nazianzus, and of Nyssa ; Ephrem the Syrian ; Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, author of twelve books on the Trinity ; Lactantius, the most eloquent among the Latins ; Ambrose, bishop of Milan ; Hieronymus, common- ly called Jerome, a monk of Palestine ; and Au- gustine, commonly called St. Austin, bishop of Hippo, in Africa. In early life, Augustine was idle, vicious, and dissipated. He ascribed his con- version at last, to the early impressions made upon his mind by a very pious mother. He distinguish- ed himself in the following century, by his suc- cessful opposition to the Pelagian Heresy. VII. The Theology of this century began to be much adulterated and corrupted with superstition and heathen philosophy. Hence are to be seen evident traces of excessive veneration for departed saints, of a belief in a state o^purgatwy for souls after death, of the celibacy of the clergy, of the worship of images and relics, and of many other opinions, which in process of time almost ban- ished the true religion, or at least very much ob- scured and corrupted it. At first pilgrimages FOURTH CENTURY. 61 were made to the holy land, and to the tombs ol' the martyrs, as though holiness were to be obtained there ; and afterwards portions of earth were brought from those venerated places, which were regarded as a most powerful protection against the assaults of evil spirits, and were bought and sold at great prices. The same regard was paid, and efficacy ascribed, to their temples, to water conse- crated in due form, and to the images of holy men, tnat the heathen had paid to their temples, statues, and lustrations, long before. Images, however, were as yet but rare, and statues did not exist. The same worship began now to be paid to the martyrs, which the pagans had paid to their gods, which were only deified men. From these speci- mens, we may readily imagine how much injury resulted to Christianity from the peace and pros- perity procured by Constantine, and from an in- discreet eagerness to allure the pagans to embrace this religion by conforming to their rites and su- perstitions. Indeed almost every error, either in doctrine or in form, may be traced to this source , its prototype may be found either in heathen phi- losophy, or in the rites of pagan worship. Pious frauds were now very common, and the doctrine almost publicly adopted, at least notori- ously acted upon, that to deceive and lie, when religion can be promoted by it, is a virtue. " Ru- mours were artfully disseminated of prodigies and wonders to be seen in certain edifices and places, (a trick before this time practised by pagan priests,) whereby the infatuated populace were drawn to- gether, and the stupidity and ignorance of those who looked upon every thing new and unusual as a miracle, were often wretchedly imposed upon. Graves of saints and martyrs were supposed to be 6 62 ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTOUY. where they were not ; the list of saints was en riched with lictitious names; and even robbers were converted into martyrs. Some buried blood- stained bones in retired places, and then gave out that they had been informed in a dream, that the corpse of some friend of God was there interred. Many, especially of the monks, travelled through the different provinces, and not only shamelessly carried on a traffic in fictitious relics, but also de- ceived the eyes of the multitude with ludicrous combats with evil spirits. It would require a vol- ume to detail the various impositions which were, for the most part, successfully practised by artful knaves, after genuine piety and true religion were compelled to resign their dominion in a great mea- sure to superstition." Many laboured earnestly in interpreting the sacred volume, but few successfully. Most of the interpreters of this age followed Origen, in search- ing for mysteries and allegories in the Scriptures. Gregory Nazianzen among the Greeks, and Au- gustine among the Latins, who were regarded in the subsequent ages as the only patterns worthy of imitation, may be fitly styled, next to Origen, the parents or supporters of philosophical or scho- lastic theology. Another set of theologians were the mystics^ who daily increased in numbers, and who supposed the knowledge of divine things was to be acquired, not by reasoning about them, but by contemplation, and by recalling the mind from its converse with external objects to a concentra- tion on itself. The controvertists of this age, in their discussions, resorted to new sources of proof. The truth of doctrines was proved by the number of martyrs that had believed so, by prodigies, and by the confessions of devils, that is, of persons in FOURTH CENTURY. 63 whose bodies some demon was supposed to reside. The doctrine that has so disgraced the church in after ages, and stained her garments with the blood of thousands, was approved and practised upon in this century ; namely, that errors in religion, when maintained and adhered to after proper admonition, ought to be visited with penalties and punishments. This doctrine had its source in the natural cor- ruption of the human heart. When a religious system is adopted and upheld by pride and selfish- ness, backed with power, the result will be the oppression and persecution of dissentients. Hence, the pagans, while in power, persecuted the Chris- tians ; and when it had become an established practice to interfere, in this manner, with liberty of conscience, it ought not to surprise us, to find men with the name, but without the spirit of real Christians, pursuing the same course, and even men of undoubted piety joining with them. There are few, comparatively, that can see clearly through the mist which the general custom and ruling spi- rit of the age gather round them. The doctrine in question, however, and its corresponding prac- tice, are diametrically opposed to the gospel of Christ. " Who art thou, that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth, or falleth." Monks who professed to aim at a higher degree of holiness than others, were greatly increased in this century. Anthony was the first who collected them into a community in Egypt, and regulated their mode of living by fixed rules. Plis example was followed by others in Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, so " that in a short time all the East swarmed with persons who, abandoning the occu- pations and conveniences of life, and all inter- 64 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. course with society, pined away amidst various hardslii|)s, hunger and sufierings, in order to attain to a more close communion with God and the an- gels." This spirit also soon passed into the West, and jjrevailed first in Italy and the adjacent islands. Martin, bishop of Tours, first erected monasteries in Gaul, and so popular was he with the order, that it is said two thousand monks assembled at his funeral. From thence this manner of life spread through all the countries of Europe. But the austerity of the eastern monks was said to be much greater than that of the western ; for neither the climate, nor the bodily constitution and habits of the people in western Europe, were compatible with the rigid abstemiousness of the eastern asce- tics. VIII. This age was fruitful in controversies amongst Christians, which is usually the case in a state of external prosperity, when the church partakes largely of the spirit of the world. In proportion as religion becomes low, ana^-y con- tention and dispute about it, rise high. Tlie Me- letian controversy, which at first was little more than a personal quarrel between Peter, bishop of Alexandria, and Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis, a town of upper Egypt, was widened and aggravated by heated passions, until it embraced an import- tant article of faith, viz. the sameness in substance, and equality in perfections and glory, of the di- vine persons, and produced a schism that existed in the following century. The Eustathian sect, so called from Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, its founder, are said to have condemned matrimony, and even receiving the holy supper at the hands of a married priest, upon pain of forfeiting salvation They forbade eating flesh, FOURTH CENTURY. 05 contemned the buildings erected for public wor- ship, and held their meetings in private. They allowed a woman to forsake her husband, parents their children, children their parents, and servants their masters, on pretence of devoting themselves to a stricter mode of life. Aerius, a presbyter of Sebaste, in Armenia, and suspected rather than proved, to have been a semi-Arian, maintained that there is no difference between bishop and presbyter, which he solidly proved by passages in Paul. He also disapproved of prayers for the dead, the stated fasts, the celebration of Easter, and other things that were then regarded by too many as constituting the very essence of religion. His aim was, it would seem, to reduce religion to its original simplicity. There were some others in the fourth century who looked with disgust up- on the progress of error, and superstition, and op- posed the general current ; but they received as the only reward of their labour, the brand of infamy. Eminent among these was Jovinian, an Italian monk, who taught that there was no particular merit in celibacy, macerating the body by fasting, &c. for which he was condemned by a council at Milan, A. D. 390, and afterwards banished by the emperor. It began now to be dangerous to main- tain the truth. The controversy concerning Ori- gen occupied a large field, in this century, and was sometimes the cause of quarrels and oppres- sion. The Arians laid claim to him as having favoured their party ; and this being believed by some of the orthodox, brought odium on his wri- tings, and on all who ventured to defend them. IX. Ceremonies were greatly multiplied in this century. Christian worship began now to differ very little from the idol worship of the Greeks and 6* 66 ECCLESIASTICAL lilSTOUY. Romans. " In both tliere were splendid robes, niitrts, tiarus, wax-tapcrs, crosiers, processions, lustrations, images, golden and silver vases, and innumerable other things alike." Magnificent temples were erected, adorned with pictures and images, very similar to the heathen temples, and were consecrated with great pomp, and with rites borrowed in great measure from the ancient laws of the Roman pontiffs. To encourage the build- ing of churches, the right o^ patronage was allowed — ran evil that has existed in the church down to the present day — that is, he who built a church, should have the right to say who should minister in it. This also seems to have been copied from heathen example. Their worship consisted in " hymns, prayers, reading the holy scriptures, a discourse to the people, and finally the celebration of the Lord's supper. But these exercises were accompanied with various ceremonies, better cal- culated to please the eye, than to excite true devo- tion." Ceremonies varied, however, and different forms of prayer were in use in different churches. After the manner of the forum, and theatres, the people were allowed, in their public assemblies, to clap and applaud their preachers. The first day of the week was required by a law of Constantine (A. D. 321,) to be observed more sacredly and generally than before, as a day of rest ; except that country people were still permitted to sow their fields and to prop their vines, when the season best suited, as a work of necessity. Five annual festivals were generally observed ; viz : in com- memoration of the Saviour's birtli^ of his death, of his resurrection^ his ascension to heaven, and the descent oftlie Holy Ghost. Great efficacy was ascribed to fasting, both to FOURTH CENTURY. 67 repel the assaults of evil spirits, and to placate the Deity. The fast of lent, preceding Easter, was considered the most sacred, but was nut yet limited to a certain number of days, which was optional. Anciently, they who fasted abstained entirely from Ibod and drink, but in this age it began to be considered sufficient to abstain only from flesh and wine. Baptism was usually administered "on the vigils of Easter and Whitsuntide, accom- panied with lighted wax candles, and by the bishop, or by the presbyters whom the bishop commissioned for that purpose. In some places, salt, a symbol of purity and wisdom, was put into the mouth of the baptized, and every where a double anointing was used, the first before, and the other after baptism. After being baptized, the persons appeared clad in white gowns during seven days. That the Lord's supper was admin- istered twice or three times a week, (although in some places, only on Sunday,) to all who assem- bled for the worship of God, appears from innu- merable testimonies. It was also administered at the sepulchres of the martyrs and at funerals ; whence arose, afterwards, the masses in honour of the saints, and for the dead. The bread and wine were now every where elevated, before dis- tribution, so that they might be seen by the peo- ple, and be viewed with reverence ; and hence arose, not long after, the adoration of the sym- bols." The remains of former heresies still existed in this century, especially the Manicheans. This wide spreading pestilence, although opposed by the pens of their ablest doctors, and by severe laws, could not be wholly arrested. In order to m 68 KCCLEs. ^VSTI(JAL IIIaTOKY. evade the laws enaclcd against them, they as^ sumed various names. X. In the year 311 arose the sect of the Dona- tists, so called from Donatus their leader. This schism had its rise as follows. Mensurius, the bishop of Carthage, dying, Csecilian, the arch- deacon, was elected to the vacant chair, by the people and clergy of Africa proper, and consecra- ted without the concurrence of the Numidian bishops, who ought, according to custom, to have been present. This gave great offence to the Nu- midians, who held a meeting, deposed Csecilian, and in his room, consecrated Majorinus, bishop of Carthage. Hence the Carthaginian church was divided into two factions, headed by two bishops. This schism spread over all Africa, most cities having two bishops, one taking sides with Csecilian, the other with Majorinus. The Donatists were condemned by several special councils, held by order of the emperor, and finally by the emperor himself; who, provoked by their continued contumacy and reproaches, deprived them of their churches, sent their seditious bishops into banishment, and punished some of them with death. This produced very violent tumults and commotions in Africa. Amongst these commo- tions arose the Circumcelliones, so called because they were accustomed to hover round the cellce, or cottages of the peasants, without any fixed habita- tions. They were "a furious, headlong, sangui- nary set, composed of the peasantry and rustic populace, who espoused the cause of the Donatists, defended it by the force of arms, and roaming through the province of Africa, filled it with slaughter, rapine and burnings, and committed FOURTH CENTURY. 69 the most atrocious crimes against the adverse party." It does not appear, however, that the Donatist bishops, especially the better sort of them, excited or approved the violent and irregular proceedings, which brought great reproach upon their cause. The sect was greatly weakened toward the end of the century, as well by a great schism that arose among themselves, as by the activity and zeal of Augustine against them. The Donatists were in the main orthodox, but held no commu- nion with any not of their party. They re-ordained and re-baptized such as came over to them. XI. " Not long after the commencement of the Donatist controversy, or in the year 317, another storm arose in Egypt, more pernicious, and of greater consequence, which spread its ravages over the Christian world. The ground of this contest was the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead ; a doctrine which, during the three preceding centuries, had not been in all respects, defined." This was called the Arian heresy, from Arius, its principal supporter. " He main- tained that the Son is totally and essentially dis- tinct from the Father ; that he was only the first and noblest of those created beings whom God the Father formed out of nothing, and the instrument which the Father used in creating this material universe ; and therefore, that he was inferior to the Father both in nature and in dignity." Athan- asius, bishop of Alexandria, distinguished himself as the opposer of the doctrines of Arius ; and perhaps was the means, under God, of saving the church from the ruin of that overspreading heresy. A general council was called by order of the em- peror Constantino, which met at Nice, in Bithynia 70 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. in the year 325, in order to settle this great con- troversy. This council, reckoned the first general council, consisted of more than three hundred bishops, with the emperor at their head, who seems to have presided. " In this council, after various altercations and conflicts of the bishops, the doctrine of Arius was condemned, Christ was pronounced to be of the same essence with the Father, Arius was sent into exile in lUyricum, and his followers were compelled to assent to a creed or confession of faith, composed by the council." Some years after, however, through the influence of Constantia, the emperor's sister, and an Arian presbyter whom she recommended , to him at her death, Constantine was led to believe that Arius had been wrongfully condemned, through personal enmity, and he recalled him from his banishment. This was like to produce great dis- turbances, when x\rius was taken off by a very sudden and unaccountable death, which was as- cribed by his enemies to the judgment of God. — His party, however, continued long after his death, and was greatly revived and strengthened under Constantius, one of the three sons and suc- cessors of Constantine the Great. The Arians were much weakened by divisions and dissensions among themselves. These divisions were numer- ous, but the principal of them may be reduced to three. First, the genuine Arians, who rejected all new modes of expression, and taught explicitly that the Son was not begotten by the Father, but created out of nothing. From these deviated on one side, the Senni-Arians, who held that the Son was of like essence with the Father ; and on the other side, the Eunomians, who contended that Christ was dissimilar, both in essence, and in FIFTH CENTVRV. 71 Other respects from the Father. Near the end of [his century, Theodosius the Great enacted laws against the Arians, and caused the decisions of the Nicene Council to triumph every where Many other heresies of less note arose in this ceo tury, which I forbear to mention. CENTURY y. 1. General interests of Christianity. — 2. Learning. — 3. Form and government of the Church. — 4. Degeneracy of the clerg>'. — 5. Monkery. — 6. Writers. — 7. Theology.— 8. Super- stitious and human inventions. — 9. Mystics. — 10. Vigilan- tius. — 11. The Donatists. — 12. Arians. — 13. Nestorians. — 14. Eutychians. — 15. Pelagians I. At the beginning of the fifth century, the Ro- man Empire was divided into two parts, one of which embraced the eastern, the other the western provinces. Arcadius, the emperor of the East, resided at Constantinople. Honorius, who gov- erned the West, lived at Ravenna, in Italy. The Empire, thus divided and weakened, and frequently- disturbed by jealousies and dissensions between the two rival emperors, was subject to the contin- ual inroads and depredations of the northern bar- barians. The Goths laid waste Italy several times, and plundered Rome in a miserable manner. The fierce and warlike people of Germany overran the fair provinces of the south, Italy, Gaul, and Spain, and set up new kingdoms in them. Horde after horde came down from the prolific north, which has been called the birth place of nations ; and stt 72 KCCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. last, in the year 476, the western empire, under Augustulus, was finally overturned by Odoacer, the chief of the Heruli. These invaders were afterwards, in their turn, vanquished by Theodo- ric, king of the Ostrogoths, at the instance of the emperor of the East. This new kingdom of the Ostrogoths, was therefore established in Italy, and under various fortunes, continued for more than half a century, owning some allegiance to the Emperor of the East, but in fact, independent. Amidst these wars, and incursions of the barba- rians, Christianity suffered much. There was not much direct persecution ; for the object of these incursions was not religion, but plunder, and to obtain a milder climate and more genial soil. Yet the worshippers of idols, who were still numerous, ceased not to use every means in their power to inflame the barbarians against the Christians ; and in Gaul and elsewhere, the Goths and Vandals are said to have put multitudes to death. The ancient Britons, no longer sustained by the Roman power, were miserably harassed by the Picts and Scots. To assist them against these troublesome neighbours, they called over the An- glo-Saxons from Germany to their aid, A. D. 449. But the remedy they soon found to be worse than the disease. These foreign auxiliaries undertook to subdue the people whom they had come to assist. This produced obstinate and bloody wars between them, which lasted with various successes, for one hundred and thirty years, when the Britons were compelled finally to yield up their country to the Anglo-Saxons, and retreat to Ba- tavia and , Cambria, the modern Holland and Wales. During these conflicts, the British church was in a deplorable condition. The Anglo-Sax- FIFTH CEIVTUKY. 73 ons, who as yet worshipped their own gods, although they did not directly persecute the Christians, yet showed them no mercy, and put multitudes of them to death. " In Persia, the Christians suffered grievously in consequence of the rash zeal of Abdas, bishop of Suza, who demolished the Pyrseum, a temple dedicated to fire. For being commanded by the king to rebuild it, he refused to comply : for which he was put to death in the year 414, and the churches of the Christians were levelled to the ground." Afterwards, in a war between the Per- sians and Romans, vast multitudes of Christians were put to death with cruel tortures, under pre- tence that they were friendly to the Romans, and wished to betray their country. The Jews, also, many of whom were possessed of wealth and in- fluence, in various parts of the East, harassed and oppressed the Christians, by all means in their power. Christianity, however, continued to spread and gain influence. In the East, it was strongly pro- tected by law. The emperors continued their ef- forts to extirpate what still remained of idolatry. Especially Theodosius the younger, who reigned from A. D. 408 to 450, enacted various laws re- quiring the idolatrous temples to be utterly destroy- ed, or to be dedicated to Christ and the saints ; abrogating the pagan ceremonies and rites ; and excluding the adherents to paganism from all pub- lic offices. The inhabitants of the mountains of Libanus and Antiiibanus, being greatly annoyed by wild beasts, applied to the famous saint, Simeon Stylites. He told them that the only remedy was to forsake their old religion, and embrace Christ- ianity. These mountaineers obeyed his counsel 7 74 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and became Christians ; and it is saia that they saw the wild beasts quickly forsake their coun- try. Many Jews in the island of Crete, finding themselves basely deceived and deluded by one who pretended to be the Messiah, embraced Christ- ianity. In the West, amidst the disorder and confusion that prevailed, the laws against idolatry, and hea- then practices, were less strict. The Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, the gladiatorial shows, and other idolatrous customs were observed with impunity, both at Rome, and in the provinces ; and men of the highest rank and authority publicly professed the religion of their ancestors. The advocates of heathenism, in order to exasperate the people against the Christians, renewed the old complaint, that Christianity was the cause of the multiplied calamities of the times, and that the angry gods had sent these evils upon the world, in revenge for their deserted temples and neglected worship. This attack was repelled by Augustine in his famous work, De Civitate Dei. Christianity, however, still prevailed : and the barbarous tribes, one after another, from various causes, and under various influences, were brought to embrace the religion of the nations which they had conquered. Clovis, or Lewis, king of the Salii, a tribe of Franks, a bold, cruel, and haughty prince, extend- ed his dominion over the Gallic provinces, and founded the kingdom of the Franks. This prince, when brought into circumstances of great difficulty, influenced by his wife, made a vow, that if he ob- tained the victory over his enemies, he would wor- ship Christ as his God. He obtained the victory, and kept his vow, and was accordingly baptized at Rheims, A. D. 496. It was in the year 432 that FIFTH CENTURY. 75 the famous St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, sent by Ccelestine, bishop of Rome, commenced his mission amongst that barbarous people. His labours are said to have been abundantly success- ful ; but it may be more than doubted, whether all the means which he employed, were calculated to produce a change of heart in his converts. He appears to have been a man of energy and cour» age ; he had acquired considerable knowledge of men and things, by misfortunes in youth, and pro- longed studies in his maturer years ; he had to deal with a bold and barbarous people, and accord- ing to the ideas and maxims of that age, he em- ployed such means as were most likely to give him influence, and lead by the shortest way to the end in view, — the submission of the Irish to the baptismal rite, and a conformity of outward life to such Christian instruction as he could give them. From the writings of his nephew, Patrick the younger, it appears, says Schlegel, " that St. Patrick was one of the most skilful men of his age in converting the heathen ; yet that he used unsuitable means for converting them, namely, fear, threatenings, and fictitious wonders or prodi» gies." A cave on a small island of Loch Derg, county of Donegal, is still shown to the traveller, as St. Patrick's Purgatory. It is said, that he gave out, that he had obtained of God, by his earnest prayers, that the torments which await the wicked in a future life should here be exhibited, in order the more easily to recover the Irish from their sin- ful state and pagan errors. Here he shut up gross transgressors, who were exposed to distressing ter- rors, and reported that they saw infernal spirits, and other terrifying objects. The cave had cer- tain holes, by which fire might be thrown into it. 7b ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and other artifices were used, calculated to impress the minds of the ignorant with what was then sup- posed to be a salutary dread. The saint is still held in the highest veneration by the Irish Roman Catholics. He died, as some say, A. D. 460, in the eighty-third year of his age, while others place that event in A. D. 493. He founded the church of Armagh, which became the metropolitan See of the island. Respecting the causes that induced all the pagan and barbarous nations of Europe to renounce the religion of their ancestors, and embrace Christian- ity, Mosheim justly remarks : " He must lack dis- cernment, who can deny that the labours, the perils, and the zeal of great and excellent men, dispelled the clouds of darkness from the minds of many ; and on the other hand, he must be short-sighted, and not well versed in the history of this age, who cannot see, that the fear of the vengeance of man, the hope of temporal advanta- ges and honours, and the desire of obtaining aid from Christians against their enemies, were preva- lent motives with many to abandon their gods. How much influence miracles may have had, it is difficult to say. For I can easily believe that God was sometimes present with those pious and holy men, who endeavoured to instil the principles of true religion into the minds of barbarous nations ; and yet it is certain that the greatest part of the prodigies of this age are very suspicious." II. Learning in this century, especially in the west, began very much to decline. The barbari- ans that overran the country, held letters in utter contempt, and placed all virtue and glory in arms, and military courage. By the end of the century therefore, I'ttle more than the shadow of learning FIFTH CENTURY. 77 was left, in the seven liberal arts, taught in the schools, in a very dry and jejune manner. In the East, schools of some celebrity were kept up at Constantinople, Athens, and Alexandria. To- wards the latter end of this century, Aristotle, af- terwards so generally adopted in the Christian schools, began to take the place of Plato, who had been commonly followed heretofore. One reason of this was, that the Dialectics of Aristotle fur- nished the means for those minute divisions, distinc- tions and definitions, and that logical and meta- physical mode of reasoning, which Christian doctors began now to use against heretics, and which led to the ridiculous jargon of school divin- ity in after ages. J II. The external form and government of the cliurch underwent some change. " The power of ^the bishops, particularly of the higher orders, was sometimes augmented, and sometimes diminished, according as times and circumstances altered ; yet the caprice of the court, and political considera- tions had more influence in this matter, than any principles of ecclesiastical law." In a general council, A. D. 381, the bishop of Constantinople had been raised in rank next in dignity to the bishop of Rome, on account of the dignity and pre- rogatives of the city where he presided. This in- flamed his vanity, and set him upon enlarging his territories. In this he had the aid and encourage- ment of the emperor, who felt himself honoured, by the honours and prerogatives of his bishop. His jurisdiction was therefore extended from time to time over the provinces of Asia, Thrace, Pontus, and lUyricum. And in the year 451, the council of Chalcedon, called the fourth general council, decreed that the bishop of new Rome 7* 78 KCCLESIASTICAL IIISTOKY. ought to enjoy the same honours and prerogatives as the poniitt of ancient Rome, on account of the equal rank and dignity of the two cities. This the Roman pontifls highly resented. A contest ensued between these rival prelates which was never entirely settled, and issued finally in the sep- aration of the Greek and Latin churches. In ihis century, the bishop of Jerusalem, as presiding over the mother church, first founded and govern- ed by the apostles, set up the claim of indepen- dent bishop ox 'patriarchy and as such, attempted to enlarge his territory by wresting Phenicia and Arabia from the patriarchate of Antioch. This produced a dispute between the bishops of Antioch and Jerusalem which was settled by the council of Chalcedon. It was decreed that Phenicia and Arabia should be restored to the See of Antioch, and that the bishop of Jerusalem should enjoy the^ title of patriarch which he had assumed. There were now, therefore, five principal bishops over the Christian world, distinguished from others by the title o^ pal riarchs ; namely, that of Rome, of Antioch, of Alexandria, of Constantinople, and of Jerusalem. " These j9«?rz<2rcAs had great prerogatives. To them belonged the consecration of the bishops of their respective provinces. They annually con- voked councils of their districts to regulate and settle ecclesiastical affairs. If any great or diffi- cult controversy arose, it was carried before the patriarch. The bishops accused of any offences, were obliged to abide by his decision. And finally to provide for the peace and good order of the re- mote provinces of their patriarchates, they were allowed to place over them their own legates or vicars.' Yet there were churches, both in the FIFTH CENTURY. 79 East, and in the West, that were independent of patriarchal jurisdiction. The churches of Scot- land, Wp,l:-iSc, and Ireland maintained their inde- pendence for many centuries. The church of Carthage was also independent. But this arrangement of ecclesiastical powers was far from producing peace. Endless strifes and jealousies arose between the rival patriarchs themselves, each aiming to extend the prerogatives and jurisdiction of his own see. These contests were sometimes settled by an appeal to arms, and gave birth to bloody and destructive wars. The patriarchs also encroached without reserve upon the rights of their bishops, and also encouraged the bishops in their encroachments upon the rights of the inferior clergy, and the people under them. They sometimes wilfully excited and fomented disputes, of bishops with one another, and with other ministers of religion, and of the people with the clergy, that they might have frequent opportu- nities of exercising their authority, and increasing their influence. They also contrived, by the be- stowment of largesses, to draw over the monks to their side — a numerous class, beginning to acquire much wealth and influence, and who contributed, perhaps, more than any other cause, to subvert the ancient discipline of the church, to diminish the authority of the bishops and inferior clergy, and to monopolize all power in the hands of the dignitaries of the church by whom they were patronized. In this way was established by de- grees, a kind of spiritual bondage and tyranny, that resulted finally in the establishment of the pontiff of Rome as the universal bishop and head of the church, from whom all power and authori- ty emanates. For in all their contentions for 80 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. power and prerogative, the patriarch of Rome was the most successlul. And no one, in this centu- ry, contended more vigorously and successfully in their cause than Leo, commonly surnamed the Great. IV. The degeneracy and profligacy of the clergy of all ranks began now to be very great. The bishops, especially such as were distinguished for their rank and honours, affected great pomp and splendour. They employed various adminis- trators to manage their various affairs, and formed around themselves a kind of sacred court. Even presbyters, did not blush sometimes to claim a superiority to the highest civil magistrate. Such pride and degeneracy of the clergy would not have been tolerated, had not the people been sunk in ignorance and superstition. They were art- fully taught to regard the ministers of religion as priests — a kind of privileged order, clothed with divine power and authority, to whom they owed impHcit obedience and submission, but whose con- duct they must forbear to scrutinize or censure. And perhaps it may have contributed much to establish the power and authority of the priests and their metropolitan bishop of Rome, that the warlike tribes of Germany that conquered the Ro- mans, and divided their government among them- selves, had been under the dominion of priests called Druids, whom they were taught highly to reverence and respect. These Druids, from their greater knowledge, and the sacred character of their office, possessed great influence, often indeed, greater than that of their civil and military leaders ; the arch-Dr-jid, in particular, was highly venera- ted. When they embraced Christianity, therefore,, h was natural that they should regard the clergy, FIFTH CENTURY. 81 as they had done their druidical priests, and the bishop of Rome as the chief Druid. One great cause of the degeneracy of the clergy, was the careless manner of admitting persons to that sacred office. The object was to increase their number. Multitudes, therefore, of ignorant men were received indiscriminately into the min- istry without examination ; many of whom only sought thereby to obtain a living, and to enjoy greater ease and indulgence. V. During the fifth century, the passion for the monastic life was very great ; and monks and nuns became extremely numerous in the West as well as in the East. Their peculiar mode of life procured them the credit of great sanctity. Monks had formerly differed nothing from the common laity, except in their dress and manner of living ; but now they began to aspire to a rank among the clergy. And such was the wealth and influence which they soon acquired, that they were ^le to hold an honourable rank among the chief support- ers and pillars of the church. Bishops and pres- byters were often chosen from among them. They began to form themselves into societies, and live in communities under some particular regula- tion called their rule. Each community had its head called an ahhot., whose authority was absolute. These societies were first formed by St. Anthony, in the preceding century, in Egypt, where they had become so numerous as to turn their favourite desert into a populous country. This example was followed elsewhere, and soon became univer- sal. The erection of edifices for their accommo- dation, where they might conveniently live to- gether and serve God, came now to be regarded as a very pious and charitable act. Monasteries 82 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. were erected in great numbers in the West, first in Italy, afterwards in Gaul and elsewhere. Dif- ferent monasteries had ditlerent rules, according to the will of its founders or governors. In some, these rules were written ; in others, they were guided by custom, or the despotic will of the abbot. The rules chiefly followed, were those of Augus- tine, Basil, Anthony, Athanasius, and Pachomius. Monks as yet, however, were not required to enter into any vows of perpetual celibacy, poverty and obedience, nor of adhering for ever to any one rule of life ; but every one was free to continue a monk or not, and to pass from one society or class of monks to another. Yet even in this age it ap- pears they had become proverbial for their licen- tiousness, and in many places are said to have excited dreadful seditions. VI. The principal ivriters of this century, in the East, were Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who was an autho*!" of some merit, but of a quarrelsome, uneasy temper. — Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, a considera- ble city of Syria, near the Euphrates, wrote commentaries on a large part of the Scriptures. His learning was great, his genius good, and his productions among the best of that age, — Isidorus, a monk of great austerity in his mode of living, resided in a monastery near Pelusium, in Egypt. His writings consist of short epistles to the num- ber of two thousand and thirteen, the object of which is to expound Scripture, and they are not without merit. — Among the writers of the West, the first place is due to Leo I., surnamed the Great. He was a man of extraordinary talents, a good writer, an indefatigable bishop, but immoderately devoted to the extension of the limits of his power. It has been said of him, that he possessed every FIFTH CENTURY. 83 virtue compatible with a boundless ambition. He was bishop of Rome from A. D. 440 to 461. — Paul Orosius, a presbyter of Tarragona, in Spain, wrote a history with a view to confute the charge that Christianity was the cause of the troubles that then afflicted the empire, showing that such troubles, or greater, had existed before Christianity was known. He wrote also against the Pelagians and Priscillianists. — John Cassian devoted himself early to a monastic life. After living at several monasteries in the East, he came finally (A. D. 410) to Marseilles, in France, where he built two monasteries, one for males, and one for females ; and afterwards devoted himself to instructing the Gauls in the mode of living pursued by the monks of Syria and Egypt. He was a Semi-Pelagian, without learning, and su- perstitious ; but active, pious, and sincere. — Eu- cherius, of Lyons, some time a monk, but after- wards married ; he was a bishop of Lyons from A. D. 434 to 454. Peter, bishop of Ravenna, surnamed Chrysologus, on account of his elo- quence. — Salvian, an eloquent, but gloomy and austere writer. — Prosper, of Aquitain, and Marius Mercator, both active defenders of the doctrine of original sin, predestination, and free grace, against the Pelagians. — Vincent, of Lerins, Sido- nius, x^pollinaris, Arnobius junior, and many others of less celebrity, lived in this century. VII. The 7%eo/og7/ of the fifth century partook very much of the spirit of the age. The simplicity of doctrine and belief that characterized the purer ages of the church had passed away. Human reason, and human authority had, in a great mea- sure, usurped the place that belongs simply to the revealed word of God. It was an asje of debate 84 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and contention, and many were the metaphysica. definitions, incomprehensible distinctions, and am- biguous terms that were introduced. Hence arose abundant matter for difficulties, contentions and animosities, which flowed down to after ages. Each party assumed some test word of its own ; and not unfrequently, in avoiding one extreme of error, ran into the opposite, not less dangerous. In imitation of the Roman courts, where difficult and doubtful points of law were decided according to the opinions of certain ancient jurists ; so dis- puted points in religion were settled by the opinion of the majority of the most learned and distin- guished doctors of former times. This led to the production of many spurious works under the authority of great names, in order that an opinion might be sustained by the greater number of dis- tinguished authors. The writings of this age are chiefly controversial. Comparatively few under- took to expound the Scriptures ; and of those who did, the greater part followed Origen in despising the genuine and obvious meaning of the Scrip- tures ; and searching after abstruse senses, or what the Latins of this age called mysteries, in the plainest passages of the Bible. The practical writings are strongly tainted with the monastic spirit. VIII. The superstitious and human inventions by which religion had before been very much de- formed, were now greatly augmented. Prayers were offered to departed saints by multitudes ; nor does it seem that any opposed this absurd devo- tion, or even agitated the question, afterwards much discussed, viz : in what way these prayers could be heard by the inhabitants of heaven. They supposed that the souls of the departed were FIFTH CENTURY. 85 not so confined to their celestial mansions, but that they might frequently visit our earth ; that they were much attached to the places where their bodies were buried, and frequently visited them. This opinion, derived from the Greeks and Ro- mans, drew great multitudes of supplicants to the sepulchres of the saints. The images of those who were held in great repute for sanctity while on earth, were now honoured, in several places, with extraordinary devotion : and there were those who believed (what pagan priests had taught respecting the statues of Jupiter and Mercury,) that those inhabitants of heaven kindly afforded their presence in these their images. The bones of martyrs, and the sign of the cross, were thought to be most efficacious against the assaults of de- mons, and all other calamities ; and to have the power of healing diseases of both body and mind. The superstitious services paid to the souls of the dead, the multiplication, and extravagant venera- tion of temples, chapels, and altars, and many other like things, are full proof of a very degene- rate state of piety. Holy pilgrimages were some- times carried to a ridiculous extreme. Some tra- velled quite to Arabia, in order to see the dunghill on which pious Job sat, and to kiss the ground that had absorbed his precious blood. " The dung- hill of Job, says Chrysostom, is more venerable than the throne of a king." No one objected iii those times, that Christians should entertain the notions of their heathen ancestors, respecting the soul, heroes, demons, temples and images. No one proposed entirely to abolish the ancient pagan institutions, but only to modify them somewhat, purify them, and adapt them to Christian doctrine and worship ; it was impossible, therefore, that the 8 80 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. religion and worship of Christians should not in this way become corrupted. The doctrine of the purification of souls after death, by means of some sort of fire, which afterwards became so great a source of wealth to the clergy, obtained in this age, a fuller development and greater influence. The rites and ceremonies of the church, in this century, were greatly multiplied. Everything was adapted to show and splendour. The magnifi- cence of the temples had no bounds. Splendid images were placed in them ; and among these the Virgin Mary, with the infant in her arms, held the most conspicuous place. Altars and reposito- ries for relics, were, if possible, made of silver. Many ornaments were added to the priestly gar- ments, to increase the veneration of the people for the clerical order. In some places, singing the praises of God was kept up continually, day and night ; one company succeeding another in this exercise without intermission. On account of the abuses to which they had led, the agapae, or love- feasts, were abolished. Private, auricular confes- sion, to a priest, instead of public confession, which had before been practised, was first permitted by Leo the Great, about the middle of this century. IX. It is wonderful to see to what extreme rigour of bodily mortification and ioviuve^lhe mystics of this century, who pretended to be more perfect than other Christians, subjected themselves, in or- der to appease the Deity, and to deliver the celes- tial spirit from the bondage of this mortal body. " To live among wild beasts — nay in the manner of these beasts, roam about like madmen, in desert places, and without garments ; to feed their ema- ciated bodies with hay and grass ; to shun the converse and the sight of men ; to stand motion- FIFTH CENTURY. 87 less on certain places, for many years, exposed to the weather ; to shut themselves up in confined cabins, till life ended ; — this was accounted piety ; this, the true method of eliciting the spark of Deity from the secret recesses of the soul." Among this class of fanatics, none obtained greater celebrity than the Stylites^ or pillar-saints ; who stood on the tops of lofty columns, for many years, or to the end of life, to the great astonish- ment and admiration of the ignorant multitude. The author of this singular institution in this centu- ry, was Simeon, a Syrian, commonly called Sime- on Stylites. As a matter of curiosity, and illus- trative of the superstition and stupid credulity of the age, I must transcribe the history of Simeon, as it is given by the translator of Mosheim. " This Simeon, we are told, was born at Sisan, in Syria, about A. D. 300. At the age of thirteen, while attending his father's sheep, he heard a pub- lic exposition of Luke vi. 21-^25, (^Blessed are ye that weep now, ^c. But wo unto you that laugh now, &c.,) which determined him to become a monk. Having therefore passed a novitiate of two years, he removed to a monastery near An- tioch, where he lived ten years. Here his abstin- ence and his voluntary mortifications were so ex- cessive as to draw on him censure from the other monks. He once swathed himself from his loins to his neck, with a rigid well-rope of* palm, during ten days, which caused his whole body to fester and discharge blood. Being expelled the monas- tery for such austerities, he retired to the adjacent mountain, and let himself down into a dry cave. After five days the repenting monks sought him out, drew him forth from the cavern, and restor- ed him to their fellowship. But not long after, he 88 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. retired to a little cell, at the foot of a mountain near Antiocli, and there immured himself three years. During this period, having caused his den to be stopped up with earth, he remained buried forty days, without eating or drinking, and when disinterred, was found nearly dead. So pleased was lie with this experiment, that he afterwards kept such a fast annually as long as he lived. Next, he removed to the top of the mountain, where he chained himself to a rock for several years. His fame had now become very great : and crowds of admiring visiters, of all ranks and characters, thronged around him. He instructed them, healed their diseases, and converted heretics, pagans, and Jews, in great numbers. Incommod- ed by the pressure of the crowd, he erected a pil- lar, on which he might stand, elevated at first six cubits, then twelve, twenty-two, thirty-six, and at last forty cubits. The top of the pillar was three feet in diameter, and surrounded with a balustrade. Here he stood, day and night, and in all weathers. Through the night, and until 9 o'clock A. M. he was continually in prayer, often spreading forth his hands, and bowing so low that his forehead touched his toes. A bystander once attempted to count the number of these successive prostrations, and he counted till they amounted to twelve hun- dred and forty- four. At 9 o'clock A. M. he be- gan to address the admiring crowd below, to hear and answer their questions, to send messages and write letters, &c., for he took concern in the wel- fore of all the churches, and corresponded with bishops, and even with emperors. Towards even- ing, he suspended his intercourse with this world ; and betook himself again to converse with God, till the following day. He generally ate but once FIFTH CENTURY. 89 a week, never slept, wore a long sheepskin robe, and a cap of the same. His beard was very long, and his frame extremely emaciated. In this man- ner he is reported to have spent thirty-seven years ; and at last, in his sixty-ninth year, to have expir- ed unobserved, in a praying attitude, in which no one ventured to disturb him till after three days ; when Anthony, his disciple and biographer, mount- ing the pillar, found that his spirit was departed, and his holy body was emitting a delightful odour. His remains were borne in great pomp to Antioch, in order to be the safeguard of that unwalled town, and innumerable miracles were performed at his shrine. His pillar also was so venerated, that it was literally inclosed with chapels and monaste- ries, for some ages. Simeon was so averse from women, that he never allowed one to come within the sacred precincts of his pillar. Even his own mother was debarred this privilege, till after her death, when her corpse was brought to him, and he now restored her to life, for a short time, that she might see and converse with him a little, before she ascended to heaven. — Such is the story gravely told us by the greatest writers of that age, and as gravely repeated in modern times, by the Roman Catholic historians." We are told that many in Syria and Palestine, followed the example of Simeon, though none fully equalled him ; and that this stupid form of reli- gion continued in the East, down »to the twelfth century, when it was finally abolished. The Latins, however, did not follow the East in this matter ; and when one attempted it in the German territory of Treves, the neighbouring bishops had his pillar pulled down and prevented him. But the general sentiment of this age placed much 8* 00 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. greater honour upon the external signs of religion, and bodily exercises, than upon real holiness, which has its seat in the soul. " According to the sentiments of Salvian and others," says Mos- heim, " no one can become truly and perfectly holy, unless he abandons altogether his property and honours, contemns matrimony, banishes all hilarity from his mind, and subjects his body to a variety of mortifications and painful sensations. As there were few who could bear the severity of these rules, the veneration of those senseless or fanatical persons, those religious maniacs, to whose temperament these rules were adapted, increased marvellously ; and saints sprung up like mush- rooms." X. There were some Cew who dared to oppose the growing superstition of the age, but they were silenced by others, who were more numerous, in greater reputation, and possessed of greater in- fluence. " An example we have in Vigilantius, a presbyter of Gallic extract, but resident in Spain*, a learned and eloquent man. After a journey to Palestine and Egypt, returning home near the be- ginning of this century, he issued several tracts, in which he taught and inculcated many things contrary to the opinions of the age. Among other things, he denied, that the tombs and bones of mar- tyrs were worthy of any religious worship ; and therefore, he censured pilgrimages, undertaken to places accounted sacred ; he ridiculed the mira- cles which were said to take place in the temples consecrated to the martyrs ; and condemned the practice of keeping vigils in these temples ; he said that the burning of wax candles in the day time at the sepulchres of the martyrs, was imprudent- ly borrowed by Christians, from the ancient super- FIFTH CENTURY. 91 stition of the pagans : he maintained, that prayers addressed to departed saints were fruitless : he treated with contempt the prevailing fasts, the celi- bacy of the clergy, and the monastic life : and he maintained that such as distributed all their goods among the poor, in order to live in voluntary pover- ty, and such as sent portions of their property to Jerusalem, did not perform an act which was pleas- ing and acceptable to God. These sentiments were not offensive to several of the Gallic and Spanish bishops. But the most renowned monk of that age, Jerome, attacked this bold religious reformer with so much acrimony, that he readily saw he must be silent, if he would regard his life and safety." XI. The schisms and heresies of this century might occupy a large space, but I will endeavour to present them with as much brevity as possible. The Do?iatists were still very numerous and very troublesome in Africa. As yet, they had not been molested with civil pains and penalties ; but in the early part of this century, the Catholic bishops, with Augustine at their head, procured from the Emperor Honorius an edict compelling them to re- turn to the bosom of the church, under penalty of fines, banishment, confiscation of goods, and even death for the more obstinate and contumacious. Under the influence of this law, many submitted and returned to the church. Some escaped by flight, others by a voluntary death. The Circum- cellioncs^ a kind of fanatic soldiers of this party, escaped by travelling up and down the province, with arms and violence, every where venting their rage. These measures inflicted a stroke upon this numerous and violent sect, from which it never recovered, although it continued to exist long 92 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORJT. afterwards, and even revived, in some measure, under the government ot" the Vandals. In the case of the Donatists, we see some of the effects naturally resulting from the policy of Con- stantine, and his successors, in bringing the church into subjection, in its external interests, to the state. The pagan emperors held the name and office of Poiilifex Maximus ; the Christian emperors drop- ped the name, but exercised the power. Hence, uniformity, in ecclesiastical matters, was not left to result from the union of mind and heart, produced by faith and love ; but was prescribed by imperial edicts, and enforced by civil penalties. The Donat- ists were doubtless wrong in some things, and too prone, with the characteristic excitability of Afri- cans, to be hurried away by their passions. They were also unfortunate in having the sinistrous friendship, and reputed alliance of the vagabond Circumcelliones. But if they had been left to lib- erty of conscience, if they had not been coerced by the civil authority, at the instance of the estab- lished church, and if the violations of law or order, committed by individuals, or bodies of rioters, had been punished as crimes against the state, without imputing them to the Donatists, as a religious sect ; their history, it may be believed, if it had at all come down to us, would have been that of a re- spectable denomination of Christians, who, while they held the common faith, had some erroneous views of the constitution of the church, were too rigorous in discipline, and censurably defective in Christian charity. It is an unhappy thing for any body of men to have their principles and conduct described, and their character transmitted to. pos- terity, only by the pens of their enemies. XII. The Arians, oppressed and persecuted as FIFTH CENTURY. 93 they were by the orthodox, took refuge among the barbarians -that had embraced Christianity, and found there a safe retreat. The Goths, the Heruli, the Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians, em- braced the Arian creed, and in their turn, persecu- ted the orthodox. Especially " the Vandals, who had established their kingdom in Africa, surpassed all the rest in cruelty and injustice. At first Gen- seric their king, and then Huneric his son, demol- ished the temples of such Christians as maintain- ed the Divinity of the Saviour, sent their bishops into exile, mutilated many of the more firm and decided, and tortured them in various ways. And they expressly stated that they were authorized to do so, by the example of the emperors, who had enacted similar laws against the Donatists in Afri- ca, the Arians, and others who dissented from them in religion. During this African persecution, God himself is said to have confuted the Arians by a great miracle, causing by his almighty pow- er, the persons whose tongues had been cut out by order of the tyrants, to speak distinctly notwith- standing, and to proclaim the glory and the praises of Christ. The fact itself, no one can well deny, for it rests on powerful testimony ; but whether there was anything supernatural in it, may be questioned. XIII. About the year 430, the sect of the Nes- torians arose, so called from Nestorius, a Syrian, bishop of Constantinople. This produced a most lamentable schism in the church, upon a subject of very inferior and doubtful character, which has existed down to the present day. The Nestorians, as a distinct sect, are still numerous in the East. The dispute seems first to have arisen about the use of the word Qcotokos^ (mother of Goa) applied 94 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to the Virgin Mary. In their opposition to the Arians, this word had come into very common use ; and with some, was a favourite expression. This was the case particularly with the ApoUinarists ; a party, that in shunning Arianism, had struck upon the opposite rock ; and, in order to maintain the proper Divinity of Christ, denied to him proper humanity. They held that Christ assumed only a human body, endowed with a sentient soul, but not possessed of intellect ; and that the Divine na- ture in Christ did the otRce of a rational soul, or mind. This doctrine, Nestorius and others oppos- ed. They maintained " that in Christ there were not only two natures, but two persons, or hypos- tases ; of which the one was Divine, even the eternal Word ; and the other, which was huma7i^ was the man Jesus ; that these two persons had only one aspect ; that the union between the Son of God, and the son of man, was formed in the moment of the virgin's conception, and was never to be dissolved ; that it was not, however, a union of natures, or of persons, but only of will and af- fection ; that Christ was therefore to be carefully distinguished from God, who dwelt in him as in his temple ; and that Mary was to be called the mother of Christ, but not the mother of God." Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, a man of a most restless and arrogant spirit, and jealous of the growing power and authority of the bishop of Constantinople, immediately made opposition, con- demned the doctrine of Nestorius, and required him to recant. This he refused to do ; whereupon Cyril assembled a council at Alexandria, (having first consulted with Celestine, bishop of Rome, whom he had enlisted in his cause,) and pronoun- ced twelve anathemas against Nestorius, who find- FIFTH CF.XTURY. 95 ing himself condemned for blasphemy against Christ, returned as many anathemas against Cyril ; charging him with the Apollinarian doctrine, of confounding the two natures of Christ. This led to the calling of a general council, at Ephesus, A. D. 431, called the third general council. In this council Cyril presided ; and from the history of it, it seems to have been any thing else, rather than an infallible council, or even a regularly con- ducted deliberative body. Cyril was anxious to have the case decided, before John, bishop of Anti- och, and the other bishops of the East, whom he suspected of being friendly to Nestorius, should arrive. This, as well as the presiding of Cyril, who was his enemy and prosecutor in this matter, Nestorius maintained was unfair and unjust ; and therefore when summoned to trial, he refused to appear. " But Cyril, pressing the business for- ward, without a hearing of the cause, and a great part of the bishops being absent, Nestorius, whom the council compared with Judas, the betrayer of the Saviour, was condemned as guilty of blas- phemy, deprived of his office, and sent into ban- ishment, where he closed his days." The doc- trine established by the council, and which has generally been received by the church to the pres- ent day, was — that Christ consists of one Divine person, yet of two natures, most closely united, but not mixed or confounded. This decision, how- ever, did not end the dispute, which continued to agitate the church for ages after. XIV. But it was in that day, as it is in this, that disputants almost uniformly ran into opposite ex- tremes. This was the case with " Eutyches, ab- bot of a certain convent of monks at Constantino- ple ; from whom originated another sect, directly 90 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. opposite to that of Nestorius, but equally trouble- some, and mischievous to the interests of Christian- ity ; and which, like that, spread with great rapidi- ty throughout the East, and acquired such strength in its progress, that it gave immense trouble both to the Nestorians and to the Greeks, and became a great and powerful community." Eutyches maintained that there was only one nature in Christ, namely, that of the Word, who became in- carnate ; that the two natures of Christ after the union, did not remain two distinct natures, but con- stituted one nature ; and therefore it was correct to say, Christ was constituted of or from two na- tures ; but not that he existed in two natures. The doctrine of Eutyches was first sustained, and his accusers condemned, by a council held at Ephe- sus, A. D. 449. This council was headed by Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, a man of much such a spirit as Cyril, to whom he was successor, and who managed the business of this council, with the same unfairness and injustice. Indeed, the matter was finally decided by a band of sol- diers, and an armed mob, who rushed into the church, where the council were sitting. The Greeks call this council an assembly of Robbers. But this scene was soon changed. Through the influence of Leo the Great, pontiflT of Rome, another general council was called, by the Em- peror Marcian, at Chalcedon, in the year 451, which is called the fourth general council. In this council, in which the legates of Leo had great in- fliuence, Dioscorus was condemned, deposed, and banished ; the acts of the late council were re- scinded ; Eutyches, who had already been deposed and banished by the emperor, was condemned, though absent ; and all Christians were required FIFTH CENTURY. 97 10 believe, that in Jesus Christ there is but one person, yet two distinct natures, no way conlbundt-d or mixed. This, however, instead of proving a remedy, and putting an end to the controversy, rather made the matter worse. A large portion of the Eastern bishops made violent opposition to this council of Chalcedon, and contended earnestly for the one nature in Christ. Hence arose most deplorable discords and cruel wars almost exceed- ing credibility. Those who adopted the views of these bishops were afterwards called Monophysites, and were divided into several parties, with slight shades of difference ; and their contentions were handed down to after ages. XV. In the early part of this century, other troubles invaded the church from the West, in the Pelagian controversy, which has continued through successive ages to the present day. This heresy was headed by Pelagius, a Briton, in conjunction with Ccelestius, an Irishman, both monks living at Rome. They held, " that what was commonly inculcated and belicA^ed, respecting the corruption of the human nature, derived to us from our first parents, was aot true ; that the parents of the human race sinned, only for themselves, and not for their posterity ; that men are now born as pure and innocent as Adam was, when God created him ; that men, therefore, can, by their natural power, renovate themselves, and reach the highest degree of holiness ; that external grace is indeed needful to excite men to efforts, but that they have no need of internal divine grace." These doc- trines they disseminated first privately at Rome, and afterwards openly in Africa and the East ; where they found some favour, especially with John, bishop of Jerusalem. They were, however, 9 9S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. powerfully and successfully opposed by Augustine^ and their doctrines condemned by the genera, council at Ephesus, A. D. 431. These contests gave rise to others not less distressing. Augustine did not at first state with sufficient clearness, his opinions respecting the divine grace necessary to salvation, and the decrees of God in regard to the future condition of individual men. His system therefore, was carried out by some to the doctrine of absolute necessity — " that God has predestina- ted the wicked, not only to suffer eternal punish- ment, but also to commit sin, and to incur the guilt which will merit that punishment ; and of course, to believe, that both the good and the sin- ful actions of men were, from all eternity, divinely predetermined and fixed by an inevitable neces- sity." Others again, headed by John Cassian, a monk who came to Marseilles in France, from the East, went to the other extreme ; and were called Semi-Pelagians. They taught, " that God did not dispense his grace to one more than another, in consequence of an eternal and absolute decree, but was willing to save all men, if they complied with the terms of his gospel ; that Christ died for all men ; that the grace purchased by Christ, and necessary to salvation, was offered to all men ; that man, before he received grace, was capable of faith and holy desires ; that man was born free, and consequently, was capable of resisting the in- fluences of grace, or of complying with its sugges- tions." These doctrines prevailed, and still pre- vail, very extensively. From this period, therefore, commenced those knotty controversies, concerning the nature and the mode of that divine agency, or grace, which is necessary for our salvation ; which have unhappily divided Christians, in every SIXTH CENTURY. 99 subsequent age, and which are still protracted, to the grief of all the pious and the good. CENTURY VI. 1. General interests of Christianity. — 2. Literature. — 3. Monk- ery. — 4. Theology. — 5. Rites and Ceremonies. — 6. Sects. I. The boundaries of the church were extended in the East during the sixth century, over a number of heathen tribes who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea. Ethelbert, king of Kent in Britain, with his Anglo-Saxons, was converted to Christianity near the close of this century, by means of one Augustine, at the head of forty Ben- edictine monks, sent over by Gregory the Great for this purpose. Augustine established the See of Canterbury, and was ordained archbishop and primate of all England. Several barbarous tribes of Germany are said to have embraced Christian- ity in this century ; and many Jews in Gaul and Spain submitted to be baptized, through the influ- ence, either of rewards offered, or punishments threatened them. But the conversions of this century were little more than receiving the rite of baptism, assuming the name of Christian, and making some little change in the external form of their heathen worship, in order to accommodate it to Christianity. Heathen temples were changed into Christian churches, and were purified and consecrated with holy water ; and the people were only required to worship the images of Christ and iOO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of holy men, instead of those of their idol gods, and, for the most part, with the same ceremonies. The religion of the heart seems scarcely to have been thought of. Christians suffered severe persecution this cen- tury under Chosroes, king of Persia. The ancient Britons, who were Christians, sutfered every kind of calamity from their conquerors, the Anglo-Sax- ons ; by whom they were driven from their terri- tory, and shut up among the mountains of Wales and Cornwall. Over the rest of England, until near the end of this century, heathenism reigned; and the churches were demolished,' or converted into idolatrous temples. The Huns also made in- roads upon Thrace and Greece, about the middle of the century, and treated the Christians with great cruelty. In the constitution of the church, there was no important chancre in this century. The bishops of Rome and Constantinople, who were regarded as standing at the head of the whole church, were incessantly contending for priority, and about the extent of their territories and jurisdiction. John, bishop of Constantinople, seems first to have as- sumed the title of universal bishop, about A. D. 587. This greatly incensed the bishop of Rome ; and Gregory the Great maintained that it was "profane^ anticliristian, and infernal, by whomso- ever assumed. The wealth and privileges of the clergy continued to increase, and in the same proportion, their luxury and other vices. Laws were enacted forbidding drunkenness, fortune-tell- ing, simony, concubinage, perjury, usury, and gaudy dress in the clergy. Near the close of the last century, a dreadful contest arose between Symmachus and Laurentius, each claiming to be SIXTH CENTURY. 101 duly elected pontiff of Rome. They charged one another with the grossest crimes. This dispute, prosecuted on both sides in the most violent man- ner, filled Rome with war and bloodshed for many years ; and was at last settled by an appeal to Theodoric, the Arian king of the Goths at Ra- venna. II. The sixth century in regard to literature, is almost a blank. What little learning remained, was chiefly found among the bishops and monks. To most of the churches called Cathedrals^ schools were attached, where the bishop, or some one ap- pointed by him, instructed the youth in the seven liberal arts ; namely. Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy. In most of the monasteries were opened schools, in which such youth were taught as were devoted to the monastic life. Libraries were also collected in them, and the feebler of the monks, that were incapable of encountering severe labour, were em- ployed in transcribing books. To these institu- tions therefore, injurious as they were in many respects, the world is chiefly indebted for the remains of ancient literature, that were preserved and handed down through the dark ages. Some bishops of the church were utterly opposed to the reading of heathen authors, as a horrible wicked- ness ; and especially Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, is said to have committed Livy's History to the flames, and to have caused the Capitoline Library at Rome to be burned. This same Greg- ory however, could expressly tolerate many pagan customs and heathenish rites. III. The increase of monkery in fhis age, was very great every where. In the East, whole armies might have been enrolled, without any sen- 9* 102 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. sible diminution of their nunnbers. In the West, this mode of life found patrons and followers, almost without number, in all the provinces. In Great Britain, one Congal influenced vast numbers to abandon active life and spend their days in solitude, according to a rule which he prescribed. His disciples filled Ireland, Gaul, Germany, Swit- zerland, and other countries. He is said to have ruled over three thousand monks, living in dif- ferent monasteries and cells. In the year 529, a new order of monks was es- tablished in the West, by St. Benedict, which in time absorbed all the others. His rule, which is still extant, is very strict ; and the order, at first, seem to have been a virtuous, orderly, and useful people. They promoted literature, husbandry, agriculture, &c., and laboured with their own hands. But after they had acquired immense wealth, by the liberality of princes and pious indi- viduals, they gave themselves up to luxury, idle- ness, and every vice ; and were most active in promoting the power and authority of the Roman pontiffs. The writers of this century, although numerous, were generally of an inferior grade. None of them rose above mediocrity, unless we make Bo- ethius an exception, and therefore they need not be particularly mentioned. IV. The theology of this century was greatly debased and corrupted, and partook largely of mysticism, superstition, and error. The contro- versial theologians of the East continued to darken and perplex the great truths of religion, by the most subtle distinctions, and the jargon of their philosophy. The mere externals of religion were inculcated upon the people, and that in a very SIXTH CENTUKY. 103 erroneous manner. Penance was enjoined instead of repentance ; fasting, repeating prayers, and the like, instead of a holy life ; great merit was attached to building churches, founding monaste- ries, and such like pious works ; the clergy were held in high veneration, and empty ceremonies much admired. " Whoever wishes to gain more distinct information on this subject," says Mos- heim, " need only read what occurs in the epistles and other writings of Gregory the Great, among others, respecting the worshipping of images and departed saints, the fire which purifies souls after death, the efficacy of good works, that is, of human prescriptions and devices for attaining salvation, the power of relics to remove defects both of soul and body, and other things of the like character. A man of sense cannot help smiling, at the gener- osity of the good Gregory in distributing his relics ; but he must feel pity for the simple, stupid people, who could be persuaded that oil taken from lamps burning at the sepulchres of the martyrs, possessed uncommon virtues and efficacy, and added both holiness and security to its possessors." They who undertook to be expositors of Scrip- ture, scarcely deserve the name. Most of them followed Origen in despising the plain sense of Scripture ; and, searching for allegories and moral precepts, by means of a roving imagination, de- duced whatever they wished, from the sacred Oracles. The disputes about Origen, and his philosophi- cal corruptions of Christianity, were still kept up, or rather revived among the monks of Palestine. The doctrines ascribed to him, and entertained by his followers, (for it is rather uncertain what Ori- gen himself held,) were finally condemned by the 104 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. • fifth general council, convened at Constantinople, by order of the emperor Justinian, A. D. 553. The errors ascribfid to Origen are the following, with some others of like character. 1. That there is a pre-existent state of human souls. 2. That souls were condemned to animate mortal bodies, in order to expiate faults they had commit- ted in a pre-existent state. 3. That the soul of Christ was united to the Word before his incarna- tion. 4.' That at the resurrection of the dead, we shall be clothed with ethereal bodies. 5. That after long periods of time, the damned shall be released from their torment, and restored to a new state of probation. 6. That the earth after its conflagration, shall become habitable again, and be the mansion of men and animals, and that, in eternal vicissitudes. This council also decided the controversy re- specting the three chapters^ so called ; which has been the cause of much contention and disturbance in the church. This appellation was given to three subjects of dispute ; the first, respecting the character and writings of Theodorus, of Mopsues- tia ; the second, the writings of Theodoret of Cy rus, opposing the twelve anathemas that Cyril of Alexandria had published against Nestorius ; the third, an epistle of Ibas of Edessa. These bishops had favoured the Nestorians ; their writings were therefore condemned, and Theodorus, although dead, was pronounced a heretic, by this council. This was a pretty severe reflection upon the council of Chalcedon, which had sustained these men and their writings. It was therefore vio- lently opposed by Vigilius, bishop of Rome. Here we seem to have one general council against another. SIXTH CENTURY. 105 Another controversy broke out among the Greeks in the year 519 ; namely, whether it could be pro- perly said that one of tlie Trinity was crucified ; and connected with this was another question ; whether it was proper to say that ClirisVs person was compounded. Such were the questions that disturbed the peace of the church in that age. V. Rites and ceremonies continued to increase in proportion as piety and godliness declined ; for it is usual for those to make most of the forms of religion, who have least of its power. In the East, the Novatian and Eutychian controversies occa- sioned the introduction of many rites and forms, as marks of distinction between the different par- ties. In the West, Gregory the Great was remark- ably fond of inventing and introducing new cere- monies. The multiplication of new ceremonies, gave rise to a new kind of science ; the object of which was to explain their use and meaning. Public worship was still performed in the vernacu- lar language of each nation, Gregory the Great, established a new mode of administering the Lord's supper, magnificently and with splendid apparatus. But it was many ages before the 6ther western churches could be prevailed upon to adopt this Romish form. He also introduced the responsive chant, and established a school for church music. Baptism was chiefly administered at the greater festivals ; viz : christmas, epiphany, easter, whit- suntide, and St. John the Baptist's day. Temples dedicated to the saints were exceedingly numerous, both in the East and in the West. They were built not merely for the accommodation of wor- shippers — for this they were not needed ; but the favour and patronage of the saints, were thought, in this way, to be secured to the provinces, cities 106 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. towns, and villages, in which their temples were erected and dedicated. The nunnber of least days almost equalled that of the churches. The feast of the purification of the Virgin Mary, seems to have taken place of the heathen Lupercalia ; which, in some respects, it resembled. VI. The old sects still subsisted in various places. The Maiiicheans were considerably numerous in Persia. In Gaul and Africa, the contentions be- tween the Semi-Pelagians, and the followers of Augustine continued. The Donatists revived in Africa, under the Vandal government, until that kingdom was overturned, A. D. 534. From that time they declined, and became extinct before the end of this century ; at least are not heard of after- wards. The Arians, in the beginning of this cen- tury, were triumphant in some parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many Asiatic bishops favoured them ; and the Vandals in Africa, the Goths in Italy, many of the Gauls, Suevi, Burgundians, and Spaniards, openly espoused their cause. But this prosperity of the Arians wholly terminated, when, under the auspices of Justinian, the Vandals were driven from Africa, and the Goths from Italy. The other kings of the West, who had espoused their cause, either by arguments, or some other means, were brought over to the orthodox faith. The Nestori- ans during this century, had numerous societies in all parts of Persia, in India,* in Armenia, * The Christians of St. Thomas, on the coast of Malabar are a branch of the Nestorians ; who have existed down to the present day, almost without any connexion with any other part of the Christian church. They are said to retain strong- ly file features of their descent from the earliest Christian communities. They celebrate the anapap, (love-feast ;) portion maidens from the property of the church ; and provide for the poor. Their ideas of the Loid's supper inchne to those of the SIXTH CENTURY. 107 Arabia, Syria, and elsewhere. The sect of the Monophysites, (that is, they who held to the one nature in Christ, and who veered to the opposite extreme from the Nestorians,)were also numerous in the East. About the middle of the century, this sect was greatly revived and strengthened, by the most indefatigable labour and perseverance of one Jacobus, an indigent monk, who travelled over all the East for this purpose. From him, as the sec- ond father of the sect, all the Monophysites in the East are called Jacobites. There were a number of mooted points, about which the Monophysites disagreed and disputed among themselves. Some said that the Divine nature had so insinuated itself into the body of Christ, from the very moment of his conception, that his body became changed in its nature so as to be incorruptible. Others held that the body of Christ was corruptible, but owing to the influence of the Divine nature, was never in fact corrupted. They disputed also whether the body of Christ was created or uncreated. Another discussion related to the degree of knowledge that pertained to the human nature of Christ — or ra- ther, to Christ, as partaking of human nature. From the controversies with the Monophysites, arose the sect called Tritheists ; because they held that there were in God, three numerically distinct natures or substances, all perfectly alike, and con- Protestants ; but in celebrating it, they use salt and oil. At the time of baptism, they anoint the body of the infant with oiL These two ceremonies, with that of the consecration of priests, are the only sacraments which they acknowledge. Their priests are distinguished by the tonsure, and are allowed to marry. Their churches contain, except the cross, no symbols nor pictures. They are in number about eighty thousand, and are under the British government,.free from any ecclesiastical restraint. 103 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. % nected by no common chain or vinculum. In matters of this sort, there has, in every age, been a strong propensity in man, to be wise above icliat is written ; and this is the source of more than half the disputes, that in former, as well as in modern times, have rent and deformed the church. CENTURY VII I. Extension of Christianity. — 2. Mohammedism. — 3. Litera ture. — 4. The Roman church receives the title of head of all the churches. — 5. State of religion. — 6. Sects.— 7. Mon- othelites. I. In the seventh century, Christianity contin- ued to extend its influences, both in the East and in the West. The Nestorians in Persia, Syria, and India, laboured with great industry, to propa- gate Christianity among the barbarous and savage nations, inhabiting the deserts, and remotest shores of Asia. There is abundant evidence, that in this century there were many Christians in China, over whom, for several subsequent centuries, a tnetro- jpolitmi presided, sent out by the N;,'storian patri- arch. " It is the constant tradition of the Syrian Christians, that St. Thomas the apostle, made an excursion to China; and the Christians of Malabar celebrate the event in their ordinary worship ; and their primate styled himself metropolitan of Hindostan and China, when the Portuguese first knew them." In England, Ethelbert, king of Kent, had been converted to Christianity near the close of the last SEVENTH CENTURY. 109 century. In the course of this century, the other six kings, forming the Saxon Heptarchy, came over, one after another, and Britain became entire- iV Christian. The conversion of these Saxon kings, seems to have been effected very much, by the influence of their Christian wives. Paulinus, in the year 627, is said to have baptized twelve thousand Northumbrians in one day, in the river Swale, near Richmond. " A great dispute arose about the tonsure of priests, (whether only a con- siderable spot, or the whole head, except a circu- lar margin, should be shaved,) and about the time of holding Easter — those north of the Thames following the Irish or Gaelic ritual, and those south of it the Roman — a conference was held on these subjects, at Whitby, in the year 664. Here Os- way, king of Northumberland, learning from the Romish party, that St. Peter had the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and that the other party could not deny that fact, declared he would not offend St. Peter, lest when he arrived at the gates of heaven, he should find that the door-keeper would not open to him. This wise thought decided the question with the majority." Columbanus, St. Gall, St. Kilian, and other zealous missionaries, extended Christianity among the tribes of Ger- many, Switzerland, Denmark, &c. that were still pagans. The Jews in many places, were cruelly treated, and often reluctantly compelled to receive baptism, and to make an outward profession of their belief in Christ. II. Christianity did not suffer much persecution in this century; but a new and most powerful enemy started up in Arabia, A. D. 612, in the person of Mohammed. He professed to be the propJiet of God, sent to overthrow all polytheism ; and also to 10 110 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. purge and reform, first, the religion of the Arabs, and next, those of the Jews and Christians. Mo- hammed at first treated Christians with mildness, but afterwards with great cruelty. This extraor- dinary delusion was propagated with great rapid- ity, and to great extent ; and exists down to the present day, over an extent of country, perhaps not less than Christendom itself. " The causes of the rapid propagation of this new religion among so many nations, are not difficult to be discovered. In the first place, the terror of arms, which Mo- hammed and his successors carried with great suc- cess into different countries, compelled vast multi- tudes to receive his law. In the next placd*, his law itself was admirably adapted to the natural dispositions of men, and especially to the manners, the opinions, and the vices prevalent among the people of the East ; for it was extremely simple, proposing very few things to be believed ; nor did it enjoin many and difficult duties to be performed, or such as laid severe restraints on the propensi- ties of men. Moreover, the consummate ignor- ance, which characterized, for the most part, the Arabians, the Syrians, the Persians, and other na- tions of the East, gave a bold and eloquent man ready access to the minds of immense multitudes. We may add, that the virulent contests among the Christians, Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monophysi.es, which filled a large part of the East with carnage and horrible crimes, rendered their religion odious in the eyes of many. And the Monophysites and Nestorians, whom the Greeks oppressed most grievously, rendered assistance to the Arabians, and thus facilitated their conquest of some provinces. Other causes will suggest them- selves to those who consider attentively the state SEVENTH CENTURY. Ill of the world, and the character of the Moham- medan religion." III. Learning, in this age, was at a very low ebb, and philosophy almost extinct ; especially in the West. What little learning still existed, was confined chiefly to the cloisters of the monks. The laws forbade any one to be made an abbot, unless he had some learning ; and the monks were re- quired to devote some portion of every day to reading. It was rare to find any one among the bishops, who was capable of composing his own discourses. They contented themselves for the most part, with garbled extracts from Augustine, Gregory, and others. One exception there was, in Theodorus, a Cilician, who, in 668, was made bishop of Canterbury. He was a man of learning, and gave an impulse to the cause of letters among the x4.nglo-Saxon clergy. He introduced a fine library of Latin and Greek works into England. The writers of this century are of very inferior character, and need.not be mentioned. Few un- dertook to interpret Scripture ; and they, with very little success. Books on practical religion were chiefly filled up with legends of saints, calculated only to cherish superstition. IV. The contest for pre-eminence between the prelates of Rome and Constantinople, was still kept up. The pontiff of Rome, Boniface III. obtained a decree from the tyrant Phocas, who had seized upon the imperial crown, after the murder of the emperor Mauritius, " that the Romish church, the apostolic seat of the blessed apostle Peter, should be the head of all the churches." The Roman pontiffs struggled hard, by every means in their power, to increase and extend their authority ; but as yet it was far from being universally acknow- 112 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ledged and submitted to. The time had not yet come, when the pope might set up kings, and de- pose them at his pleasure. V. The degeneracy of the clergy was very great ; and unceasing quarrels existed in many places, be- tween the bishops and the monks. The latter ap- pealed to the pontiff of Rome, who readily took them under his care, and gradually exempted them from the jurisdiction of the bishops. They in turn defended the interest of the pontiff, as if it were their own. The monks, in the meantime, from the favour of the pontiffs, and their show of ficti- tious piety, were every where greatly increased, and especially among the Latins. Parents eager- ly consecrated their children to God, with good portions of their property made over to the monas- teries. They who had been guilty of great crimes, hoped to make atonement for them, by making over their property to some company of monks ; and immense numbers, impelled by superstition, rebbed their heirs of their richest possessions, in order to render God propitious to them through the prayers of the monks. " During this century, true religion lay buried under a mass of senseless superstitions ; and was unable to raise her head. The earlier Christians had worshipped only God, and his Son ; but those called Christians in this age, worshipped the wood of a cross, the images of holy men, and bones of dubious origin. The early Christians placed hea- ven and hell before the view of men ; these latter depicted a certain fire prepared to burn off the im- perfections of the soul. The former taught that Christ had made expiation for the sins of men, by his death and blood ; the latter seemed to incul- cate that the gates of heaven would be closed SEVENTH CENTURY. 113 against none who should enrich the clergy or the church with their donations. The former were studious to maintain a holy simplicity, and to fol- low a pure and chaste piety ; the latter placed the substance of religion in external rites and bodily exercises. Did any one hesitate to believe ? Two irrefragable arguments were at hand ; the author- ity of the church, and miracles ; for the working of which, in these times of ignorance, but a mode- rate share of dexterity was requisite." We may form a tolerably definite idea of the piety of this age, by observing in what it was made to consist, by one who, at the time, was even more celebrated for his sanctity, than honoured for his ecclesiastical dignity. St. Eloi, bishop of Noyon, in France, thus defines the " good Christ- ian." — " He is a good Christian, who trusts in no phylacteries, or subtle inventions of the devil. He, I say, is a good Christian, who washes the feet of his guests, and loves them as if his dearest rela- tives ; who according to his means, gives alms to the poor ; who comes often to church, and brings his offering to be laid on the altar of God ; who tastes not of his produce till he has first offered some of it to God ; who uses not deceitful weights and double measures ; who does not lend his money for usury ; who both lives chastely him- self, and teaches his children and neighbours to live chastely and in the fear of God ; final- ly, who commits to memory, the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teaches the same to his sons and daughters. He who is such, is without doubt a true Christian. . . . But that you may be true Christians, both think of the precepts of Christ continually in your mind, and obey them in your conduct. Redeem your souls from punishment, 10* 114 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. while you have the means in your power. Give alms according to your ability, maintain peace and charity, reconcile those who are at variance, avoid lying, dread perjury, give no false testimony, com- mit no theft, present oflerings and tithes to the churches, bring candles to the holy places accord- ing to your wealth, remember the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teach them to your children. . . Come often, also, to church, humbly beg the inter- cessions of the saints, from reverence for the re- surrection of Christ, keep the Lord's day without any servile work, observe the Saints' days with pious affection, &c. Which if you shall do, you will come with confidence, in the day of judgment, before the bar of the eternal Judge, and say : Give, Lord, for we have given ; have mercy, for we have shown mercy ; we have done what thou hast commanded, perform what thou hast promised." — The serious reader will notice, that, in this full length portrait of a true Christian, the inventions of men are put on a level with the commandments of God ; and that the only ground on which sin- ners cun be justified before God being overlooked, they are sent to the bar of final judgment, depend- ing on their own works. Rites and ceremonies still increased. To the festivals already oppressively numerous, was added a day consecrated to the wood of ike cross, on which the Saviour was crucified. This was done A. D. 631, when the emperor Heraclius vanquish- ed the Persians, and recovered the real cross, (so called) which Cosroes their king had carried off fourteen years Jaefore. The Pantheon at Rome was obtained by gift, and consecrated by Boniface to the Virgin Mary, and all the martyrs ; as it had before been sacred to all the Gods, and particular SEVENTH CENTURY. 115 ly to Cybele ; and the feast of All Saints was in- stituted. Churches were invested with those rights of asylum, which afforded villains an opportunity to conamit crimes without much danger ; and which led, in the West, to the most shocking disorders. The art of ornamenting churches magnificently, was cultivated with great diligence by Honorius. VI. Many of the ancient sects, although repress- ed by the imperial laws, still existed, and sometimes revived. The Nestorians and Monophysites en- joyed protection and encouragement under the government of the Saracens, who had made them- selves masters of a great part of the East. The Greeks during this century, were engaged in a tierce contest with the Paulicians, who inhabited Armenia and the adjacent countries, and were con- sidered as a branch of the Manichaeans. There is every reason, however, to believe that they were not Manichseans, but pious ivit7iesses of the truths who protested against the unsound doctrines, the superstition, and the prelacy which had then gain- ed so general an establishment in the church. The statements of their enemies to the contrary have been too generally believed and adopted. They were probably called Faulicians, on account of their great attachment to the epistles of the apostle Paul. They were assailed, not only with argu- ments ; but more effectually with arms and legal enactments. In Italy, the Lombards preferred the opinions of the Arians, to the doctrines of the Nicene creed. In Gaul and in England, the Pela- gian and Semi-Pelagian controversies still produ- ced some disquietude. VII. Amongst the Greeks, there arose, in the 116 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. year 630, a new sect, called Monothelites, which soon produced very great commotions. It grew out of an attempt of the emperor Heraclius to restore the Monophysites to the communion of the church. They had suggested that if the Greeks would admit and profess, that in Jesus Christ, after the union of the two natures, there was but one will^ and one voluntary action^ there might be a reconciliation. This doctrine, Sergius, pa- triarch of Constantinople, and Cyrus, bishop of Alexandria, decided, might be held, without preju- dice to the truth, or to the council of Chalcedon. And this opinion was confirmed by a solemn de- cree of a council held by Cyrus of Alexandria. When Honorius, pontiff of Rome, was afterwards applied to on the subject by Sergius, he dfvcided that those held sound doctrine who taught, that there was one ivill and one operation in Christ. This doctrine was violently opposed by Sophron- ius, first a monk, and afterwards patriarch of Je- rusalem. After much contention and disturbance, a general council was assembled at Constantinople, A. D. 680, called the sixth oecumenical council ; in which the Monothelites, and among them Ho- norius, pontiff of Rome, were condemned as here- tics ; and the doctrine of two wills, a human and a divine, and two kinds of voluntary acts in Christ, was defined and established. It seems that the infallibility of the Pope was not yet thought of, as this council so unceremoniously condemned him as a heretic. The doctrine of the Monothelites, condemned and exploded by the Council of Constantinople, found a place of refuge among the Mardaites, a people who inhabited the mountains of Libanus, and Antilibanus ; and who about the conclusion of this ceotury, received the EIGHTH CENTURY. 117 name of Maronites, from John Maro, their first bishop, a name which ihey still retain. In 692, another council was held at Constantinople, in which were decreed one hundred and two canons, on various subjects relating to external worship, the government of the church, &c. Some of these canons were opposed to the opinions and customs of the Romish church : the Roman pontiffs there- fore refused to approve the council as a whole, or to rank it among the geiieral councils, although they have deemed the greater part of its canons to be excellent. CENTURY VIII. 1. Extension and sufferings of the church. — 1. Increase of cor ruptions and power among the clergy. — 3. State of religion — 4. Literature — 5. Controversies. I. The Nestorians in the East continued, during the eighth century, to extend the influences of Christianity among the Scythians and Tartars, inhabiting the shores of the Caspian Sea. A Nes- torian missionary by the name of Subchal, travel- led further East, and spread the gospel extensively in Tartary, Cathai, and China. In the West, by the active and persevering labours of Boniface, who has obtained the title of the apostle of Ger- many, churches were established extensively among the Thuringians, Hessians, and Friesland- ers ; by the latter of whom, he was finally mur- dered, together with fifty other clergymen, who 118 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. attended him ; (A. D. 755.) Boniface possessed great zeal and activity, and perhaps true piety ; but strongly tinctured with the errors of those times — excessive attachment to monkery, super- stitious regard for the externals of religion, and devotion to the power and authority of the Roman pontiff. Corbinian, a French Benedictine monk ; Pirmin, also a French monk ; and Lebvvin, an Englishman ; with many others of less note, la- boured with zeal, and with more or less success, to establish Christianity among other nations of Germany that were still heathen. Corbinian obtained remarkable fame, by his marvellous sanctity, and numerous miracles. The Saxons and Huns, who were less yielding to the influence of missionaries that were sent among them, were more effectually brought over to submit to bap- tism, by the arms of Charlemagne. With all due zeal, he assailed them with the sword, with re- wards and punishments, the legitimate arguments of kings, until, being humbled and exhausted, they thought it better to become Christians, than to be slaves. One law, well calculated, we may sup- pose, to accomplish its object, was in these words. If any person of the Saxon race^ shall contem'pt- iLously refuse to come to baptisryi, and shall resolve to continue a heathen, let him be put to death. For these achievements of Charlemagne, in behalf of Christianity, the gratitude of posterity decreed him the honours of a saint. The following are curious specimens of the mi- racles of this age. " In the life of St. Winnock, it is stated as a miracle, that his mill, when he let go of it, to say his prayers, would turn itself. And when an inquisitive monk looked through a crevice, to see the wonder, he was struck blind for his pre- EIGHTH CENTURY. 119 sumption. The biographer of St. Pardulphus, makes a child's cradle to rock day after day, with- out hands ; while, if touched, it would stop, and remain immovable. In the life of St. Guthlack, of Croyland, while the saint was praying, at his vigils, a vast number of devils entered his cell, rising out of the ground, and issuing from crevices. These bound the saint fast, dragged him through hedges and briers, hfted him up from the earth, and carried him to the mouth of hell, where he saw all the torments of the damned. But while they were threatening to confine him there, St Bartholomew appeared in glory to him ; the devils were affrighted ; and he was conducted back to his cell, by his celestial deliverer. These are only a few, among scores of others, which might be adduced." In this century, the church suffered very se- ,^ verely both in the East, and in the West, from the Saracens. The Greek empire, greatly weak- ened by internal dissensions, was not able to withstand this warlike people, who overran the fairest portions of Asia and Africa, and in many places, wholly exterminated the Christian faith. In the year 714, the Saracens passed over from Africa into Spain, and routed the army of Roderic, king of the Spanish Goths, and subdued the greater part of that country. Thus was the kingdom of the West Goths in Spain, wholly ex- terminated by this ferocious people, after it had stood more than three centuries. And even France and Italy suffered from- the frequent invasions of these fierce and victorious propagators of the Moham- medan faith. The Christians of Germany often suffered from the neighbouring tribes that still re- mained pagan. About the middle of this century 120 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. a new enemy to Christianity appeared, still more savage and cruel than the Saracens ; namely, the Turks. They were a tribe of the Tartars, a rough and uncivilized race, who, issuing from the narrow passes of Caucasus, burst upon Colchis, Iberia, and Albania, and thence proceeding to Armenia, first subdued the Saracens, and after- wards the Greeks. II. The degeneracy and vices of the clergy of this age may be inferred from the laws enacted against them by Carloman, Pepin, and especially Charlemagne. These laws forbid clergymen's loaning money at twelve per cent, interest — haunt- ing taverns — practising magic — receiving bribes to ordain improper persons : bishops, abbots, and abbesses, were forbidden to keep packs of hounds, or hawks and falcons. Laws were also enacted against clerical drunkenness, concubinage, and profane swearing. Notwithstanding their vices, the clergy were held in very great veneration, particularly in the West. Before they embraced Christianity, these nations were under the control of their priests, and dared not attempt any thing important, either civil or military, without their concurrence. These prerogatives, therefore, when they became Christian, they readily transferred to the bishops and ministers of their new religion ; and the Christian prelates and clergy, craftily and eagerly seized and appropriated to themselves these rights. Hence originated the monstrous authority of the priesthood in the European churches, which was always much greater than in the East. " To the honours and prerogatives enjoyed by the bishops and priests, with the concurrence of the people of the West, were added, during this EIGHTH CENTURY. 121 period, immense wealth and riches. The church- es^ monasteries, and bishops had before been well supplied with goods and revenues ; but in this cen- tury, there arose a new and most convenient method of acquiring for them greater riches, and of amplifying them forever. Suddenly, by whose instigation is not known, the idea became univer- sally prevalent, that the punishment for sin, which God threatens to inflict, may be bought off by lib- eral gifts to God, to the saints, to the temples, and to the ministers of God, and of glorified saints. This opinion being every where admitted, the rich and the prosperous, whose lives were now most flagi- tious, conferred their wealth, (which they had re- ceived by inheritance, or wrested from others by violence and war, according to the customs of the age,) upon the glorified saints, their ministers, and the guardians of their temples, most bountifully, for religious uses ; in order to avoid the very irk- some penances,* which were enjoined upon them by the priests, and yet be secure against the evils that threatened to overtake them after death. This was the principal source of those immense trea- sures, which from this century onward, through all the subsequent ages, flowed in upon the clergy, the churches, and the monasteries." Princes and noblemen made over to the church, not merely private possessions, but public proper- ty — royal domains — whole provinces, cities, and castles ; with all the rights of sovereignty. Thus the persons, whose business it was to teach con- tempt of the world, unexpectedly became Dukes, * The penances imposed by the priests of those times upon those who confessed their sins to them, were such as, long and severe fasts, tortures of the body, frequent and long contin- ued prayers, pilgrimages to the tombs of the saints, and the like 11 122 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Coimts, Marquises^ Judges, Legislators, sovereign Lords ; and not only administered justice to citi- zens, but even marched to war, at the head of their own armies. These gifts to the church were com- monly called tlie price of sins ; and were said to be given, for the redemption of their souls, and for the purchase of the soul. This great aggrandizement of the clergy in the West, commenced with their head, the Roman pontiff, and thence extended to the inferior bishops, priests, and fraternities of monks. In the year 755, Pepin, king of the Franks, at the solicitation of pope Stephen II. marched with an army into Italy, conquered Aistulphus, king of the Lombards, who had laid seige to Rome, wrested from him the Exarchate of Ravenna, and the Pentapolis, and with amazing liberality, bestowed them upon St. Peter and his church ; thereby constituting the pope a prince and civil ruler, as well as spiritual head of the church. This grant, Charlemagne, the son and successor of Pepin, in 774, confirmed and enlarged. Pepin's motive, in making this lib- eral grant to St. Peter, was, as appears from nu- merous testimonies, to make atonement for his sins, especially the great sin he had committed, in conspiring against his master, Childeric, and seiz- ing upon his crown. — From this time when the pope became a temporal prince, some date the be- ginning of the reign of Antichrist ; others, from the year 606, when by the decree of the tyrant Phocas, the church of Rome was declared to be the first, (not in dominion, but) in rank and digni- ty, of all the churches. — The pope, however, was not yet regarded as head over all the kings of the earth. On the contrary, the right of appointing and creating the Roman pontiffs, was, by Hadrian EIGHTH CENTURY. 123 I., in a council at Rome, conferred on Charle- magne, and his successors. Emperors and kings had the. right of calling councils and presiding in them ; nor could the decrees of a council have the force of laws, unless they were confirmed and rati- fied by the reigning sovereign. The total corruption of the whole sacred order, pro#iced in the West, a new species of priests, called canons^ who were an intermediate class be- tween the monks, or regular clergy^ as they were called, and the secular priests. They lived to gether, ate at the same table, and adopted, in part, the mode of life of the monks ; but did not take any vows upon themselves. III. The religion of this age consisted almost wholly in external forms and ceremonies. More solicitude, for the most part, was manifested for multiplying and regulating those, than for correct- ing the vices of men, and removing their ignorance and impiety. The mode of celebrating the Lord's supper, which was considered the most important part of the worship of God, was protracted to a great length, and deformed by the addition of vari- ous regulations. The superstitions of the age, in regard to this ordinance, may be seen from the following decisions of Pope Gregory III. '* If any one, through negligence, destroy the eucharist, i.e. the sacrifice, let him do penance one year, or three Quadrigesimas. If he let it fall on the ground, carelessly, he must sing fifty Psalms. Whoever neglects to take care of the sacrifice, so that worms get into it, or it lose its colour or taste, must do penance twenty or thirty days ; and the sacrifice must be burned in the fire. Whoever turns up the cup at the close of the solemnity of the mass, must do penance forty days. If a drop from the 124 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. cup should fall on the altar, the minister must suck up the drop, and do penance three days ; and the linen cloth, which the drop touched, must be wash- ed three times over the cup, and the water in which it is washed, be cast into the fire." Charlemagne made some attempt to restrain these growing su- perstitions, but did not effect much. J The fundamentals of the Christian faith we^^in- deed still taught, both by the Latin and Greek writers, but with great mixture of error. — The efficacy of the merits of the Saviour was acknow- ledged, and yet tacitly depreciated by teaching that man can appease God, either by undergoing voluntary punishments, or by offering him gifts and presents ; and by laying great stress upon the works and merits of holy men, and especially of the Virgin Mary. " The whole of religion or pie- ty consisted, in this and some subsequent centu- ries, in founding, enriching, embellishing and en- larging, churches and chapels ; in hunting after, and venerating, the relics of holy meq ; in secur- ing the patronage of deceased saints with God, by gifts and superstitious rites and ceremonies ; in worshipping the images and statues of saints ; and in performing pilgrimages to holy places, espe- cially to Palestine ; and in other similar practices." ■i IV. The little learning that still remained in this age of darkness, was confined chiefly to the priests and monks. The former were required at their ordination, to be able to read, to sing, and to repeat the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and Psalter, and to ascertain the feast days. Those among the La- tins that distinguished themselves in any meas- ure by their learning, were chiefly Britons and Irishmen. Charlemagne patronized learning, and used considerable exertions to promote it. EIGHTH CENTUKY. 125 Few writers of this century, deserve any partic- ular mention. The nnost distinguished of the Greeks, was John Damascenus, a man of respect- able talents, and of some eloquence. Of the La- tins, among the best was Charlemagne. He was not only a great general and statesman, but also a good scholar, and a great promoter of learning. He understood Latin and Greek, was well read in civil history, and was no contemptible theologian. He published a collection of Edicts, and four books against image-worship. Beda, commonly called the venerable Bede^ was an Englishman of great learning for the times. He wrote, among other things, an Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, from the invasion of Julius Csesar to the year 731. Alcuin, also an Englishman, — as an orator, poet, philosopher, and theologian, was, perhaps, the most distinguished man of his age. His writings consist chiefly of expositions of the Scriptures, letters and treatises on theology and science. i V. The greatest controversy that disturbed the y peace of the church in this age, related to the wor- ship of sacred images. The controversy origina- ted in Greece, and thence spread over the East, and the West, producing great harm both to church and state. The contest against images was chief- ly sustained by the Greek emperors, first, Leo, the Isaurian, and after him, Constantine, his son. Leo issued an edict, in the year 726, commanding all images of saints, with the exception of that of Christ upon the cross, to be removed out of the churches, and the worship of them to be wholly discontinued and abrogated. This gave great of- fence, and produced a civil war ; for the people, either spontaneously, or being instructed by the priests and monks, to whom the images were a 11* 126 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. source of gain, regarded the emperor as an apos- tate from the true religion ; and that therefore they were freed from their oath of allegiance. In Italy, the Roman pontiffs, Gregory II. and Gregory III. were the principal supporters of image worship, and authors of the revolt. The former did not hesitate to say, that, in his view, the emperor had rendered himself unworthy of the name and pri- vileges of a true Christian. In this dispute the Roman pontiffs lost a large portion of their terri- tory, which was annexed by the emperor, to the see of Constantinople. Constantino, the son and successor of Leo, called a council that met at Con- stantinople in the year 754, to examine and decide this distressing controversy. By the Greeks, this is called the seventh general council. It was com- posed of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops, a greater number than had ever before been assem- bled in any council. They decided that all wor- ship of images was contrary to the Scriptures, and to the sense of the church, in the purest ages ; that it was idolatry, and forbidden by the second com- mandment. They, also maintained that the use of images in churches, and places of worship, was a custom borrowed from the pagans ; that it was of dangerous tendency, and ought to be abolished. But all this did not end the controversy. Irene, a wicked woman, who had murdered her husband, Leo IV. amd usurped the government, was a fa- vourer of image worship. She therefore, in league with the Roman pontiff' Hadrian, assembled a coun- cil at Nice, in Bithynia, in the year 786, called the second Nicene council. — " Here, the laws of the Emperors, together with the decrees of the council of Constantinople, were abrogated ; and penalties were denounced against those who should maintain, EIGHTH CENTURY. 127 that worship and adoration were to be given only to God." In these controversies, the Britons, Ger- mans, and French, took a middle ground. They held that images should be retained in the church- es ; but that religious worship could not be offered to them, without dishonouring the Supreme Being Charlemagne, therefore, in the year 794, assem- bled a council of three hundred bishops, at Frank- fort on the Maine. This council forbade the wor- ship of images. The western bishops, with their emperor, had not yet learned to yield implicit sub- mission to the Roman pontiff. Another subject of contention arose in this cen- tury, viz : respecting the lorocession of the Holy Spirit. This was still more warmly agitated in the following century, and accelerated the separa- tion of the eastern and western churches. The ancient sects, the Arians, Manichseans, Marcionites, Nestorians, Monophysites, and Mo- nothelites, still existed, and even revived, in many parts of the East. Considerable disturbance was produced in the West, near the close of this centu- ry, by Felix, bishop of Urgel in Spain. He held that Christ, as God, was by nature, and truly, the Son of God ; but as man, he was the Son of God, only in name, and by adoption. This was thought to savour of the Nestorian error, of two natures in Christ ; he was required to revoke his opinions, which he ostensibly did. His followers were call- ed Adovtionists. 128 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOHIT. CENTURY IX. 1. The Church still extended in the West. — 2. Saracens and Normans. — 3. Ignorance and corrupt lives of the clergy. — 4. Pope Joanna. — 5. Power and profligacy of the Pontiffs. — 6. Monkery. — 7. Relics. — 8. Learning and theology. — 9. Con- troversies. — 10. Grace and Predestination, — 11. Contests be- tween the pontiffs of Rome and Constantinople. — 12. Rites and ceremonies. — 13. Ancient sects. I. In the ninth century, Christianity continued to spread among the nations of Europe. Charle- magne, until his death, A. D. 814, omitted no means which he deemed requisite, to propagate and establish Christianity among the Huns, Sax- ons, Frieslanders, and others. The means em- ployed, however, it is to be regretted, were not always justifiable. Rewards and promises, and sometimes force, were employed. Some presby- ters sent into Carinthia, in lower Pannonia, adopted the following expedient, which was very success- ful. They allowed Christian slaves to sit at table with them, while their pagan masters had to eat their bread and meat without the doors, and had to drink out of black cups, whereas the servants drank from gilded cups. For the pres- byters told the masters — " You unbaptized persons are not worthy to eat with those that are bap- tized." Lewis the Meek, the son and successor of Charlemagne, was not less zealous in propaga- ting Christianity, than his father. By him mis- sionaries were sent into Denmark and Sweden, NINTH CENTURY. 129 who laboured with much success. Missionaries were also sent from Constantinople, by the empress Theodora, who taught the Moesians, Bulgarians, and Gazari, and afterwards the Bohemians and Moravians, to renounce their false gods, and em- brace Christ. The Greek emperor Basil, influ- enced the warlike Russians, by presents and other means, when he had made a peace with them, to admit Christian teachers, and an arch- bishop among them, which was the commencement of Christianity in that country. The missionaries that went among the heathen in this age, are said to have been men of more piety and virtue, for the most part, than those who undertook the conver- sion of the pagans in the preceding century. Yet the religion which they inculcated, was far from that simple rule of truth and holiness, which the apostles taught, and was adulterated by many human additions. Among the nations which they converted, too many relics of the old super- stitions were suffered to remain. This, as we have seen, had been the principal source of the corruption of Christianity, down from the apostles'* times ; and in this way, indeed, it came finally, in its external rites and forms, and too often in its spirit also, to resemble much more those systems of paganism, to which it succeeded, than that pure, simple system of faith and worship, inculca- ted by Christ and his apostles. II. In Asia, Africa, Spain, and even Italy, the Christians suffered much in this century from the Saracens. Many renounced Christianity and embraced the reUgion of their conquerors, for the sake of peace ; and they who did not, sunk into very great ignorance and indifference, retaining almost nothing of Christianity, except the name, 130 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and ti few religious rites. The Normans, a fierce and barbarous people, inhabiting the shores of the Baltic, in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, had long practised piracy along the coasts of the German and Gallic oceans. But in this century, they became much more bold, and made frequent incursions into Germany, Britain, Friesland, and especially France, plundering and devastating with fire and sword wherever they came. These inroads they extended sometimes as far as Spain, and even Italy. They destroyed and plundered many churches and monasteries in all these countries. For in these places Were deposited large treasures, partly belonging to the establish- ments, and partly deposited there for safe keeping. III. There is a general complaint by the histo- rians of this age, of the ignorance and ungodly lives of the clergy and monks. Such was the ignorance of the clergy in many places, that few of them were able to read or write, or to express their thoughts with accuracy and precision. In the council of Pavia, A. D. 850, bishops were for- bidden to keep hounds and horses for hunting; or to have superfluous trains of horses and mules, and gaudy dresses, for vain display. The council of Aix-la-Chapelle, A. D. 836, forbade bishops getting drunk. They complain that some neglect- ed their charges, and travelled here and there, not from necessity, but to gratify their avarice or love of pleasure. Of the presbyters, and inferior cler- gy, they complain that they kept women in their houses, to the scandal of the ministry, notwith- standing the attempts of former councils and prin- ces to remove the evil. Also, that presbyters turn bailiffs, frequent taverns, pursue filthy lucre, prac- tise usury, conduct shamefully and lewdly in the ^'i^-TIi CENTJRV. 131 houses they visit, and do not blush to indulge in revelry and drunkenness. Thoy say of the nun- neries, that in some places, they seemed to be rather brothels than monasteries. The council of Mentz, A. D. 888, decreed that the clergy be wholly for- bidden to have females resident in their houses. Various causes operated to produce this ignorant and degraded state of the clergy ; among others, such as t\ie following — the calamities of the times, occasioned by the incursions and depredations of the plundering Normans, and the perpetual wars between Lewis the Meek, and his sons and poster- ity ; the gross ignorance of the nobility, and the vast wealth possessed by the churches and monas- teries. If the son of a high nobleman wanted en- ergy and talent necessary to qualify him for other employments, an elevated place was sought for him among the dignitaries of the church. The patrons of churches, not wishing to have their own vices reproved and exposed, gave the prefer- ence to weak, ignorant, and inefficient men, for parish ministers, and guardians of the souls of men. The bishops and heads of the monasteries, held much real or landed estate, by feudal tenure ; and therefore, whenever a war broke out, they were summoned to the field with the quota of soldiers which they were bound to furnish to their sove- reigns. IV. Between Leo IV. who died, A. D. 855, and Benedict III., a woman, it is said, who concealed her sex, and assumed the name of John, made good her way to the pontifical throne by her learn- ing and genius, and governed the church for more than two years, with reputation. The truth of this story has been much disputed ; and both sides of the question have had many and able advocates. 132 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. " DuriiifT the five subsequent centuries," says Dr. M(3slicim, " the witnesses to this extraordina- ry event are witliout number ; nor did any one prior to the reformation by Luther, regard the thing as either incredible, or disgraceful to the church. But in the seventeenth century, learned men, not only among the Roman Catholics, but otliers also, exerted all the powers of their ingenuity, both to invalidate the testimony, on which the truth of the story rests, and to confute it by an accurate com- putation of dates. But there still are very learned men, who, while they concede that much false- hood is mixed with the truth, maintain that the controversy is not wholly settled. Something must necessarily have taken place at Rome, to give rise to this most uniform report of so many ages ; but what it was that occurred, does not yet appear." V. The Roman pontiffs were elected by the vote of the whole body of the clergy and people of Rome ; but the emperors must approve of their ap- pointment before they were consecrated. Few of those who were raised to that high office, in this century, can be commended for their learning, wisdom, or virtue ; on the contrary, most of them, by their numerous vices, their arrogance, and lust of power, have entailed disgrace upon their memory. The vices, and general profligacy of the Roman pontiffs did not, however, in these unhappy times, prevent the increase of their power and authority, both in church and state. They took advantage, of the violent contests that arose among the de- scendants of Charlemagne, to increase their polit- ical influence. They began to inculcate the doc- trine, that in religious matters their authority was supreme — " That the bishop of Rome was consti- NfNTH CENTjrWY. 133 tilted, by Jesus Christ, a legislator, and judge over the whole church, and thcrclbre, that other bishops derived all their authority solely Irom him ; and that councils could decide nothing, without his di- rection and approbation." To support this high claim, there was need of ancient documents and records, by which it might be defended against the assaults of opposers. These were soon forged and furnished, in sufficient number, by the monks. The decrees of Councils, never before heard of, were now discovered ; by which the universal suprem- acy of the pope was established from the earliest times. The French bishops made vigorous op- position to these forgeries ; but they were put down by the pertinacity of the Roman pontiffs. And these latter did not fail to improve them, to the overthrow of the ancient system of church gov- ernment, the weakening of the authority of bishops. the increase of their own revenues and emolu- ments, and the abridging of the prerogatives of kings and princes ; of which the history of sub- sequent centuries will furnish sufficient proof. VI. Monkery in this age, was in the highest repute. Many examples occurred, during this century, in Italy, France, Spain and Germany, of kings, and dukes, and counts, abandoning their honours and their wealth, and voluntarily retiring to monasteries, to devote themselves to the service of God. And many, who in their lifetime, could not consent to abandon society, would yet demand the monastic garb, when dying, and actually put it on before they left the world ; that they might enjoy the prayers, and spiritual succour of this blessed fraternity. Such was the estimation in which they were held, that abbots and monks 12 134 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. were often employed by emperors and kings, to perform the functions of ambassadors, commis* sioners, judges, and ministers of state. Yet they who conferred such honours upon monks, and the monastic life, did. not deny that m6st of that class lived vicious lives. Lewis the Meek, especially, made efforts to reform them, and to bring them back to a strict observance of their monastic rules. He employed one Benedict, a man distinguished for piety and the fear of God, to reform the mon- asteries, first in Aquitaine, and then throughout the kingdom of France. He laboured faithfully in this way, and succeeded in banishing the greater vices, and introducing a stricter and more uniform discipline among them ; but from various causes, it gradually declined again, so that in a little while, it was no better than before. VII. Relics, in this age, were in great repute, and were sought with great diligence. Many made long journeys to the East in order to procure them. Nor did they return empty. The crafty Greeks always found means to furnish them with spurious relics, in exchange for their genuine coin. These relics were regarded as possessing wonder- ful efficacy in protecting from dangers, sickness, &c , and especially against the assaults of malig- nant spirits ; so that scarcely any one ventured to be without something of the kind. Great reliance too was placed upon the patronage of the saints. Without the patronage of some glorified saint, they believed that they should never be able to find God propitious to them. Each separate church, therefore, and almost every individual person, sought for some particular and appropri- ate patron. New tutelar saints, therefore, were NIXTH CENTURY. 135 created almost every day. And in order that there might be enough to supply the wants of the people, the monks wrote the lives of many that never lived. VIII. Learning in the ninth century, was in a very low and languishing state. In the East, there were some who distinguished themselves for their learning, particularly Photius, patriarch of Constantinople. The Arabians, or Saracens, be- gan in this century to cultivate the sciences exten- sively. Charlemagne and his successors, Lewis the Meek, and Charles the Bald, patronized learn- ing and learned men ; and established schools in many places for the instruction of the youth. In England, king Alfred the Great was a great culti- vator and promoter of learning. He may be regarded as the founder of the University of Oxford. Few among the Greeks attempted to interpret the Scriptures ; and the most of those who did, contented themselves with collecting passages from the writings of the ancient fathers, and at- taching them to the declarations of the sacred volume. This species of exposition of Scripture, compiled from the writings of the fathers, were called catenae^ or chains. Among the Latins, the interpreters of Scripture were far more numerous, than among the Greeks. Charlemagne, in the preceding century, had awakened an ardour for the study and exposition of the sacred volume. Some few of these were not without merit, but the most of them were either compilers from the fathers, or such as sought for mystical, recondite senses of Scripture. About the number of these se7ises, they were not agreed ; some maintaining 130 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. that there wore thrce^ olhers, four or Jive, and others, seven. The doctrines of religion were es- tablished by authority, not of the Scriptures, but of the ancient lathers and councils. John Scotus Erigcna, a distinguished scholar of the age, ven- tured to explain the doctrines of Christianity in a. philosophical manner. But this met with general disapprobation ; for the divines of that age would allow no place for reason and philosophy, in mat- ters of religion. The mystic tlteology, that had been long in vogue in the East, became popular in the West in the ninth century, in consequence of the introduction of the works of Dionysius, and their translation into the Latin language. , IX. The controversy about the worship of im- ages continued to be fiercely agitated among the Greeks, during a great part of this century. The emperors were generally opposed to the worship of images ; while the bishops and especially the monks, were generally in favour of it. The em- peror Leo, the Armenian, assembled a council at Constantinople, A. D, 814, in which the decrees of the Nicene council, held in the preceding cen- tury, in favour of image worship, were rescinded ; but no penal laws were enacted against the wor- shippers of them. Michael, the Stammerer, the successor of Leo, attempted to pursue a mild and gentle course ; but was compelled to depart from it, and to chastise the restless faction that served images, and especially the turbulent- monks. — Among the uses made of their images were the following. " They lighted candles before them ; burned incense to them; sung to their praise; made supplications to them ; used them as spon- sors for their baptized children ; scraped off the colours from the pictures and mixed them with NINTH CENTURY. 137 the wine of the eucharist ; and placed the bread of benediction in the hands of the images, in order to receive it as from them." The decisions of the Nicene council were re-estabhshed by a council held at Constantinople, A. D. 869, and image-wor- ship was restored among the Greeks. Thus the cause of image- worship at last gained the victory, after a contest of more than a hundred years ; and obtained a footing in all the East, except in the church of Armenia. In the West, considerable opposition was made to image-worship ; although it was warmly patronized by the Roman pontiffs. Most of the European Christians took a middle ground between the Iconoclasts, and the image- worshippers ; and thought they might be used as helps to the memory, but not worshipped. A council, assembled at Paris, A. D. 824, decided that the images of Christ and the saints were not indeed to be cast out of the temples, yet that re- ligious worship should by no means be paid to them. But in this as in other matters, the author- ity and influence of the popes finally prevailed ; and the worship of images was established through- out the West. The controversy which commenced in the pre- ceding century, respecting the procession of the Holy Ghost, broke»out in this century with greater vehemence, and became general between the whole Latin and Greek church. The Greeks maintained that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only ; the Latins, that he proceeds from the Father a7id the Son, which they expressed by adding to the creed the words filioqiie. The dispute, there- fore, was about these single words ; which di- vides the Latin and Greek churches to the present day. 12* 138 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV. Besides these old controversies, a new one arose among the Latins, respecting the manner in which the body and blood of Christ are present in tlie Lord's supper. The faith of the church upon this point, previously to tliis time, had not been particularly defined ; nor had any council prescribed any particular mode of belief ui)on the subject. But in the year 831, Paschasius Rad- bert, a monk and abbot of Corbey, broached the doctrine of what has been since called traiisub- stantiation. He taught " that in the Lord's sup- per, after the consecration, there remained only the form and appearance of bread and wine ; and that the real body, or the flesh and blood of Christ, were present ; and, indeed, the identical body^ that was born of ike virgin^ suffered on the cross y and arose from the tomby This seemed to be new and strange doctrine to many, especially the last part of it. A number of opponents were called out, among whom were Ratramn, and John Scotus ; but they also differed among themselves. The disputants in this controversy, as is common, taxed each other with odious consequences, grow- ing out of their opinions. X. Another controversy arose at this same time respecting divine grace and predestination. One Godeschalcus, a Saxon of noble birth, but a monk, maintained that God had predestinated some to everlasting life, and others to the punish- ments of hell. He was first condemned by Mau- rus, in a council held at Mentz, A. D. 848 ; and ag?.;n by Hincmar, who was a friend of Maurus, and archbishop of Rheims in France. As he would not renounce his sentiments, which he said, and said truly, were those of Augustine, Hincmar deprived him of his priestly office, ordered him to NINTH CENTURY'. 139 be severely whipped, and then to be shut up in prison. There he remained near twenty years until his death ; retaining firmly to the last, the sentiments he had embraced. But this by no means settled the controversy. While Godeschalcus lay in prison, his cause was defended with energy by many able and discerning men, both orally and in writing, while others maintained that both he and his opinions were justly dealt with. The contest growing warm, Charles the Bald, in the year 858, ordered a coun- cil to be held at Chiersey, in which, through the influence of Hincmar, the decision of the former council was confirmed ; and Godeschalcus was again condemned as a heretic. This council set forth their creed on the subject of dispute in the four following articles. 1. " Almighty God created man without sin, upright, endued with freewill ; and placed him in Paradise ; and purposed his continuance in the holiness of uprightness. Man, abusing freewill, sinned, and fell, and the whole human race became a mass of corruption. But the good and righteous God elected, out of that mass of perdition, accor- ding to his foreknowledge, those whom he predes- tinated unto eternal life through grace, and fore- ordained eternal life for them : but the others, whom in his righteous judgment he left in the mass of perdition, he foresaw, would perish ; but did not fore-ordain, that they should perish ; yet being just, he fore-ordained eternal punishment to be their portion. And thus we affirm but one pre- destination of God, which relates either to the gift of grace, or to the retributions of justice. 2. " We lost freedom of will, in the first man ; which we recover by Christ, our Lord ; and we 140 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. have freewill to good, when prevented and aid- ed by grace ; and have freewill to evil, when forsaken of grace. That we hgive freewill, is be- cause we are made free by grace, and are healed of corruption by it. 3. " Almighty God wills, that all men, without exception, should become saved ; and yet all men will not be saved. And \\)^\. some are saved, arises from the gratuity of Him who saves ; but that some perish, arises from their desert of perdition. 4. " As there never was, is, or will be, a man, whose nature was not assumed by our Lord Jesus Christ ; so there never was, is, or will be, a man, for whom Christ has not died ; and this, notwith- standing all are not redeemed by the mystery of his passion. That all are not redeemed by the mystery of his passion, is not owing to the [limit- ed] magnitude and value of the price ; but is the fault of unbelievers, or of them who do not believe with the faith that works by love. For the cup of human salvation, which is provided for our weakness, and has divine efficacy, contains what might benefit all ; but if it be not drunk, it will not produce healing." But another council, assembled at Valence^ in the year 855, in which Remigius, bishop of Lyons, presided, set forth other decisions, in opposition to the former, and sustained the cause of Godeschal- cus. With the decisions of this council, coincid- ed also those of the council of Langres, A. D. 859 ; and those of the council of Toul, A. D. 860, composed of the bishops of fourteen provinces. The council of Valence published twenty-three canons ; five of which contain the doctrinal views of the friends and defenders of Godeschalcus. The substance of them is as follows. NINTH CENTURY. 141 Can. II. "That God foresees, and eternally fore- saw, both the good which the righteous will per- form, and the evil which the wicked will do." Dan. ii. 29. <■<■ We hold faithfully, and judge it should be held, that he foresaw, that the righteous would certainly become righteous, through his grace ; and by the same grace, would obtain eternal bless- edness ; and he foresaw, that the wicked would be wicked, through their own perverseness ; and would be such as must be condemned by his justice to eternal punishment," according to Psalm Ixii. 12, and Rom. ii. 7—9, and 2 Thess. i. 7—10. " Nor has the prescience of God imposed upon any bad man a necessity, that he cannot be other than bad ; but what he would become, by his own free volition, God, as one who knows all things be- fore they come to pass, foresaw, by his omnipo- tent and unchangeable majesty. Nor do we be- lieve, that any one is condemned by a divine pre- judication ; but according to the deserts of his own wickedness. Nor do the wicked perish, be- cause they could not become good ; but because they ivould not become good, and through their own fault, remained in the mass of condemnation, or in their original and actual sin. Can. III. " x-Vs to the predestination of God, we decide, and faithfully decide, according to the au- thority of the apostle ;" Rom. ix. 21—23. " We confidently confess a predestination of the elect, unto life ; and a predestination of the wicked, unto death. But in the election of those to be saved, the mercy of God precedes their good deserts ; and in the condemnation of those who are to perish, their ill deserts precede the righteous judgment of God. In his predestination, God only determined what he himself would do, either in his gratuitous 142 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY. mercy, or in his righteous judgment." — " In the wicked, he foresaw their wickedness, because it is from themselves ; he did not predesti?iale it, be- cause it is not from him. The punishment indeed, consequent upon their ill desert, he foresaw, being a God who foresees all things ; and idso p7'edesti- natecl^ because he is a just God, in whom, as St. Augustine says, there is both a fixed purpose, and a certain foreknowledge, in regard to all things whatever." — " But that some are predestinated to vjickedness^ by a divine power, so that they cannot he of a7Wther character^ we not only do not believe ; but if there are those who will believe so great a wrong, we, as well as the council of Orange, with all detestation, declare them anathema. ''"' Can. IV. In this canon, they disapproved of the sentiments of some, who held " that the blood of Christ was shed, even for those ungodly ones who had been punished with eternal damnation, from the beginning of the world to the time of Christ's passion." And they held, " that this price was paid (only) for those of whom our Lord has said, " As Moses lifted up the serpent," &c. " that every one that believeth in him,'''' &c. John iii. 14 — 16. " And the apostle says, Christ was once offered to bear the sins o^ many.'''' — " Moreover, the four ar- ticles, adopted without due consideration by tho synod of our brethren, (at Chiersey, A. D. 853,) on account of their inutility, and indeed their inju- rious tendency, and error, contrary to the truth ; as also those other, (of John Scotus,) unfitly set forth in xix, syllogisms : and in which, notwith- standing the boast, that they are not the result of philosophy, there appears to be rather the fabrica- tion of the devil, than an exhibition of the faith ; we wholly explode, as not to be listened to by the NINTH CENTLRY. 143 faithful ; and we enjoin, by the authority of the Holy Spirit, that such, and all similar statements, be looked upon as dangerous, and to be avoided. And the introducers of (such) novelties, we judge, ought to be censured." Can, V. This canon maintains the necessity of a saint's persevering in holiness, in order to his salvation. Can. VI. In regard to saving grace, " and free- will, which was impaired by sin, in the first man ; but is recovered and made whole again, by Jesus Christ, in all believers in him," this council hold with various councils and pontiffs ; and reject the " trash vended by various persons." XI. The contests between the pontiffs of Rome and Constantinople, were kept up with great vio- lence ; and before the close of this century, seem to have issued in something like a final separation between the Latin and Greek churches. Doctrines were brought into the dispute, but the chief cause of contention, was the extent of territory and prero- gative. The Roman pontiff claimed the provinces that had been wrested from him in the preceding century ; namely, Illyricum, Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, Thessaly and Sicily, but could never re- cover them. Pope Nicholas I. in a council at Rome, A. D. 862, pronounced Photius, bishop of Constantinople, together with his adherents, to be unworthy of Christian communion. Photius gave back the same measure he had received, and ex- communicated Nicholas, in the council of Constan- tinople, A. D. 866. Photius charged the Romans with five enormities, which he esteemed very great; and by which we may see the difference then ex- isting between the East and West in regard to doc- trines. " First, that they deemed it proper to fast 144 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. on the seventh day of the week, or the Sabbath Secondly, that in the first week of lent, they per- mitted milk and cheese. Thirdly, that they wholly disapproved of the marriage of priests. Fourth- ly, that they thought none but the bishops could an- oint the baptized with the holy oil or chrism ; and of course that they anointed a second time, those who had been anointed by presbyters. And ffthly, that they had adulterated the Constantino- politan creed, by adding to it the words fdioque : and thus taught, that the Holy Spirit did not pro- ceed from the Father only, but also from the Son." XII. The public rites and ceremonies Qonimuedi to be increased ; and a number undertook to pub- lish treatises in explanation of them. The new saints canonized, greatly increased the number of saints' days. The great object was to please the eyes and ears of the people, to excite an interest and keep up attention. Hence the splendid furni- ture of the temples, the numerous wax candles burning at mid-day, the multitude of pictures and statues, the decorations of the altars, the frequent processions, the splendid dresses of the priests, and masses appropriate to the honour of saints. The heathen practice of trial by ordeal, continued to exist in most countries of Europe ; and the church prescribed the particular ceremonies to be used on the occasion. The chief of these modes of trial, were those by water, by single combat, by red hot iron, and by a cross. The ordeal by immersion in cold water, was very common in this and the following centuries ; especially for criminals of a vulgar rank in society. It was sanctioned by pub- lic law in most countries of Europe. " The per- son to be tried was brought to the church, and most solemnly adjured to confess the fact, if he was NINTH CENTURY. 145 guilty. If he would not confess, he received the sacrament, was sprinkled with holy water, and conducted to a river or lake. The priest then ex- orcised the water, charging it not to receive the criminal if he were guilty. The criminal was now stripped and bound ; and a rope was tied to him, by which to draw him out, if he sunk to a certain depth. When cast into the water, if he floated, he was accounted guilty ; but if he sunk to the depth marked on the rope, (sometimes a yard and a half,) he was instantly drawn out, and was accounted innocent." The ordeal by hot wa- ter was nearly as much used, and was considered gather more suitable for persons of quality. After preparatory ceremonies similar to those already described, " the priest heated a caldron of water until it boiled. Then taking it off the fire, he im- mersed in it a stone, which he held suspended by a string, to the depth of one, two or three palms ; and the criminal must thrust in his naked hand and arm, and seizing the stone, pull it out. His hand and arm were immediately wrapped up in linen cloths, and a bag draw» over the whole and sealed. After three days, the hand and arm were examined, and if found not scalded, the man was accounted innocent." The trial by single combat, although not particularly sanctioned by the church, is one of those remnants of barbarism that have come down to our times. The ordeal by red hot iron, " was esteemed more honourable, than the ordeals by water. Sometimes the person walked barefoot over nine or twelve red hot plough-shares, treading on each. But more frequently he carried a hot iron in his naked hands, nine times the length of his foot. The religious rites attending this or- deal, were very similar to those of the ordeal by 13 146 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. hot water. The form of ordeal by the cross, is more uncertain. Some tliere were, who opposed these most unrighteous and fallacious modes of trying criminals, as Agobard, bishop of Lyons , but others, as Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, ap- proved and defended both the ordeals, and the trial by single combat. XIII. The ancient Christian sects still existed in many places. The Ncstorians, and Monophy- sites, lived securely under the protection of the Arabians ; and, attentive to their own interests, did not cease their efforts for the conversion of the na- tions still in pagan darkness. The Greeks were engaged, during a great part of this century, in cruel wars, with the Paulicians, a sect, said by their enemies to be allied to the Manichceans, and re- siding especially in Armenia. This unhappy peo- ple deserving a better fate, were cruelly persecuted by the Greek emperors, and frequently compelled to seek refuge among the Saracens, with whom they entered into alliance, and in turn made fierce -war upon the Greek provinces, several of which were ruined, and an»immense number of persons cut off on both sides. What were the peculiar doctrines of this numerous sect, does not certain- ly appear ; only that they dissented from the su- perstitions and corruptions of the times. The Greek writers charge them with the following : — 1. They denied that this lower and visible world was created by the supreme God ; and distinguish- ed the creator of the world and of human bodies, from the God whose residence is in heaven. It was on account of this dogma, that the Greeks accounted them Manichseans. — 2. They contemn- ed the virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ : that is, they refused to worship her ; and held that TENTH CENTURY. 147 she had other children by Joseph, after ^he birth of the Saviour, and is not therefore still a virgin. — 3. They did not celebrate the Lord's supper ; that is, they did not use the superstitious additions to it then observed. — 4. They loaded the cross with contumely ; that is, they retused to worship the wood of the cross. — 5. They rejected, as did near- ly all the Gnostics, the books composing the Old Testament. — 6. They excluded presbyters from the administrations of the church. They who are acquainted with the spirit of controversy, especial- ly among the dominant party, in an intolerant age, can judge how little such charges are to be de- pended on, when the accused party are not heard. CENTURY X. 1. External state of Christianity. — 2. Literature.— 3. Wretched morals of the clergy. — 4. Doctrinal perversions and extrava- gances. — 5. Ceremonies.— 6, Paulicians. I. It is agreed on all hands, that the state of Christianity in the tenth century, was most wretch- ed. Ignorance and superstition abounded ; the state of morals, both amongst the clergy and laity, was extremely low ; priestcraft was the order of the day ; and vital godliness was scarcely to be found. Yet the church continued to extend her borders. " The Nestorians, living in Chaldea, in- troduced Christianity into Tartary proper, beyond mount Imaus, where the people lived entirely un- cultivated and uncivilized. Near the end of the Century, the same sect spread the knowledge of 148 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the gospel among that powerful horde of Tartars or Turks, which was called Karit, and which bor- dered on Cathay or the northern part of China." It seems that a considerable part of Tartary, or Asiatic Scythia, from this time, lived under bish- ops sent among them by the pontiff of the Nesto- rians. Poland and Russia received Christianity in this century. The Christian worship was es- tablished in Hungary, near the close ol this cen- tury, by Stephen, one of their chieftains, whose zeal and activity in the cause, procured him the honour and title of Saint. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Orkney islands, Iceland, and Green- land, received Christianity during this century ; also several of the provinces of Germany, where paganism had still existed. Toward the close of this century the kings and princes of Europe, be- gan to think of the project of a holy war, to be waged against the Mohammedans, for the purpose of wresting out of their hands, the Holy Land. Christians were still harassed by the Saracens, and the nations that were still pagan. Some of these, as Denmark, until subdued by Otto the Great, the Prussians, Slavonians, and Bohemians, laboured with great violence to root out Christian- ity ; and frequently laid waste with fire and sword, in the most distressing manner, the neighbouring provinces, in which it had been received. Their own peace and safety was a strong motive to Christian princes to use all means in their power for the conversion of those nations that were still pagan. II. The tenth century, with regard to literature, may with propriety be called the iron age. Leo the Wise, and his son Constantino, emperors of the B*st, cultivated learning themselves, and were so- TENTH CENTURY. 149 ;icitous to revive literature and the arts. But there were few of the Greeks who copied their exam- ple. In Egypt, though groaning under oppres- sion, there were some learned men, particularly Eutychius, bishop of Alexandria. Among the Latins, schools existed in the monasteries, and in the cities in which the bishops resided ; but little else was taught in them, than such learning as was thought to be of importance in matters of religion. Near the end of the century, the cause of learning was promoted in Europe, by Gerbert, a French- man ; known among the Roman pontiffs as bear- ing the name of Sylvester II. He was a man of great genius, and pursued successfully all branch- es of learning, Gerbert went into Spain, as was common in this age, to enjoy the instructions of the Arabian doctors. For the knowledge of medi- cine, philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics that existed from the tenth century onwards, Europe is chiefly indebted to the Saracens, or Arabs of Spain. III. The profligacy and wickedness of the cler- gy of this age were truly wonderful. " Nothing is more incontrovertible," says Mosheim, " than that the clergy, both in the East and in the Wesi, were composed principally of men who were illit- erate, stupid, ignorant of every thing pertaining to religion, libidinous, superstitious, and flagitious. Nor can any one doubt, that those who wished to be regarded as the fathers and guardians of the universal church, were the principal cause of these evils. Nothing certainly can be conceived of, so filthy, or so criminal and wicked, that these su- preme bishops of the church would deem incom- patible with their characters ; nor was any govern- ment ever so loaded with vices of every kind, as 13* 150 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. was that which bore the appellation of the most holy." Theophylact, metropolitan of Constanti- nople, made traffic of every thing sacred, and cared for nothing but his hounds and horses. It is said that he kept tico thousand horses, which he fed on nuts and fruits, steeped in odorous wine ! The following is the language of Baronius, a distin- guished Roman Catholic writer, in regard to this period. " It is usual to denominate it the iron age, on account of its barbarism, and barrenness of all good ; also the leaden age, on account of abound- ing wickedness, by which it was deformed ; and the dark age, on account of the scarcity of wri- ters. One can scarcely believe, nay absolutely cannot credit, without ocular demonstration, what unworthy conduct, what base and enormous deeds, what execrable and abominable transactions, dis- graced the holy catholic see, which is the pivot on which the whole catholic church revolves ; when temporal princes, who, though called Christian, were most cruel tyrants, arrogated to themselves the election of the Roman pontiffs. Alas, the shame ! Alas, the mischief! What monsters, hor- rible to behold, were then raised to the holy see, which angels revere ! What evils did they per- petrate ; what horrible tragedies ensued ! With what pollutions was this see, though itself without spot or wrinkle, then stained ; what corruptions infested it ; what filthiness defiled it, and hence what mai'AS of perpetual infamy are visible upon it !" Pope John XII. was deposed by a council at Rome, A. D. 963, under charge of many atrocious crimes. Notwithstanding their profligacy and crimes, the Roman pontiffs, by one means and an- other, continued to gain authority and influence. They began in this age to be styled bishops of the TENTH CENTURY. 151 worlds instead of bishops of Rome ; and some, even among the French clergy, conceded what had never been heard before, that bishops receive indeed all their power from Go^, but only througk St. Peter. The writers of this century are few, and of little worth. IV. In this age, the most important doctrines of Christianity were greatly perverted and obscur- ed by human inventions and additions. The es- sence of religion was supposed to consist in the worship of images, in honouring departed saints, in searching for and preserving sacred relics, and in heaping riches upon the priests and monks. The fires of purgatory, which are to burn out the stains remaining upon human souls after death, were an object of intense dread to all ; nay, were more feared than even the punishments of hell. For the latter, it was supposed, might be easily es- caped, if they only died rich in the prayers and merits of the priests, or had some saint to inter- cede for them ; but not so the former. This dread of purgatory, which the priests found so conveni- ent to turn to their own account, they endeavour- ed continually, by their discourses, by fables, and fictitious miracles, to increase as much as possible. Controversy in this leaden age, seems almost to have slept from the mere want of knowledge and ability to carry it on. The doctrine of transub- stantiation, was not yet universally adopted, but the Latin doctors held different opinions upon the subject. That it was at that time unknown to the English, has been shown by their public homilies. "Among the opinions which dishonoured and dis- quieted the Latin churches, in this century, none produced more excitement than the belief that the day of final consummation was at hand. This be- 152 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. lief was derived, in the preceding century, from the Apocalypse of John, xx. 2, 3,4, and being advanced by many in this century, it spread over all Eu- rope, and excited immense terror and alarm among the people. For they supposed that John had explicitly foretold, that after a thousand years from the birth of Christ, Satan would be let loose, Antichrist would appear, and the end of the world would come. — Hence, immense numbers, transfer- ring their property to the churches and monaste- ries, left; all, and proceeded to Palestine, where they supposed Christ would descend from heaven to judge the world. Others by a solemn vow, consecrated themselves and all they possessed to the churches, the monasteries, and the priests ; serving them in the character of slaves, and per- forming the daily tasks assigned them ; for they hoped the Supreme Judge would be more favoura- ble to them, if they made themselves servants to his servants. Hence aiso, when an eclipse of the sun or moon took place, most people betook them- selves to caverns, rocks and dens. Very many also gave a large part of their estates to God and the saints ; that is, to the priests and monks. And in many places edifices, both sacred and secular, were suffered to go to decay ; and in some instan- ces were actually pulled down, from the expectation that they would no longer be needed. This general delusion was opposed, indeed, by a few wiser indi- viduals ; but nothing could overcome it, till the century had closed. V. Ceremonies^ already so numerous, were still increased during this century. " The many new- made citizens of heaven, who were daily enrolled, required the institution of new festal days, new forms of worship, and new religious rites." An TENTH CENTURY. 153 annual festival was instituted, near the close of the century, in memory of all departed souls. The worship of the Virgin Mary, already extravagant, was carried much further than before. They ab- stained from eating flesh on Saturday, in honour of the holy virgin. The daily Office of St. Mary was introduced ; and traces of the Rosary and Crown of St. Mary, as they are called, are to be found in this century. For the benefit of the reader, I will add a description of the Rosary, from M' Gavin's Protestant. " It is a large chap- let, consisting of one hundred and fifty beads, which make so many Aves. Every ten beads divided by one, something larger, make a Pater, The fifteen large beads are the symbols of fifteen mysteries, which are so many lively images, as it were, in which are to be discerned the intentions of the Eternal Father in the interposed birth of his Son, the casualties that befel him in his infancy, and not only in the private and unknown part of his life, but also in the glorious, and immortal part of it. The common chaplets contain only fifty Ave Marias, and five Paternosters. Before the person begins to repeat his rosary, he must take it and cross himself. He must in the next place, repeat the Apostle's creed, to put himself^ in a proper disposition for prayer; after which, he must say a Pater and three Aves, on account of the three relations, which the blessed Virgin bears to the three persons in the sacred Trinity." VI. We read of no new sects, ^of any impor- tance, in this age. It seems there were slill some in Italy, who held the Arian doctrine. The Paul- icians were numerous in Syria, and in Thrace. " From Thrace they removed into Bulgaria and Slavonia ; in which countries they afterwards had 154 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. a supreme pontiff of the sect ; and they continued their residence there down to the times of the council of Basil, or to the fifteenth century. From Bulgaria, they migrated to Italy ; and thence spread into other countries of Europe, and gave much trouble to the Roman pontiffs." CENTURY XI. 1. Efforts to extend Christianity. — 2. The Crusades commen- ced — 3. Dictates of Hildebrand. — 4. Profligacy of the Monks. — 5. Arrogance of the Pope.— 6. Berengarius opposes Tran- substantiation. — 7. Paulicians migrate to the West. I. " The Hungarians, Danes, Poles, Russians, and other nations, who, in the preceding century, had received a kind of knowledge of the Christian re- ligion, could not universally be brought, in a short time, to prefer Christianity to the religions of their fathers. Therefore during the greater part of this century, their kings, with the teachers whom they drew around them, were occupied in gradually enlightening and converting these nations. In Tartary and the adjacent regions, the activity of the Nestorians continued daily to gain over more people to the side of Christianity. And such is the mass of testimony at the present day, that we cannot doubt, but that bishops of the highest order, or Metropolitans, with many inferior bishops sub- ject to them, were established at that period in the provinces of Cashgar, Nuacheta, Turkestan, Genda, Tangut, and others. Whence it will be ELEVE?JTH CEXTURY. 1 -J.) manifest, that there was a vast multitude of Christ- ians, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in these countries ; which are now either devoted to Mo- hammedism, or worshippers of imaginary gods. And that all these Christians followed the Nesto- rian creed, and were subject to the supreme pon- tiff of the Nestorians residing in Chaldea, is so certain, as to be beyond all controversy." Efforts were made in this century, without much success, to convert the Prussians, and other nations in the north of Europe, that were still heathen. One Bruno, who assumed the name of Boniface, with eighteen companions, went as mis- sionaries from Germany into Prussia; but, after some time, were all put to death by the Prussians. (A. D. 1006.) The Saracens, in the ninth century, had seized upon Sicily, and neither the Greeks nor Latins had hitherto been able to expel them, though they had frequently attempted it. " But in this century, (A. D. 1059,) Robert Guiscard, the Norman duke of Apulia, with his brother Roger, under the au- thority of the Roman pontiff Nicholas II. attacked them with great valour ; nor did Roger relinquish the war, till he had gained possession of the whole island, and cleared it of the Saracens. After this great achievement, in the year 1090, Roger re- s.ored the Christian religion, now almost extin- guished there by the Saracens, to its former dig- nity ; and established bishops, founded monasteries, erected magnificent churches, and put the clergy in possession of ample revenues and honours, which they enjoy to the present times." II. In this century commenced the war of the ^ Crusades. For some time the plan of expelling the Mohammedans from Palestine had been in con- 156 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. templation by the Roman pontitTs. Gregory VII. designed to engage personally in such a war, and for this purpose raised more than fifty thousand men ; but his controversy with the emperor Henry IV. obliged him to abandon the design. The peo. pie of Europe were first roused up to this by Peter, surnamed the Hermit. He was a French- man of Amiens, who visited Palestine in 1093, and was greatly affected with the vexations and oppressions which the Christians residing at the holy places suffered from the Mohammedans. Either fancying or pretending a divine influence, he travelled over Europe, calling upon princes and people to make war upon the tyrants of Pa- lestine, and rescue from their hands the holy se- pulchre. He carried with him an epistle on the subject, which he pretended came directly from heaven, addressed to all Christians.- The public being thus excited. Urban II., in the year 1095, assembled a numerous council at Placentia, in which this holy war was recommended. It is said that there w^ere present in this council, four thou- sand clergymen, and thirty thousand laymen, and that its sessions were held in the open air, because no church could contain them. But the business succeeded better at the council of Clermont, as- sembled soon after, and very numerously attended. Here a vast multitude, of all ranks and ages, moved by the tumid eloquence of Urban, were ready to engage at once in a military expedition to Palestine, for the purpose of rescuing the Holy Land from the Turks. This host seemed a very formidable army in point of numbers, but was in reality very weak and pusillanimous : " for it was composed chiefly of monks, mechanics, farmers, persons averse from their regular occupations, ELEVENTH CENTURY. 157 spendthrifts, speculators, prostitutes, boys, girls, servants, malefactors, and the lowest dregs of the idle populace, who hoped to make their fortunes." They were called Crusaders^ not only because it was their object to rescue the cross of our Lord from the Turks, but also because they carried the cross upon their banners, and wore a white, red, or green cross, made of woollen cloth, and sol- lemnly consecrated, upon their right shoulders. In the year 1096, credible writers inform us, that an army of eight hundred thousand persons marched, by different routes, and under different leaders, to Constantinople; that, having received instructions and aid from the Greek emperor, they might pass over into Asia. The first band of eighty thousand was led on by Peter the Hermit, girded with a rope. But this company, aft,er com- mitting innumerable base deeds, were nearly all destroyed by the Hungarians and Turks. Other armies of these crusaders shared no better fate, who roamed about under unskilful leaders, plun- dering and laying waste the country wherever they came. The Greek emperor was not a little alarmed at the approach of this great army ; but his fears were dispelled when it had passed the Straits of Gallipolis, and landed in Bithynia. The crusaders first laid siege to Nice, the capital of Bithynia, which was taken in the year 1097. — They then proceeded on through Asia Minor into Syria, took Antioch, and Edessa ; and finally suc- ceeded in reducing the city of Jerusalem under their power. Here they established the seat of a new kingdom, and Godfrey of Bouillon, who was the btist general among them, and commander-in- chief of the war, was declared the first king of .Terusalem. 14 158 KCCLRSIASTICAL HISTORY. By these wars, Europe was deprived of a large portion of its population, "and immense sums of money were exported to foreign countries ; and very many families previously opulent and power- ful, either became extinct, or were reduced to extreme poverty. For the heads of families either mortgaged or sold their territories, possessions, and estates, in order to defray the expense of their expedition ; while others imposed such intolerable burdens upon their vassals and tenants, as obliged them to abandon their houses and lands, and as- sume themselves the badge of the cross. A vast derangement of society, and a subversion of every thing, took place throughout Europe : not to men- tion the robberies, murders, and destructions of life and property, every where committed with impunity, by these soldiers of God and Jesus Christ, as they were called ; and the new, and often very grievous privileges and prerogatives to which these wars gave occasion." Nevertheless, these wars served greatly to increase the power of the Roman pontiffs, and in various ways to enrich the churches and monasteries. Superstition, al- ready extravagant, was now greatly increased among the Latins. The long list of tutelary saints, was augmented with new, and often ficti- tious saints, of Greek and Syrian origin ; and an immense number of ridiculous relics were im- ported to enrich the churches and chapels. Each one brought with him from Asia, as the richest treasure, the sacred relics, which he had purchased at a high price, of the fraudulent Greeks and Syrians, which he committed to the sacred charge of some church, or to be carefully preserved by the members of his own family. Learning in th s age began to be somewhat ELEVENTH CENTURY. 159 more cultivated in the West, especially in France. Some began to undertake the business of instruc- tion besides the monks. Dialectics, or Logic, was chiefly cultivated. But they who had a mind to prosecute a more thorough education, especially in the science of medicine, resorted to the schools of the Saracens, in Spain and Portugal. III. In this century the corruption of the clergy was very great. Violent factions were carried on at Rome between contending candidates for St. Peter's chair. Benedict IX, after being twice ex- pelled, by the citizens of Rome, for his flagitious conduct, from the papal dignity, seized upon it the third time, but was able to hold it but a little while. To remedy these evils, Nicholas II. changed the mode of electing the pope, from the people of Rome, to the College of Cardinals. In the year 1073, Hildebrand was raised to the papal throne with the title of Gregory VII. He was a man of gi'eat parts and unbounded ambition ; and he ex- erted all his powers to bring every thing in church and state under the control of the papal see. His views and principles may be seen in those noted propositions, which from his name are called the Dictates of Hildebrand. The following are the principal propositions that compose these Dictates. 1. " That the Romish church was founded by one Lord alone. 2. That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal. 3. That he alone can depose bishops, and restore them. 4. That his legate has precedence of all bishops in a council, though he be of an inferior order ; and can issue sentence of deposition against them. 5. That the pope can depose absent persons. 6. That no per- son, among other things, may live under the same roof, with one excommunicated by the pope. 160 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 7. That the pope alone is competent, as occasion nnay require to enact new laws, to gather new congregations — to divide rich bishoprics, or to unite poor ones. 8. That he alone can use the imperial insignia. 9. That princes should kiss his feet only. 10. That it is lawful for him to depose emperors. 11. That no council, without his order, is to be accounted a general council. 12. That his sentence is not to be reviewed by any one ; while he alone can review the decisions of all others. 13. That he can be judged by no one. 14. That no one may presume to condemn a person, who appeals to the apostolic see. 15. That the greater causes of every church, should be carried up to that see. 16. That the Romish church never erred ; nor will it, accor- ding to the Scriptures, ever err. 17. That with his license, subjects may impeach [their sove- reigns.] 18 That no one is to be accounted a catholic, who does not harmonize with the Romish church. 19. That he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers." — Greater power than all this, one could hardly desire. IV. Most writers of this age give evidence of the ignorance, the frauds, the dissoluteness, the quarrels, and the flagrant crimes of the greater part of the monks ; as well as the gross supersti- tion, licentiousness, and dissolute lives of the peo- ple at large. The great mass of the people, and even the clergy, secular as well as regular, were addicted to every species of vice. This general licentiousness, and impunity of all sort of wicked- ness, gave rise to chivalry, and the orders of knights-errant ; whose business it was to protect the weak, the poor, and especially females, against the insults and violence of the strong. This was ELEVENTH CENTURY. 161 a laudable institution in those wretched times, when the energy of law was wholly prostrate, and those filling the office of judge, were incompetent to perform the duties of their stations. Yet the monastic orders were in the highest repute, and several new ones arose in this century that ac- quired great wealth and influence. The first of these was that of Clug7ii in France, who were called Cluniacensians : next were the Cister- cians : then the Grandmontains, whose rule was extremely rigorous : next the Carthusia?is : and lastly the order of St. Anthony^ which was devoted to the receiving and curing diseased per- sons, and especially those affected with what was called, the holy^ or St. Anthony'' s fire. V. Many of the priests, as yet, had their lawful wives, and concubinage was extensively practised. Gregory undertook to reform both these evils, as he regarded them ; which created great tumults in most countries of Europe. Many were willing rather to relinquish the priesthood, than to part with their wives. Simony also, or the sale of sa- cred offices to the highest bidder, as well as lay investiture by the ring and staff', or crosier, had become very common. These evils also Gregory undertook to correct, which produced violent and long continued contests. It was in these contests that Henry IV. king of the Romans, was com- pelled to humble himself before the haughty pre- late. " He obtained, indeed, though with difficulty, from the pontiff*, then residing at the castle of Ca- nosa, with Matilda, the patroness of the church, the pardon of his sins, after standing, for three days together, in the depth of winter, in February, A. D. 1077, barefooted and bareheaded, and meanly clad, within the walls of the castle, pro- 14* 162 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. fessing himself a penitent." The writers of this century, it is not necessary to mention. There were a few divines about the middle of this century, who ventured to apply the precepts of logic and metaphysics to the explanation of scriptural doctrines, and the confirmation of their own opinions. These were chiefly Berengarius, Lanfranc, and St. Anselm. From this proceeded what 'was afterwards called scholastic tlieology, which obtained so great reputation in the follow- ing centuries. — The contest between the Latin and Greek churches, which had been for some time suspended, was renewed in the year 1053, by the patriarch of Constantinople. Zeal for the truth was the pretext, but arrogance and ambition were the true cause. Both parties aimed at increasing their power, and extending the limits of their juris- diction. The legates of the Roman pontiff, fail- ing to effect a reconciliation, excommunicated the Greek patriarch and his adherents ; who, in turn, excommunicated the pope's legates, and all their friends and supporters. A subject of violent con- tention between the two parties was, that the La- tins used unleavened bread in the eucharist. It was also charged upon the Latins, that they did not abstain from things strangled, and from blood ; that their monks used lard, and allowed their breth- ren, when sick, to eat flesh ; that the bishops wore rings on their fingers, as if they were bridegrooms ; that their priests wore no beards, but shaved them ; and that in baptizing, they dipped the subject but once into the water. VI. The controversy respecting the manner in which the body and blood of Christ are present in the eucharist, was again revived about the middle of this century. Berengarius, a man of learning, ELEVENTH CENTURY. 163 and venerable for the sanctity of his life, maintain- ed the opinion of John Scotus Eri;^ena, respecting the eucharist, and taught that the bread and wine are not converted into the body and blood of Christ, but are only emblematic of them. On this ac- count he was severely threatened, and deprived of the income of his office. This not proving suffi- cient, he was at lengt?i summoned to Rome, by Nicholas II. A. D. 1058. In a very full council, Berengarius was so terrified, that he signed and confirmed with an oath, the following formula, viz : " That the bread and wine, after consecration, are not only a sacrament, but also the real body and blood of Christ, and are sensibly, and not merely sacramentally, but really and truly handled by the hands of the priest, broken, and masticated by the teeth of the faithful." But no sooner had he returned home, than he renounced this forced con- cession, and returned to his former belief. He was again therefore summoned to Rome by Gregory VII. in the year 1078. Berengarius now profess- ed to believe, and swore that he would in future believe, " That the bread of the altar, after conse- tration, is the real body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin, suffered on the cross, and is seated at the right hand of the Father : and that the wine of the altar, after consecration, is the real blood which flowed from Christ's side." This although it satisfied Gregory, did not satisfy others. In the following year, therefore, he was compelled to sign a formula drawn up in much stronger terms. But this he again discarded and refuted by a book, as soon as he got home. His enemies, therefore, re- newed their attack upon him ; but instead of an- swering tham, he retired into solitude, where he lived a life of religious devotion, until the year 164 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORl . 1088, when he died, leaving a high reputation for sanctity, and many ibl lowers. The pope found much difficulty in establishing the use of the Romish litiirgij in several countries, particularly in Spain, where they had long used the Gothic. This contest in Castile, was submitted to a deicision by single combat. Accordingly, two champions were selected, one to fight for the Ro- man, the other for the Gothic liturgy. The cham- pion for the Gothic conquered. This seemed to be a fair decision in favour of the Gothic ; yet the power and authority of the pontiff, backed by the queen, prevailed. In this age, they were much employed in repairing and ornamenting their churches, which, in the preceding century, had been suffered to go very much to ruins, under the apprehension that the day of judgment was at hand. VII. The heretics of this century, so called, were the Manichcsans, or Paulicians, who inhab- ited Bulgaria, and Thrace ; and were in almost continued conflict with the Greeks. " From Bul- garia and Thrace, some of this sect, either from zeal to extend their religion, or from weariness of Grecian persecutions, removed first info Italy, and then into other countries of Europe : and there they gradually collected numerous congregations, with which the Roman pontiffs afler wards waged bloody wars. At what time the migration of the Paulicians into western Europe commenced, it is difficult to ascertain. But this is well attested, that as early as the middle of this century, they were numerous in Lombardy, Insubria, and especially Milan : nor is it less certain, that persons of this sect strolled about in France, Germany, and other countries ; and by their great appearance of sane* ELEVENTH CENTURY. 165 tity, captivated no small number of the common people." They were called by different names, in different places ; as Paterini, Cathari, Albigenses, Publicani, and Boni Homines. It is difficult to know what these people held, as their history is involved in much obscurity. Their enemies, from whom we chiefly derive our knowledge of them, accuse them of very great errors ; but gen- erally bear testimony to their blameless life. We have before spoken of the Paulicia7is, as pious and excellent witnesses of the truth. It is probable that most of the people spoken of under the above mentioned names, were of a similar character, and by no means deserved the name of heretics. It is also probable that they differed very much in the different countries in which they were found ; and that sects very different from one another, were often confounded in the minds of their indiscrimi- nating adversaries. There is no doubt that many of those who were denominated heretics in this age, and persecuted as such, because they refused to conform to the established church, were the humble followers of Christ, and constituted his wit- nesses for the truth, in a dark age, and perverse generation. A congregation of this kind, is said to have been first discovered at Orleans, in France, A. D. 1017, in the reign of king Robert. They were charged with grievous errors and shameful practices, for which their leaders, to the number of thirteen, were burnt to death. Still they are extolled for their piety, even by their enemies. They were probably a kind of Tiiy sties, who rejected the ex- ternal worship of God, and ascribed no efficacy to religious rites, somewhat similar to the Quakers of after times. Persons of this description pro- 166 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ceeded from Italy in the following centuries, and spread over nearly all Europe, and were called in Germany, Brethren qftke Free Spirit, and in some other countries, Begkards. CENTURY XII. 1. Efforts still made to convert the barbarous tribes of the West. — 2. Prester John. — 3 Crusades — 4, Learning.— 5. Arrogancy of the Popes, and profligacy of all Orders. — 6. Su- perstition. — 7. Indulgences. — 8. The Petrobrussians. — 9. Henricians. — 10. Waldenses. I. Efforts were still kept up in this century to induce the barbarous tribes inhabiting the north of Europe, the Pomeranians, Finns, and Livonians, to embrace Christianity. Fierce wars were fre- quently waged, and carried on for this purpose. In these, Waldernar I. king of Denmark, Eric IX. of Sweden, called after his death St. Eric, prince Henry the Lion, and others, distinguished them- selves. The precepts enjoined by these propaga- tors of Christianity, will show what were regard- ed as the essentials of religion at that day, as well as some of the practices of these barbarians, viz : — They must observe Sundays, and the feast days ; they must fast; must bring their children to be baptized, with certain formalities at Whitsuntide ; must not murder their daughters as formerly ; must refrain from polygamy ; must not marry their god-mothers ; and in general must refrain from marrying their kindred within the sixth and sev- enth degrees ; they must not bury the bodies of TWELFTH CENTURY. 167 Christians among those of pagans ; must build no idol temples ; consult no soothsayer ; eat nothing that is unclean ; do penance often, &c. II. In this century lived the famous Prester John, who, from being a presbyter, became a very powerful king over the eastern regions of Asia. " The exalted opinion of the power and riches of this Prester John^ entertained by the Greeks and Latins, arose from this, that being elated with his prosperity, and the success of his wars with the neighbouring nations, he sent ambassadors and let- ters to the Roman emperor Frederick I., to the Greek emperor Manuel, and to other sovereigns, in which he extravagantly proclaimed his own majesty and wealth and power, exalting himself above all the kings of the earth ; and this boast- ing of the vain-glorious man, the Nestorians la- boured with all their power to confirm. He was succeeded by his son or brother, whose proper name was David, but who was also generally call- ed Prester John. This prince was vanquished and slain, near the close of this century, by that mighty Tartar emperor, Gengis-Khan." III. The new kingdom of Jerusalem, establish- ed by the French in the last century, seemed to flourish for a time, but as soon as the Mohammed- / ans recovered from their sudden terror and con- J sternation, they began to collect their forces, and harass the Christians with continual wars. They therefore implored the succour of the Christian kings of Europe. The Roman pontiff favoured their cause, and left no means untried, to induce the emperor and other sovereigns of Europe to un- dertake another expedition to Palestine. This new crusade was long a subject of debate, but was at length brought to an issue by St. Bernard, a man 168 ECCLKSIASTICAL HISTORY. of immense influence, who in the year 1146, 'preached the cross, as it was called, in France and Germany, but especially at a public assembly at Vezelay, and promised in the name of God, great victories, and a most prosperous issue to the enter- prise. Lewis VII. king of France, his queen, and a vast number of nobles who were present, devot- ed themselves to the sacred war. Conrad III. em- peror of the Germans, at first resisted the admo- nitions of St. Bernard, but after some delay yield- ed, and followed the example of the French king. They both therefore the following year, (1147,) with numerous armies, set out by different routes for the Holy Land. But the greater part of both armies perished miserably on the road, either by fa- mine, or by shipwreck, or by the sword of the Mo- hammedans. When the remains of these armies had arrived in Palestine, they could effect nothing, owing to a disagreement between the two leaders. The few soldiers that remained, therefore, being not more than one-tenth part, they led back again to Europe, A. D. 1149. The only effect of this second crusade was, to drain Europe of a great portion of its wealth, and of a vast number of its inhabitants. The number of men lost in this fruit- less expedition, was about 180,000. The third crusade was commenced by the em- peror Frederic I., surnamed Barbarossa, who passed with a large army into Asia, in the year 1189. He lost his life the following year while bathing, and a large part of his army returned to Europe. Of those that remained, very many were cut off* by the plague, and the rest dispersed, sc that nothing was accomplished. The emperor Frederic was followed in the year 1190, by Philip Augustus, king of France, and Richard, surnamed TWELFTH CENTURY. 169 the Lion-hearted, king of England. Both these reached Palestine by sea, and in their first battle with the enemy, were not unsuccessful. But tiiH next year, the king of France returned. The king of England, after prosecuting the war with vigour for some time, and gaining several battles, being deserted by the French and Italians, concluded a truce with Saladin for three years, three months, and three days ; and soon after left Palestine with his troops. And thus ended the third crusade, leaving Jerusalem in the hands of the infidels ; for Saladin had reduced it under his power in the year 1187. During these wars of the crusades, there arose three celebrated equestrian or military orders ; the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knights Templars, and the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary ; whose business it was to clear the roads of robbers, to harass the Mohammedans with perpetual war- fare, to afford assistance to the poor and sick among the pilgrims to the holy places, and to perform any services which the public exigences seemed to require. Near the latter end of this century, a great change was effected in the condition of Christian- ity in Asia by the conquests of the great Gengis- Khan, commander of the Tartars. This descend- ant of the Moguls, who, as a hero, and victorious chieftain, has had ?ew equals in any age, having conquered the north-east parts of Asia, invaded Persia, India, and Arabia, overturned the Sara- cenic empire, and established that of the Tartars. From this time, the reputation of the Christian re- ligion was greatly diminished, in the countries that had been subject to Prester John, and his succes- sor David : nor did it cease to decline, until it was 15 170 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV. wholly prostrated, either by Mohammedan errors or the fables of paganism. IV. Leaniing in this century, both in the East and West, began considerably to revive. To the seven liberal arts were added the study of langua- ges, scholastic theology, jurisprudence, and physic. Universities began to be established, to which the youth flocked in great numbers. That of Paris took the lead. The discovery of the celebrated copy of the Pandects of Justinian, in the year 1137, gave great impulse to the study of the Ro- man law. Gratian, a Benedictine monk, also pub- lished an epitome of canon law, which began now to be studied in the schools. The writers of this century need not be named,, although some of them obtained celebrity in their day. In this age lived the famous Abelard and Eloisa ; also Peter Lombard, commonly called Master of the sentences, because he collected and arranged scientifically the theological opinions and decisions of the Latin fathers. V. The popes of this century, like their prede- cessors, haughty, ambitious, and aspiring, aimed at nothing less than universal power. The con- troversy concerning investitures was kept up, and produced great commotions from time to time. — Several schisms existed for years together, when rival popes, supported by adverse factions, con- tended for the supreme authority ; and of course, that party proved to be in the right, which hap- pened to be strongest, and w^as in the end suc- cessful. It was might that made right, in those days, and in these violent and often bloody con- tests ; in which was settled the lineal descent, through which, it is pretended, has come down to the present day, the only true and verifiable epis- TWELFTH CENTURY. 171 copal authority. Pope Hadrian exhibited not a little prelaticai pride, when he required Frederic I. emperor of Germany, to perform the office of groom, and hold his stirrup, when he mounted his horse to ride, (A. D. 1155.) It is even said that pope Alexander, on another occasion, when this same emperor was prostrate as a suppliant before him, placed his foot upon his neck, and repeated the words of David, Psal. xci, 13, " Tkou shall tread upon the lion and the adder;'''' but the truth of this account is doubted. In this century the famous Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, produced no little disturbance in England, in his attempts to maintain the authority of the pope against the king ; for which he was assassinated by four knights of the king's household, (A. D. 1170,) and was afterwards sainted, and enrolled among martyrs of the highest order ; and his tomb became famous for the miracles said to be per- formed at it. The vices of the monks and clergy, from the highest to the lowest orders, were enor- mous. They renounced all immediate subordina- tion to the civil magistrate, and openly pretended to an exemption in criminal accusations, from a trial before courts of justice. Spiritual penalties alone could be inflicted on their ofl^ences. When, therefore, the clergy were greatly multiplied in England, and many of them were ignorant and low characters ; crimes of the deepest dye, mur- ders, adulteries, robberies, rapes, were daily com- mitted with impunity by them. It was ascertain- ed, upon inquiry, that not less than one hundred murders had been committed, in less than ten years, by men of that profession, who had never been called to an account for their offences. The following statement will show the style of living 172 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY. among the monks in England. " We are told," says Hume, " by Giraldus Cambrensis, that the monks and prior of St. Swithin threw themselves, one day, prostrate on the ground and in the mire, before Henry II. complaining with many tears, and much doleful lamentation, that the bishop of Winchester, who was also their abbot, had cutoff three dishes from their table. How many has he left you 1 so id the king. Ten o?ily, replied the dis- consolate monks. I myself, exclaimed the king, never have more than three ; and I enjoin your bishop to reduce you to the same number." VI. The ceremonies of the church continued to be increased. The veneration of the Virgin Ma- ry, already very great, was much increased upon the idea of her immaculate conception. The holy supper was still administered in both kinds. — Transubstantiation was generally received, and the practice of elevating the host for the adora- tion of the people was introduced. Clement 111. ordained that none but unleavened bread should be used ; and that the wine should be mixed with water. The scholastic clivmity took the lead in this age, in which Abelard and Peter Lombard were most distinguished. Among the questions discussed were the following; in' what sense it might be said — tJie incarnate God ivas at the same time the offerer and the sacrifice; — respecting the import of Christ's words, My Father is greater than I ; re- specting the will and omnipotence of God ; wheth- er God wills^ and himself effects^ whatever takes place, or whether he only permits certain things to take place, which he would not have to be ; re- specting the imjnaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. TWELFTH CENTURY. 173 Religion in this age had degenerated almost wholly into superstition. More reliance was pla- ced upon sacred relics, penances, pilgrimages to holy places, fighting in the holy wars, contributing to the building of churches, either money or la- bour, than upon any thing else. But the bishops foun.i it convenient, for the purpose of raising money, to permit persons to buy off the prescri- bed penance ; so that instead of fasting so long, and repeating so many Paternosters, and Ave Marias, he should pay so much money. These were called indulgences^ and were most convenient both to the priests, and to the people. VII. " The Roman pontiffs, perceiving what ad- vantages the inferior bishops derived from their indulgences, concluded that the power of the bish- ops to remit ecclesiastical penalties, ought to be circumscribed, and the prerogative be almost wholly transferred to the Roman See. According- ly they began, as the necessity of the church, or their own interests required, to publish, not merely the common and ordinary, but likewise the entire and absolute, or the plenanj, remission of all finite or temporal penalties, and they cancelled, not only the punishments which the canons and human tri- bunals inflict, but also those to be endured after death, which the bishops had never attempted to set aside. They first resorted to this power, for promoting the crusades, and were sparing in the use of it, but afterwards they exerted it for objects of far less importance, and of various kinds, and very often, merely for their own private emolu- ment. Upon the introduction of this new system, the ancient system of canonical and ecclesiastical penances, was wholly subverted ; and the books of canons and the penitenlials being laid aside, 15* 174 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. transgressors were no longer under restraints. To support this'proceeding of the pontiffs, an unheard oi' doctrine was got up in this century, which St. Thomas in the next century improved and per- fected ; namely, that there is an immense treasu- ry of good works which holy merf have perform- ed, over and above what duty required ; and that the Roman pontilT is the keeper and distributor oi this treasure ; so that he is able, out of this inex- haustible fund, to give and transfer to every one such an amount of good works as his necessities require, or as will suffice to avert the punishment of his sins. This miserable and pernicious fic- tion, it is to be lamented, is still retained and de- fended." VIII. The presbyter Feter De Bruys, about the year 1110, attempted a restoration of true reli- gion, in Languedoc and Provence, provinces of France; and having drawn many followers to him, after journeying and labouring for twenty years, was burnt by the enraged populace, at St. Giles, A. D. 1130. , The whole system of doctrines, in- culcated by this Peter upon his followers, who from him were called Petrobrussians, is not known; yet there are five of his opinions that have reach- ed us : 1. That persons ought not to be baptized till they come to the use of reason. 2. That it is not proper to build churches, and that such as are built should be pulled down. 3. That the holy crosses should be destroyed. 4. That the body and blood of Christ are not distributed in the sa-. cred supper, but only the signs of them. 5. That the oblations, prayers, and good works of the liv- ing do not profit the dead. IX. The Henricians were the followers of Henry, who has been represented as a disciple of TWELFTH CENTURY. 175 Peter de Bruys, but it is thought without good au- thority. He travelled from Switzerland through the south of France, and in 1147 came to Tou- louse, every where boldly declaiming against the vices of the clergy, and the defects of the prevail- ing religion, with the applause of the multitude. He was brought before the Roman pontiff at Rheims, and by him committed to prison, A. D. 1148, where he soon after died. We only know of his doctrines, " that he disapproved of infant baptism, inveighed severely against the corrupt morals of the clergy, despised the festal days and religious ceremonies, and held clandestine as- semblies." X. But of all the sects of this century, none were more famous than the Walde7tses„ who in- habited the valleys of Piedmont, among the Alps. They took their name from Peter Waldus or Wal- do, a rich merchant of Lyons, who having obtain- ed a translation of certain books of the Scriptures, especially the four Gospels, was convinced that the religion commonly taught, differed altogether from that taught by Christ and his apostles. Earnest- ly desiring salvation therefore, he distributed his property among the poor, and, in the year 1180, with some other pious men whom he had associ- ated with him, he took upon himself the office of preacher. The archbishop of Lyons, and other prelates, opposed this proceeding. But the simple holy religion which these men professed, with the purity and innocence of their lives, had great in- fluence with the multitude, who readily fell in with them. They formed societies first in France, and then in Lombardy, and these multiplied and spread, with amazing rapidity, through all the countries of Europe ,* nor could they be extermi- 176 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. nated by any punishments, whether by death, or other forms of persecution. Some have maintained, however, and probably with truth, that the Waldenses were of much higher date than the time of Peter Waldo, and that they took their name from the valleys in which they dwelt, and some have even deduced their origin from a very early period of the Christian church. That a people did inhabit those valleys long before this time, who rejected the corruptions of the church of Rome, is generally admitted to be true ; and hence the doctrines of Peter Waldo and his associates obtained so ready a reception, and so strong a hold among them. And although their history is involved in much obscurity, there is every probability that the Waldenses were the successors of those pious and faithful witnesses for Christ. The doctrines and order which they maintained, have been much disputed. Yet it is believed that no candid reader of the creeds, con- fessions, and other public documents which they have left, can hesitate to conclude that their lead- ing opinions were very nearly the -same with those which were afterwards entertained by Luther, Calvin, and the other Reformers, so that they fell m very readily with the church of Geneva, in the sixteenth century. That they taught, substantially, the system of free grace which is now received in orthodox Protestant churches, and that they were also Pedobaptists and Presbyterians, is toe evident to admit of a reasonable doubt.* * See Appendix. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 177 CENTURY XIII. ' Mogul empire. — 2. Crusaders. — 3. Learning. — 4. Tyranny of the popes — 5. Monks. — 6. Dominicans. — 7. Franciscans. — 8. Theology, — 9. Flagellants. — 10. Rites and ceremonies. — 11. Inquisition. — 12. Brethren of the Free Spirit. I. In this century flourished the great Mogul Em- pire of the Tartar race, under Gengis-Khan, and his successors, extending from the Chinese Sea, to the Euphrates and Euxine. The first of these Mogul emperors was friendly to Christianity ; and the Roman pontiffs sent ambassadors, and also mis- sionaries to him, who were not altogether unsuc- cessful. They instructed many, both of the Tar- tars and of the Nestorians in the principles of the Romish religion, and gathered Christian churches not only in Tartary, but also in China. And had it not been for the divisions and contentions be- tween Christians themselves, especially between the Roman Catholics and Nestorians, Christianity might probably have gained the ascendency throughout the East. But in the end, the Moham- medan religion prevailed, as probably being more congenial with the warlike character and spirit of the Tartar race. II. The crusades were kept up in this century, and several expeditions passed over to Syria and Egypt, but with very little success. The popes found it a gainful business, as tending greatly to increase both their wealth and power ; they, there- 178 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. fore, used all their influence to keep up these wars. But after so many disasters and defeats, the sove- reigns of Europe would no longer venture upon an enterprise of so much expense and hazard. Hence the kingdom of the Latins in the East gradually wasted away, in spite of the efforts of the Roman pontiffs to preserve it ; and on the capture of Ptolemais, A. D. 1291, it became wholly extinct. Thus ended this vain effort where it began, afler it had cost Europe an immense amount of blood and treasure. It is estimated that not less than two millions of European lives were lost in these holy wars ! The Prussians, and other northern barbarians, were influenced in this century to come over to the Christian faith, by a fifty years' war, waged upon them for that purpose, by the Teuto?iic Knights of St. Mary. Continued wars were waged in Spain by the Christian kings of Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Arragon, against the Saracen princes, who were still in possession of Valencia, Andalusia, Granada, and Murcia. And these latter were gradually weakened, and their territory diminished. IIL Learning in this century laboured under great disadvantages among the Greeks, but revived and flourished among the Latins. The kings and princes of Europe, having experienced the advan- tages a nation may derive from learning and the useful arts, invited learned men into their territo- ries, encouraged a thirst for knowledge, and re- warded it with honours and emoluments; The emperor Frederic II. and Alphonsus X. king of Castile and Leon, distinguished themselves as the patrons of learning. Public schools were founded at Padua, Modena, Naples Capua. Salamanca, THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 179 Lyons, Cologne, and other places. But the school at Paris excelled them all, and was the first that assumed the form of a university. The college of theology was principally founded and endowed by Robert de Sorbonne, (A. D. 1250,) a wealthy and pious man, and a lavourite of Lewis IX. ; from whom it derived the name of Sorbonne, which it has retained to the present day. In this age the works of Aristotle obtained a complete ascendency in the schools. The tirst who pub- lished expositions of Aristotle, were Alexander Hales, an Englishman, called the Irrefragable Doctor ; Albert the Great, a German, and a man of superior genius ; and after these Thomas Aqui- nas, who was the great luminary of the schools, and was called the Angelic Doctor. In this age lived Roger Bacon, an Englishman, and a Francis- can monk. He was a very extraordinary man, skilled far beyond the standard of his age, in philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, the mechanic arts, and various languages. He was called the Admirable Doctor. His discoveries and exhibi- tions in chemistry and the arts were so wonder- ful, and so far above the comprehension of the age, that he was accused of magic, and imprisoned for ten years as a heretic. IV. The Roman pontiffs of this century were most corrupt, tyrannical, and oppressive ; they scrupled at no means of extending their power and increasing their wealth ; claimed universal author- ity and control, both in church and state ; and sometimes raised up, and put down kings at plea- sure. Innocent III. in the year 1208, excommu- nicated John, surnamed Lack-land, king of Eng- land and Ireland; afterwards, in 1211 absolved his subjects from their oath of allegiance; and 180 KCCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. finally, in the year 1212 divested him of hiS authority, and gave the kingdoms of England and Ireland to Philip Augustus, the king of France. Alarmed at these decrees, and dreading a war, John made his kingdoms tributary to the pope, in the year 1212. His submission was in the fol- lowing words — " I John, by the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland, for the ex- piation of my sins, and out of my own free will, with the advice and consent of my barons, do give unto the church of Rome, and to pope Innocent III. and his successors, the kingdoms of England and Ireland, together with all the rights belonging to them ; and will hold them of the pope as his vassal. I will be faithful to God, to the church of Rome, to the pope my lord, and to his success- ors lawfully appointed, and I bind myself to pay him a tribute of one thousand marks of silver yearly, viz : seven hundred for the kingdom of England, and three hundred for Ireland." This imprudence brought extreme disgrace and immense evils upon the king. A most furious quarrel was carried on between pope Gregory IX. and the emperor Frederic II. Having before excommunicated him, which he little regarded, the pope thundered forth his bull against the emperor in the followinsr style ; — " A beast of blasphemy, replete with names, is risen from the sea, with the feet of a bear, the face of a lion, and members of other beasts; which, like the proud, hath opened his mouth against trie holy name, not even fearing to throw his arrows against the tabernacle of God, and the saints that dwell in heaven," &c. Frederic met this bull by a reply in which he styles his holiness " the great dragon, the antichrist," of whom it is written, " and an- THlrTEEXTH CENTURY. 181 other red horse arose from the sea, and he that sat upon him took peace from the earth," &c. This quarrel rekindled the two factions of the Guelphs and Ghibelines, whose cities were given up to indiscriminate butchery. V. Many new orders of monks originated in this century, some of which soon ceased, and others have continued to the present time. But none equalled in numbers, privileges, and reputa- tion, the Mendicant Orders. These multiplied so greatly that they became a heavy burden, not only upon the people, but also upon the church. This evil Gregory X. attempted to correct in the gen- eral council of Lyons, A.' D. 1272, and reduced them to four orders ; viz : — Dominicans, Francis- cans, Carmelites, and Augustinian Eremites. " As these orders had liberty from the pontiffs to spread themselves every where and to instruct the people and to teach the youth ; and as they ex- hibited a far greater show of piety and sanctity than the older orders of monks, all Europe sud- denly burst forth in admiration and reverence for them. Very many cities, as appears from the most credible documents, were divided for their sakes into four sections ; of which, the first was assigned to the Dominicans, the second to the Franciscans, the third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to the Augustinians. The people frequented, almost exclusively, the churches of the mendicants, and but seldom asked for the sacraments, as they are called, or for burial, except among them : which naturally called forth grievous complaints, from the ordinary priests who had the charge of the parishes. Indeed, the history of this and the following centuries, shows, that so great was the reputation and influence of these mendicant Friars, 16 182 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. that they were employed in transactions of the highest magnitude, in negotiations for peace, in the ratitication of treaties, in shaping the policy of courts, in arranging financial concerns, and in various other functions totally at variance with the monastic profession." But of these four orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans were by far the most successful. They had the direction of nearly every thing in church and state, and held the highest offices both ecclesiastical and civil. What the Jesuits were, after the reformation by Luther ■commenced, the same were the Dominicans and Franciscans, from the thirteenth century to the times of Luther. VI. The founder of the Dominicans was St. Dominic, a Spaniard. He was famous as a preacher, and they were at first called preacliing friars. In the year 1277, the Order had ihirty- five cloisters for men in Spain, fifty-two in France, thirty-two in Tuscany, fifty-three in Germany, forty-six in Lombardy, thirty in Hungary, thirty- six in Poland, twenty-eight in Denmark, forty in England, besides some in other countries, and a large number of nunneries. The next year it counted four hundred and seventeen cloisters. VII. St. Francis, the author of the Franciscans, was, in his youth, wild and profligate ; but, after recovering from a dangerous illness, brought on by his licentious practices, he became as extrava- gant in religion, as he had been before in his worldly pleasures. He clothed himself in skins, and lived like a beggar, travelling up and down the country, and exhorting all to become reli- gious. Some regarded him as insane, and others as a saint. In 1210 he had but eleven followers, when he obtained leave of the pope to continue THIRTEP^NTH CENTURY. 183 his monastery. In 1211, he sent his monks all over Italy, to preach, and beg their bread. Fran- cis himself travelled, and preached, and pretended to have revelations, and work miracles. As these mendicant orders devoted themselves to the cause of the popes, and were exceedingly useful to them in sustaining their power and authority ; so the popes conferred upon them very great privileges and prerogatives. They were permitted to travel and preach publicly in all places, and without a license from the bishops, to be confessors to all who wished to employ them, and to grant absolutions. They were also in- trusted, particularly the Franciscans, with ample power to grant indulgences ; the sale of which might furnish them with the means of support. In consequence of these privileges, their pride and presumption rose to a very great height. They professed to have a divine impulse and commission to illustrate and maintain the religion o^ Jesus. " They treated with the utmost inso- lence and contempt all the different orders of the priesthood ; they affirmed without a blush, that the true method of obtaining salvation was re- vealed to them alone ; proclaimed with ostentation the superior efficacy and virtue of their indul- gences ; and vaunted beyond measure their inte- rest at the court of heaven, and their familiar connexion with the Supreme Being, the Virgin Mary, and the saints in glory. By these impious wiles, they so deluded and captivated the miser- able and blinded multitude, that they would not intrust any other but the Mendicants with the care of their souls. As an instance of the arts which they practised in order to delude the peo- ple, the Carmelites gave out that the Virgin Mary 184 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. had appeared to one Simon Stock, a general of their order, who died near the beginning of this century, and had promised him that no person should be eternally lost who should expire clothed in the short mantle, worn on the shoulders by the Carmelites, and called the scapular. And this ridiculous and wicked fiction, was countenanced and sustained by the popes. These prerogatives of the mendicant orders^ and their popularity, produced deadly hatred be- tween them and the bishops and priests, and caused violent struggles and commotions in every country of Europe, and even in the city of Rome itself. A violent contest arose between the Dominicans and the University of Paris, which was continued through nearly half this century. The Domini- cans claimed the privilege of having two theolo- gical chairs in that institution, which the univer- sity was unwilling to grant. But the Dominicans, vigorously sustained by the pope, finally pre- vailed. " But these very orders," says Mosheim, "which seemed to be the principal supports of the Romish power, gave the pontiffs immense trouble, not long after the decease of Dominic and Francis ; and the difficulties, though often dispelled for a time, continually recurred, and brought the church into great jeopardy. In the first place, these two most powerful orders con- tended with each other for precedence ; and attacked and warred upon each other in their publications, with invectives and criminations. Attempts were frequently made to stop these con- tentions ; but the firebrand that kindled them could never be extinguished. In the next place THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 185 the Franciscan fraternity was early split into fac- tions, which time only strengthened and rendered inveterate; and these factions not only disturbed the peace of the church, but shook even the sovereign powers and majesty of the pontiffs them- selves. Nor will it appear doubtful, to one who attentively considers the course of events in the Latin church from this period onward, that these mendicant orders, in part undesignedly, and in part knowingly and intentionally, gave mortal wounds to the authority of the Romish church, and caused the people to wish for a reformation in the church." The first subject of contention among the Fran- ciscans, regarded the strictness of their rule. St. Francis enjoined upon his friars absolute poverty. His rule was in these words : " The brethren may appropriate nothing to themselves, neither house, nor land, nor any other thing ; but as strangers and foreigners in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them go relying confidently on alms or begging. This is that height of deep poverty, which hath consti- tuted you, my dearest brethren, the heirs and kinjTs of the kingdom of heaven." But soon after his death, many of them departed from this rigorous law, and desired to have their rule modified and relaxed. This gave great offence to others, who were called the Spiritual. A perplexing controversy having thus arisen, Inno- cent IV. in the year 1245, decided according to the views of those that wished their rule to be relaxed ; declaring that they might hold lands, houses, furniture, books, &c. and might use them freely ; but that the right of j^roj^erty, the legal possession^ or oivnerskij)^ of the whole should 16* 186 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. belong to St. Peter, and to the church of Rome, without whose consent, nothing should be sold, exchanged, or in any way transferred to others. This was doubtless a very politic decision, and in periect keeping with the general character of St. Peter of Rome; but it gave great umbrage to the Sin rituals, who pronounced it an unrighteous perversion of their rule, and in consequence of which, some retired into the woods and deserts, and others were sent into exile by the general of the order. Another dispute rose among the Franciscans re- specting The Everlasting Gospel, a book so called, ascribed (whether truly or falsely is uncertain) to one Joachim, an Italian abbot, and a famous prophet of that«day. This work took its name from Rev. xiv. 6, and predicted that a new and more perfect gospel was about to be promulgated, by poor persons divinely commissioned, in the age of the Holy Spirit. This the 'Spirituals eagerly seized upon and appropriated to them- selves. One of their number published an Intro- duction to the Everlasting Gospel, in which he asserted that the true and Everlasting Gospel of God was exhibited to mankind by St. Francis, who was the angel that John saw flying in the midst of heaven; that the Gospel of Christ would be abrogated in the year 1260, and this new and eternal Gospel take its place, and that the ministers by whom this great change would be brought about, were to be itinerant barefooted friars. This gave great offence, and caused great contentions, until the book was first condemned by the pope, and afterwards publicly burnt. " Near the close of this century originated in Italy the Fratricelli and Bizochi, parties that in THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 187 Germany and France were denominated Beghards , and which first Boniface VIII. and afterwards other pontiffs, condemned, and wished to see per- secuted by the Inquisition, and exterminated in every possible way." Vill. The theology of this century became still more corrupt. Little regard was paid to the Scriptures, at least to their plain and simple meaning. The scholastic doctors, with Aristotle in one hand, and the Bible in the other, philoso- phized, disputed, divided, defined, distinguished, and at the same time greatly obscured the simple and beautiful truths of the religion of Christ. But no sentiment was more pernicious than that which taught that men can perform more than God requires of them, and that all religion con- sists in the external homage of the lips, in certain bodily gestures, and external penances. The manner in which the body and blood of Christ are present in the Eucharist, had as yet been a matter in dispute, and no authoritative decision had as yet been made by the church upon the subject. But in the fourth Lateran council, A. D. 1215, Innocent III. a most imperious pon- tiff*, without asking the opinion of any one, pub- lished seventy decrees, in which, among other things calculated to increase the power of the pontiffs, and give importance to the clergy, he decided the question respecting the Eucharist, and pronounced that opinion to be the only true one, which is now universally received in the Romish church. To this new article of faith, he consecrated the hitherto unknown term transub- stantiation. He added also, as an article of faith, that every one is bound by a positive divine or- dinance, to enumerate and confess his sins to a 188 ECiCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. priest. Up to this time, ultiiough the confession of sins was held to be a duty, yet every one had been at liberty, as he saw fit, either to confess them mentally to God alone, or orally to a priest also. It is easy to see how greatly these two dogmas were calculated to increase the power and authority of the priests. IX. " Nothing perhaps will show more clearly the unsoundness of the religion of the age, gene- rally, and its discordance with the Bible, than the history of the societies of Flagellants ; which first originated in Italy, in the year 1260, and afterwards spread over a large part of Europe. A great multitude of persons, of all ranks and ages, and of both sexes, ran about the streets of cities and country towns with whips in their hands, lashing their naked bodies ; and they ex- pected by this voluntary punishment, by their frightful countenances and their distracted cries, to procure the divine compassion for themselves and others. This method of placating the Su- preme Being, was perfectly accordant with the nature of religion as it existed in that age. Nor did these Flagellants do any thing but what they had learned from the monks, and particularly from the mendicant orders. And hence they were at first highly revered and extolled for their sanctity, not only by the populace, but also by their rulers and governors. But when the tur- bulent and extravagant, and those contaminated with ridiculous opinions, joined themselves to the primitive and more decent and moral Fla- gellants, the emperors and the pontiffs issued decrees to put a stop to this religious frenzy." Although the doctrine of transubstantiation had been decided ex cathedra^ and pronounced by the THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 189 infallible iiead of the Romisii church to be the true doctrine, yet there were many as yet who denied it, and maintained what is called the real presence, or consubstantiation. Pre-eminent among these was John, a subtle doctor of Paris, near the close of this century. / X. Rites and ceremonies continued to be in- ^ creased. Religion had become so exclusively an external thing, that every means was studied of presenting it to the eyes and external senses. Hence at stated times, and particularly on the festivals, they had a kind of religious shows, or dramatic representations of all the more striking facts in sacred history. — The doctrine of tran- substantiation led, of course, to many ceremonies, by which the bread and wine, now become the soul and body and Divinity of Christ, might be sufficiently honoured. "Hence those splendid caskets, in which God, in the form of bread, might reside as in a house, and be carried from place to place : hence lamps, and other decora- tions, were added to these reputed domicils of a present Deity ; hence this bread was carried in splendid processions, along the streets, to the sick; and other rites of like character were in- troduced. But to crown all, the festival of the body of Christ, was instituted. This was done at the instance of one Juliana, a nun who lived at Liege in the Netherlands. " This fanatical wo- man declared, that as often as she addressed her- self to God, or to the saints in prayer, she saw the full moon with a small defect or breach in it ; and that, having long studied to find out the sig- nification of this strange appearance, she was inwardly informed by the Spirit, that the moon signified the church, and that /he defect or breach 190 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. was the want of an annual festival in honour of the holy sacrament." Doubtless it would have bordered on excessive incredulity, not to have received such a report of a pious nun ; pope Urban IV. therefore, in the year 1264, supplied the defect, and imposed the festival upon the whole church ! It was established and confirmed in the council of Vienne, A. D. 1311. At the close of this century, Boniface VIII. added to the ceremonies of the church, the year of jubilee ; which is celebrated at Rome with great pomp to the present day. A rumour in some way got abroad, that all who should devoutly visit St. Peter's church in the course of those years that terminate centuries, would thereby merit indul- gences for a hundred years. The pope upon in- quiring into the subject, pronounced it to be true ; and by an epistle sent throughout all Christendom, decided that in every centennial year, all who would confess their sins, and devoutly visit the temple of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, should receive plenary absolution of their sins. This brought vast numbers to Rome from all parts of Europe. " The public roads in Italy exhibited an almost continuous procession, or a line of march from one end to the other ; and nearly every day two hundred thousand foreigners might be counted at Rome. Indeed it has been esti- mated that two millions of people visited Rome during the year 1300; and the concourse there was so great, that many were trodden to death by the throng. So happy a result made the pope and the people of Rome wish that a century was not so long an interval. Therefore Clement VI. repeated the jubilee, A. D. 1350; and Nicolaus V. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 191 established the festival to be held once in twenty- five years. XI. Dun'ng the whole of this century, the popes were engaged in cruel and bloody wars against heretics ; i. e. such as disssented in any degree from the doctrines of the church of Rome, or dis- puted the power and prerogatives claimed by the popes. These heretics, under different names, and holding very different sentiments, were scattered throughout all Europe, and in some parts were very numerous. In order to search out and detect them, the pope stationed his legates in almost eve- ry city, the inhabitants of which were suspected. These legates, from the duties assigned them, were called Inquisitors. In the next place, several per- sons were associated together, constituting a board of Inquisitors. In 1233, Gregory IX. altered the institution, and conferred on the preaching monks, or Dominicans, the inquisition for heresy in France ; and by a formal bull, freed the bishops from that duty. From this period we are to date the commencement of the dreadful tribunal of the Inquisition ; which, in this and the following cen- turies, subdued such hosts of heretics, either by forcing them back into the church, or by deliver- ing them up to the temporal authorities to be burn- ed. The Dominicans erected, first at Toulouse, and then at other places, permanent courts, before which were arraigned, not only heretics, and those suspected of heresy, but likewise those that were accused of magic, soothsaying, Judaism, sorcery, and the like. The following account of the Inqui- sition may be interesting. When the Inquisition discovered a transgressor of their laws, either by common report, or by their spies, or by an informer, he was cited three times 192 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to appear before them ; and if he did not appear, he was forthwith condemned. It was safest to appear on the first citation ; because the longer a man delayed, the more guilty he would be ; and the Inquisition had their spies, and a thousand con- cealed ways of getting an absconding heretic into their power. When a supposed heretic was once in the hands of the Inquisition, no one dared to in- quire after him, or write to him, or intercede for him. When every thing belonging to the person seized was in their hands, then the process began ; and it was protracted in the most tedious manner. AtieT many days, or perhaps months, which the accused dragged out in a loathsome dungeon, the keeper of the prison asked him, as it were accident- ally, if he wished to have a hearing. When he appeared before his judges, they inquired, just as if they knew nothing about him, who he was, and what he wanted. If he wished to be informed what otfence he had committed, he was admonish- ed to contess his faults himself. If he confessed nothing, time was given him for reflection, and he was remanded to prison. If after a long time al- lowed him, he still confessed nothing, he must swear to answer truly all the questions put to him. If he would not swear, he was condemned without further process. If he swore to give answer, he was questioned in regard to his whole life without making known to him his olTence. He was, how- ever promised a pardon, if he would truly confess his offences : an artifice this, by which his judges often learned more than they knew before against him. At last the charges against him were pre- sented to him in writing, and counsel also was as- signed him, who, however, only advised him to confess fully his faults. The accuser and informe,. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 193 against him were not made known to him, but the real charges against him were put into his hands. He was allowed time for his defence ; but his accus- er, and the witnesses against him, he could know only by conjecture. Sometimes ne was so fortunate as to discover who they were ; but rarely were they presented before him or confronted with him. If his answers did not satisfy his judges, or if the allega- tions against him were not fully proved, resort was had to torture : a transaction which well nigh exceeded the sufferings endured by the first Christ- ians when persecuted by the pagans. The torture was by the rope, by water and by fire. The rope was passed under the arms, which were tied be- hind the back of the accused. By this rope he was drawn up into the air with a pulley, and there left to swing for a time ; and then suddenly let fall to within half a foot of the ground ; by the shock of which fall, all his joints were dislocated. If he still confessed nothing, the torture by water was tried. After making him drink a great quantity of water, he was laid upon a hollowed bench ; across the middle of this bench a stick of timber passed, which kept the body of the offender sus- pended, and caused him most intense pain in the back bone. The most cruel torture was that by fire ; in which his feet being smeared with grease, were directed towards a hot fire, and the soles of them left to burn until he would confess. Each of these tortures was continued as long as, in the judgment of the physician of the Inquisition, the man was able to bear it. He might now confess what he would, but still the torture would be re- peated, first to discover the object and motives of the acknowledged oflJence, and then to make him expose his accomplices. If, when tortured, he 17 194 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. confessed nothing, many snares were laid to elici: from him, unconsciously, his offence. The con- clusion was, that the accused, when he seemed to have satisfied his judges, was condemned, accord- ing to the measure of his offence, to death, or to perpetual imprisonment, or to the galleys, or to be scourged ; and he was delivered over to the civil authorities, who were instructed to spare his life, as the church never thirsted for blood ; but yet they would experience persecution if they did not carry the decisions of the court into execution. What an infernal device is the Inquisition ! What innocent person could escape destruction, if an in- quisition were disposed to destroy him ? A here- tic, even if he had been acquitted by the pope him- self, might still be condemned to die by the Inqui- sition. An equivocal promise of pardon might be given, to induce him to make confession, but the promise must not be fulfilled when the object of it was obtained. Even death did not free a person from the jurisdiction of the Inquisition ; for a deceased heretic must be burned in effigy. Would not every feeling of humanity be outraged by followmg such principles as these ? The in- quisitorial judges do not deny that by such pro- ceedings, many innocent persons perish along with the guilty ; but this does not trouble them. Better, say they, that a hundred innocent persons, who are good catholics, should be cut off and go to Paradise, than to let one heretic escape, who might poison many souls, and plunge them in endless perdition. Besides this inquisitorial process, the pope strongly urged upon the king and nobles of France a holy war against the heretics, that were very numerous in the southern part of that kingdom ; THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 195 and promised ample indulgences to those who should engage in it. This crusade was preached up by the Cistercian monks; and in the year 1209, a large army was collected, and commenced their holy war against the heretics, who bore the gen- eral name of Albigenses. This war was carried on in the most cruel manner, and with various success, for several years together. The director of the war was Arnald, a Cistercian abbot and the pope's legate ; the commander in chief of the forces, was Simon, earl of Montfort. At the cap- ture of Minerbe, Simon found one hundred and forty Manichseans ; all of whom he burned at the stake, because they would not abjure their religion. At Beziers, six thousand persons were slain ; and at Toulouse, twenty thousand. When the crusa- ders had captured a castle called Brom, in which were found one hundred persons, Simon ordered all their noses to be cut off, and their eyes to be put out, except a single eye of one individual, who might serve as guide to the rest, who were sent to Cabrieres, to terrify others. XII. But all this severity of the popes against heretics, and the various means used to suppress them, could not extirpate them, or prevent new and pernicious sects from springing up. One of the. most considerable of these, was that of the Brethren and Sisters of the free Spirit, which at this time secretly spread over Italy, France, and Germany ; and, by a great show of piety, drew after it many persons of both sexes. Clothed in a singular manner, they ran about the cities and the country, begging their bread with loud vo- ciferations ; for they maintained that labour pre- vented the elevation of the soul to God. They were accompanied by women, with whom they 196 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. lived in the greatest familiarity. "These breth- ren, who boasted of being free from the law, and of having attained to the freedom of the Spirit, pro- fessed a rigid and austere species of mystical theology, based upon philosophical principles, that were not far removed from the impiety of those called Pantheists. For they held that all things emanated from God, and would revert back into him ; that rational souls were parts of the Su- preme Being, and that the whole universe was God ; that a man, by turning his thoughts in- ward, and withdrawing his attention from all sensible objects, may become united in an inex- plicable manner with the Parent and first cause of all things, and be one with him ; that persons thus immersed in the vortex of the Deity, by long contemplation attained to perfect freedom, and became divested not only of all their lusts, but hkewise of the instincts of nature. From these, and similar principles, they inferred that a person thus raised up to God, and absorbed as it were in the Divine nature, was himself God, and such a Son of God as Christ was ; and therefore was raised above all laws, human and divine. And they maintained, of course, that all external wor- ship of God, prayer, fasting, baptism, the sacred supper, &c., were mere elements for children ; which a man no longer needed, when converted into God himself, and detached from this visible world." Among these people, there were some consci- entious and upright persons, who did not push their doctrines so far, nor extend that liberty of the spirit which they professed beyond an exemp- tion from external worship and ecclesiastical law. They made religion onnsist exclusively in internal FOUKTEENTH CENTURY. 197 worship, and looked with contempt on monastic rules of discipline, and other things held sacred. Not a few of this description, being apprehended by the Inquisitors, expired cheerfully and calmly in the flames. " But there were others of a worse character among them, and whose piety was as foolish as it was dangerous. These maintained, that by persevering contemplation, all the in- stincts of nature might be eradicated, and ex- cluded from the godlike soul, and a kind of holy or divine stupor be brought over the mind." Carrying out this principle, they set decency at defiance, and seemed to think that the utmost elevation of man is to exhibit the senselessness of the brute. CENTURY XIV. 1. Religious wars. — 2. Literature.— 3. Pope's claims of au- thority, and bull Unam Sanctam. — 4. Two popes. — 5- Men- dicants. — 6. John Wickliffe. — 7. Contests of Franciscans. — 8. Cellites. — 9. Theology. — 10. Ceremonies. — 11. Sects. I. Many efforts were made by the popes, in this century, to renew the holy wars against the Turks and Saracens. Several armies were raised at diiferent times, and considerable preparations were made to fit out expeditions to Palestine ; but from one cause and another, they all failed, and nothing was done. During this century, the Christian religion was almost extirpated in the East by the Turks and Tartars. Tamerlane, the powerful emperor of the Tartars, as a disciple 17* y 198 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of Mohammed, thought it his duty to make war upon the Christians, in order to convert them to the true faith, and therefore inflicted upon them numberless evils; cruelly butchering some, and dooming others to j)erpetual slavery. During this century, th« barbarians in the north of Europe that still adhered to their ancient idola- try, were, by one means and another, brought over to the Christian taith. In this work, the Teutonic knights performed no small share, by wars and massacres. The Jews suffered great persecution in many countries in this century ; and many of them were compelled to profess Christianity, in order to save their lives. The Saracens, or Moors, still maintained a footing in Spain ; and against them continual wars were waged by the Christian kings of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre. 11. The literature and philosophy of this age, although generally improving, were yet very im- perfect, and not very profitable. Aristotle reigned in the schools, and violent contests were carried on between the Realists and Nominalists. Among the latter, William Occam and John Buridan dis- tinguished themselves. Astrology, or the art of prognosticating the fortunes of men by the stars, was extensively cultivated by the philosophers of this day. Yet caution was necessary in order to avoid impeachment for magic, and to escape the hands of the Inquisitors. This caution was not sufficiently observed by Ceccus Asculanus, a very noted peripatetic philosopher, astrologer, mathe- matician, and physician. For, having by me- chanical arts performed some things that appeared miraculous to the vulgar, and uttered predictions that proved to be true, he fell under suspicion of FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 199 having intercourse with the devil, and was com- mitted to the flames by the Inquisition at Flo- rence, A. D. 1327. Thomas Bradwardine, an EngHshman, and archbishop of Canterbury, dis- tinguished himself as a mathematician. The celebrated Petrarch and Dante, in Italy, gave a spring to the cultivation of polite literature. III. The popes and the clergy of this age were exceedingly corrupt, and almost every kind of wickedness was practised and carried on under the guise of religion. All honest and good men ardently wished for a reformation of the church, both in its head and its members, as it was usual to express it. But so great was now the papal power, that it was no easy matter to accomplish it. Yet this dominion of the Roman pontiffs, impregnable and durable as it seemed to be, was gradually undermined and weakened in this cen- tury, partly by the rash insolence of the pontiffs themselves, and partly by the occurrence of cer- tain unexpected events. The commencement of the weakening of the papal power is referred to the contest between Boniface VIII., who governed the Latin church at the beginning of this century, and Philip the Fair, king of France, In a very haughty letter addressed to Philip, Boniface main- tained that all kings and persons whatsoever, by divine command, owed perfect obedience to the Roman pontiffs ; and this not only in religious matters, but likewise in secular and human af- fairs. The king replied with great severity. Boniface then published the celebrated bull, called TJnam Sanctam. " In this bull, the pontiff as- serts that there is but one church of Christ, under one head, as there was but one ark under the command of Noah; all out of which necessarily 200 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. perish : that the sole head of the church on earth is Christ's vicegerent, St. Peter and his succes- sors^ who are amenable to none but God: that both swords, the spiritual and the material, are in the power of the church ; the latter to be wielded for the church, or by the kings and soldiers, at the nod and pleasure of the priesthood, and the former to be wielded by the church or the priest- hood : that the temporal power is subjected to the spiritual ; otherwise the church would be a double-headed monster : that whosoever resists this order of things, resists the ordinance of God : and he concludes thus : — " We declare, deter- mine, and decree, that it is absolutely necessary to salvation, that every human being should be subject to the Roman pontiff." The king, on the contrary, in an assembly of his nobles, publicly charged the pontiff with heresy, simony, dishones- ty, and other enormities ; and urged the calling of a general council, in order to depose the guilty pon- tiff from his office. The pontiff, in return, ex- communicated the king and all his adherents, A. D. 1303. Upon this, Philip sent William de Nogaret, a famous lawyer, and a bold and fear- less man, who raised a small force, suddenly attacked Boniface, who was living securely at Anagni, made him prisoner, wounded him, and, among other severe indignities, struck him on the head with his iron gauntlet. The pope was res- cued out of his hands, but died soon after, from the violence of his rage and anguish of mind. This taught succeeding popes the salutary lesson that sometimes it was necessary to fear the wrath of a king, and to conciliate the civil powers. Philip managed to have a Frenchman created pontiff at Rome, A. D. 1305, over whom he could FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 201 exercise control. He assumed the name of Cle- ment v., and, in compliance with the wishes of the French king, remained in France, and trans- ferred the pontifical court to Avignon, where it continued for seventy years. This period the Italians call the Babylonish captivity. The resi- dence of the popes at Avignon tended in no small degree to lessen their power and influence. The Ghibelline faction in Italy, hostile to the popes, assumed greater boldness, and several cities re- volted from the popes. Rome itself became the parent and fomenter of tumults, cabals, and civil wars ; and the laws and decrees sent thither from France, were publicly treated with con- tempt : and that not merely by the mobs, but also by the common citizens. A great part of Europe followed the example of Italy ; and numberless examples show that the people of Europe at- tributed far less power to the fulminations and decrees issued from France, than to those issued from Rome. IV. After the death of Gregory XI., A. D. 1378, two popes were chosen : one assumed the name of Urban VI., and resided at Rome; the other assumed the name of Clement VII., and re- sided at Avignon. The cardinals chose the first to please the people of Rome, and the second, to please themselves and others; and which of these was the legitimate and true pontiff, still remains uncertain ; nor can it be fully ascertained from all the documents, which have been published in great abundance by both parties. France, Spain, Scotland, Sicily, and Cyprus, espoused the cause of Clement; the other countries of Europe re- garded Urban as the true vicegerent of Christ. «' Thus the unity of the Latin church," says Mos- 202 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. heim, " as existing under one head, came to an end, at the death of Gregory XI. ; and that most unhappy disunion ensued, which is usually deno- minated the great schism of the West. For during fifty years, the church had two or three heads ; and the contemporary pontiffs assailed each other with excommunications, maledictions, and hostile measures. The calamities and distress of those times are indescribable. For besides the perpetual contentions and wars between the pontifical fac- tions, which were ruinous to great numbers, in- volving them in loss of life or of property, nearly all sense of religion was in many places extin- guished, and wickedness daily acquired greater impunity and boldness. The clergy, previously corrupt, now laid aside even the appearance of piety and godliness ; while those who called them- selves Christ's vicegerents were at open war with each other : and the conscientious people, who believed that no one could be saved without living in subjection to Christ's vicegerent, were thrown into the greatest perplexity and anxiety of mind. Yet both the church and the state received very considerable advantages from these great calami- ties. For the nerves of the pontifical power were cut by these dissensions, and could not afterwards be restored ; and kings and princes, who had be- fore been in a sense the servants of the pontiffs, now became their judges and masters." V. The mendicants, particularly of the Domin- ican and Franciscan orders, were in great power and authority in the church ; and so great was theii reputation for sanctity, and for power with God, that the most distinguished persons of both sexes, some while in health, others when sick, and in the Qear prospect of death, wished to be received into FOURTEENTH CENTUE ;'. 203 their orders, lor the purpose of securing the favour of God. Many carefully inserted in their last wills, that they would have their corpses wrapped in a sordid Dominican or Franciscan garment, and be ouried among the mendicants. — At the same time, their vices and crimes were such as to give great offence to many, and create great disturbance. Almost universally, the higher and lower orders of the regular clergy, the universities, and the oth- er monks, were bitterly opposed to them. Yet they were sustained by the popes, because they found them excellent tools for accomplishing their purposes, and maintaining their power and au- thority. VI. Many individuals distinguished themselves by their opposition to the mendicant orders. Among these were Richard, Archbishop of Ar- magh in Ireland, and John de Polliac, a Parisian doctor. But among the foes of the mendicant or- ders, no one has obtained greater fame with pos- terity, than John Wickhffe, an English doctor, and professor of theology, at Oxford. Wickliffe was a hard student, a great scholar for that age, a sar- castic writer, and an able disputant. In the year 1360, he distinguished himself, by becoming the advocate of the University, against the mendicant monks, who infringed the laws of the University, and enticed the students away to their monaste- ries. He afterwards attacked not only the monks, but also the popes and the clergy ; and confuted the prevailing errors of the day, both as to the doctrines of Christianity, and the constitution of the Christian church. In consequence, he was accus- ed, and several efforts made to effect his trial ; but in various ways, providence seemed to protect him, so that at last he died in peace, A. D. 1384. 204 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. His doctrines, however were condemned, and some forty or fifty years afterward, his bones were dug up and publicly burnt ! VVicklifle has been fitly called the Morning Star of the Reformation. He translated the whole Bible, from the Latin Vulgate into English ; and maintained all the leading doctrines afterwards maintained by Luther, and others of the Reform- ers. The charges brought against him, extracted from his public lectures and sermons, were as fol- lows : " That there is one only universal church consisting of the whole body of the predestinate. — That the eucharist, after consecration, was not the real body of Christ, but only an emblem or sign of it. That the church of Rome was no more the head of the universal church, than any other church : and that St. Peter had no greater author- ity given him, than the rest of the apostles. — That bishop and presbyter, " in the apostolic Church, were the same. — That the pope had no more ju- risdiction in the exercise of the keys, than any other priest. — That if the church misbehaved, it was not only lawful, but meritorious, to dispossess her of her temporalities. — That when a prince or temporal lord was convinced that the church made an ill use of her endowments, he was bound, un- der pain of damnation, to take them away. — That the gospel was sufficient to direct a Christian in the conduct of his life. — That neither the pope, nor any other prelate, ought to have prisons for the punishing of offenders against the discipline of the church." Vn. Great contests arose among the Francis- cans, between the Spirituals, (called also Fratri- celli,) who were for adhering to the strict rule of poverty, and severe discipline, prescribed by St, FOURTKENTH CEriTURY. 205 Francis ; and those who were for a laxer disci- pline, which had been sanctioned by the popes, and who were called Brethren of the community. These latter were the most numerous, and were supported by Roman pontiffs, by whose authority their rule had been relaxed. They wore long, loose, and good habits, with ample hoods, or cov- erings for their heads, and in the seasons of har- vest and vintage, they laid up corn in their grana- ries, and wine in their cellars. The Spirituals were very numerous in France and elsewhere. They wore straight, short, sordid, and vile garments, with small hoods, and laid up nothing in store, but relied wholly upon charity for a subsistence. They denied the right of the popes to alter the rule of their founder, which they regarded as the true gospel of Christ, and dictated by God him- self, and therefore not subject to the power of the pontiffs. This brought upon them the hot dis- pleasure of these successors of St. Peter, who nev- er could permit their power and prerogatives to be touched with impunity. — From this time, (A. D. 1318) therefore, not only in France, but also in Italy, Spain, and Germany, an immense number of the defenders of the rule of St. Francis, Fratri- celli, Beghards, and Spirituals, were cruelly put to death, by means of the Inquisitors, who were required to seize upon them wherever they could be found. . Another violent conte'st arose respecting the po- verty of Christ and his apostles. The Francis- cans as a body, maintained that Christ and his apostles possessed nothing, by way of property or dominion, either in common or individually. This the Dominicans denied, and were supported by the decision of the pope ; who pronounced it to be 18 206 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. a heresy, pestiferous, erroneous, damnable, blas- phemous, and opposed to the catholic feith ; and ordered that all who professed it, should be ac- counted heretics, contumacious, and rebels against the church. The consequence of this edict was, that many were seized and committed to the flames, by their enemies, the Dominican Inquisitors. VIII. In the early part of this century, there arose at Antwerp the sect of the Cellites, called also the Brethren and Sisters of Alexius, because they had St. Alexius for their patron saint. They made it their business to wait on the sick and the dying, who were numerous at that time from the prevalence of the plague, and attended to the burial of such as died. On account of their singing fune- ral dirges on such occasions, they were also called Lollards. The example of these good people was followed by many others ; and in a short time, over the greater part of Germany and the Nether- lands, societies were formed of such Lollards, of both sexes, who were supported partly by their own labour, and partly by the munificence of those whom they served, and of other pious persons. The term Lollard, however, seems to have been applied as a reproachful epithet to many different sects, as denoting one who concealed great vices and pernicious sentiments, under the mask of great piety. But there is a diversity of opinion among authors, in regard to this matter. IX. The rehgion and theology of this age must be acknowledged to be very degenerate and cor-' rupt, both as taught in the schools, and as exhibi- ted for governing the conduct and lives of men. In explaining and inculcating the doctrines of re- ligion, most of the Greeks and Latins followed the principles of the Peripatetic philosophy. In FOURTEENTH CEISTURY. 207 this class, John Duns Scotus, an Englishman, was among the most distinguished. There were some, indeed, who condemned this method of philoso- phizing on religious subjects, and who endeavoured to draw the attention of students in theology to the Holy Scriptures. Hence there were fierce dis- putes every where, but especially in the most dis- tinguished universities, as those of Paris and Ox- ford, between the biblical and philosophical theo- logians. Moreover the scholastic doctors, or phi- losophical divines, had great controversies among themselves, on various subjects. Abundant matter for these contests was afforded by John Duns Scotus, who, being of the Franciscan order, and envious of the Dominicans, attacked certain doc- trines of Thomas Aquinas, and maintained that they were untrue. The Dominicans united to defend the brother of their order, who was the oracle of the schools ; and on the other hand, the Franciscans gathered around Scotus, as a doctor that descended from heaven. Thus the two most powerful orders, the Dominicans and the Francis- cans, were again pitted against each other ; and the famous sects of the Scotists and Thomists, were produced, which still divide the schools of the Latins. These schools disagree respecting the nature of divine co-operation, the measure of divine grace necessary to man's salvation, the unity of form in man or personal identity, and many other subjects. But nothing procured Sco- tus greater glory, than his defence and demon- stration in opposition to the Dominicans, of what is called the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. X. Ceremonies were still increased. Innocent V. commanded Christians to observe festal days, 208 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. in memory of the spear that pierced the Saviour's side, of the nails that fastened him to the cross, and of the crown of thorns, which he wore at his death. John XXII. ordered Christians to annex to their prayers the words with which the angel Gabriel saluted the Virgin Mary, Ave Maria, &;c. Benedict XII. sanctioned the senseless fable of the Franciscans, respecting the impression of the wounds of Christ upon their founder, by ordaining a festival to commemorate that event, XI, In the Latin church, the Waldenses, the Cathari, the Apostoli, the Beghards, the Beguins, the Brethren and Sisters of the free spirit, the Lollards, &c., gave work enough to the officers of the holy Inquisition. About the middle of the century, a new sect of Flagellants rose up in Ger- many, and roaming through various countries, created excitement among the people. They were of every order, sex, and age, and taught that flagellation v/as of equal efficacy with baptism and the other sacraments, and that by it might be ob- tained from God the forgiveness of all sins, with- out the merits of Christ, &c. Quite different from them was the sect of the Daficers, which origin- ated at Aix la Chapelle in the year 137.S, and thence spread through the district of Liege, Hai- nault, and other Belgic provinces. Persons of both sexes, publicly and in private houses, sud- denly broke into a dance, and holding each other by the hand, danced with great violence till they fell down nearly exhausted. Amidst those violent movements, they said they were favoured with wonderful visions. They also wandered about like the Flagellants, and lived by begging. They esteemed the public worship of the church and of whe priesthood, of little value, and held secret as- FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 209 semblies. The Knights Templars were accused of enormous crimes; and, in the year 1311, the whole order was suppressed by the council of Vienne. Their very ample possessions were transferred in part to other orders, especially to the Knights of St. John, and in part were confiscated by the reigning sovereigns. CENTURY XV 1. Spread of popery, and depression of the Greek church.— 2. Revival of learning in Western Europe. — 3. Corruption of the popish church. — 4. Western schism, and Council of , Constance. — 5. Jolin Huss and Jerome burnt. — 6. Council of Bale. — 7. Religious fraternities.— 8. Lollards, Waldenses. Calixtines, and Taborites. — 9. Fanatical sects. I. Near the close of this century, Ferdinand, king of Spain, by the conquest of Grenada, (A. D. 1492,) wholly subverted the dominion of the Moors or Saracens in Spain. Efforts were made, both by persuasions and civil penalties, to induce them to embrace Christianity ; but with little suc- cess. About this time, vast multitudes of Jews were ordered into banishment by Ferdinand, un- less they would embrace Christianity ; which many of them did in an insincere and hypocritical manner. And to the present day, many Jews exist in Spain and Portugal, who pretend to be Christians. It was near the close of this century that the Portuguese navigators doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and penetrated to India and Ethi- opia; and Christopher Columbus, in the year 18* 210 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1492, discovered a new world It was thought incumbent to send Christianity to these newly dis- covered countries, which was first attempted by the Portuguese, among the Africans of the king- dom of Congo ; whose king with all his subjects, at once received the Romish religion. Pope Al- exander VI. divided America between the Span- iards and Portuguese, and strongly enjoined it upon both nations, not to suffer the inhabitants of the islands and the continent to continue longer ignorant of the true religion. Many of the Fran- ciscans and Dominicans were sent to those coun- tries to convert the natives to Christ. Christianity in the East, was almost wholly obliterated by the Turks and Tartars, who em- braced the Mohammedan faith, and spread their conquests and their religion in almost every direc- tion. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks, in the year 1453, brought the glory of the Greek church to an end ; nor had the Christians any protection against the daily oppression and wrongs of the victors, or any means of resisting the torrent of ignorance and barbarism that rushed in upon them. II. These events were almost fatal to learning in the east, but tended to promote it in the west. After Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, great numbers of learned Greeks migrated into the different countries of Europe, and particu- larly into Italy ; where they were encouraged, and became the instructors of youth, and transla- tors of ancient authors, and thereby greatly pro- moted the cause of literature in the west. Some of the popes distinguished themselves as the patrons of learning ; also many of the kings and princes, by thel" protection and extraordinary munificence, FIFTEENTH CEIVTUBY. 211 aided literary men, established universities, col- lected libraries, and thus advanced the cause of science. Among these the family of the Medici in Italy, and Alphonsus VI. king of Naples, ac- quired permanent fame by their liberality and their attachment to learning. About the 'year 1440, the art of printing was discovered, which also contributed greatly to the cause of learning by rendering books cheap and common. The place where this art was discovered, as well as the person by whom, are in dispute. Three places claim the honour, Haerlem, Mentz, and Strasburg. John Guttemberg was probably the inventor of movable types, who entered into partnership with John Faust, at Mentz, though it is probable that printing with carved blocks had been practised before. The Platonic philosophy was again revived in this century, and came into competition with the Aristotelian, which had long borne sway in the schools, ^n France and Ger- many, the contests between the Realists and Nominalists were fiercely maintained ; and some- times not only by arguments, but by penal laws, and the force of arms. There was scarcely a university that was not disturbed by this war. III. The deplorable corruption of the dominant church in this age, in all its parts and members, from the highest to the lowest, is acknowledged on all hands. Many of the popes were distin- guished for nothing more than for their various crimes and wickedness. Ambition, avarice, fraud, and sensuality, were CQmmonly practised among them. John XXIII. was removed from the pon- tificate by the council of Constance, under the charge of various crimes, among which were the following : — simony, extortion, poisoning, adul- 212 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. tery, incest, the sale of ecclesiastical benefices, and perjury. Sixtus IV. had sixteen illegitimate child- ren, whom he took special care to provide for and enrich. But of all the popes of this age, perhaps Roderic Borgia, who assumed the name of Alex- ander VI., excelled in wickedness. He has been called the Catiline of the popes ; and the villa- nies, crimes, and enormities recorded of him, are so many and so great, that it must be certain that he was destitute, not only of all religion, but also of decency and shame. The most of the monastic orders were filled with ignorant, lazy, dishonest, and debauched people, as evinced by numerous documents, and the testimony of all the best his- torians. The mendicant monks, particularly the Dominicans and Franciscans, gave as great of- fence, by their arrogance, their quarrelsome tem- per, their invasion of the rights of others, their superstition, and their vain disputes about religion, as the opulent monks did by their luxury, their laziness, their hatred of learning and science, and their vices. The religion of this age consisted chiefly in vain and senseless ceremonies, and few thought of any thing further. Yet doubtless there were a ^QW who were truly pious, although shrouded in the mists of superstition and human inventions. Such was Thomas a Kempis, whose book on the Imitation of Christ, has been translated into many languages, and is read at the present day. Theology took its form pretty much from the dif- ferent schools in which it was taught ; and Plato and Aristotle had nearly as much authority as the word of God. Yet there were some who con- demned the scholastic subtilty, and endless wrang- ling of the dialecticians, as being destructive to FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 213 religion and piety. Such was John Gerson, one of the greatest men of his age. A dispute arose in 1462, upon this question, — whether the blood of Christ was distinct from his divine nature or not ; and of course, whether it ought to receive divine worship or not. The Franciscans espoused the affirmative, and the Dominicans the negative. The pope, not being able to suppress the con- troversy, imposed silence on both the contending parties, declaring that both opinions might be tolerated, until he should have leisure and oppor- tunity to examine which was most correct. IV. At the beginning of this century, there were two popes — one at Romie, and the other at Avignon — each claiming to be the regular de- scendant of St. Peter. And in the year 1409, a third was created by a council held at Pisa. Thus was the church divided between three pontiffs, who fiercely assailed each other with reciprocal excommunications, reproaches, and maledictions. This schism of the West, which had existed for half a century, and been the cause of so many evils, was finally healed by the council of Constance, which met, A. D. 1414, and continued its sessions for three years and a half. This council, which claimed to be general, and to represent the whole church, established, by seve- ral decrees, the supreme authority of a general council over the whole church, and over the pope ; a doctrine very unwelcome to the Roman pontiffs, and strongly opposed by them. These decrees I translate from the Latin as follows : — " This sa- cred synod of Constance, constituting a general council, for the extirpation of this schism, and the union and reformation of the church of God in its 814 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. head and in its members, ordains, defines, decrees, and declares, as follows: — " And first it declares, That this synod, law- fially assembled in the Holy Spirit, constituting a general council, and representing the catholic church, has its power immediately from Christ, to which every one, of whatever grade or dignity, even if he be the pope, is bound to be obedient in those things that pertain to faith, the extirpation of the above mentioned schism, and the reforma- tion of the catholic church in its head and in its members. " It declares likewise, That whoever he be, of whatever condition, grade, dignity, even if he be pope, who shall contemptuously refuse obedience to the commands, statutes, or ordinances, or pre- cepts of this sacred synod, and of any other gene- ral council, lawfully called, in regard to the fore- named things, done, or to be done, or pertaining to them, unless he repent, shall be subjected to condign penance, and shall be duly punished, even by a recurrence to the civil arm, if need so require." V. It was by this council of Constance that John Huss and Jerome of Prague were con- demned as heretics, and burnt. They were among the morning stars of the Reformation. The following account is given of Huss. " His doctrines and books being condemned, he was required to recant; but he magnanimously re- fused: and, on the 7th of July, 1415, the coun- cil ordered that he should be degraded from the priesthood, his books publicly burnt, and himself delivered to the secular power. That sentence he heard without emotion. He immediately prayed FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 215 for the pardon of his enemies. The bishops ap- pointed by the council stripped him of his priestly- garments, and put a mitre of paper on his head, on which devils were painted, with this inscrip- tion, A Ri7igleader of Heretics. The bishops delivered him to the emperor, and he delivered him to the duke of Bavaria. His books were burnt at the gate of the church, and he was led to the siiburbs, to be burnt alive. Prior to his execution, he made a solemn, public appeal to God, from the judgment of the pope and council, which was fervent and energetic. He was then surrounded with fagots, his mind all the while composed and happy. The flames were then ap- plied to the fagots ; when the martyr sang a hymn, with so loud and cheerful a voice, that he was distinctly heard through all the noise of the combustibles and of the multitude. At length, he uttered, ' Jesus Christ, thou Son of the living God, have mercy on me !' and he was consumed ; after which, his ashes were carefully collected and thrown into the Rhine. Huss was a true ecclesiastic, and a real Christian ; — gentle and condescending to the opinions of others, this ami- able pattern of virtue was strict only in his prin- ciples. His great contest was with vice. His piety was calm, rational, and manly; his forti- tude was undaunted. ' From his infancy,' said the university of Prague, ' he was of such excel- lent morals, that during his stay here, we may venture to challenge any one to produce a single fault against him.' His writings were simple, pious, affectionate, and intelligent. Luther said he was the most rational expounder of Scripture he ever met with." A distinct idea may be formed of the opinions 216 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of Huss by stating, that they agreed, in almost every particular, with those of WicklifTe. Indeed it was from the Bible and the writings of WicklifTe that Huss formed his creed. His friend, Jerome of Prague, adopted the same opinions, and was devoted to the same studies. Jerome was inferior to Huss in age, but equal to him in piety, and his superior in learning, taste, and eloquence. He was brought before the council of Constance ; made a speech of wonderful power and eloquence in his own defence ; but was condemned and burnt in a few weeks after the martyrdom of his friend Huss. This council also condemned John WicklifTe, long since dead ; and ordered all his books to be destroyed and his bones to be burnt. The same council passed the famous decree, that the sacred supper should be administered to the laity, in the element of bread only, forbidding the communion in both kinds. But it finally broke up without attempting a reformation of the church in its head and in its members, as the language of the time then was. This important work, acknowledged on all hands to be so necessary, was deferred to a council to be called at the end of five years. VI. The assembling of this council was delay- ed more than twice five years ; but at length, on the 23d of July, 1431, it commenced at Basil, or Bale, under the presidency of cardinal Julian, as representative of the pontiff. But pope Eugene IV. soon began to apprehend, from the materials and movements of this council, that they really intended in good earnest, to do what they had been directed to do ; and therefore made two attempts to dissolve it. This the fathers most firmly resist- ed ; and they showed by the decrees of the coun- FIFTEENTH CENTUEY. 217 cil of Constance, and by other arguments, that the council was superior in authority to a pontiff. The pope therefore yielded for the present, and gave his sanction to the proceedings of the council. After the council had continued its sessions for sev- eral years, and had made some progress in their reforming system, and were about to proceed to other things very ungrateful to the pontiff, Eugene determined, that this audacious and troublesome council, must either be removed to Italy, to be more under his control ; or must be checked by another council in opposition to it. He, by his legates, de- cided that the council should be held in Italy ; they continued their deliberations at Basil. He dissolved the council, and appointed another at Ferrara ; which met, A. D. 1438, and excommunicated the fathers assembled at Basil. They, on the Other hand, provoked by these and other acts of Eugene, proceeded on the 25th of June, 1439, to deprive him of the pontificate ; and shortly after appointed another in his room. Thus we have a new schism of the church, even worse than the old — with not only two contending popes, but also with two op- posing councils. VII. The Fratricelli, Beghards, &c., continued to be persecuted by the Inquisitors, and many of them were committed to the flames ; others were imprisoned, or exiled. A religious fraternity was founded in this century, called Brethren and Clerks of the common life, living under the rule of St. Augustine. The sect was divided into the litera- ry brethren, or the Clerks, and the unlearned Brethren ; who lived in different houses, but in the greatest friendship. The Clerks devoted them- selves to transcribing books, the cultivation of po- lite learning, and the instruction of youth ; and 19 218 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. erected schools wherever they went. The Breth- ren laboured with their hands, and pursued various mechanic trades. Neither were under the restraint of religious vows ; but they ate at a common table, and held a community of goods. The schools of these Clerks of the common life n'ere very cele- brated in this century ; and in them were trained nearly all the restorers of polite learning in Ger- many and Holland. Among these was the great Erasmus of Rotterdam, The writers of this cen- tury constitute a host ; but there are none of them that need to be particularly named. VIII. The followers of Wickliffe, in England, who were called Lollards, continued to testify against the decisions of the pope and the conduct of the clergy ; and the Waldenses, though oppress- ed and persecuted on all sides, ceased not to pro- claim aloud from their obscure valleys, and re- mote hiding places, that succour must be afforded to religion and piety, now almost extinct. But in Bohemia, after the death of Huss, and Jerome of Prague, religious controversies broke out in fierce and deadly war. The friends of Huss, being per- secuted and oppressed, seized upon a high and rugged mountain, which they called Tabor, where they first lived in tents, but afterwards fortified themselves, and built a regular city. Their lead- er was John Ziska. A very cruel and inhuman war was carried on, on both sides. But when multi- tudes of all sorts of persons had joined fheii standard, there arose great contention among them- selves ; which resulted in an open schism, dividing them into two principal factions, the Calixtines, and the Taborites. Of these the Calixtines were much the most moderate. All they required was sum- med up in these four things : — " 1. That the word FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 219 Df God might be preached in its purity and sim- plicity to the people : — 2. That the sacred supper might be administered in both kinds : — 3. That the clergy might be recalled from the pursuit of wealth and power, to a life and conduct becoming the successors of the apostles : — 4. That the great- er or mortal sins might be duly punished." The Taborites, on the other hand, extended their de- mands much further, and wished to overturn eve- ry thing ; and to establish an entirely new church, and commonwealth, in which Christ himself should reign, and every thing be conducted according to divine dictation. They imbibed the most ferocious sentiments, and breathed nothing but war and blood against their enemies. Their sentiments are expressed in the following language. " All the opposers of Christ's law, ought to per- ish with the seven last plagues, to inflict which the faithful are to be called forth. In this time of ven- geance, Christ is not to be imitated in his mildness and pity towards those sinners, but in his zeal, and fury, and just retribution. In this time of vengeance, every believer, even a presbyter, how- ever spiritual, is accursed, if he withhold his ma- terial sword from the blood of the adversaries -of Christ's law ; for he ought to wash and sanctify his hands in their blood." They afterwards, how- ever, reformed and corrected their society ; and from them descended the Bohemian Brethren, who in the time of the Reformation, entered into alliance with Luther and his associates, and whose descend- ants still exist in Poland and elsewhere, under the name of Moravians. IX. Several fanatical sects arose, or revived during this century, and gave work to the vigilant Inquisitors, which they were not slow to perform. 220 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The Brethren and Sisters of the free Spirit con- linued to wander over the countries of Europe, and many of them were put to death. Another sect sprung up in the Netherlands, called the Men of Understanding, Although in some things they seem to have had very correct views, and held important truths, yet with these they mingled egregious error. They pretended to be honoured with celestial visions — denied that *any one could correctly understand the Holy Scrip- tures, without extraordinary divine illumination, and declared the approach of a new revelation, bet- ter and more perfect than the Christian. They said that the resurrection was already accomplish- ed in the person of Jesus, and no other was to be expected ; that the inward man was not defiled by the outward actions, whatever they were ; that the pains of hell were to have an end ; and not only all mankind, but even the devils themselves, were to return to God, and be made partakers of eter- nal felicity. " In Germany, and particularly in Thuringia, and Lower Saxony, the Flagellants were still troublesome ; but they were very different from those earlier Flagellants, who travelled in regular bands from province to province. These new Flagellants rejected almost all practical religion, and the external worship of God, together with the sacraments ; and founded all their hopes of salva- tion on faith and flagellation." Their leader, Con- rad Schmidt, was burnt by the Inquisition, with many others, in the year 1414. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 221 CENTURY XVI. CHAPTER I. CAUSES LEADING TO THE REFORMATION. 1. Corrupt state of the church. — 2. Profligate lives of the popea — 3. Profligacy of the clergy. — 4. Monks. — 5. InquiaitiDn, and ignorance of spiritual teachers. — 6. Indulgences — 7. Re- vival of learning. — 8. Witnesses for the truth. We now enter upon that important and interesting portion of Church History called the Reformation. No event, since the first promulgation of Christ- ianity by Christ and the apostles, has been of great- er importance to the world, than the Reformation from popery, effected by Luther and his coadjutors. We shall first notice the state of the church that led to this result, made such a change desirable, and prepared the minds of people for it. J. The degenerate and corrupt state of the whole church was such as to create general disgust and complaint. Not only individuals, but the most powerful sovereigns, and even whole nations had uttered their complaints against the haughty domi- nation of the Roman pontiffs, the frauds, the vio- lence, the avarice, and injustice of the court of Rome ; the insolence, the tyranny, and the extor- tion of the papal legates ; the crimes, the ignorance, and the extreme profligacy of the priests of all or- ders, and of the monks ; and finally the un- 19* 222 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. righteous severity, and the partiality of the Roman laws ; and desires were now publicly expressed, as had been the case for generations past, that there might be a reformation of the church, in its head and in its members, and that the subject might be taken up in some general council. II. But to be more particular, the abominably wicked and profligate conduct of the popes them- selves, gave very great and general offence. — While they claimed to be the sole head of the church on earth, and the vicars of Christ ; many of them were most profane, wicked, and sottish in their lives. Such being the character of the popes themselves, every attempt at a reformation of the church, was evaded or resisted. III. " The subordinate rulers and teachers of the church, eagerly followed the example of their head and leader. Most of the bishops, with the canons their associates, led luxurious and jovial lives, in the daily commission of sins, and squan* dered in the gratification of their lusts, those funds, which the preceding generations had consecrated to God, and to the relief of the poor. Most of them also treated the people subject to their con- trol, much more rigorously and harshly, than civil magistrates and princes treated their dependents. The greater part of the priests, on account of their indolence, their unchastity, their avarice, their love of pleasure, their ignorance, and their levity, were regarded with utter contempt not only by the wise and good, but likewise by the common people. For, as sacred offices were now every where bought and sold, it was difficult for honest and pious men to get possession of any good living in the church, but very easy for the vicious and unprincipled." sixtee:vth century. S23 IV. "The immense swarm of monks produced every where great grievances and complaints. — Yet this ase, which stood intermediate between light and darltness, would patiently have borne with this indolent throng, if they had exhibited some show of piety and decorum. . But the Benedic- tines, and the other orders which were allowed to possess lands and fixed revenues, abused their ■wrealth, and rushed headlong into every species of vice, regardless altogether of the rules they pro- fessed. The Mendicant orders, on the contrary, and especially those who professed to follow the rules of Dominic and Francis, by their rustic im- pudence, their ridiculous superstition, their ignor- ance and cruelty, their rude and brutish conduct, alienated the minds of most people from them." The opposition and rivalry that existed between the Dominicans and Franciscans was also the means of bringing to light and exposing more fully the vices and frauds practised by both. V. The monstrous tribunal of the Inquisition, too, over which the Dominicans every where pre- sided, and by which multitudes of worthy persons were destroyed, was calculated to render the people dissatisfied, and desirous of a change. Learning began now to be diffused and culti- vated ; and many were disgusted with the utter ignorance of many who pretended to be teachers and rulers in the church, and especially their en- tire unacquaintance with the Scriptures ; which began now, by means of printing, and the revival of learning, to be more known and read. Many of the doctors of theology of those times had never read the Bible. Even in the university of Paris, which was considered as the mother and queen of all the rest, not a man could be found, 224 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. when Luther arose, competent to dispute with him out of the Scriptures. Those who delivered ser- mons, (which many of the clergy were not able to do,) beguiled the ears of the people with pre- tended miracles, ridiculous fables, wretched quib- bles, and similar trash, thrown together without judgment. They vociferated by the hour on the authority of holy mother church, — the influence of the saints with God, the dignity, kindness, and glory of the Virgin Mary, — the efficacy of relics, — the enriching of churches and monasteries, — the necessity of what they called good works in order to salvation, — the intolerable flames of pur- gatory, — and the utility of indulgences. VI. But nothing contributed more directly to the Reformation than the extravagant sale and abuse of indulgences. " Indulgences, in the Romish church, are a remission of the punish- ment due to sin, granted by the church, and sup- posed to save the sinner from purgatory. Ac- cording to the doctrine of the Romish church, all the good works of the saints, over and above those that were necessary for their own justifica- tion, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in an inexhaustible trea- sury. The keys of this were committed to St. Peter, and to his successors, the popes, who may open it at pleasure ; and, by transferring a por- tion of this superabundant merit to any particular person for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release of any one for whom he is interested, from the pains of purgatory. Such indulgences were first in- vented in the eleventh century, by Urban II., as a recompense to those who went in person upon the glorious enterprise of conquering the Holy SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 225 Land. They were afterwards granted to any one who hired a soldier for that purpose ; and, in pro- cess of time, were bestowed on such as gave mo- ney for accomplishing any pious work enjoined by the pope. The power of granting indulgences has been greatly abused in the church of Rome. Pope Leo X., in order to carry on the magnificent structure of St. Peter's at Rome, published indul- gences, and a plenary permission to all such as should contribute money towards it. Finding the project take, he granted to Albert, elector of Mentz, and archbishop of Magdeburg, the benefit of the indulgences of Saxony, and the neighbour- ing parts, and farmed out those of other countries to the highest bidders ; who, to make the best of their bargain, procured the ablest preachers to cry up the value of the ware. The form of these indulgences was as follows : — " May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by his authority, that of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and of the most holy pope, granted and committed to me in these parts, do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they have been incurred ; then from all thy sins, transgressions, and ex- cesses, how enormous soever they may be ; even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of the holy see, and as far as the keys of the holy church extend. I remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory on their account ; and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the church, to the union of the faithful, and to the innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism ; so that when you die, the gates of pun- ishment shall be shut, and the gates of the para- 220 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. dise of delights shall be opened : and if you shal not die at present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The terms in which the retailers of indulgences described their benefits, and the necessity of pur- chasing them, were so extravagant, that they ap- pear almost incredible. If any man, said they, purchase letters of indulgence, his soul may rest secure with respect to its salvation. The souls confined in purgatory, for whose redemption in- dulgences are purcha.«ed, as soon as the money tinkles in the chest, instantly escape from that place of torment, and ascend into heaven. The efficacy of indulgences is so great, that the most heinous sins will be remitted and expiated by them, and the person be freed both from punish- ment and guilt. This, it was said, is the un- speakable gift of God, in order to reconcile man to himself; and the cross erected by the preach- ers of indulgences is equally efficacious with the cross of Christ itself. " Lo," said they, " the heavens are open ; if you enter not now, when will you enter ? For twelve pence, you may re- deem the soul of your father out of purgatory : and are you so ungrateful that you will not rescue the soul of your parent from torment? If you had but one coat, you ought to strip yourself in- stantly, and sell it, in order to purchase such a benefit," &c. It was this great abuse that con- tributed not a little to the reformation of religion in Germany, when Martin Luther began first to declaim against the preachers of indulgences, and afterwards against indulgences themselves. VII. Another thing that contributed to the SIXTKENTII CENTURY. 227 Reformation was the revival of learning, by means of the "emigration of learned Greeks to the West, the translation of ancient authors, and the art of printing. This brought the ignorance of the priests and monks into contempt, and de- stroyed in a great degree their influence, And many learned men of that day, as the great Eras- mus of Rotterdam, turned the keen edge of their satire and ridicule against the ignorant priests and monks, and the superstitions of the church ; which had no small influence in making way for the Reformation. It was even said that Erasmus laid the eo^or which Luther hatched. VIII. Some rays of true light had also shone out upon the world from the obscure retreat of the Waldenses, from the writings and preaching of Wickliffe, and of Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and their Bohemian Brethren, and other obscura sects, among whom the truth was still held. CHAPTER 11. THE REFORMATION. 1. Luther opposes indulgences. — 2. Pope's first bull, which Luiher burns. — 3. Joined by Melancthon. — 4. Luther , at Worms. 5. Carolostadt. — 6. Zwingle. — 7. Dispute among the Reformers. — 8. War of the Peasants. — 9. Diets of Spire — 10. Anabaptists. — IL Council of Trent, and the pacifica- tion ratified at Augsburgh. — 12, England. — 13. Scotland. — 14. Ireland. — 15. Netherlands. I. All these circumstances combining their influ- ence to make way for the Reformation, and pre- 228 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. paring the minds of the people for such an event It yet commenced, as we may say, by accident, and with(jut any ultimate view to such a result. Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, and professor of theology in the university of VVittemberg, was a man of superior talents, learning, and eloquence. By the reading and study of the Scriptures, his mind was enlightened to see many of the errors that existed in the Romish church. He therefore took great otience at the impudent and extravagant manner in which John Tetzel preached the sale of indulgences. This man, without modesty or shame, had been employed by the archbishop of Mentz, and Magdeburg, on account of his impudence, to preach indulgences to the Germans, in the name of the Roman pontiff, Leo X. In the performance of this office, he extolled the merit and efficacy of his wares, so extravagantly, as impiously to de- tract from the merits of Jesus Christ. Hence Luther, moved with just indignation, publicly ex- posed at Wittemberg, on the hrst day of October, 1517, ninety-five propositions ; in which he chas- tised the madness of these indulgence-sellers gen- erally, and not obscurely censured the pope him- self, lor suffering the people to be thus diverted from looking to Christ. A controversy therefore immediately arose between Luther and Tetzel who undertook to defend himself. Luther acknow- ledged the pontiff could remit the human punish- ments for sin, or those infficted by the church ; but denied his power to absolve from the divine punishments, either of the present or future world ; and maintained that these divine punishments must be removed either by the merits of Jesus Christ, or by voluntary penance endured by the sinner. Pope Leo at first thought this dispute SIXTEENTH CENTirRY. 229 between two monks a small matter, and took no account of it. But it was not long before he dis- covered that it was a serious business, and that the greater part of Germany was taking sides with Luther against the authority of. the Roman see. II. Luther was summoned to appear before cardinal Cajetan^ the pope's legate, at Augsburg, in the month of October, 1518. They had several interviews to no effect. Cajetan manifested no- thing like a spirit of conciliation ; but peremptorily required Lulher humbly to confess his errors, without being convinced of them, and to submit his judgment to that of the pontiff. This he could not do ; and therefore appealed from the pontiff ill-informed, to the same when better informed. Another legate was appointed to confer with Lu- ther, of a more mild and conciliating disposition ; and he prevailed so far as to induce him to write a very submissive letter to Leo X. in which he promised to be silent, provided his enemies would also be so. Shortly after, Luther engaged in a public disputation with John Eckius, respecting the power and authority of the Roman pontiff. Eckius was greatly exasperated, and hastened to Rome, with a determination to effect his destruction. Associating with him Cajetan, and other influen- tial enemies of Luther, in the pontifical court, he prevailed on Leo X. to excommunicate him forth- with. The pope therefore, most imprudently, issued his first bull against Luther, on the 15th of June, 1520 ; in which forty-one tenets of his were condemned, his writings adjudged to the flames, and he was commanded to confess his faults within sixty days, and implore the clemency of the pontiff, or be cast out of the chuxch. Aa 20 23U ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. soon as Luther heard of this sentence of the pope, he first appealed to a general" council ; but fore- seeing that this would avail him nothing, he formed the bold determination at once to withdraw from the Romish" church, before he should be excom- municated by the second bull of the pontiff. In order that he might do this in a formal and public manner, on the 10th of Dec, 1520, he caused a lire to be kindled without the walls of the city, and in the presence of a vast multitude of spectators, committed to the flames the bull issued against liim, together with a copy of the pontifical canon law. By this he signified that he would be no longer a subject of the Roman pontiff, and conse- quently that the second decree that was daily ex- pected from Rome, would be nugatory. The pope's bull of excommunication arrived soon after. III. Having taken this bold step of publicly withdrawing from the church of Rome, it only remained to Luther and his adherents to attempt to found a new church, embracing doctrines more in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. From this time therefore he set out to search for the truth with renewed diligence ; revised and confir- med the opinions he had already advanced, and proceeding still further, attacked the very citadel of the pontifical authority, and shook it to the foundation. In this heroic enterprise, he had the aid of excellent men in various parts of Europe, as well as the doctors at Wittemberg, who joined his party, and especially Philip Melancthon. This amiable and excellent man, and profound scholar, proved to be a most important coadjutor, and next to Luther himself, acted the most conspicuous part in the Reformation. And as the fame of Luther's wisdom and heroism, and the great SIXTEENTH CEXTURY. 231 learning of Melancthon drew a great number of young men to Wittemberg, the principles of the Reformation were spread with great rapidity through various nations. IV. In the mean time Maximilian I. emperor of Germany, died, and his grandson, Charles V. king of Spain, was elected his successor, A. D. 1519. Leo X. reminding Charles of the office he had assumed, of advocate and defender of the church, urged him to inflict due punishment upon that rebellious member of the church, Martin Luther. Charles, however, determined to give him a hear- ing, and therefore had him summoned to attend a diet to be assembled at Worms. Luther appeared at Worms, being protected by a safe conduct from the emperor, and boldly pleaded his cause before the diet. This journey to Worms was a hazard- ous undertaking, considering the power and malignity of his enemies. Even the emperor's safe conduct might not be a sufficient protection, as had been the case with John Huss. But Luther was firm, and being warned of the danger by his friends, he replied, that he would go thither, if there were as many devils there, as there were tiles upon the roofs of their houses. Luther made a manly and able defence before the diet, and concluded with these words : — " Let me then be refuted and convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest arguments ; otherwise I cannot and will not recant, for it is neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience. Here I take my stand. I cannot do otherwise ; God help me ! Amen." But his enemies prevailed ; and, although he obtained the liberty of returning home unmo- lested, yet an edict was published after his de- 232 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. parture, which declared him a schismatic and heretic, and put him under the ban of the em- pire. His friends foreseeing the storm that was coming upon him, arrested him in disguise on his return, and conducted him to the castle of Wartburg, where he lay concealed ten months, calling it his Fatmos^ and beguiling the time very profitably in writing and study. V. While Luther remained in this retreat, An- drew Carolostadt, a learned doctor of VVittemberg, and colleague of Luther, with others, began to cre- ate disturbances, by attempting to carry forward the Reformation too rapidly. Having gathered the common people around him, he rushed into the cathedral church, destroyed the pictures and the altar, and hindered the priests from saying mass. Luther hastened to VVittemberg from his conceal- ment, and corrected this abuse, wisely declaring, that errors must first be extirpated from people's minds, before the insignia of those errors can be advantageously removed. VL While these things were going on in Ger- many, a like wound had been inflicted on the papal power in the neighbouring Helvetia, by the dis- cerning and erudite Ulrich Zwingle, a canon and priest of Zurich. This reformer had indeed dis- covered some portion of the truth, before Luther commenced contending openly with the pope ; but being excited and instructed by his example and writings, he not only expounded the Holy Scrip- tures in public discourses, but in the year 1519, successfully opposed Bernardin Samson of Milan, who was impudently driving the same trade among the Swiss, that Tetzel had carried on among the Germans. VJL While the Reformation was thus rapidly SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 233 advancing, both in Germany and Switzerland, a most unhappy contest arose among the reformers themselves, respecting the manner in which the body and blood of Christ are present in the sacred supper. Luther and his adherents, while they re- jected the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation ; i. e. that there is a transmutation of the substance of the bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ, yet held to consubstantiation, as it is call- ed ; i. e.jthat there is a real and corporeal presence of the body and blood of Christ, in, under, or along with the bread and wine ; so that the sacra- mental substances, after consecration, became each of them two-fold; namely, the bread became both bread and the flesh of Christ, and the wine became both wine and the blood of Christ. On the other hand, Carolostadt, and after him Zwingle, CEco- lampadius, Bucer, &c. maintained that the elements of bread and wine in the sacred supper, were only symbols or emblems, by which people should be excited to commemorate the death of Christ, and the blessings resulting to us therefrom. Zwingle declared the ordinance to be not a sacrifice, but a commemoration of the sacrifice once offered on the cross, and a seal of the redemption by Christ. This controversy was carried on for a considera- ble time, with great warmth on both sides, and many fruitless efforts were made to reconcile and unite both parties. Luther never would consent to yield the point, or even to acknowledge his op- ponents as brethren. It was this dispute, on a point in itself so trivial, that divided the' protest- ants into the two great bodies of Lutherans and Reformed. VIII. Another thing calculated to prejudice the cause of the Reformation, was, what was called, the 20* 234 ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTOUY. war of the peasants. ThcM-c arose, in the year 1525, like a sudden tornado, an innumerable mul- titude of seditious and delirious fanatics, in various parts of Germany, who declared war against the laws and the magistrates, and spread rapine, con- flagration, and slaughter through the community. This sedition was at first of a civil nature. But after the fanatic, Thomas Munzer, who had before deceived others by his fictitious visions and dreams, and others of like character had joined them, it became, especially in Saxony and Thuringia, a religious or holy war. This wild rabble had in- deed very different ends in view. Some desired freedom from the restraints of law ; others wished relief from their taxes and burdens ; others contem- plated the formation of a new and perfectly pure church, and pretended to be inspired ; others again were hurried on by their passions, without any definite object in view. While it is admitted that rrjany of them, by mistaking Luther's doctrine of Christian liberty and rejection of papal authority, may have been induced to run into this wild and lawless course, yet it is altogether unfair to ascribe these outrages to the Reformation, or to the doc- trines taught by Luther. He sufficiently refuted this calumny, by publishing books expressly against this turbulent faction. This storm subsid- ed after the battle of Mulhausen, in which the peas- ants were defeated. Munzer was taken prisoner, and subjected to capital punishment. According to some, one hundred and thirty thousand persons lost their lives in this war of the peasants. IX. In a diet of the German states assembled at Spire in 1526, it was decided that a petition should be presented to the emperor, to call a gen- eral council without delay ; and, in the mean time, SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 235 that each one should be left to manage the reli- gious concerns of his own territory in his own way. In a diet at the same place, in 1529, this decree was revoked, and all changes in the public reliirion were declared to be unlawful, until the de- cision of a general council should take place. Against this proceeding, the elector of Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and the other patrons of the Reformation, entered their protest, and appealed to the emperor, and to a future council. Hence originated the name of Protestants, borne from this time onward by those who forsook the communion of the church of Rome. A confession of faith was drawn up by Melancthon, assisted by Luther, and laid before the emperor Charles V., in a diet as- sembled at Auo;sburg in 1530, and thence called the Augsburg Confession, to which the Lutheran church adheres to the present day. The principles of the Reformation soon spread into Sweden and Denmark, and were to be found more or less in most countries of Europe. There were very many in France who favoured the cause ; but there they suffered much persecution. The same happened in Spain, and also in England. X. The Anabaptists created not a little disturb- ance about this time. In 1533, a party of them settled at Munster under two leaders of the names of Matthias and Bockholdt. Having made them- selves masters of the city, they deposed the magis- trates, confiscated the estates of such as had es- caped, and deposited their wealth in a public treas- ury for common use. They made preparation for the defence of the city ; invited the Anabaptists in the Low Countries to assemble at Munster, which they called Mount Sion, that from thence they might reduce all the nations of the earth under 236 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOBY. their dominion. Matthias was soon cut off by the bishop of Munster's army, and was succeeded by Bockholdt, who was proclaimed by a special de- signation of heaven, as the pretended king of Sion, and invested with legislative powers like those of Moses. The city of Munster, however, was taken after a long siege, and Bockholdt was punished whh death. This seditious procedure of the Ana- baptists, induced most of the princes of Europe to enact severe laws against the whole sect ; in con- sequence of which, in subsequent years, vast num- bers of them, both the innocent and the guilty, were miserably put to death. XI. The council of Trent, convoked by pope Paul III., commenced its sessions in 1545, and continued them, with numerous interruptions, un- til 1563. To the decisions of this council, vvhich was wholly in the pope's interest, the Protestants refused to submit. A war against them was therefore agreed upon between the pope and the emperor Charles V. By this war, and the trea- chery of Maurice, duke of Saxony, who was se- duced by the promises of the emperor, the cause of the Protestants seemed almost ruined. After this followed what was called the Interim^ a pa- per drawn up by order of the emperor, in order to settle difficulties for the present, until it could be done in a general council. This being somewhat on the principle of compromise, was very objec- tionable to both parties. Finally, a diet that as- sembled at Augsburg, in the year 1555, granted to the Protestants, after so much slaughter, and so many calamities and conflicts, that firm and sta- ble religious peace which they still enjoy. It was then decreed, that all those who had embraced the Augsburg Confession, should be free and ex- SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 237 empt from all jurisdiction of the pontiff and the bishops ; that they should be governed by their own laws and regulations ; and that all Germans should be at liberty to follow whichever of the two religions they pleased : and lastly, they were declared public enemies of Germany, who should make war upon others, or molest them, on the ground of their religion. All other denominations of Christians, however, except Roman Catholics and Lutherans, were expressly excluded from the privileges of this compact. The Zwinglians, Cal- vinists, or Reformed, were therefore left in the same state as before. XII. While these events were occurring in Germany, the light, as has already been ob- served, began to be diffused through the other countries of Europe. In England, the followers of Wickliffe still existed ; and by them the writings of Luther were soon introduced, and read with avidity. Henry VIII., king of Eng- land, was a bigoted catholic, and in 1522, wrote a book in confutation of Luther's doctrines, for which he obtained from the pope the title of De- fender of the Faith — a title still retained by the kings of England. Yet Henry did much to pro- mote the Reformation, by quarrelling, and finally breakino- with the pope, renouncing his authority, and having himself declared the supreme head-oi the English church ; although his motives and de- signs were far otherwise. In 1526, William Tindal published his English translation of the New Testament, which was printed at Antwerp, in Flanders. These books, finding a very ready sale in England, Tonstall, bishop of London, in order to prevent their circulation, sent over and purchased up all that remained of the edition, ana 238 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. committed them to the flames. By this means, Tindal was enabled to go on, and publish a new and improved edition. When one, who had been taken up on the suspicion of heresy, vvas asked by the chancellor, Sir Thomas More, how Tindal subsisted abroad, and who they were in London that abetted and supported him, he replied that the bishop of London maintained him by sending money to buy up the impression of his Testa- ment. The chancellor smiled, admitted the truth of the declaration, and suffered the accused per- son to escape. The importation of the books was prohibited ; and those suspected of being guilty in this matter were adjudged, by Sir Thomas More, to ride with their faces to the tails of their horses, with papers on their heads, and the New Testa- ments, and other books which they had dispersed, hung about their cloaks, and at the standard in Cheapside, to throw them into a fire prepared for that purpose, and to be fined at the king's pleasure. Henry VIIL died in the year 1547, and was succeeded by his son Edward VL, a child in years, but mature in wisdom, intelligence, and virtue. King Edward vigorously promoted the Reforma- tion during his short reign. In this he was as- sisted by the duke of Somerset, the archbishops Cranmer and Holgate, Sir W. Paget, secretary of state, and the bishops Holbeach, Goodrich, Latimer, and Ridley ; and also by Martin Bucer, Paul Fagius, Peter Martyr, and others, whom he had invited from abroad. The leaders in opposi- tion to reform were the princess Mary, earl Wriothesley, and bishops Tonstall, Gardiner, and Bonner. These last were imprisoned for refusing to obey the royal injunctions regulating religious SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 239 worship. But unfortunately for the reformation in England, king Edward died in 1553, and was succeeded by the princess Mary, a most bigoted and cruel catholic ; and who, on account of her persecutions, is often called the bloody Wary, Queen Mary disguised her intentions, until she was fully established on the throne; and then proceeded to release from prison, and restore to their sees, the popish bishops, Bonner, Gardiner, Tonstall, &c., and to imprison the reformers, Cranmer, Hooper, Coverdale, Rogers, Holgate, and others. Eight hundred friends to the Reforma- tion fled to the continent, and settled chiefly along the Rhine. Among these were five bishops, five deans, lour archdeacons, and above fifty doctors in divinity, besides noblemen and merchants. Six bishops were turned out, the mass set up, and the popish rites every where restored. All the mar- ried and recusant clergy, to the number of some thousands, were deprived. The parliament pro- ceeded, in 1555, to repeal all laws in favour of reformation, passed since the time Henry VIII. first began his contest with the pope ; and to re- vive the old laws against heretics. The fires of persecution were now kindled. John Rogers was the first martyr ; and bishops Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer, were among the victims. Bishop Bonner was the chief agent in their execution. The whole number put to death, during the re- mainder of this reign, was about 288. Many, besides, died in prison, and great numbers fled the country. Popery was now completely trium- phant ; and the Reformation seemed entirely sup- Queen Mary died, November 7th, 1558 ; and with her, the cause of popery in England. She 240 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth, who pos- sessed a vigorous and resolute mind, and was friendly to the Reformation. The persecuting laws of queen Mary were repealed, the sovereign was invested with power to regulate the doctrines, dis- cipline, and worship of the church, and to appoint all bishops ; and that form of religion and worship was established which still prevails in England. XIII. " Into the neighbouring kingdom of Scot- land, the elements of a pure religion were eariy introduced by certain young noblemen who had resided in Germany. But the papal power, sup- ported by inhuman laws and penalties, for many years prevented it from taking firm root. The principal author of the entire abolition of the Ro- mish dominion over Scotland, was John Knox, a disciple of Calvin, a man of eloquence, and of a bold and fearless character. Proceeding from Geneva to Scotland, in the year 1557, he in a short time so roused up the people, by his dis- courses, that the majority of them abandoned the institutions of their fathers, and destroyed every vestige of the Romish religion. From that time onward, the Scots have pertinaciously held to that form of religion and discipline, which was estab- lished at Geneva under the auspices of John Cal- vin, Knox's preceptor ; nor could any considera- tions afterwards induce them to adopt the ecclesi- astical institutions and forms of worship of the English." XIV. In Ireland the Reformation never made great progress. The church of England, as by law established, was also made the established church of Ireland ; but the great bulk of the native Irish, have for ages been, and still are, bigoted Roman catholics. The protestants in Ireland are SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 241 chiefly emigrants from England and Scotland. While bloody Mary was on the throne of England, she despatched Dr. Cole to Ireland with a commis- sion to persecute with fire and sword, such as then favoured the Reformation. He lodged on his way at the house of a protestant lady, when he took occasion to boast of the power he had from the queen to persecute the protestants of Ireland. The good lady found an opportunity before he left, to slip out the queen's commission, and put in its place a pack of cards. When the doctor got to Ireland, he found only the pack of cards, in place of the queen's commission : and before he could get it renewed, the queen died, which put an end to such measures. XV. The United Netherlands revoked entirely from the Roman pontiff, and in the year 1573, es- tablished the doctrines, the ecclesiastical organiza- tion, and the worship of the Swiss ; yet gave to all the citizens entire liberty of opinion on religious subjects, provided they attempted nothing against the peace and prosperity of the community. Even in Spain and Italy the reformed religion made great progress, soon after the first conflicts between Luther and the pontiffs. But the vigil- ance of the inquisitors found means to suppress it. Many were imprisoned, tortured, and slain ; and many fled into exile. 21 242 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CHAPTER III. THE ROMISH CHURCH. I. The Jesuits. — 2. FrancisXavier.— 3. Profligacy of the popes — 4. Bull In Coena Domini. — 5. Points contested in the Ro- man church. — 6. Oriental churches. I. As the Roman pontiffs had lost so nnuch ground in Europe, they became much more anxious than before, to propagate Christianity in other parts ol' the world, in order that they might still be able to maintain their power and dignity. And for this pur- pose the improvements in navigation by the Portu- guese, and the intercourse which they opened with Africa and southern Asia, as well as the discovery and subjugation of the New World by the Span- iards, afforded great facilities. In order that these opportunities might be duly improved, and every means employed to sustain the waning power and authority of the pope, the society of the Jesuits was instituted in the year 1540. Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight and ignorant fanatic, was the founder of this order ; but he was under the direc- tion of wise and acute men, who enabled him to found such a society as the state of the church then required. This society, devoted wholly to the interest of the popes, bound themselves by a solemn oath, that they would instantly go wherever the Roman pontiff should at any time bid them. The general of the order held his office for life, was to reside constantly at Rome, and had a select council to SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 243 advise him, and to execute his orders. His au- thority over the whole order, and every person, business, and thing connected with it, was abso- lute ; nor was he accountable to any earthly supe- rior, except the pope. The whole society was like a regular army, completely officered, trained to ser- vice, and governed by the will of one man, who stood at the pope's right hand. Every individual is most solemnly bound to secresy ; and the mys- teries of the society are imparted only to a kw of the professors, aged men, of long experience, and of the most tried characters : the rest are entirely ignorant of them. To this society, so well quali- fied for the business, it was given in special charge, constantly to train up suitable men, to be commis- sioned and sent by the pontiffs into the remotest regions as preachers of the religion of Jesus Christ. Great numbers of these missionaries went abroad into almost every part of the world, and laboured* rather to promote the glory of the Roman pontiff, and the interest of their own sect, than the glory and interests of Jesus Christ. II. Among the most distinguished of these mis- sionaries, was Francis Xavier, commonly called the apostle of the Indies. In the year 1542, he proceeded to the Portuguese East Indies, and in a few years filled no small part, both of the conti- nent and islands, with a knowledge of the Christ- ian, or rather, the Romish religion. At Goa, where he resided a number of years, the Inquisi- tion was established, under the Portuguese govern- ment ; and it is said to have had greater influence in bringing the natives to embrace Christianity, than the exhortalions and arguments of the Jesuits. Xavier travelled extensively in Hindostan, seve- ral times visited Ceylon, and the islands to the east 244 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the bay of Bengal. In 1547, he went to Japan and spent two years and a half; and laid the (bun- dation of a very numerous body of Christians, that flourished for many years in that extensive empire. He returned again to Goa, and immediately made preparation for a mission to China. He had set out, and arrived within sight of that empire, when he was taken sick and died at the island of Sancian, in the year 1552. After his death, other mission- aries of the order of the Jesuits entered China ; among whom the most distinguished was Matthew Ricci, an Italian. He, by his skill in mathema- tics, and by other arts, which he knew well how to practise, conciliated the favour of some of the chief men, and even of the emperor himself; and obtained for himself and companions, the liberty to explain the doctrines of Christianity to the peo- ple. He therefore may justly be considered as the founder and chief author of that numerous body, in China, that were afterwards gathered into the Roman catholic church, some remains of which continue to the present day. III. Many of the popes of this century were very immoral in their lives and manifested a spirit very inconsistent with the title they assumed, of head of the church, and vicar of Jesus Christ. Leo X. was a man of letters, a facetious compan- ion, a poet and historian; but was regarded as an infidel — doubted the immortality of the soul, and considered the Christian religion as a fable, but a ])rofitable one. Paul III. was in his youth a great debauchee. He was an adept in the art of dissim- ulation. Julius III. bestowed a cardinal's hat on the keeper of his monkeys, a boy chosen from among the lowest of the populace. Paul IV. was an arrogant, ambitious, and violent pontiff; and wa3 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 245 the first who instituted the Index Ubronim prohibi- toruni^ or the Index of prohibited books, including the Bible in the vulgar tongue, which Roman catholics may not read without subjecting them- selves to the heavy censure of the church. Greg- ory XII. openly approved the bloody massacre at Paris on St. Bartholomew's eve, and participated in a treasonable plot against queen Elizabeth. Pius V. and Sixtus V. distinguished themselves above the rest ; the former by his extreme severity against heretics, and by publishing the celebrated Bull, called In Coana Domini^ which is annually read at Rome, on the festival of the Holy Sacra- ment ; and the latter by his many vigorous, splendid and resolute acts for advancing the glory and honour of the church. IV. The Bull In Caina Domini^ is a rare pro- duction, consisting of thirty-one articles, in which all classes and characters of persons, who in any way, or by any means, oppose, hinder, or contra- vene, the power, honour, and authority of the Roman pontiffs, are excommunicated and anathe- matized. V. The Roman church boasts of its unity, its internal peace and harmony. But this is a false pretence. The Franciscans and Dominicans con- lend vehemently respecting various subjects. The Scotists and Thomists wage eternal war. The Jesuits have ever laboured to depress all the other religious fraternities, and to strip them of their wealth. This has excited the most virulent en- mity against them, particularly among the Bene- dictines and Dominicans. But besides, there are a number of points that have been violently con- tested by different parties, and never yet decided. The Jesuits have been the most staunch, as well 21* 246 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY. t as the most subtle and impudent defenders of the church, the power, authority, and prerogatives of the Roman pontiff; and of these Robert Bellar- mine is the principal, who was a Jesuit, and a cardinal. His works, embracing all the contro- versies of his church, fill several large volumes. This distinguished advocate of the Romish church at his death, it is said, bequeathed one half of his soul to the Virgin Mary, the other half to Jesus Christ. • VI. The oriental church in the sixteenth cen- tury, consisted, (as at the present time,) of the Greek church, and various independent sects, that practise different forms, and hold no communion with one another. The patriarch of Constantino- ple is the chief, who has under him those of Alex- andria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The right of electing the patriarch of Constantinople belongs to the twelve bishops nearest to that city ; but the right of approving the election, and of imparting to the prelate authority to use his powers, belongs to the Turkish emperor. This therefore is fre- quently procured by bribery. The Russians, the Georgians or Iberians, and the Colchians or Min- grelians, all embrace the doctrines and rites of the Greeks, but are independent, or not subject to the patriarch of Constantinople. The independent sects are, the Monophysites or Jacobites, and the Nestorians. The Monophysites of Africa are the Abyssinians, and the Copts; the latter of whom are those Christians who inhabit Egypt, Nubia, and the adjacent regions. The Nestorians are divided among themselves. A large number of them inhabit Mesopotamia and the mountainous parts of Persia. They are said to have preserved themselves from the superstitions and corruptions SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 247 that have deformed the Greek and Latin churches, more than any Christians resident in the East. They hold to two persons as well as two natures in Christ. But it is thought that they differ from others chiefly in words. The Armenians also are an independent sect. The Druses, that inhabit the mountains of Libanus, and the Kurds, that inhabit Persia, seem to be a kind of semi-christian sects; of which there are many other kinds in the east, that only observe some Christian ceremonies combined with heathen or Mohammedan rites. The Maronites, who reside principally on the mountains of Libanus and Antiiibanus, are subject to the dominion of the Roman pontiff. CHAPTER IV. LUTHERAN CHURCH. 1, Adiaphoristic and Synergistic controversies. — 2. Flacius. — 3. Osiander. — 4. Consubstantiation. — 5. Huber. I, We shall now proceed to give some further account of the Lutheran church in this century. After the death of Luther, which happened in the year 1546, several disturbances and disputes took place among his followers. Philip Melancthon, who was naturally of a much milder, and more conciliatory disposition than Luther, and who was now at the head of the party, thought that many things of an indifferent nature, might be yielded for the sake of peace. In adopting the Interim 248 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of Charles V., therefore, he decided that in things indifferent {ifi rebus ad'ui'pkoris,) the will of the emperor might be obeyed. This was strongly opposed by others; and hence arose the violent contest, called the Adiapkoristic controversy, which lasted many years. In this sad controversy there were two principal points at issue. First; whether the things that Melancthon deemed indif' ferenl, (such as pri<3sts' garments, the surplice customs indicative of worship paid to the host, as the tolling of bells at its elevation, the use of for- mulas of worship, whether prayers in public wor- ship should be read or sung, respecting the obser- vance of various times of worship, as vespers, matins, the canonical hours, and the days devoted to Mary and the Apostles, &c.) actually were so or not. Secondly, whether it is lawful, in things indifferent, and not essential to religion, to suc- cumb to the enemies of truth. Out of this grew two other controversies. One respected good works; whether good works are necessary to sal- vation. This Melancthon and his friends asserted, and others denied ; particularly Nicholas Amsdorf went so far in the heat of controversy as to main- tain, that good works were pernicious to salvation. The other was called the Synergistic controversy. "The Synergists were nearly the same as the Semi-Pelagians ; i. e. they were persons who supposed that God is not the sole author of our conversion to him, but that man co-operates with God in the renovation of his own mind. On this subject, Melancthon differed, at least in words, from Luther ; and in the Leipsic conference, he did not hesitate to say, that God so draws and converts adults, that some agency of their wills accompanies his influences. The pupils and SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 249 friends ofMelancthon adopted his language. But the strenuous Lutherans conceived that this senti- ment corrupted and subverted Luther's doctrine of the servitude of the will, or of man's impotence to regenerate himself and to perform any good actions ; and they therefore violently assailed the persons whom they called Synergists. In this contest, the principal champions were Victorinus Strigel, who the most openly and ingeniously de- fended the Melancthonian doctrine, and Matthias Flacius, who defended the old opinion of Luther." n. Flacius was a turbulent man, whom nature had fitted to sow discord and promote contention : he therefore not only cherished all the old con- troversies with great zeal, but also stirred up new ones. In a formal disputation between him and Strigel, respecting the natural power of man to regenerate himself and do good, being asked whether original sin, or the vitiosity of the human soul, was to be classed among substances or acci- dents, he replied, that it should be reckoned among substances ; and to the end of life he maintained this erroneous sentiment, that original sin is the very substance of a man, with so much perti- nacity, that he would sooner part with all his honours and privileges, than reno-unce it. This was going too far for most of his own party, and introduced further contests, that greatly afflicted the Lutheran church, and brought great detriment to their cause among the papists. III. Another disturbance was produced by An- drew Osiander, a man distinguished for pride, and the love of singularity. He maintained, that Christ, considered in his human nature only, was under obligation to keep the law on his own ac- count ; and therefore could not, by his obedience, 250 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. obtain justification and pardon for sinners : — that it is only through that eternal and essential right- eousness which dwells in Christ, considered as God, and which resides in his divine nature, united to the human, that mankind can obtain complete justification. That man becomes a par- taker of this divine righteousness by faith; since, by this uniting principle, Christ dwells in the heart of man with his divine righteousness. But where this divine righteousness is, God can be- hold no sin ; therefore, when it is present with Christ, in the hearts of believers, they are consi- dered as righteous, although they be sinners. Moreover, this divine and justifying righteousness of Christ excites the faithful to the pursuit and practice of personal holiness. On the contrary, Francis Stancarus, a turbulent and passionate man, in attempting to confute Osiander, falling, as is common, into the opposite error, excluded the divine nature of Christ from the work of redemption and atonement ; and maintained, that the office of mediator between God and men, pertained exclusively to the human nature of Christ. IV. In the year 1570, after the death of Me- lancthon, a very considerable disturbance was created by an attempt of Caspar Peucer, a son-in- law of Melancthon, and others, to abolish the doc- trine of Luther concerning the holy supper, or con substantiation ; and to introduce the opinion of Calvin in its stead. Their attempt was frus- trated for the present. The same thing was again attempted by Nicholas Crell, and others, near the end of the century, but without success. Crell, who was prime minister of state of Saxony, and principal mover in the business, suffered capital SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 251 punishment, and the theologians connected with him were punished with imprisonment and exile. V. About the close of the century, Samuel Hu- ber, who taught theology at Wittemberg, stirred up a new controversy. " Fired with hatred of the Calvinistic doctrine of absolute decrees, he maintained that the whole human race were from eternity elected of God to salvation ; and he ac- cused his colleagues, together with all the divines of the Lutheran church, of being Calvinists, be- cause they taught that those only are elected, who, God foresaw, would die in faith. Learned men are at this day agreed, that Huber swerved from the common Lutheran doctrine rather in words than in meaning ; for what the Lutherans maintain respecting the love of God, as embracing the whole human race, and excluding no one ab- solutely from eternal salvation, this he would ex- plain in a new manner, and in new phraseology. But this age having learned, from numerous ex- amples, that new phraseology, and new modes of explaining doctrines, produced as lasting and as pernicious disturbance as new errors, urged Hu- ber to adopt the old and the universal method of teaching, in preference to his own." Professing that he was not able to do this, he was compelled to relinquish his office, and go into exile. Thus was the Lutheran church agitated from time to time with violent contests, that created much trou- ble and difficulty among themselves, and gave great advantage to their enemies. CHAPTER V. REFORMED CHURCH. 1. Switzerland.— 2. Calvin.— 3. France.— 4. Scotland.— 5. Eng- land. — 6. Moravians and Waldenses. — 7. Doctrinal viewa of the Reformed.— 8. Anabaptists, or Mennonites. — 9. Men- no Simonis. — 10. Division of the Mennonites. — 11. So- cinians. 1. We shall now proceed to give some account of what Mosheim calls the Reformed church. This embraces the churches of Switzerland, Eng- land, Scotland, and Holland. Ulrick Zwingle, a very acute and learned man, was the leader of the reformation in Switzerland, which ho first introduced at Zurich, and extended to other can- tons. He was early assisted by John CEcolam- padius, a theologian of Bale, and one of the most learned men of that age. They differed from Luther in regard to the sacred supper, and in de- siring a more thorough reformation, and a simpler form of worship. The difference of opinion in regard to the supper, however, was the principal matter of dispute, and which always prevented a union, notwithstanding the many efforts that were made to effect it. This subject was much dis- cussed on both sides, and involved other ques- tions, that called forth no little disputation ; namely, respecting the person of Jesus Christ, the communication of the divine attributes to the human nature of Christ, and the ubiquity of Christ's body. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 253 II. But the man who stood prominent in the Reformed church, for learning, talents, and piety, and who did more than any other to model and extend it, was John Calvin. He was born at Noyon, in France, A. D. 1509, and connected the study of civil law with that of theology. He came to Geneva at the invitation of William Farel and Peter Viret, who were reformers there before him. But in 1538, he was expelled by the Council of Geneva, and resided several years at Strasburg, where he lived on terms of great in- timacy with Bucer and Capito, and with them strenuously defended the cause of the reformers of Germany. In the year 1541, at the repeated and pressing invitations of the Genevans, he re- turned to that place again, and there he continued his labours with great persojv^erance, zeal, pru- dence, and disinterestedness, until his death, in 1564. He immediately set about establishing the church at Geneva, according to what he esteemed to be the Scriptural model. And so great was the fame which he quickly acquired, that many persons of rank and fortune were in- duced to emigrate from France, Italy, and other countries, and settle at Geneva ; and great num- bers more to travel to Geneva, merely to see and hear so great a man. In 1558, he persuaded the Senate of Geneva to establish an academy, in which he and his colleague, Theodore Beza, and other men of great erudition and high reputation, were the teachers. This new academy, in a short tjme, acquired so great fame, that students eagerly repaired to it in great numbers, from England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Germany. By means of his pupils, Calvin enlarged every where the Reformed Church, and recommended and propa- 22 254 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. gated his own sentiments to more than one nation of Europe. Zwingle assigned to civil magistrates full and absolute power in matters of religion ; but Calvin maintained that the church ought to be free and independent of the civil magistrate ; and to govern itself by means of bodies of presbyters, synods, and conventions of presbyters, in the n)anner of the ancient church. He introduced at Geneva, and recommended elsewhere, throughout the Re- formed church, that form of church government which is called Presbyterian, He did not allow of bishops, as a distinct grade of ministers ; but maintained that they ought to be on an entire parity, in point of ministerial office. Calvin dif- fered somewhat from both Luther and Zwingle, in regard to the Lord's Supper. Luther main- tained the corporeal 'presence of Christ; Zwingle, that the Lord's Supper was nothing but a memo- rial of Christ ; Calvin took a kind of middle ground, and admitted a sort of spiritual presence, and that divine grace was conferred on, and seal- ed to the believer, by the sacred Supper. But though Calvin differed from Luther in regard to consubs'antiation, yet these two great Reformers entirely agreed in their doctrinal belief. Luther carried the doctrine of the Divine decrees as far as Calvin ever did. But as the latter explained, defended, and promulgated more fully and more ably than the former, the doctrine of the Divine sovereignty in " the election of grace," that doc- trine is more closely and generally connected with the name of Calvin than with that of the Saxon Reformer, who, though he believed it as fully, had not rendered himself so conspicuous in its inves- tigation and defence. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 255 III. The Reformation made very great progress m France, although labouring under great disad- vantages, from internal wars, persecutions, massa- cres, and oppression. On the 22d of August, 1572, commenced the massacre of St. Bartholomew, so called, because it took place on the eve of that fes- tival. — The .bloody scene began at midnight, at the signal of tolling the palace bell, and continu- ed three days at Paris. Five hundred noblemen, and about six thousand other Protestants were butchered in Paris alone. Orders were despatch- ed to all parts of the kingdom for a similar massacre every where. More than thirty thou- sand, some say seventy thousand, and some one hundred thousand, perished by the hands of the royal assassins. And when the news reached Rome, the pope ordered a jubilee to be celebrated throughout Christendom on the joyful occasion. The Protestants were weakened, but not destroy- ed. They continued to exist and increase under great troubles and difficulties, until, under Henry IV. A. D. 1598, they obtained equal rights and privileges, by a decree called the edict of Nantes. The number of Protestants in France during the latter half of this century, was supposed to be from a million, to a million and a half. They were in close fellowship with the church of Geneva, and with the Flemish Protestants. Their confession of faith was composed by Calvin. — Their doctrines were strictly Calvinistic; their worship very sim- ple, and almost without written forms; and their system of government entirely presbyterian, IV. In Scotland, the Reformation triumphed by the instrumentality of John Knox, a disciple of Calvin. He was of a most undaunted spirit, and a powerful preacher. Having imbibed his theolo- 256 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. gical views at Geneva, he established the church of Scotland after the same model, both in doctrine and government : and this model it has strictly retained to the present day. V. In England, the thing was otherwise. The Reformation commenced in England under Henry VIII. who, although a bigoted calholic, quarrelled with the pope, and declared himself the head of the English church. His son and successor, Ed- ward VI. was a friend of the Reformation, and un- der him the church underwent a partial reform, such as the times would bear. This was all re- versed under bloody Mary. Many were put to death and many fled into exile. Of these exiles some settled at Geneva, and adopted their forms of worship. When they had liberty to return, un- der queen Elizabeth, they bi-ought with them all their prejudices in favour of that kind of church government and worship which they had witness- ed on the continent. They could not conform to the liturgy established by queen Elizabeth, which was nearly the same with that held by the church of England at the present day. They were there- fore called Non-conformists, and also Puritans, be- cause they desired a pure and simple form of wor- ship. They found fault with priestly garments, kneeling at the sacrament, the cross in baptism, confirmation, god-fathers and god-mothers, and similar thing:s, as shreds and remnants of popery, and as inconsistent with that simplicity of form of worship taught in the Scriptures. The govern- ment of the church by bishops, archbishops, &c. they thought not authorized by apostolical prac- tice and precept. But this became a much great- er matter of grievance, from the year 1588, when Richard Bancroft, afterwards archbishop of Can- SIXTEENTH CENTUKY. 257 terbury, first ventured publicly to affirm that bish- ops are an order superior to that of presbyters, not by nnere human appointment, but by the will of God — -jure divino. This sentiment meeting the ap- probation of great numbers, the consequence was, that they were not thought to be properly induct- ed into the sacred office, who had not been ordain- ed by a bishop, and therefore, had no right to preach and administer the ordinances ; and that those churches that had not episcopal ordination among them, were not true churches. This schism in the English church between the Conformists and Non-conformists or Puritans, and which contin- ues down to the present day, was the cause of much evil and disturbance in that nation. The Puritans were very numerous, and suffered much persecution under the Act of Uniformity, publish- ed by queen Elizabeth. They, however, disa- greed among themselves. The most of them were Presbyterians ; some were Independents, and some Baptists. The Independents, whose histo- ry belongs chiefly to the next century, were the descendants of the followers of Robert Brown, who in this century were called Brownists. VI. In the provinces of the Netherlands, the Protestants assumed the name of Reformed ; and modelled their church after the Genevan par- tern. — The Bohemian Brethren, or Moravians of Poland, who were the descendants of the better sort of Hussites, held frequent corres- pondence with Luther, soliciting friendship and alliance. Nor did Luther and his friends find anything very censurable, either in their doctrine or their discipline. But they afterwards inclined to the Swiss, and retaining their own form of church government, embraced the doctrine of the Reform- 22* 253 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ed. The descendants of the Waldenses, who lived shut up in the valleys of Piedmont, were led by their proximity to the French and Genevans, to embrace their doctrines and worship. Yet they retained not a few of their ancient rules of disci- pline, so late as the year 1630. But in this year, the greater part of the Waldenses were swept off by pestilence ; and their new teachers, whom they obtained from France, regulated all their affairs according to the pattern of the French Reformed church. VII. " The Reformed," says Dr. Mosheim, « if we restrict this appellation to those who approve the sentiments of Calvin, differ from the Luther- ans, in regard to three subjects. — 1. The doctrine of the holy supper, in which the- Lutherans say, the body and blood of Christ are truly, though in an inexplicable manner, presented to both the pi- ous and ungodly ; while the Reformed suppose, that the human nature of Christ is present only by the symbols of it. Yet they do not all explain their doctrine in the same way. 2. The doctrine of the eternal decrees of God, in regard to the sal- vation of men, the ground of which the Luther- ans suppose to be the faith or unbelief of men in Christ, foreseen by God, from eternity ; but the Reformed suppose it to be the free and sovereign good pleasure of God. 3. Certain rites and insti- tutions, which the Reformed think have a tend- ency to superstition ; but which the Lutherans think, are partly sufferable and partly useful to Christians. Such are images in churches, sacred garments for the clergy, the private confession of sins, the use of small circular pieces of bread, [wafers,] such as were anciently distributed in the holy supper the formula of exorcism, as it is call- SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 259 ed, in the sacrament of baptism ; and some others. These the Reformed would have to be abrogated ; because they think religious worship should be restored to its primitive simplicity, and the ad- ditions to it should be wholly struck off." That all the protestant divines of the Reformed Church, or with very few exceptions, both in England and upon the continent, were, in the be- ginning, of one mind, about the doctrines of grace and of faith, cannot be denied. And hence the Articles of the Church of England, are truly Cal- vinistic. But toward the end of queen Elizabeth's reign, there arose a party which were first for softening, and then for overthrowing, the received opinions concerning predestination, perseverance, free-will, effectual grace, and the extent of Christ's atonement. The clergy of the Episcopal Church began to lean towards the notions concerning these intricate points, which Arminius propagated some time after this ; while, on the other hand, the Puritans adhered rigorously to the system of Calvin. Several Episcopal doctors remained at- tached to the same system, and all these abettors of Calvinism, whether Episcopal or Presbyterian, were called doctrinal puritans. VIII. I now proceed to give some account of the Anabaptists or Mennonites. This sect, al- though diversified among themselves, includes all who deny the right of infants to baptism. They were called Anabaptists, because they baptized over again those who had been baptized in infancy * and Mennonites, from Menno, who was their prin- cipal leader, and who reduced the party to some- thing like regular form. The origin of this sect is involved in much obscurity. "The modern Mennonites," says Dr. Mosheim, " affirm, that 260 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. their predecessors were the descendants of those Waldenses, who were oppressed by the tyranny of the papists; and that they were a nnosl pure offspring, and most averse from any inclination towards sedition, as well as from all fanatical views. On the contrary, their adversaries con- tend, that they are descended from those turbulent and furious Anabaptists, who in the sixteenth cen- tury involved Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and especially Westphalia, in so many calamities and civil wars, but that being terrified by the dreadful fate of their associates, through the influ- ence of Menno Simonis especially, they have gradually assumed a more sober character. After duly examining the whole subject, with impartial- ity, I conceive that neither statement is altogether true. In the first place, I believe the Mennonites are not altogether in the wrong, when they boast of a descent from those Waldenses, Petrobrussians, and others, who are usually styled the witnesses for the truth before Luther. Prior to the age of Luther, there lay concealed in almost every country of Europe, but especially in Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland, and Germany, very many persons, in whose minds was deeply rooted that principle, which the Waldensians, the WicklitTites, and the Hussites maintained, some more covertly and others more openly ; namely, that the king- dom which Christ set up on earth, or the visible church, is an assembly of holy persons; and ought therefore to be entirely free, not only from ungodly persons and sinners, but from all institu- tions of human device against ungodliness. This principle lay at the foundation, and was the source of all that was new and singular in the religion of the Mennonites ; and the greatest part of their SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 261 lingular opinions, as is well attested, were ap- proved some centuries before Luther's time, by those who had such views of the nature of the church of Christ." To this account of the Mennonites, I must add Dr. Murdock's note. " That the Mennonites, as being one of those Protestant sects which renounced the Romish reli- gion in the sixteenth century, resembled very much the VValdenses, the Wickliffites, and the Hussites, those early revolters from the Romish worship, is true. And it may therefore be justly said, that *the greatest part of their singular opinions,' meaning those in which they differed from the Romish church, ' were approved some centuries before Luther's time.' And this, I think, must be all that Dr. Mosheim intended to say. For, that in most of the points in which they appeared singular to the Protestants, they bore a nearer resemblance to the proper Waldenses, the Wick- liffites, and the Hussites, than the other protes- tants, or than the Lutherans and the Reformed did, is very far from being true. On the contrary, it is a well known historical fact, that in the six- teenth century the genuine descendants of the old Waldensians, Wickliffites, and Hussites, who were numerous in France, England, Bohemia, Moravia, &c., readily united with the Lutheran and Reformed communities, and at length became absorbed in them ; and that very few, if any of them ever manifested a preference for the Men- nonites, or for any of the Antipsedobaptist sects of that age. The history of the Reformation, in all the countries where the ancient sects were found, fully establishes this fact, which is so adverse to the supposition of a legitimate descent 262 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the Mennonites from the pure VValdenses The first Mennonites were not persons who had before borne the name of Waldensians ; nor did they originate* either in or near the countries where the Waldensians in that age resided. And if we endeavour to trace the history of that grand peculiarity of all Mennonites, their confining baptism to adult believers, and rejecting infant baptism altogether, we shall find that at the time Menno first embraced it, it existed among the numerous German Anabaptists, but not among the Waldenses of France or Bohemia, who were then universally believers in infant baptism, and were in fraternal union with the Lutheran and Reformed churches. These Waldensian Psedo- baptisls, moreover, declared that they held the same belief which their fathers had maintained for several centuries ; and they appealed to their old books to make good their assertions. See Jo. Paul Perrin's History of the Waldenses ; P. i. B. i. ch. iv. p. 15. of the English translation ; and P. iii. B. iii. ch. iv. p. 99. Nor does ecclesiastical history appear to me to disprove the truth of this assertion. There were indeed, various mystical sects, tinctured more or less with Manichoean views, in the twelfth and following centuries, who rejected all water-baptism, on much the same grounds as the Quakers still do ; and some of these assailed infant baptism especially, as being peculiarly unsuitable and absurd. There is also pretty good evidence, that early in the twelfth century, Peter Bruis and his successor Henry, with their followers, the Petrobrussians and Hen- ricians, did at first reject infant baptism, without discarding all baptism. But soon after, Peter Waldo arose, and gave birth to the proper Wal SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 263 densians ; and we hear no more of the Petrobrus- sians and Henricians. They probably gave up their opposition to infant baptism. See Wall's Hist, of Infant Baptism, P. II. ch. 7."* Before Menno, by his great and laborious efforts, had brought the Anabaptists to some degree of or- der and regularity, they were guilty of very great disturbances and outrages in many parts. At Munster, a city of Westphalia, they assembled in 1533, under the guidance of illiterate men, John Matthsei, John Bockholdt, a tailor of Leyden, Gerhard, and some others, where they committed deeds that would scarcely be credible, were they not so well attested. They persuaded the people that their blessed heavenly Jerusalem was about to be established at Munster, and would thence be extended to other places. John Bockholdt was created king and lawgiver to this celestial republic. " The scenes of violence, tumult, and sedition," says Dr. Maclaine, " that were exhibited in Hol- land by this odious tribe were also terrible. They formed the design of reducing the city of Leyden to ashes, but were happily prevented and severely punished. John of Leyden, the Anabaptist king of Munster, had taken it into his head, that God had made him a present of the cities of Amster- dam, Deventer, and Wesel ; in consequence there- of, he sent bishops to those places, to preach his gospel of sedition and carnage. About the begin- ning of the year 1535, twelve anabaptists, of whom five were women, assembled at midnight in a pri- vate house at Amsterdam. One of them, who was a tailor by profession, fell into a trance, and after having preached and prayed for the space of four * See Appendix. 264 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. hours, stripped himself, threw his clothes into the fire, and commanded all the assembly to do the same, in which he was obeyed without the least reluctance. He then ordered them to follow him through the streets, which they accordingly did, howling and bawling out. Wo ! wo ! the wrath of God ! wo to Babylon ! When, after being seized and brought before the magistrates, clothes were offered them, they refused them obstinately, and cried aloud, We are the naked truth. When they were brought to the scaffold, they sung and danced, and discovered all the marks of enthusiastic phren- sy. — These tumults were followed by a regular and deep laid conspiracy, formed by Van Geelen (an envoy of the mock king of Munster, who had made a very considerable number of proselytes) against the magistrates of Amsterdam, with a de- sign to wrest the government of that city out of their hands. This incendiary marched his fanatical troop to the town-house on the day ap- pointed, drums beating, colours flying, and fixed there his head quarters. He was attacked by the burghers, assisted by some regular troops, and headed by several of the burgomasters of the city. After an obstinate resistance, he was surrounded, with his whole troop, who were put to death in the severest and most dreadful manner, to serve as an example to the other branches of the sect, who were exciting commotions of a like nature in Fries- land, Groningen, and other provinces and cities of the Netherlands." But it would seem that Menno, and many oth- ers of the sect, were of a different character from these wild fanatics, and wholly disapproved of their violent and lawless proceedings. IX. Menno Simonis, of Friesland, who had been SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 265 a popish priest, in the year 1536, openly espoused the cause of the Anabaptists, and in the following year, by special request, consented to assume the functions of their religious teacher. From this period to the end of his life, or for about twenty, five years, he travelled with his wife and children, amidst perpetual sufferings, and daily perils of his life, over very many regions of country ; first in West Friesland, the territory of Groningen, and East Friesland, then in Guelderland, Holland, Brabant, Westphalia, and the German shores along the Baltic, as far as Livonia ; and gathered an im- mense number of followers, so that he was almost the common father and bishop of all the Anabap- tists, and may justly be considered .the founder of the flourishing sect that has continued down to our times. Menno condemned the expectation of a new kingdom of Jesus Christ, to be set up by vio- lence : he condemned the hope of a perfect church to be established by an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit ; he condemned the licentiousness of polygamy and divorce, which some of the Ana- baptists held ; and would not tolerate those who believed that the Holy Ghost descended into the minds of many, as at the first propagation of the Gospel, and manifested his presence by miracles, prophecies, divine dreams and visions. At the same time he retained the doctrines commonly re- ceived among the Anabaptists, in relation to the baptism of infants ; the millennium or one thou- sand years' reign of Christ upon earth ; the ex- clusion of magistrates from the Christian church ; the abolition of war ; the prohibition of oaths by our Saviour ; and the vanity, as well as the per- niciousness, of human science. These doctrines, however, he so explained and modified as made 23 2GG ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. them not unlike the doctrines commonly held by Protestants, and removed all their dangerous and offensive features. X. The Mennonites afterwards divided into two parties, one called Flemings or Flandrians, and the other VVaterlandians. The former held and observed more strictly than the others, both the an- cient doctrines, and the morals and discipline of the Anabaptists : the latter were more lax, departed from the original opinions and discipline, and ap- proached nearer to other Protestant churches. Some of this denomination administer baptism at the present day by pouring or sprinkling, and plead for it the authority of Menno himself. " Those among the English," says Dr. Mosheim, " who reject the baptism of infants, are not called Anabaptists, but Baptists. It is probable that these Baptists originated from the Germans and the Dutch ; and that they all once held the same sen- timents with the Mennonites. But they are now divided into two general classes ; the one called General Baptists, or Remonstrants, because they believe that God has excluded no man from salva- tion by any sovereign decree ;* the other are call- ed Particular, or Calvinistic Baptists, because they *Dr. Mosheim, like the most of those who dislike what is called Calvinism, shows here a facility in misrepresenting it. The Baptist Remonstrants, he says, " believe that God has excluded no man from salvation by any sovereign decree,"' leaving it to be inferred, that the " Calvinistic Baptists," and the " Calvinists " generally, hold the precisely opposite view. It is needless to say how false the implication is, or to spend 'ime in showing the ob- vious difference between believing that God has excluded some men from salvation by a sovereign decree,m\A believing that he has " been pleased according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will ...to pass by" a part of our rebeUious race, •' and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." Con. of Faith, eh. iii. $ 7. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 267 agree very nearly with the Calvinists, or Pre-sby- terians, in their religious sentiments. The Particular Baptists are by far the most numerous, and have receded so far from the opin- ions of their progenitors, that they have ahuost nothing in common with the ancient Anabaptists, except that they baptize none but adults, and ad- minister the ordinance by total immersion. Their churches are organized on the congregational or independent plan, and they allow professors of religion to take an oath, bear arms, and fill public civil offices when required. The General* Baptists consist chiefly of illiterate persons of low condi- tion ; for, like the ancient Mennonites, they de- spise learning. Their religious creed is very gen- eral and indefinite, so that they tolerate persons of all sorts, even Arians and Socinians, and do not reject any one, provided he profess to be a Christian, and to receive the Holy Scriptures as the rule of his faith and practice in religion. XI. A brief notice of the sect of the Socinians will conclude what I have to say on the sixteenth century. This sect derives its name from Loelius and Faustus Socinus. Lselius was the older, but being a man of a mild and gentle spirit, he did not divulge his religious sentiments, except in let- ters to his friends. He died at Zurich in 1562, not yet forty years old, professing himself a mem- ber of the Swiss church, having adopted the Hel- vetic Confession. But his nephew and heir, Faus tus Socinus, a man of less learning, but more boldness and resolution, is said to have drawn from his writings his real sentiments on religion, and by publishing them, to have gathered the sect. In the early part of the Reformation, before So- cinus, there were a number of persons who denied 268 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. divine honours to Jesus Christ. Such was Lewis Hetzer, a name famous among the vagrant Ana- baptists, and who was belieaded at Constance in 1529. And it is said that there were many of that sect of like sentiments, John Campanus, at Witteml)erg and elsewhere, propagated the doc- trine, that the Son of God is inferior to the Father, and revived the ancient Arian heresy. He was committed to prison by the Catholics at Cleves, and kept in confinement twenty-six years. One Claudius also excited great commotion, about the year 1530. He positively denied three persons in the Godhead, and maintained that the beginning of John's Gospel had been falsitied. He was im- prisoned at Strasburg, and then banished. But no one gave more trouble and alarm on this head, than Michael Servetus, a man of no ordinary genius, and of extensive knowledge. He publish- ed several books on the Trinity, in which he vio- lently assailed the doctrine held by the great body of Christians on that subject. After having tra- velled much, and passed through various scenes, he fixed his residence at Vienne, a town in France, where, in 1553, he secretly published his great work, entitled Restitutio Cliristianismi, (a Res- toration of Christianity.) Many things seemed to favour his designs ; genius, learning, eloquence, courage, pertinacity, a show of piety, and lastly, numerous friends and patrons, in France, Ger- many, and Italy, whom he had conciliated by his natural and acquired endowments. He was brought before the Inquisition at Vienne, but made his escape ; and in passing through Switzerland, lay sometime concealed at Geneva. When about to depart, he was discovered by Calvin himself, who gave notice immediately to the government. They SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 269 apprehended him, and after a regular trial and conviction of heresy, according to the laws then in force, and the spirit and practice of that age, he was condemned to be burnt alive, Calvin, and other ministers of Geneva, interceded for a milder death ; but the court would not yield. " A better fate," says Mosheim, " was merited by this man of uncommon genius and great learning ; yet he laboured under no small moral defects, for he was beyond all measure arrogant, and also ill-tempered, contentious, unyielding, and a semi-fanatic." As the favourers of these views were so vigi- lantly watched both by papists and protestants, many of them retired to Poland, where they could enjoy greater liberty of opinion, as did also many of the Anabaptists for the same reason. " Here they at first cautiously disclosed their views, being timid and doubtful what would be the issue. Hence, for a number of years, they lived inter- mixed with the Lutherans and Calvinists, who had acquired a firm establishment in Poland ; nor were they excluded from their communion in wor- ship, or from their deliberative bodies. But after acquiring the friendship of the nobles and the opu- lent, they ventured to act more courageously, and to attack openly the common views of Christians. Hence originated, first, violent contests with the Reformed, with whom they were principally con- nected, the issue of which at last was, that in the Synod of Petrikow, A. D. 1565, they were re- quired to secede, and to form themselves into a separate community." These founders of the So- cinian sect, ho%vever, mostly professed Arian sen- timents respecting the Divine nature ; representing the Son and the Holy Ghost to be persons begot- ten by the one God, the Father, and inferior to 23* 270 KCCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. hiin. But they were much divided in opinion among themselves, and much harassed from with- out, until John Sieniensky, the waiwode of Podo- lia, granted them a residence in his new town of Racow, built for them in 1569. The name of So- cinians was not yet known. Those who after- wards bore that name, were then usually called by the Pole3, Anabaptists ; because they admitted none to baptism in their assemblies but adults, and were accustomed to rebaptize such as came over to them from other communities. It was at this time that Faustus Socinus came among them, and gained such ascendency, that he brought the whole Unitarian people to surrender to those opinions of his, which they had not before received, and to coalesce, and become one people. Under the guidance of so respectable a leader, they soon rose to distinction and honour, by the accession of great numbers of all orders, among whom were many persons of noble birth, of opulence, learn- incr, and influence. The Unitarian religion being thus new modelled, and made almost a new sys- tem, required a new Confession. This was drawn up by Socinus himself, and called the Racovian Catechism. They established a flourishing school at Racow, and published many books. Their authors were learned and able men, and were termed Poloni Fratres, or Polish Brethren. Although the Socinians profess to believe that all knowledge of divine things must be derived from the Bible, yet they hold that the sense of Scripture is to be interpreted in conformity with the dictates of right reason. It is a fundamental maxim of the whole Socinian Theology, that no- thing must be admitted as a divine doctrme, but what the human mind can fully understand and SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 271 comprehend ; and whatever the Holy Scriptures teach concerning the nature of God, his counsels and purposes, and the way of salvation, must be filed down and polished, by art and reason, till it shall agree with the capacities of our minds. They intimate, and sometimes plainly express, that the inspired writers frequently slipped, both through defects of memory, and of capacity; that they express their ideas obscurely ; that they use extravagant and hyperbolical expressions ; and therefore must be made intelligible by the aid of reason and sagacity. The system of Socinus, Dr. Mosheim sums up in the following words : — " God is indeed vastly more perfect than men are, yet he is not altogether unlike them : by that power with which he controls all nature, he caused Jesus Christ, an extraordinary man^ to be born of the Virgin Mary: this man he caught up to heaven, imbued him with a portion of his own energy, which is called the Holy Spirit, and with a full knowledge of his will ; and then sent him back to this world, that he might promulgate to mankind a new rule of life, more perfect than the old one, and might evince the truth of his doctrine by his life and his death. Those who obey the voice of this divine teacher, (and all can obey it, if they are so disposed,) being clad in other bodies, shall hereafter inhabit the blessed abode where God resides: those who do other- wise being consumed by exquisite torments, shall at length sink into entire annihilation." 272 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CENTURY XVII. 1. Missions of the Roman church. — 2. China.— 3. Japan.— 4. Protestant Missions. — 5. Popish Missions in Africa and South America. — 6. Protestant Missions in North America. — 7. Infidehiy. — 8. Learning. — 9. Popes. — 10. Efibrts of Rome to reclaim Protestants. — 11. Abyssinia — 12. Monks. 13. Jesuits.— 14. Dominicans and Jansenists. — 15. Quietists. — 16. Lutheran church. — 17. Syncretism. — 18. Pietism. — 19. Reformed churches. — 20. Arminian system. — 21. Synod of Dort. — 22. England. — 23. Arminians. — 24. Quakers. — ^25. English Baptists. — 26. Socinians- I. Great efforts were made in this century by the Roman pontiffs to propagate Christianity, and to establish their power and authority in foreign lands, and among the heathen. In the year 1622, was established at Rome, by Gregory XV., the famous Congregation for Fropagating the Faith, commonly called the Propaganda, which is fur- nished with very extensive revenues. This body, consisting chiefly of cardinals, has for its object the propagation of the Romish religion in all parts of the world ; and, by its immense reve- nues, is able to make almost unlimited expendi- tures for this purpose. To this institution was added another, by Urban VIII., in 1627, called the College or Seminary for Propagating the Faith; in which young men from all nations are carefully educated, to become preachers of Christianity in foreign countries. The Congre- gation of priests for foreign missions^ was insti- tuted by the royal authority in France, in the year 1663; and also the Parisian Seminary for missions to foreign nations, was founded by cer- SEVENTEKNTH CENTURY. 273 tain French bishops and theologians. From this Seminary go forth the apostolic vicars of Siam, Tonquin, and Cochin China, the bishops of Baby- lon, and the apostolic vicars of Persia, and other missionaries to the Asiatic nations. Between the Jesuits and the monks of other or- ders, that were sent out on these foreign missions, there was considerable difference of opinion, and disputation, respecting the proper manner of con- verting the heathen. The Jesuits thought it pro- per to practise every sort of art and deception, in order to accomplish their purpose ; and their con- verts were permitted to retain most of their pagan rites and superstitions, with only a slight accom- modation to Christianity ; and were only required to assume the name of Christian by submitting to baptism, and other ceremonies of the Romish church. The natural propensities of the people they complied with, as far as possible, and care- fully avoided whatever was opposed to them. This course was condemned by the other orders, as tending wholly to subvert .the truth of Chris- tianity ; but such was the power and influence of the Jesuits, that neither they nor the Roman pon- tiffs themselves, were able to correct all that they saw, and acknowledged to be wrong in that pow- erful sect. By means of the missionary institutions above named, and the missionaries sent out and sus- tained by them, the name and religion of papal Christians were sounded over nearly all Asia in this century. Nearly all the parts of India, espe- ^ cially those formerly subject to the Portuguese, till they were driven out by the Dutch, received some sparks of light, though involved in much obscurity, by the labours chiefly of the Jesuits. 274 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORr. But no mission to these nations was more noticed or more successful, than that to Madura, a king- dom situated in the central parts of India, on this side the Ganges. This mission was established by an Italian Jesuit, by the name of Robert de Nobili ; who feigned himself a Brahmin, come from a distant country, professing to reform the corruptions of their own religion ; and, by stain- ing his face, and adopting a very austere and painful mode of life, he persuaded the credulous people to believe him. This mission prospered wonderfully, until it is said to have embraced a community almost numberless. But in 1744, Benedict XIV., who did not approve of this crafty method of the Jesuits in converting the nations, by his mandate, prostrated all these once flourishing missions. The Jesuits first introduced papal Christianity into Siam, Tonquin, and Cochin China ; and vast multitudes in these nations are said to have eagerly embraced it. But when Alexander VII., m the year 1658, thought proper to place bishops over the new church, and for this purpose sent over certain French priests, clothed with authority from himself, the Jesuits, who can bear no supe- riors, and scarcely any equals, treated them with great contumely and abuse, and would not suffer them to enter their harvest. Hence arose in the court of Rome a protracted contest ; the issue of which plainly showed, that the Jesuits would readily resort to the authority of the Roman pontiffs to extend and confirm their power, but treated it with contempt when it opposed their in- terests and emoluments. II. The large and opulent kingdom of China was visited, in the beginning of this century, by SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 275 Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, Capuchins, and others, for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of Christianity. Tlieir labours were at first at- tended with great success. But the Jesuits justly claim the honour of surmounting the obstacles that stood in their way among that proud nation, so tenacious of the customs of their ancestors. Find- ing them eager after knowledge, and very fond of the arts and sciences, especially the mathematics, the Jesuits sent among them men, not only well acquainted with human nature, and discreet m managing affairs, but also profoundly versed in learning and the abstruse sciences. Some of these by their address, the elegance of their manners, and their skill in business, soon acquired such in- fluence, that high honours and offices were con- ferred on them by the emperor ; and they were employed in affairs of the greatest consequence in the court itself. By these means they were able without much difficulty, to collect disciples of every rank, sex, and age, in all the provinces of this vast empire. Their prosperity received a tempo- rary check on the death of Xun-Cki, the first emperor of the Mogul race, who left his son a minor. For the chief nobles, who had long view- ed the new religion with great aversion, stripped the Jesuits of their advantages, their fortunes, and their privileges, and condemned John Adam Schall their leader, to be put to death, and others to be banished the country. But in the year 1669, when Cham-Hi took the sceptre into his own hands, the prostrate cause of the Jesuits was not only restored, but in process of time was advanced and exalted more than ever. In 1692 this empe- ror published a law, in which he denied that the Christian religion was injurious to the state, as its 2'i6 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. opposcrs had contended, and gave all his subject! full liberty to embrace it ; and in 17U0, even erected a splendid temple for the Jesuits within the limits of his own palace. Christianity, or rather Jesuitism, seemed now to be almost trium- phant in China. But the enemies of the Jesuits strenuously maintain, that they purchased this success at the expense of committing offences and crimes of a detestable character ; that they per- suaded the emperor and his nobles, that there was very little difference between the ancient religion of China, or the precepts of Confucius, and the relisrion of Christ ; that they mixed the Chinese superstitions with Christianity, and allowed their disciples to follow the profane customs and im- pious rites of their ancestors ; and the like. This brought about a strenuous controversy in the Ro- mish church, in which some of the popes seem to have decided for, and others against, the Jesuits. III. Christianity had been introduced into Japan, the preceding century, by Francis Xavier, and had met with very great success. Schools and churches were erected, even in the capital Meaco. In 1585, a Japanese embassy was sent to Rome ; and papal Christianity seemed about to become the prevailing religion. There were not less than two hundred thousand Christians, and among them, princes, courtiers, chief nobles, and gene- rals. But the base conduct of the Europeans de- feated this prospect, and led the emperor to sus- pect Christianity to be all a feirce. He became jealous of the designs of these strangers, and sus- pected that it was only a scheme to get possession of his country. In 1587, he commenced a perse- cution. All Jesuits were ordered to quit the coun- try. Some obeyed, but others remained under SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 277 the protection of the nobles. Out of two hundred and lifty churches, seventy were pulled down ; and more than twenty thousand Christians lost their lives. Persecution was renewed in 1596, from this circumstance; a Spanish sea captain, driven upon the coast, showed a chart of exten- sive countries subject to his master; and being asked how his master could conquer so many nations, he said, their missionaries went forward, and prepared the minds of the people to favour him, and then fleets and armies made an easy conquest. When this was transmitted to court, the emperor swore, that the Spaniards should never thus conquer Japan ; and immediately set himself to exterminate Christianity, which he called a devilish law. The missionaries were imprisoned ; and not a few of them, as well as of their converts, were put to death. Yet still, in the beginning of this century, in the year 1603, there were one hundred and twenty Jesuits, most of them priests, in Japan. Another persecution was brought on by an English officer of a Dutch ship, who cautioned the Japanese to beware of the military enterprises of the Spaniards ; and who represented the priests as designing men, who had been excluded from most European countries, and who did not teach genuine Christianity. And yet, by these persecutions, the number of Jesuit-disci- ples in Japan had not been greatly diminished ; for many converts were made from time to time that supplied the place of those who had renounc- ed the faith, or been cut off, by persecution : and some estimates make the number to have been about four hundred thousand, and others near six hundred thousand. But in 1637, the emperor was exasperated by certain letters intercepted by the 24 278 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Dutch, and by other evidence, bearing sti"ong pro- bability, that the Jesuits and other teachers of the new religion, designed to raise a sedition by means ol their disciples, and to bring Japan under the power of the Spanish kings. This brought on a persecution without a parallel in history ; and every vestige of the Christian name was ex- terminated with fire and sword. Decrees were passed requiring all foreigners to quit the country at once, on pain of death ; and subjecting every foreigner to the same penalty, who should ever set his foot in the country. The return of the Japanese Christians to paganism, was now per- emptorily required, on pain of death. The de- crees were rigorously executed ; and two years after, the Portuguese were all driven from the country ; and only the Hollanders were allowed to introduce a small quantity of European goods, and to live as it were, imprisoned in an extreme corner of the empire. Thus fell the Japanese church, if church it may be called, after it had stood very near a century. And this event is now, it is said, annually celebrated in all the sea- ports, by publicly trampling under foot the cross and all the Popish images. IV. Many respectable and pious men attempted to rouse the Lutherans, in imitation of the Roman Catholics, to missionary efforts in behalf of the heathen ; but nothing of any consequence was done. " Justinian Ernest, Baron of Wels, in 1664, published two letters, addressed to the Lu- theran community, on a reformation of manners, and efforts for the conversion of the heathen. In the first he proposes to them three questions : — Is it right, that we evangelical Christians should keep the Gospel ourselves, and not seek to spread SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 279 it abroad ? — Is it right, that we every where en- courage so many to study theology, yet give them no opportunity to go abroad ; but rather keep them, three, six, or more years, waiting for parishes to become vacant, or for the posts of schoolmasters? — Is it right, that we should expend so much in dress, high living, useless amusements and expensive fashions ; yet hitherto, have never thought of any means of spreading the Gospel ? His proposal to form a missionary association was approved by some, but objected to by others, especially among the higher clergy. He himself advanced twelve thousand dollars for the object; went to Holland on the subject, and at length shipped for- the Dutch West Indies, to embark himself in missionary labour; but he was no more heard of." " x\mong the English, in the year 1647, by an act of Parliament, the business of propagating Christianity was committed to the care of a society composed of men of the highest respectability and integrity. This society was revived in the reign of Charles II., A. D. 1661, and again confirmed, and invested with extraordinary privileges and rights, by William III., in the year 1701 ; and be- ing enriched with the splendid donations of kings, nobles, and private individuals, has continued down to our own times." It was this society that supported the various missionary operations in New England, during the seventeenth century. Its expenditures in the year 1661 amounted to three thousand two hundred and eighty dol- lars. By the labours of the Dutch, an immense num- ber of people in the island of Ceylon, on the coast of Malabar, in the island of Formosa, and in other 280 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. countries of x\sia, are said to have renounced the impious rites of their fathers. "The Dutch con- quered Ceylon from the Portuguese, about the middle of this century, and immediately estab- lished there the Protestant religion, excluding all others from every office. The Portuguese inhab- itants, and the natives, both Catholics and pagans, in large numbers, embraced the established faith, at least in pretence. The country was divided into two hundred and forty parishes ; a church was erected, and a school established in each. Every ten schools had a catechist, who was their super- intendent. About fifteen clergymen were assigned to the island. In 1672, BalclcPMS^ one of the Dutch ministers, gives account of thirty native churches in JafTnapatam, in which were about thirty thousand attendants on worship on Sundays, and about sixteen thousand pupils in the schools du- ring the week. Near the close of the century. Dr. Leusden wrote to Dr. Increase Mather of Boston, that in and near the island of Ceylon, the Dutch pastors had baptized about three hundred thousand of the natives. The Dutch had also translated and published in the Cingalese language, consid- erable portions of the Bible, besides catechisms, prayers, and other Christian books. The Dutch having possessed themselves of a large part of the island of Java, opened a church in Batavia, the capital, in the year 1621. Pursuing much the same plans here as at Ceylon, in the year 1721, they could reckon one hundred thousand Christ- ians in Java, and two Dutch, two Portuguese, and one or two Malay churches at Batavia. The New Testament in Malay was printed at Amster- dam, 1668, at the expense of the Dutch East India Company. Soon after establishing the Gospel in SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 281 Java, the Dutch sent ministers from Batavia to the island of Amboyna, and in 1686 it is said they had converted thirty thousand of the natives. Here too, schools were established, and a number of ministers stationed, at the expense of the Dutch East India Company." "In 1634, the Dutch formed a settlement on the western part of the island of Formosa. Rob- ert Junius, of Delft, was sent out by the Dutch government to establish Christianity there. He is said to have baptized six thousand persons, and to have set up schools, in which about six hun- dred young men were taught to read. He com- posed some prayers, and translated certain psalms into the Formosan language; and though his labours were chiefly in the northern parts of the island, yet he had planted churches in twenty-three towns in the south, and had set pastors over them, when he returned to Holland. In 1661, the Gos- pels of Matthew and John were translated into the Formosan language, by Dan. Gravius, and printed at Amsterdam, together with a catechism. But probably before these books reached the island, it was captured by a Chinese pirate, and it has since belonged to the Chinese. Besides the converts in these places, the Dutch made many others in Su- matra, Timor, Celebes, Banda, Ternate, and the neighbouring Molucca islands." V. The Capuchin monks, about the middle of this century, encountered incredible toils and hardships in -bringing some of the ferocious nations of Africa, contiguous to the Portuguese settlements on the western coast, to the knowledge of Christ. But their success was not great. The Aborigines of America, who have been subdued by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French, have re- 24* 282 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ceived some slight knowledge of the Romish religion, by the Jesuits, Franciscans, and others ; but this knowledge has usually exerted but little influence, and it is wholly obscured by the bar- barity of their customs and manners. In some provinces, both in North and South America, Indian Commonwealths have been founded by the Jesuits. "But while the Jesuits highly extol the merits and zeal of their order in this thing, others deny their claims ; and maintain, that they are more eager after public honours, wealth and power, than the advancement of Christianity ; and say, they have collected immense quantities of gold, from Paraguay, which is subject to their sole authority, and from other countries, which they have transmitted to their society in Europe. VI. Very different from these, were the mis- sionary efforts of Eliot, the Mayhews, Bourne, and others, of the Puritan emigrants to New Eng- land. Eliot, who has been called the Apostle of the Indians, laboured among them from 1632, fifty-eight years, or until his death, in 1690. He established a number of congregations, and set over them Indian preachers whom he had instruct- ed. He set up schools in their villages, introduced a regular form of civil government, and many of the useful arts and industry. He translated into the Indian language, primers, catechisms, the Practice of Piety, Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, several of Mr. Shepherd's works, and at length the whole Bible, which was firs't published at Cam- bridge in 1664, and again just after his death. — The Mayhews laboured much among the Indians m Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard ; and a large number of them became converts to Christ- ianity. Mr. Richard Bourne was ordained, in SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 283 1666, over an Indian church at Mashpee. His charge, in 1674, embraced about five hundred souls, of whom ninety were baptized, and twenty seven communicants. Many others devoted some part of their time to the instruction of the Indians. — The state of Christianity among the Indians of New England, in 1687, was thus described by Dr. Increase Mather, in a letter to Dr. Leusden : " There are six churches of baptized Indians in New England, and eighteen assemblies of cate- chumens professing the name of Christ. Of the Indians, there are four and twenty, who are preachers of the word of God : and besides these, there are four English ministers, who preach the gospel in the Indian tongue." VII. In the seventeenth century, infidelity be- gan to prevail to a great extent ; and not a few persons, and some of them men of considerable learning and talents, distinguished themselves as the opposers of Christianity. The English com- plain, that from the time of Charles II., their na- tion was contaminated with the grossest vice and profligacy ; that this state of things gave rise to unbridled licentiousness of speculation, and dispu- tation on religious subjects ; and that both united produced a multitude of persons who prostituted their talents and ingenuity, to extinguish all sense of religion and piety. The standard bearer of this impious company, who set themselves in opposi- tion to God and things sacred, was Thomas Hob- bes, of Malmesbury. He subverts all the founda- tions of religion, and makes morality depend wholly on the enactments of monarchs. He was a man, daring, crafty, acute, and perspicacious, and of more genius than learning or knowledge, either human or divine. John Wilmot, earl of Roches- 284 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ter, attacked God and religion with even more fury than Hobbes. He was a man of great discernment and brilliancy of genius ; but of astonishing levity, and while health permitted, libidinous and debauched. He died, 1680, an humble penitent, seriously lamenting and de- testihg his former wickedness and profanity, and casting his soul upon the mercy of God in Christ. Anthony Ashly Cooper, earl of Shaftes- bury, attacked Christianity in a covert manner, sometimes expressing great respect for it. — But his pungent wit, the elegance of his style, and the charms of his genius, rendered him the more dan- gerous foe to religion, in proportion to the con- cealment he practised. He died at Naples of a consumption, A. D. 1703. Other writers of this stamp were, John Toland, an Irishman ; who was not destitute of learning, but vain-glorious, and of abandoned morals: — Edward Herbert, baron of Cherbury ; who if he did not deny the truth of Christianity, yet maintained that the knowledge of it, was not necessary to salvation : — Charles Blount, who committed suicide in 1693. — On the continent, Benedict de Spinoza, a Portuguese Jew, who died at the Hague in 1677, stands at the head of those who embrace the Panthehtic doctrine ; i. e. that the universe is God. He has had many followers and admirers, and it is said still has in Europe. VIII. Literature, the arts and sciences, were advanced in this century by many distinguished individuals : such as, Gahleo in Italy ; Tycho Brahe, among the Danes ; Francis Bacon, (Lord Verulam,) Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, and John Locke, among the English ; John Kepler, John Hevelius, William Godfrey Leibnitz, among SEVENTEEXTH CENTURY. 285 the Germans ; the Bernouilli in Switzerland ; and Hugo Grotius in Holland. Also, among the Fa- thers of the Oratory, and the Jansenists, in France, learning and philosophy were greatly advanced by such men as Malebranche, Arnaud, Lami, Nicole, Pascal, Des Cartes, and Gassendi. The court of Rome, however; fearing every thing new, viewed the progress of science with great jealousy ; and Galileo was imprisoned for bringing forward the Copernican system of astronomy. — There was a philosophical sect that made much noise in this century, the professors of which styled themselves, the Rosecrucian Brethren. They were a set of Alchemists, who sought for the Philosopher's Stone, and the Elixir of Life ; and who explained every thing in the moral and religious, as well as in the natural world, by chemical terms, and in analogy with chemical principles. IX. The Roman pontiffs of the seventeenth century were, as usual, some better and some worse. Innocent X., from A. D. 1644 to 1655, surrendered himself to the control of a wicked and insolent kinswoman, by the name of Olym- pia ; with whom, it would seem, he kept up a very criminal intercourse. All public affairs, civil and sacred, were under her control. Innocent XL, from 1676 to 1689, was perhaps the best pope of this century. He exerted himself to reform the corrupt state of the church and of the clergy, but with little success. Innocent XII., from 1691 tc 1700, was hke minded, but with no better suc- cess. X. Great efforts were made by the court of Rome, not only to extend their power and influ- ence over foreign and heathen nations, as we have seen ; but also to reclaim the dominion which they 286 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. had lost by the Reformation. To accomplish this end, they resorted to the powers of genius, to arms and violence, to promises, to flatteries, to disputa- tions, to wiles and fallacies ; but, for the most part, with little success. It was this that brought on the disastrous thirty years' war of Germany, which was terminated by the peace of Westphalia, A. D. 1648. It was in this war, that the cele- brated Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, dis- tinguished himself, and lost his life in defending the German Protestants from the tyranny of the house of Austria. By the peace of Westphalia, the great interests of the Lutheran and Reformed churches were firmly established. Afler this, the Roman pontiffs and their adherents did not ven- ture to make public war against the Protestants ; but whenever it could safely be done, they exerted themselves to the utmost to abridge their rights, advantages, and privileges, in every possible man- ner ; although secured to them by oaths, and the most sacred enactments. In Hungary, in Poland, in the valleys of Piedmont, and throughout Ger- many, they who dissented from the Roman pon- tiff, experienced from time to time, to their very great sorrow and distress, that no compact, limit- ing the power of the Romish church, was account- ed sacred and inviolable at Rome. " And so long," says Dr. Mosheim, " as it shall remain the established belief at Rome, that God has given to the Romish church and to its head, dominion over the whole Christian world, it can never be expect- ed that those can live in security and safety, who renounce subjection to it." Many efforts were made to bring England back to her allegiance to the pope. One was the gun- powder plot, A. D. 1605, in the reign of James I., SEVENTEENTH CENTURT. 287 m which it was designed, by means of gunpowder deposited under the parliament house, to destroy the king, and the whole British parliament, at a single blow. But this nefarious plot, devised by three Jesuits, was happily discovered in time. In the reign of Charles I., the son and successor of James I., who was guided chiefly by the counsels of William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, (who was at least half a Papist,) the same thing was attempted, with great hope of success, by caresses and promises. But this hope was blasted by the civil war, in which Laud and Charles were both beheaded, and Oliver Cromwell placed at the head of the government, with the title of Protector. The same attempts were made in the reign of Charles IL, and continued in the reign of James IL, and finally brought on the revolution, in which the house of Stuart yielded to the house of Hanover, and William, prince of Orange, who was a Pro- testant, ascended the throne of England. Many efforts were made on the continent to bring about a reconciliation and union between Catholics and Protestants, by means of public con- ferences and disputations, but without any success. The great effort on the part of the Romanists was to make it appear, that when rightly understood, there was but small difference between them ; a thing which Protestants could never be persuaded to believe. XL In the beginning of the century, the Portu- guese Jesuits, by their cunning and management, had induced the king of Abyssinia, to swear obe- dience to the authority of the Roman pontiff, and to require his people to embrace the religion of Rome. But by their ill-timed zeal, and violent proceedings, they lost every thing : and in 1634, 288 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, they were wholly driven from the country, with out the least indulgence ; since which time the Abyssinians have strictly prohibited foreigners from entering their borders. XII. Several new orders of Monks arose in this century ; as the French Society of Fathers of the Oratory of the Holy Jesus, instituted in 1613. This institution was intended to oppose the Jesuits, and has trained up many persons eminent for piety, eloquence, and erudition. — The Priests of the Missions, instituted in 1632 ; — they were to attend to three things : first, to improve and amend themselves, daily, by prayers, meditation, reading, &c. ; secondly, to perform sacred missions among the people living in the country towns and villages, eight months in the year ; and lastly, to superin- tend seminaries, in which young men are educat- ed for the priesthood, and train up candidates for the sacred office. Under the counsel and patron- age of these Priests of the Missions, are the Vir- gins of Love, or the Sisters of Charity, whose business it is to minister to the indigent in sick- ness. XIII. Many and grievous charges were brought against the Jesuits in almost every country, by their enemies, especially the Jansenists ; many of which charges were substantiated by abundant evidence ; yet they maintained their ground, and possessed great wealth and influence. That the doctrines of Christianity were greatly perverted, and the very foundations of morality in a great measure destroyed, by the Jesuits, is the public complaint of many writers of every class, and of societies of men, in the Romish church. They are charged with teaching the following doc- trines, viz. " That a bad man, who is an entire SEVENTEENTH CENrURY. 289 stranger to the love of God, piovided he feels some fear of divine wrath, and from a dread of punish ment avoids grosser crimes, is a fit candidate for eternal salvation : That men may sin, with safety, provided they have a probable reason for the sin ; i. e. some argument or authority in favour of it: That actions in themselves wrong, and contrary to the divine lav/, are allowable, provided a person can control his own mind, and in his thoughts con- nect a good end, with the criminal deed, or as they express it, direct his attention aright : That philo- sophical sins, that is, actions which are contrary to the law of nature and to right reason, in a per- son ignorant of the written law of God, or dubious as to its true meaning, are light offences, and do not deserve the punishments of hell : That the deeds a man commits, when wholly blinded by his lusts and the paroxysm of passion, and destitute of all sense of religion, though they be of the vilest and most inexcusable character, can by no means be charged to his account in the judgment of God ; because such a man is like a madman: That it is right for a man, when taking an oath, or forming a contract, in order to deceive the judge and sub- vert the validity of the covenant or oath, tacitly to add something to the words of the compact or oath : and others of like kind. The reason assign- ed, why so many kings and princes, and persons ■ of every rank and sex, committed the care of their souls to the Jesuits, rather than to others, is, that they by their precepts, extenuated the guilt of sin, flattered the criminal passions of men, and opened an easy and convenient way to heaven. XIV. A great controversy was carried on be- tween the Dominicans and Jansenists on the one side, and the Jesuits on the other, respecting the 25 290 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. doctrines of Grace, Predestination, &c. ; the for mer maintaining the system of Augustine, differ- ing little from that of Calvin ; the latter approach- ing that of Pelagius, or nearer, perhaps, to what jias since been called Arminianism. These dis- cussions produced great excitement, and sometimes violent contests between the parties. By the ur- gent solicitation of the Jesuits, pope Innocent X. was induced by a public edict, dated May 31st, 1653, to condemn as false and heretical, the five following propositions, extracted from the works of Jansenius, viz : 1. " That there are some commands of God, which righteous and good men are absolutely un- able to obey, though disposed to do it ; and that God docs not give them so much grace as that they may be able to observe them. 2. That no person in this corrupt state of nature, can resist rliVine grace operating upon the mind. 3. That in order to a man's being praise or blame worthy be- fore God, he need not be exempt from necessity, but only from coercion. 4. That the Semi-Pela- gians erred greatly by supposing that the human will has the power both of admitting and of reject- ing the operations of internal, preventing grace. 5. That whoever affirms that Jesus Christ made expia- tion by his sufferings and death, for the sins of all mankind, is a Semi-Pelagian." XV. A sect called Quietists, arose towards the end of this century, and attracted considerable no- tice. They held doctrines very similar to those of the ancient Mystics. The author, of this sect, was one Molinos, a Spanish priest, who was thrown into prison for his sentiments, where he died ; yet he had numerous disciples in Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 291 In regard to the Greek church, nothing of pecu- liar interest seems to have transpired in this cen- tury. Some efforts were still made, to bring over the Greeks, and other Asiatic Christians, to the Romish church ; but without effect. XVI. The Lutheran church sustained some loss in the beginning of this century, by the secession of Maurice, landgrave of Hesse, who went over to the Reformed ; and commanded that the people, throughout his province, should be thoroughly taught the Reformed doctrines, and that public wor- ship be conducted in the Genevan manner. John Sigismund also, the elector of Brandenburg, left the communion of the Lutherans, and went over to the Reformed. Many efforts were made, from time to time, to bring about a union between the Lutheran and the Reformed churches ; but without success. The Lutherans never would yield in the smallest degree. XVII, There were two controversies which greatly troubled the Lutheran church during this century. One was called the Syncretistic, and the other, the Pietistic controversy. The first was oc- casioned by George Calixtus, a professor of theolo- gy, in the univ^ersity of Helmstadt ; a man who had few equals in this century, either for learning or genius. His object was, it is said, to unite the Romish, Lutheran, and Calvinistic churches in the bonds of charity and benevolence. He maintain- ed, 1. " That the fundamental doctrines of Christ- ianity, by which he meant those elementary prin- ciples whence all its truths flow, were preserved in all three communions, and were contained in that ancient form of doctrine that is vulgarly known by the name of the Apostles' Creed. 2. That the tenets and opinions which had been constantly re- 292 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ceived by the ancient doctors, during the first five centuries, were to be considered as of equal truth and authority with the express declarations and doctrines of the Scriptures." This brought upon him a furious attack, and was the occasion of a protracted controversy, that had well nigh rent asunder the Lutheran church. XVIII. The Pietistic controversy grew out of the efforts of the learned and pious Spener, and others, who united with him, to revive true reli- gion, both among the people, and among the cler- gy, which seems at this time to have been at a low ebb. For this purpose, Spener set up private meetings at Frankfort, something like prayer- meetings, called Colleges of Piety, and afterwards published a book under the title of Pious Desires, in which he set forth his views of the evils exist- ing in the church, and their remedies. These views spread, and were adopted very extensively. Meetings for prayer and exhortation were opened in very many places ; and often through igno- rance or mistaken zeal, were improperly conduct- ed, and gave rise to considerable irregularities. The Pietists insisted on a change in the manner of teaching theology in the schools, more in conform- ity with the Scriptures, and the necessity of devot- ed piety in the teachers and ministers of religion. They also thought it necessary, 1. "To suppress in the public instruction, certain common expres- sions, which the depravity of men leads them to construe in a manner to favour their wickedness. Such were the following : that no person can at- tain, in tne present life, that perfection which the law of God demands ; that good works are not necessary to salvation ; that in the act of justifica- tion, faith only is concerned, and not also good SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 293 works. But very many feared, lest, if these bar- riers were removed, the truth would be corrupted, or at least, would be exposed naked and defence- less to its enemies. 2. That stricter rules of con- duct should be introduced, than were generally fol- lowed ; and that many things, which foster the in- ternal disease of the mind, such as dancing, pan- tomimes, jocular discourse, plays, dramatic exhi- bitions, the reading of ludicrous books, and certain kinds of amusements, should be removed from the class of indifferent things, which are either good or bad according to the spirit and temper of those who engage in them, and should be classed among sinful and unlawful things. But many thought this morality too rigorous. Hence that old contro- versy of the schools was revived ; whether there are certain actions, that are neither good nor evil, but indifferent; or whether every thing men do, is either sinful or holy. And on each of the sub- jects enumerated, there were frequent and very warm debates, which were not always conducted with precision, temperance, and gravity. 3. That in addition to the public assemblies for religious worship, there should be frequent private meetings for prayer and other religious exercises. But very many judged, and experience confirmed the opinion, that these Colleges of Piety, as they were called, were attended with more danger than profit." Besides these, a number of local or less impor- tant controversies were carried on in the Lutheran church, during this century, but which it would be unprofitable to mention. XIX. By the English and Dutch, the Reformed religion was transplanted into Africa, Asia, and es- pecially America. But the Reformed church in 25* 294 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Franco, which had tlourished from the times of Henry IV., and hud produced so many eminent men, suflered an almost entire overthrow, under Louis XIV., by the revocation of the edict of Nan- tes. A. D, 1685. This edict, which had secured to the Protestants their rights and privileges for nearly one hundred years, Louis XIV., overcome by the arguments and importunate supplications of the French bishops, the .Jesuits and the pope, revoked, and required his Reformed subjects to re- turn to the religion of their progenitors. This most unrighteous act deprived France, notwith- standing the great pains taken to prevent their escape from the kingdom, some say of half a mil- lion, and others say eight hundred thousand of her most valuable and useful citizens. Nearly forty thousand are said to have passed over to England, whence many of them came to the United States of America. Vast numbers settled in Holland, and large numbers in the Protestant states of Ger- many, particularly in Prussia, and in Switzerland and JDeninark. The cruelties that attended this persecution are too various and horrible to be de- tailed. The Waldenses inhabiting the valleys of Piedmont, by the instruments of the Roman pon- tiff, were miserably oppressed and harassed from time to time, almost to extermination, particularly in the vears 1655, 1686, and 1696. The church of the Palatinate, also, from the year 1685, when the government passed into the hands of a Roman Catholic prince, gradually suffered so much dimi- nution, that from holding the first rank, it was de- pressed to almost the lowest among the Reformed churches of Germany. The school at Geneva was in such reputation, that multitudes resorted to it from all parts ; and SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 295 hence the opinions of Calvin, respecting the divine decrees and grace, readily spread every where, and were generally embraced and introduced into all the schools. Yet there were some here and there, who wholly disagreed with these doctrines, of whom James Arminius, professor of theology at Ley den, was the principal one, and gave name to the party. XX. " The distinguishing tenets of the Armi- nians," says Buck, " may be comprised in the five following articles, called the Five Poi'nts^ relative to predestination, universal redemption, the corruption of man, conversion, and perse- verance, viz : — 1. That God, from all eternity, determined to bestow salvation on those who, he foresaw, would persevere unto the end, and to inflict everlasting punishments on those who should continue in their unbelief, and resist his divine succours; so that election was conditional, and reprobation in like manner the result of foreseen infidelity and persevering wickedness. 2. That Jesus Christ, by his sufferings and death, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular ; that however none but those who believe in him, can be partakers of divine benefits. 3. That true faith cannot proceed from the ex- ercise of our natural faculties and powers, nor from the force and operation of free will, since man, in consequence of his natural corruption, is incapable of either thinking or doing any good thing; and that, therefore, it is necessary, in order to his conversion and salvation, that he be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the 296 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV^. Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. 4. That this divine grace or energy of the Holy Ghost, begins and perfects every thing that can be called good in man ; and consequently, all good works are to be attributed to God alone : that, nevertheless, this grace is offered to all, and does not force men to act against their inclina- tions, but may be resisted and rendered ineffectual by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner. Some modern Arminians interpret this and the last article with greater latitude. 5. That God gives to the truly faithful who are regenerated by his grace, the means of pre- serving themselves in this state. The first Ar- minians, indeed, had some doubts with respect to the closing part of this article, but their followers uniformly maintain, that " the regenerate may lose true justifying faith, fall from a state of grace, and die in their sins." XXI. It was to settle this Arminian contro versy, that the famous Synod of Dort was con vened in 1618, by authority of the States General " The most eminent divines of the United Pro vinces," says Buck, " and deputies from the churches of England, Scotland, Switzerland, Bre^ men, Hesse, and the Palatinate, assembled on this occasion, in order to decide the controversy be- tween the Calvinists and Arminians. The Synod had hardly commenced its deliberations, before a dispute on the mode of proceeding drove the Ar- minian party from the Assembly. The Arminians insisted upon beginning with a refutation of the Calvinistic doctrines, especially that of reproba- tion, whilst the Synod determined, that, as the remonstrants were accused of departing from the SEVENTEENTH CEXTUKV. 297 reformed faith, they ought first to justify them- selves by scriptural proof of their own opinions. All means to persuade the Arrainians to submit to this procedure having failed, they vvere ban- ished the Synod for their refusal. The Synod, however, proceeded in their exammation of the Arminian tenets, condemned their opinions, and excommunicated their persons, whether justly or unjustly, let the reader judge. Surely no one can be an advocate for the persecution which foUow^ed, and which drove these men from their churches and country into poverty and exile. The authority of this Synod was far from being universally acknowledged, either in Holland or in England. The provinces of Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelderland, and Groningen, could not be persuaded to adopt their decisions, and they were opposed by king James I. and Archbishop Laud, in England." XXII. The English church was agitated with violent storms. When James I. cam.e to the throne, after the death of Elizabeth, the Puritans promised themselves greater liberty and privileges ; for he had been educated in Scotland, and pro- fessed attachment to the puritan doctrines But very soon they found their hopes disappointed. James was ambitious and fond of power ; and he at once judged that the Episcopal form of church government would be more convenient and friendly to his wishes than the Presbyterian. His maxim was, " No bishop, no king." He, therefore, showed great partiality to the Episcopalians. And after a while he embraced the Arminian doctrines, and violently opposed the decrees of the Synod of Dort : and there is good evidence to believe that, before his death, in 1625, he even contemplated 298 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORr. uniting himself with th(3 church of Rome. The king becoming thus alienated from the Calvinistic opinions and customs, the old hatred against the Puritans, which had somewhat subsided, again revived. His son and successor, Charles I., de- termined to walk in the steps of his father. He therefore used every etibrt, first, to extend the regal power, and to exalt it above the authority of the laws; secondly, to subject the whole church of Great Britain and Ireland, to the episcopal form of government, which he considered as of divine appointment, and as affording the best security to the crown; and thirdly, to reduce the whole reli- gion of the country to the pattern and form of the primitive church, in the first four centuries, re- jecting all the doctrines and institutions of the Genevans. The execution of these designs he entrusted chiefly to William Laud, then bishop of London, and afterwards, from 1633, archbishop of Canterbury. The lawless and violent manner in which Laud prosecuted this work ; his attempts to introduce Arminian doctrines and Romish cere- monies into the English church ; his high-toned episcopacy, which he attempted to impose upon the Scottish church ; the violent persecution he carried on against the Puritans ; and his taking some direct steps towards a union with the church of Rome, excited immense odium against the king, and himself, and the whole order of bishops. He was therefore arraigned by the parliament in 1644, judged guilty of betraying the liberties and the religion of the country, and beheaded. The king himself, in 1648, shared the same fate. During the Commonwealth, and the Protectorate of Crom- well, until the restoration of Charles IL, the Pres- Dyterians and Independents had the principal SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 299 8way. And it is melancholy still to witness a spirit of exclusion and intolerance. The famous Westminster Assembly of divines was called together, A. D. 164:^, by the English parliament, in order to aid them by their counsel, in settling the government, worship, and doctrines of the English church. They were men of diller- ent sentiments, Presbyterians, Erastians, and In- dependents, with some moderate Episcopalians. But a great majority were Presbyterians. This Assembly drew up that Confession of Faith, Cate- chisms and form of government, which are still retained, with very slight alterations, by the Pres- byterian church, both in Scotland and America. " On the restoration of Charles II., to the throne of his father, in 1660, the ancient forms of eccle- siastical government, and public worship returned also, and the bishops recovered their lost dignities. Those who preferred other forms, or the Non-con- formists, as they were called in England, expected that some place would be assigned to them in the church ; but their hopes were quickly disappoint- ed. For Charles again placed bishops over the Scots, who were so religiously attached to the Genevan discipline ; and likewise over the Irish. And, afterwards, in the year 1662, all those who refused to subject themselves to the rites and in- stitutions of the English church, were, by a public law, separated wholly from its communion." This was the famous Act of Uniformity, which required all clergymen, not only to use the liturgy, but also to renounce and condemn the solemn League and Covenant, Presbyterian ordination, and all efforts for changing the present establish- ment. In consequence of this act, about two thousand ministers, chiefly Presbyterians, were 300 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. turned out of their churches, because they could not conform to the law. At the same time, all the old laws against conventicles, neglect of the parish churches,