^Ry OF p^^Ncer^ '^OGtCM SE<*\5^ «S BR 205 .D35 1882 Dale, A. W. W. 1855 -1926. The synod o f Elvira and Christian life in the THE SYNOD OF ELVIEA LONDON : 1'RI>'TI;D by GILBERT AND RIYINOTON, LIMITED, ST. John's square. THE SYNOD OF ELVIRA CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE EOTJETH CENTUEY Jl 3^istorical €i5satj! BY ALFKED WILLIAJI WINTERSLOW DALE, M.A. Felloic and Leclurfr of Trinity Hall, Camhr'nlgr. " Nisi Dominus iKdificavcrit Domum in vanum laboraverunt qui {fidificant earn." MACMILLAN AND CO. 1882. The Right of TraittMtiun and Hffnuluction is Jieseriid ROBERT WILLIAM DALE. " Patri primitias. " INTEODUCTION. The Synod of Elvira lies somewhat remote from the paths of ecclesiastical historians. An assembly convened in a corner of the Western World, and occupied, as it might appear, with questions of local and temporary importance, too rapidly sinks into insignificance, dwarfed by the great events of the early part of the fourth century. The current of affairs sweeps us on almost against our will to the troubles which surrounded the accession of Constantino and to the famous Council of Nicsea, which was a new point of departure in the history of the Christian Faith. The city of Elvira for long has been a mere name ; its very site is uncertain, matter only of inference and conjecture : and to the world of our own day the Synod to which the city gave its name is hardly more familiar. Now and then, driven by the stress of con- troversy, students and reformers have sought in the authority of the Synod a shelter and a refuge ; but long periods of neglect and indifference have always succeeded. The Reformers appealed to the Synodical Canons; the historians of the Spanish Church in the seventeenth century explained and illustrated their significance; and in Germany, vi ii Introduction . about half a century ago, tliey excited a brief but embittered controversy : but, save indirectly, and in subordination to a wider scheme, the Synod of Elvira has been left without notice. If the Synod has escaped attention, it has in- curred disproportionate disparagement. Its edicts have been assailed by Catholics, jealous for ritual and for leniency in the moral code ; and by Protes- tants, who see in some parts of its legislation evidence of ascetic and superstitious tendencies in an age, on their hypothesis, uncontaminated and uncorrupted. Even those who, either in censure or assent, have been silent, without exception have misapprehended the true significance of the assembly. The number and variety of the Canons, and the intricate moral problems which they raise, have diverted attention from other elements of a more permanent interest. The moral aspects of its policy have engrossed the attention of casuists and historians, but the importance of the Council as the initiation of a new ecclesiastical policy, and as the expression of the moral life of the age, has in the confusion of controversy been obscured. The fourscore Canons of the Synod stereotype in outline a faithful picture of the Spanish Church as it existed in the early years of the fourth century ; and although it is the dark and ignoble elements of thought and action that must inevitably prepon- derate in a representation of this nature, through the shadow and the shame of penal legislation we catch glimpses of a noble ideal, present then in aspiration and hope. From that which is denounced and con- Introduction. ix demued we may infer what was reverenced and pursued. In the Canons the moral standard sur- vives; in them we see the systeai of ecclesiastical organization still unconsolidated, but advancing from isolated independence to corporate unity. But, above all, the Synod sets before us the earliest stages of a policy destined to make that century an abiding epoch in the world^s history. The supreme crisis was near at hand, and the millions of the Empire at the time of the Synod were poised "Between two worlds — one dead, The other waiting to be born." The antagonism of the Church and the State was losing strength, and gradually passing away, though the reconciliation and alliance of the contending powers were not yet consummated. Here at Elvira we have the great conception of a Catholic Church in its germinal and most rudimentary form. It was only as a corporation that the Christian Church could realize its full strength, and only on that basis that it could oppose the secular power on equal terms, or supply a centre of unity in the social dissolution. A conception of such magnitude as the Council of Nicaea is not the work of impulse nor the creation of an hour ; it is the result of protracted labour and matured thought. In Spain, among *' a race always eager,^^ as a historian has described them, " to make a sovereign or an empire,"" and under the leadership of a statesman like Hosius, who was not only '^ a great man," but also ^^ came Introduction, at the right moment/' ^ it was only natural that the policy of the future should, before its application to the necessities of a world-wide empire, be initiated on a humbler scale, within the limits of a nation. It is as prelude and as prophecy of greater things, that the legislation of Elvira challenges recognition; and, in a fuller and deeper sense applying Mendoza^s noble panegyric, we may assert of the Acts of this Synod that " they must suffer no loss in troublous times, no destruction through the daring of heretics, nor any neglect through lapse of years." In this Essay, to which the annual premium was awarded by the Hulsean Trustees in 1881, the Synod of Elvira is discussed in its relation to Christian life during the fourth century. To this end it will be necessary to examine, in some cases at considerable length, the scope and the sense of the canonical decrees. For the clergy assembled at Elvira were men bent on business, and their terse and concise language in dealing with problems, familiar to them but foreign to ourselves, leaves much that is ambiguous and obscure, where interpre- tation is only possible by a process of comparison with similar decrees of contemporary Councils. Secondly, having thus secured ourselves against errors of this nature, we must proceed to determine the relation of these constituent elements to one another, and attempt to reduce the independent details to organic symmetry. And, lastly, the political significance of the general policy adopted by the Synod must be ^ " II ne suffit pas d'etre grand liomme, il faut venir a propos." — Mignet. Introduction. xi examined, with special reference to the condition and circumstances of the age. This triple process of investigation may, however, be simultaneously pursued. In working out the details of this subject I have necessarily borrowed largely from previous writers. To the great dissertation of Mendoza, and to the KircJiengescliichte von Spanien of Dr. Pius Gams, I have recurred throughout the Essay ; and the com- mentaries of Aiihespine and the Cardinal Saenz d'Aguirre have supplied a large amount of material for illustration and criticism. These authorities, together with Dr. Hefele\s ConciliengeschicJdej serve rather to introduce than to complete the tale of my debts : other obligations must be severally acknow- ledged as they occur. But in dealing with a Synod in which Hosius is such a prominent figure, it is impossible to leave without mention one who first impressed on many of us the work and the character of the great Spanish Bishop. Above all other ecclesiastical historians of our day, the late Dean of Westminster possessed the faculty described by Voltaire as ^' Get heureux don de plaire,^' and ex- pressed by Mr. Lowell in still happier phrase. If in one sense he taught us little ; in another, we have learned much : his was a power that lay beneath the printed page, and deeper than dry fact or abstruse theory. I am only too conscious how much both of learn- ing and of skill is required for success in discussing a subject in nature so complex as this, and feel how far short this Essay falls even of that lower xii Litroductioii, standard of excellence wliicli it sought to attain. Any merit wliicli this first venture in a new field of study may show is to be set down to the credit of the subject ; its defects and shortcomings, to the inexperience and incompetency of the author. Teinitt Hall, Cambeidge, June 1, 1882. CONTENTS. PAGE Summary xv CHAPTER I. The Pla.ce, the Date, and the Constitution op the Synod 1 CHAPTER II. Church Organization and Discipline . . . .57 CHAPTER III. Chbistian Morality 115 CHAPTER IV. AscETicisai, Sacerdotalism, and Superstition . . 168 CHAPTER V. The Relation of the Christian to the State and to Society 223 xiv Contents. CHAPTEE YL PAGE CflRlSTIAN WORSHir 284 Appendix A. — Text or the Synodical Canons . . 313 Apiexdix B.— Table of Magazine Literature . . 340 Index 343 SUMMAEY. CHAPTER I. I. The Place. § 1. Elvira : its position and status. Illiberris of Baetica and Illiberis of Narbonne. § 2. Confusion betAveen the towns ; Spanish Synod attri- buted in consequence to Gaul. § 3. The original site of Elvira : {a) On that of Granada .P (b) on the neighbouring hills ? § 4. Positive evidence for the identification of the sites of Granada and Elvira: in {a) traditions; (h) inscrip- tions ; (c) surviving names ; (d) municipal organisa- tion ; (e) general features of the locality. § 5. How did Elvira become Granada ? {a) Spurious legend ; (b) true history. § 6. Keasons for the selection of Elvira as a j^lace of meeting. Notes. II. Date of the Council. § 1. Superscription of the Canons fallacious ; a subsequent and unauthentic gloss. § 2. Reasons suggested to account for the omission of the customary information : (a) carelessness ; ( h) policy ; (c) principle. xvi Summary. [A.] § 3. Three ma.in theories as to the date of the Synod : (1.) Before the Daclan persecution in 304 a.d. (2.) Before the Synod of Aries, a.d. 314. (3.) Before the Council of Nic^a, a.d. 325. § 4. Extreme views summarily dismissed : (a) The Magdeburg theory ; (&) the argument of Morinus. § 5. The three main theories examined : (1) Before a.d. 304 : (i.) Its adherents. (ii.) Their arguments to show that the Synod was held in a time of persecution, present or anti- cipated, supported by (a) Eeport and Tradi- tion ; (/3) Severity of the Canons against idol- atry; (y) Personal evidence involved in the presence of Yalerius of Saragossa. (8) The hypothesis of Aguirre. § 6. (2) Before a.d. 314 : (i.) Its adherents, (ii.) Their arguments. (a) All assert evidence of recent persecution. (/3) Harduin argues to prove the contiguity of the Sj'^ncds of Aries and Elvira. (7) Mansi's argument about the Ides of May. (S) Personal evidence derived from the lives of Hosius of Cordova and Valerius of Sara- gossa. § 7. (3) Before a.d. 325 : (i.) Baluze ; (ii.) his arguments. § 8. All admit that the Synod was previous to that of Nicaea. [B.] INTERNAL EVIDENCE. § 9. Comparative neglect of the internal evidence afforded by the details of practical legislation. § 10. Many Canons inconsistent with the supposition of con- temporary persecution. Stimmary, xvii § 11. Others indicate possession of considerable social and religious security. § 12. Outward conformity to public opinion now the chief danger of the Church. § 13. The policy of the Synod directed to secure future peace and power rather than present protection. [c] UISTOmCAL EVIDENCE. § 14. The Edict of Diocletian, and the clemency of Constan- tius, then rnler in the West. § 15. The persecution of Dacian : ceases in a.d. 305, and Valerius and Hosius are released from exile or prison. § 16. Valerius : his character, sentence, and subsequent fate. § 17. Not prevented by martyrdom, which he did not suffer, from attending a Council after the persecution. § 18. Hosius : could have attended no later Synod ; his cha- racter and history. § 19. His experience in the jDersecution of a.d. 304. § 20. His relations with Constantine before a.d. 314, and from then to Nicsea, a.d. 325. /^ § 21. As a leader of councils at Sardica, Nicasa, Elvira. § 22. Hosius, if present at Elvira (which is certain), must have attended a convention held in or about the year a.d. 306, and this agrees with the general cha- racter of the Council. Notes. III. Constitution of the Council. § 1. Importance as a National Council convened by Hosius, the ecclesiastical leader of Bastica. § 2. What determined priority in signature .^ § 3. Official list of bishops present, compared with the list of presbyters, shows that the whole episcopate of Spain is not fully represented. § 4. Official list of presbyters. a xviii Summary. § 5. Some difficulties of identity. § 6. Other elements of the Church present, but not partici- pating in the deliberations by right. § 7. Ceremonial still informal. No Papal legates. The true sanction and guide of this and all other deli- berative assemblies. CHAPTER II. Church Organisatiox and Discipline. § 1. Aim of the Synod: (a) to restore order after persecu- tion ; (5) political and ecclesiastical. § 2. Hosius, the statesman of the Church, seeks a unity — (a) of organization; (6) of law. § 3. Inevitable renewal of Diocletian's policy with the Church as a possible basis of national unity. To this end, isolated corporations must first become a corporate unity. § 4. But congregations (a) are externally autonomous and independent, (?>) though internally they possess some organisation. § 5. National concert the first step. Requisites : {a) unity of discipline ; (})) the development of the clerical class as a uniting element. [A.] INCREASE OF EPISCOPAL POWER BY MUTUAL LIMITATION. § 6. Condition of the Spanish Church. § 7. The " Diocese " and the " Province." Bishop as yet the supreme officer : no Metropolitan system at present in Spain. § 8. Bishop independent within his own jurisdiction : (a) In central church ; (&) in rural churches entrusted to subordinate clergy. But to make episcopal action effective, unity by a limi- tation of autonomy was essential : Summary. xix § 9. (1 .) In restoration of oflfenders : (2.) lu admissiou of strangers into tlie Church. § 10. Thns necessitating precautions, to secure the authen- ticity of letters of communion : § 11. (3) In the ordination of strangers from another province. [B.] DEVELOPMENT OF A CLERICAL CLASS AS A UNITING lORCE. § 12. Distinction between clergy and laity emphasised : the honour of the office increased by the assertion of disqualifications for ordination, e.g. : (a) Mortal sin; {h) heresy; (c) slavery. § 13 Difference of dut}' and penalty, accompanying differ- ence of prerogative, reconciles the laity to (a) Religious subordination ; Qj) material privileges subsequently conferred upon the clergy. § 14. Corresponding distinctions within the priesthood : sacramental authority the new basis of the triple order ; bishop supreme over all sacraments, and the inferior clergy derive their power from him. § 15. Surviving consciousness of a more universal priest- hood allowed the performance of some episcopal functions by presbyters, deacons, and even laymen, in extreme need. § 16. Case of a virtuous heathen, who in the hour of death desired to become a Christian, in the absence of clergy. § 17. The clergy as a combining force. [c] UNIFORMITY OF DISCIPLINE. § 18. A uniform system of discipline essential to corporate existence : this a characteristic product of the Western genius inherited from Rome. § 19. Preponderance of penal elements in code of the Church as of barbarous communities, because both from various causes are without law of («) property, (6) persons, (c) contract. a 2 XX S^Linmary. § 20. Offences, and nature of their punishment. Penalty not physical now, but — § 21. Sacramental and social ; § 22. Varies in duration ; § 23. Admits alleviations. § 24. Perpetual excommunication : the practice disputed. § 25. Its use established. § 26. Impugned as heretical ; but essential distinction be- tween principles of Elvira and the Novatians. § 27. Eeal faults in the disciplinary system : (a) Outward act dissevered from inward spirit; (&) Arbitrary and artificial moral distinctions in- volved. § 2S. Dangerous distinction between "mortal" and "venial'* sins. It develops a system of casuistry, which in its extenuation of evil is worse than the old inter- cession of " confessors," which led to illegitimate adoration of the good. § 29. It also tends to (a) a false conception of absolute and relative sin; and (Z>) to a confusion between **sy2," which is absolute and an offence against God, with " tortr which is relative and against man; and thus, compensation of a material kind is considered admissible in both cases. § 30. Methods of punishment false. Abuse of the sacraments, which are not corrective nor retributive instruments,, leads to (a) a superstitious conception of Baptism ; (6) a degradation of the Eucharist. CHAPTER III. CiiiiiSTiAN Morality. § 1. Three periods in development of Christianity : (a) Morality ; (Z^) orthodoxy ; (c) munificence. But morality is special, and wider in range than the conventional definition. § 2. It is religious. ('0 in the sphere of operation ; (0) in basis and sanction. SiujiDiary. xxi § 3. Central principles : (a) Divine unity of God ; (/;) Natural unity of men. Primary application in prohibition of (a) idolatry, ij)) murder, (c) unchastity. [A]. IDOLATRY § 4. And its repression. § 5. Especially in the common worship at the local Capitols. § 6. The punishment of such offenders. § 7. Apotheosis and worship of Emperor common in Spain, but not mentioned here. Eeasons for silence. § 8. Idolatry in other forms and capacities : in professions. § 9. Effect of the decrees against idolatry. [B.] ^ 10. A violation of the unity of mankind. Its penalties. § 11. Special forms of abortion and infanticide. :§ 12. Other forms of homicide punished, as in the games of the arena, § 13. Which the Church resolutely opposed. ^ 14. Homicide in the case of slaves. The relation of the Church to slavery as an institution. § 15. Slaves and their mistresses. Punishment of indirect homicide through jealousy. § 16. Homicide attempted under cover of law by false charges or testimony. § 17. Informers punished in (a) secular, (b) religious courts. [c] UNCHASTITY. § 18. Roman society under the Empire : corruption of national and individual life. § 19. Special prominence of this class of sins. True reason : the civil power was impotent or indifferent, and the Church, therefore, bound to act. xxii Sumuiary § 20. Elementary condition of morality even in the Church demonstrated by the Synodical Canons. § 21. (1.) Sins before marriage. Sacred virgins and clergy punished with exceptional severity for unchastity. § 22. (2.) Sins in marriage. Safeguards in Canons relating to («) betrothal, (Z>) affinity. § 23. Women forbidden to keep male slaves as personal attendants. § 24. Adultery : its specific nature in E-oman law. Inequality of treatment accorded to either sex. Stages of development in Christian sentiment, which are in some cases contemporaneous and confused at Elvira. § 25. Connivance punished {a) in laity, (6) in clergy. Divorce allowed to injured husband. § 26. Inferior position of women. § 27. Punishment of a woman abandoning her husband for any cause, and uniting herself to another : contrast with the comparative freedom of the man. § 28. (3.) "Widowhood : its special duties. Second marriage not forbidden ; and in case of sin, even admitted in palliation of the oiFence. Notes. CHAPTER IV. Asceticism, Sacekdotalism, and SurEiisTiTioN. § 1. (1.) The Church unjustly charged with asceticism in opposing the music and dancing of the theatre : sophistical arguments used in their defence. § 2. The theatre and its character : (a) Legitimate drama and gymnastic exhibitions of no importance ; (/3) Mimes and pantomimes the supreme attraction. § 3. (a) Its profligacy ; {h) its cruelty. Summary. xxiii § 4. National demoralisation, § 5. The State more severe than the Church in its treatment of stage-players. § 6. The Churcli (a) insists that they shall relinquish their art. (?>) procures their exemption from a pro- fessional slavery ; § 7. (c) is lenient in restrictions set upon per- formances. § 8. (2.) Loans at interest prohibited : (rt) here among the laity, which is unusual ; (i) among the clergy, who are in special temptation (i.) through business restrictions ; (ii.) as guar- dians of Church funds. § 9. Prohibition not merely of excessive interest : («) the moral objection, as a source of depravity ; § 10. {h) the political and social objection, as a cause of division : this important at Elvira. §11. (3.) Gambling prohibited: a cardinal vice of Eoman society in violation of all law. § 12. Foreign to Christian spirit, but defended by fantastic allegory. § 13. Partly condemned as idolatrous. [b:] § 14. Unjustifiable Asceticism : («) Origin in antithesis of Gnostic dualism ; (6) fos- tered by external circumstances. § 15. Twofold tendency towards (a) Sacerdotalism, confining true virtue to a class ; (/>) Asceticism, eliminating good from jiart of the universe. § 16. Tendency in Spain sacerdotal. Clergy as a special class with (a) peculiar prerogatives ; (5) peculiar restrictions, confining them in secular business, which was still essential for their support; (<:•) special punishments for sins, as distinct from the laity. xxiv Summary, § 17. Asceticism (a) in celibacy ; (&) in fasts. §18. Fasts of the Church: {a) Sabbath ; (Z>) special monthly fasts, except in July and August. § 19. Reasons inducing the Spanish Church to retain the Sabbath fast. § 20. Celibacy advocated and idealised ; a selfish and sensual conception of marriage. § 21. Orders of virgins : (a) under vows of continence; {h) not secluded in isolated homes. § 22. Ascetic and sacerdotal tendencies unite in the clergy, who are compelled to rival others in austerity. Mar- riage allowed at least before ordination. § 23. (a) Connubial abstinence demanded at Elvira : [h) sub- sequent restrictions of marriage. § 24. Consequent irregularities among the celibate clergy ; but unnatural restrictions increased. § 25. These tendencies formulated and stereotyped by posi- tive law, -which perpetuates them artificially. [c] § 26. The same dualistic tendency leads to (a) a partition of the universe between contending powers ; (J)) superstition and sorcery, as among the Priscil- lianists, and even in the minds of the bishops here present. § 27. Charges brought by heathen and Christians against one another. The curse of the harvest : a popular remedy forbidden. § 28. Tapers not to be used in cemeteries during the day ; martyr-cult induces a desire to hold intercourse with departed souls. § 29. Universal use of tapers in Spain. § oO. Necromantic element in the custom certain : (a) inevitable as the common belief of the age: (1)) as a result of unconscious impulse. Stnnmary. xxv § 31. The insane : demoniacal possession as a tenet of the Church. § 32. {a) Specially cared for, but (Z») not admitted to Bap- tism by this Synod, save at death. ]^otes. CHAPTER V. The Eelation of the Church to the Heathen State and TO Heathen Society. I. § 1. Patriotism supplanted by devotion to the Church. § 2. Compulsory civic duties : (ct) Flamen ; (6) Duumvir. § 3. Antipathy of Church and State due to {a) organisation of heathen society ; (&) a false ideal of Christian life. § 4. The Christian admissible for offices involving religious duties under the national law : the cause. § 5. (1.) Municipal office : Christian Duumvirs {a) temjDorarily excluded from Church ; (?>) not excommunicated. § 6. Compulsory tenure of office the cause of this leniency, though duties might be incongruous with Christian profession. § 7. Subsequent changes in religious system : official duties recognised after the accession of Constantino. § 8. (2.) Military service : (a) not discussed at Elvira, and the reason, (i) The antipathy of the Church to the military calling produced serious consequences. § 9. Yet Christian soldiers were numerous. Ambiguous references at («) Aries, (Ij) Niciea. § 10. Military service as a bar to ordination. xxvi Swmnary. § 11. (3.) Ecclesiastical office: Christian Flamens. § 12. Graduated scale of guilt and penalty. § 13. Heathenism in Spain : the character of its worship and ritual. § 14. Sanguinary sacrifices to gods of Phoenician and Libyan origin. § 15. Guilt of the Christian assisting in such enormities. § 16. Some Christians hold office, but avoid the worst crimes. § 17. Punishment of unchastity after reconciliation in ex- pected death. § 18. Catechumens as Flamens. § 19. Christians retaining the nominal title of Flamen, and wearing the crown. II. § 20. Spiritual unity (a) essential to the health of the Church ; (&) endangered by temporal prosperity. § 21. Society outside the Church : (a) Jews, (6) heretics, (c) heathen ; intercourse only restricted when dangerous to social and religious integrity. § 22. (1.) Jews, numerous and powerful in Spain. § 23. Struggle of the Church against Jewish proselytism, and mutual animosity. § 24. Domestic intimacy and intermarriage with Jews and heretics forbidden. § 25. Difficulties arising from the preponderance of women in the Church. § 26. Marriage with a heathen prohibited but not punished, because (a) their numbers greater than those of Jews and heretics ; {})) their religious faith less deep and defi- nite ; thus marriage with them more (a) expedient, (6) safe. § 27. But marriage with their priests punished severely. § 28. Special punishment for adultery with a Jewess. § 29. Harvest not to be blessed by Jews ; false and true in- terpretations of the Canon. Summary. xxvii § 30. (2.) Heathen tenant, if he sacrifices, must do so at hin own cost. § 31. Christian master to prevent his slaves, if possible, from keeping idols. § 32. Subsequent legislation, and its failure to repress idolatry. § 33. Antipathy to the religious processions and spectacles of the heathen. § 34. Presence or participation punished. § 35. But Church avoids outraging heathen susceptibilities, and especially prohibits the iconoclastic attacks so common in Spain, § 36. On account of («) the provocation to retaliation ; {h) the base motives which prompted some Christians to the act. § 37. '•' Death in the act :" its significance in this connexion. CHAPTER VI. Christian Worship. § 1. The Church recognised its importance, but the Synod was primarily occupied with other work. § 2. (1.) Place ef worship : Churches in the municipalities. § 3. (a) !N'o temples utilised by Christians as yet, and few afterwards. {f)) Basilicas (1) not generally transferred to the Church ; (2) but imitated in structure ; and Chris- tian edifices, as the seat of the Presbyterial Council, confirmed legal associations. § 4. Ornament : ia) sacred images and pictures viewed with disfavour. (6) Christian art, as yet, mean and degraded. xxviii Summary, § 5. (c) Art avoided through heathen associa- tions. § 6. {d) images also excluded as liable to pro- duce illegitimate hero-worship, (e) and through the influence of the Mosaic code. § 7. Religious symbolism, tolerated, leads to religious imita- tation, which was disallowed. § 8. Canon XXXVI : its meaning and force. § 9. Attempts to attenuate its application by limiting it to (rt) objects of heathen worship ; (&) the caprice of unauthorised individuals ; (c) representations of the Divine Being. § 10. Pasquinades in the Church punished : the Church re- produces the severity of the Empire. § 11. (2.) Church Attendance : Absentees in past persecution ; the punishment of («) believers, (5) catechumens. § 12. Absence through indifference («) punished in town, (Jj) but inevitable in country districts. § 13. (3.) The Sacraments : Indifference of clergy and laity shown in sacra- mental abuses ; Avarice of clergy demonstrated by — {v iv rais Ka>fiais afifX^wv. Effects of Episcopal Autonomy. yi against tlie decision of Churcli and clergy there was no appeal. It was^ however^ inevitable that in the absence of a systematic agreement for united action, the policy of one diocese might be repu- diated or discountenanced by another ; and in this fact lay the chief weakness of the Churchy and the most ready refuge of the offender. One bishop might indeed condemn, and even excommunicate him, but unless the sentence were endorsed by others, the punishment lost its terrors, and a few miles would relieve him from the unpleasantness of a life of isolation and reproach. Yet unless the excommunication was effectual in excluding an outlawed Christian from the sacraments and the fellowship of the Church, it was a remedy worse than useless, and a hardened criminal might repair from city to city, trading upon the beneficent charity of the Christian community, till some scan- dalous offence laid him under fresh condemnation, and compelled him once more to seek a new home elsewhere. Nor was it only in cases of gross and grievous sin that such a precaution was necessary, for the heretic of one diocese mio-ht find himself after expulsion and migration among the orthodox of another. To secure harmony and unanimity it was essential that the autonomy of individual bishops in receiving Christians by profession into the Church should be defined and restricted. ^ 9. To this end, the Synod enacted that every believer so expelled should be readmitted only by the bishop who originally excluded him from communion, and that any one who should presume to restore the 7 2 The Synod of Elvira. ofiender witliout the consent or co-operation of the other^ should be considered as guilty of an offence imperilling by its gravity his episcopal office/ It is evident that the apparent restriction is in reality an extension of episcopal power. Each bishop secures by a slight amount of personal abnegation an im- mense increase of positive control; for henceforth his sentence of expulsion is valid, not only within the limits of his own confined jurisdiction, but through the length and breadth of an entire nation. We need feel no surprise at the emphatic affirma- tion accorded to this Canon/ which was indeed the key-note of the policy at this time inaugurated^ while its universal acceptance was an essential condition of its efficiency in operation.'' Hosius saw the same principle affirmed in different words at Nicsea/ and at Sardica/ and even before the earlier of these Councils, its provisions had been informally accepted elsewhere.^ When similar enactments were approved by Council after Council, and as the Christian com- munity extended and increased in power and in- fluence, the sentence of a single bishop acquired a 4 Elv. LIII. [cf. Note X.] ^ » pi^cuit cunctis." ^ Cf. Aristotle, (Econ. lib. ii., and Mendoza, 1. c. p. 313. 7 Nic. y. 8 sai-a. XVI. 9 Cf. Antioch, A.D. 341 [VI.] ; Hippo, a.d. 393, [XXX.]; Apost. Can. XXXI., which applies specially to the clergy. For a modifi- cation of the same prohibition, cf. Aries XVII., " ut nuUus epis- copus alium episcopum inculcet." At Antioch [II.] any of the clergy associating with those out of communion were deposed for their offence against the order of the Church. Cf. Apost. Can. X. XI. XII. and Hatch, Bampton Lectures, pp. 170—173. Precautions aoainst Fraud, .^LICC^C- J. ,tVC,LV, /^ terrible severity hitherto unknown, and even at present the consequences of exclusion, though con- fined within the limits of a few provinces, and to a subordinate sect of the people, were serious enough to cause alarm and to secure submission. This was the first step to a sentence of world-wide validity. To secure the decrees of the Synod against evasion, it was necessary that great caution and strictness should be observed in the admission to commu- nion of professed Christians who had come in the course of travel or by change of home into a strange city. Through the absence of due precautions, not only had the hospitality and generosity of individual Christians been often and grossly abused, but the Church also had been deceived and deluded by the false pretensions of unknown strangers. From a very early date letters of commendation, affording a guarantee to distant Churches of the position and claims of the traveller, had not been unknown,^ and with the lapse of time increased nse had given them a set and official form.^ A layman about to set out on a journey would take these letters of introduction, to secure his admission to communion and social intercourse in the cities which he intended to visit ; a cleric would carry similar testimony to his morality and ortho- doxy on leaving one diocese for another. Even if the change were but from one parish to another, the 1 Cf. Ep. 2 Corinth, iii. ^ ^'LitersB formatse ; " cf. Sueton. Dom. xiii. : "formalis epistola," " €77 tcrroXai (rucrrariKat, elprjvLKai, kolvcovlkoi, — epistolse pacificse," communicatorise, were virtually synonymous titles. Cf. Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 263, note 7. 74 The Synod of Elvira. presbyter would give tlie recommendation which for greater distances had to be obtained from the bishop. A considerable amount of laxity and irregu- larity had prevailed, however, in this practice ; and though it was now no longer customary as in primi- tive times for a Church to receive a stranger without satisfactory credentials, letters of commendation had been admitted, which were not duly authenti- cated by the responsible authorities. Cases were not unknown in which such letters had been obtained from those who had witnessed for Christ in the time of persecution ^ — a lingering remnant of former pre- rogatives — or from the wives of married bishops; and sometimes the testimonials had been forged or acquired by fraud. § 10. To check such irregularities, the Synod forbade men to receive letters from the wives of Church dignitaries,'* and recommended the clergy generally, and bishops in particular, to examine those who presented testimonials, to ascertain their genuineness and the identity of the bearer.^ Such precautions were advisable in all places, and especially at the official seat of the bishop, for he would receive a larger number of these strangers than any of the subordinate clergy ; while if he admitted offenders who thus endeavoured to return by stealth into the communion they had forfeited, or men who were anxious to avoid the preliminary probation, there would be no one to remedy his mistakes. It was not to ascertain the condition of other dioceses, as 3 Cf. Aries IX. '^ Elv. LXXXI. 5 Ely. LVIII. Letters of Commendation, 75 some have thought/ that the inquiry was instituted ; for the bishop would have no jurisdiction there ; this special care was enjoined to secure his own charge against the dangers arising from indiscreet and care- less admission. Subsequently the rule was made more stringent still, and it became the custom to receive no one into another church without a formal letter from his former bishop.^ It is possible, though not certain, that the Synod directly forbade Christians to receive letters of com- mendation from those who had confessed Christ in persecution; such, at least, is the interpretation which some commentators of note put upon the twenty- fifth Canon.^ It would, however, seem more natural, judging from the evidence afforded by the Canon itself, to prefer another view. For the Canon refers, not to those who ask for letters, but to those who present them ; and recommends that the name of " confessor " shall be struck out, and letters of communion given instead, assigning as a reason, the fact that the title of honour deceives and misleads simple and unsuspecting souls. The case was this : some Christians, when setting out on a journey, presented to their bishop for signature letters stating that they had been ^^ confessors," hoping by this imposing name to secure greater distinction and consideration in distant churches, ^ Hefele, vol. i. p. 182, corrects his former misinterpretation. 7 Cf. Can. Apost. XIII. XXXIV. Antiocli, VII. 8 Elv. XXV. Cf. Aubespine, pp. 33, 34. Migne, Diet. Concil. vol. i. p. 820. Gams, vol. ii. p. 77. Herbst, Tubingen Theolog. Quartalscbrift, 1821, pp. 29, 30. Aries (IX.) makes in favour of this theory. 76 The Synod of Elvira. perhaps even with the intention of raising alms by its means. The bishop, to avoid all such malpractices, was to disallow the distinctive title, and was advised to give ordinary letters of communion, and nothing more. The Canon was intended for the protection of the simple, not for the security of the bishop.^ § 11. Such precautions were essential, not only in the case of lay Christians coming from strange pro- vinces, but still more where the clergy were concerned, who, as we shall presently see, in pursuance of a similar policy, were now subjected to the most stringent regu- 9 Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 165, 166. Eemy Ceillier, Histoh'e des Auteurs Sacres, vol. iii. p. 665 ; and Miinchen, Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. xxvi. p. 51. Mendoza's explanation is different, and untrustworthy. He says that confessors, like martyrs, had the honourable privilege of granting letters of intercession on behalf of the " lapsi," who ■"vere presented to the bishop, or, in case of need, to the priest or deacon [cf. Cyprian, Ep. xiii. ad Presbyt.], and giving a passport to communion [cf. Aries IX. : "De his qui confessorum literas afferunt, placuit, ut sublatis literis, alias accipiant communica- torias."] He is, however, puzzled by " concutiant " &c,, and, uncertain as to its exact force, gives alternative explanations : the name of the martyr in the letter (i.) deluded the com- monalty into the belief that he, and not the bishop in Christ's name, forgives the sin and remits its penalties, and thus led them not to present the letters in the proper quarter [cf. Cyprian, Ad Mart, x.] ; or (ii.) it deceived the " confessor " himself into thinking that this privilege was a right, thus leading to irregu- larity and laxity in the bestowal of the letters [cf. Cyprian, Ep. xxix. XXX.]. Thus (a) Lucianus gives letters in the name of Paulus after his death ; and {h) in the name of the youth Aurelius, who could not write [cf. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 216 — 218]. He is followed by Baronius. On the letters given to associates of philosophical schools, cf. Hatch, Bampton Lecture, p. 45. Restrictions upon Ordination & Promotion, yj lations. For if it was important to secure tlie com- munion of tlie Cliurcli from unwarrantable intrusion, even greater care was requisite in admitting strangers to the priesthood. The clergy were required to be free from even the suspicion of sin ; and it would have been a dangerous course to admit men into its ranks merely because nothing definite was known against them in a foreign province. The Synod therefore enacted that those who had been baptised abroad, should not be promoted into the ranks of the clergy in any foreign province.^ At Aries a similar provision was approved ;^ while at Nicaea the clergy who had left their charge, were com- manded to return to their proper diocese ; and bishops were strictly forbidden to '^ steal a man ^' belonging to a brother, or to ordain such an one in a foreign diocese.^ The latter part of the canon is supposed to have special reference to the Meletian schism,'^ but the principle was one of far wider application. At Kome, when Manichean heresies threatened the peace and unity of the Church, special edicts were passed against the ordination of Africans and foreigners ; and at the Council of Sardica, the habits of the Eusebian party seem to have necessitated a still greater rigour in dealing with such irregularities. The caution shown by the Church in appointing to office was not without effect upon the civil authorities, and it was made a 1 Elv. XXIV. 2 Aries XXVI. The Canon is, however, of doubtful authen- ticity. 3 Nic£ea XVI. "* Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 420, 421. 78 The Synod of Elvira. ground of complaint that, while Christians and Jews were most circumspect in ordaining priests, a similar precaution was neglected in appointing the rulers of provinces, who exercised supreme power over men^s fortunes and lives.^ § 12. This special caution in selecting the can- didates for clerical oflSce was only a subordinate element in a wider policy, aiming at a vital and complete discrimination of clergy and laity in the Christian Church. The tendency was natural, but at Elvira it was undoubtedly fostered and promoted in pursuance of definite aims, which have already been described. To emphasize the distinction be- tween the two classes, it was not enough to insist upon a testimony to personal character and history, which was required in the case of any Christian migrating from one diocese to another, even when the precaution was rendered more efficient by fur- ther restrictions upon ordination abroad. To mark off the clergy as a class, measures were necessary to assert in the most emphatic way the special dignity and honour of the priestly office which they held. Thus, the Synod made mortal sin committed in youth an insuperable barrier to continuance in office, and therefore, we may suppose, to ordination, in accordance with the Nicene Canons.*' In this Council, heresy was put upon the same level as deadly sin ; and the heretic who forsook his errors was, like the sinner, to be refused ordination, or to be deposed, 5 Lampridius, Alex. Severus. Cf. Cartbag. Synod IV. C. XXII. Antioch III. Sardica I. 6 Cf. Niceea II. IX. X. Elv. LXXVI. Disqualificaiio7is for the Priest Jiood. 79 if such an one had eluded episcopal vigilance or profited by undue laxity. And though at this time there was little, if any, organized heresy in Spain, yet there could not fail to be a certain number of Christians who had been exposed to, and affected by, foreign influences/ The severity shown by the Synod has been contrasted with the lenity of the Nicene Fathers to the Novatian clergy ; but, as Hefele rightly points out, the Novatians were schis- matics, and not heretics in the strict sense of the word : they separated themselves within the Church by the rigour of their discipline, but they did not teach anything fundamentally opposed to the Catholic doctrine.^ And thus, partly from such reasons, and partly, no doubt, from motives of political and eccle- siastical policy, those who conformed were permitted to retain their priestly status, after the imposition of hands by a bishop of the Church.^ To those, however, who had fallen from baptismal grace, no more consideration was shown in the Eastern than in the Western Council.^ The same treatment was applied to the Donatists in Africa and at Rome.^ It is easy to understand how sin and error were considered disqualifications for the Christian priest- hood, when the sentiment and spirit of the Church turned in this direction. But at first sight the pro- hibition imposed upon the ordination of freedmen, 7 Cf Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 309, 310. 8 Hefele, vol. i. pp. 409, 410. 3 NicEea VIII. ^ lb. X. - In Elv. LI. it is to be noticed that " fidelis " is a believer coming from heresy ; i. e. who has received heretical baptism. 8o The Synod of Elvira. whose masters were heathen^ is soraewhat inexpli- cable ; and it seems as if the Church had been guilty of a compromise with the false distinctions of worldly society, ignoring the fact that truest faith and noblest zeal might exist in the slave no less than in his master_, and forgetting the heroic suffer- ings which many others besides Blandina had undergone in the time of persecution. The Synod, however, was influenced by different motives from these. The Christian who had not been born to freedom, but had received it as a gift, was not entirely free, and still owed his former master a certain respect and service, the refusal of which might endanger the liberty he had gained.^ The freedman had to render daily recognition of his master's authority, to feed his " patronus,^^ if in want ; and if he left behind him at death more than one hundred gold pieces [aurei], the master was heir. There was a danger that intimacy with the heathen household might taint and corrupt the morals of the Christian, while his master's authority would remain paramount even after the act of manumission, especially if a gentle and temperate rule had left a pre-existing debt of kindness.'' But, further, the Church would feel an invincible repugnance that one still in subservience to an unbeliever should aspire to dominion among the highly privileged order of the clergy. Had a 3 Elv. LXXX. ^ Cf. Gratian, De Ingrat. Libert. " Libertini " are "ex inita servitute manumissi.'' Gaius, De Statu Hominis. " Ingenui," those free by birth : e. g. the children of the liberti. 5 Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 71. Distinctions betiveen Clergy and Laity. 8 1 Christian been his master, the case were different : perfect freedom and exemption from the somewhat menial duties entailed by his condition might easily have been procm^ed; in the other case it was diffi- cult, if not impossible, to ensure this measure of relief; and hence the restriction was imposed.^ In all these several enactments there is one and the same motive — the desire to separate and distinguish the clergy, as a class superior in personal and in official character, and differentiated from the com- monalty of Christians by pre-eminent merits cor- responding to their pre-eminent prerogatives. It was only in this way that the supremacy of the clerical office could be developed and maintained ; and without such a supremacy, the organic power of the Church as a social and ecclesiastical unity could be only an aspiration and ideal, remote from all realization in historic fact. § 13. To assert and express this class discrimi- nation in the clearest and plainest way, no means could be more efficient than a distinction in pre- rogative and penalty, condoning in the laity sins punished in the clergy ; or, when such leniency was impossible, visiting the offence with a sentence of relaxed severity. At present — except for the fact that much of their time was necessarily devoted to the business of the Church, thus excluding them by want of leisure, as well as by law, from some trades and occupations — there was no other method of distinguishing the clergy from the rest of the believers. To punish their sins in a special way, on « Cf Corp. Jur. Can. Dist. liv. G 8 2 TJie Synod of Elvira. the ground tliat they were pre-eminently constrained to attain a high degree of personal sanctity^ and to exclude others from the performance of the functions now entrusted to them, was an essential step towards the subsequent organization of the Church under Christian rulers. For without a pre-existing con- sciousness and recognition of a vital difference separating the one class from the other, the mass of the people, and even of Christian people, would infallibly ha^e resented the exemption of their clergy from the burdens to which they themselves were liable, and would have fiercely denounced the distinction as partial and unfair. But having been thus habituated to a discrimination in spiritual life, they accepted, without murmur of discontent, a corresponding difi'ereuce in the secular order, which indeed was so misused that the most stringent regulations were necessary to protect the State against the abuses to which it gave rise. We shall see in the course of this essay the diffe- rence in the treatment accorded to the offences of clery and laity respectively ; but even without the full details before us, it is easy to conjecture how deeply this diversity of punishment must have affected the mind and imagination of the Christian commonalty, when they saw bishop, priest, and deacon subjected to special restrictions, and exposed to life-long shame and reproach for violation of these rigorous conditions, while the ordinary Christian conformed to the provisions of a gentler code.' The believer, even if he fell into grievous trans- 7 Cf. Elv. XIX. XX. XXVII. XXX. XXXIII. LXV. LXXVI. Gradations of Clerical Rank. 83 gression, might regain his Eucliai^istic privilege at the hour of death ; but the clerical office, once lost, was lost for ever, beyond the reach of remedy or reparation. § 14. Just as the separation of the clergy from the laity became more absolute, so did the distinction between the various ranks of the clergy. We have already seen how widely the old conception of each Christian Church as a community complete in itself had fallen into neglect, and the position of subordi- nation and dependence occupied by numerous rural congregations. This inferiority was occasioned, not by merely local considerations, but by the absence of the bishop, who now concentrated and embodied the power of the entire community. The old diver- sity of functions had long since passed away. The bishop was no more the presiding and administrative officer in every Christian Church, superior in autho- rity, but not in essential worth and virtue, to those in his charge ; the deacons were no longer his associated agents in distribution and inquiry ; and the presby- ters were not primarily and essentially a council of discipline. The old basis of organization had been exchanged for another ; sacramental efficacy now supplied the standard of precedence and power, and the triple rank represented a gradation of sacra- mental authority. The bishop had supreme control over the sacraments of the Church, while presbyter and deacon derived an accessory power from his sanction. The commonalty of the Church still kept a share of responsibility in episcopal elections^, but the presence of other bishops of the province was G 2 84 The Synod of Elvira. essential to tlie validity of the choice.^ Nor was tlie bishop when elected and consecrated entirely un- fettered in his action^ for he was still bound^ at least to take counsel with his presbyters. But he was now by prescription the supreme authority in the Churchy and a congregation of the faithful who did not include a bishop among its officers was de- barred from exercising, except by an act of grace, some of the most important functions of the Christian Church. The bishops had monopolized the ministry of the word and the ministry of the sacraments. Baptism, confirmation, ordination, the Eucharist, and even preaching, were primarily and essentially the privilege of the bishop, and in matters of discipline he had the supreme voice. He might under certain conditions delegate a part of his functions to a presbyter, or even to a deacon, in case of extreme need ; but episcopal supremacy was the fundamental conception of the new order. With such a basis the consolidation of the Church by the official element was an easy matter. No system would have served the purpose so well as the sacramental distinction, which from its nature was easy to assert, and difficult to dispute or deny. § 15. The original consciousness, however, of a more universal priesthood of Christians still survived to some extent, though weakened and impaired by subsequent developments of faith and ritual, and it may be traced in the Canons of the Synod. Thus, although reconciliation and restoration could legally 8 Cf. Niceea IV. and Aries XX.; and vid. Hefele, vol. i. p. 381 foil, on the exact authority of the people in such elections. Reconciliation by Priests and Deacons, 8 5 be granted by none save a bisliop^ and^ according to the enactments of this Synod_, only by the bishop who orginally pronounced the sentence of excom- munication,^ it is here granted that while penitence before a priest shall not in ordinary cases be recog- nized, yet in cases of extremity a presbyter may concede readmission on his own responsibility^ or even a deacon if so directed by a presbyter.^ This concession would of course be specially neces- sary in rural districts in charge of the inferior clergy^ where the presence of a bishop could not easily be secured.^ Baptism,, however, to take another case, was ordina- 5 Elv. LIII. 1 Elv. XXXII., and contrast Nica^a XVIII. =2 Cf. Cyprian, Ep. xiii. ad Clerum, and Elv. LXXVII. The title of the Canon, " De excommunicatis presbjteris, ut," &c., has given rise to considerable difference of opinion and inter- pretation. Nolte [Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1865, p. 310] would strike out "presbyteris," or transpose it and "excommunicatis." ]Mansi finds in fact this reading in several manuscripts; andAubespine suggests the change, p. 40 [in margine]. Gams is certainly wrong in maintaining the erroneous ver- sion. While it is true that the law would apply to " excommu- nicated presbyters " as well as to the " laity," there is no reason in the Canon why they should be thus singled out in the title. The error has arisen from the close conjunction of "si quis . . . inciderit " with " presbyterum ; " but it is the penitent and not the presbyter whose offence is here presupposed. A presbyter guilty of grievous sin, ijpso facto forfeits his prerogatives [Gams, vol. ii. p. 84]. Gonzalez Tellez explains the latter part of the Canon on the theory that deacons could give only the Eucharist, not absolu- tion ; while Binterim asserts that the ministration of a pres- byter was essential, though a deacon might assist him if desired. [Katholik, 1821, vol. ii. p. 432.] Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 244, Aguirre, vol. i. pp. 514 — 516, and Hefele, vol. i. p. 168. S6 The Synod of Elvira. rily the prerogative of the bishop and the presbyter/ but in extreme need a deacon in charge of a rural congregation might administer this sacrament in the absence of the superior clergy.'* The same principle receives a still more striking application in another Canon of the Synod_, which allows a believer who has not defiled his baptismal robe, and is not a bigamist — thus conforming in some degree to the obligation of the clergy — in voyages abroad, or where no Church is near at hand, to baptise a catechumen in extreme peril of life.^ Should, however, a Christian so baptised survive, he was to be brought to the bishop, and confirmed with laying on of hands ; though should death occur before this part of the inaugural ceremony could be performed, the bap- tismal profession of faith was to be considered as suflacient to ensure salvation/ evidence which proves incidentally that confirmation, and consequently communion and unction, were not at this time demanded as essential to salvation. Great stress was, however, laid upon this episcopal confirmation ; and at Aries and Nicsea we find that converts from heresy, who had been baptised in the name of the Trinity, were not to receive a second baptism, but were to be formally confirmed/ in antagonism to the African law, which insisted upon a renewal of the rite.'' [Note B.] ^ Cf. Tert.de Bapt. c. xvii.; cf. vii. and viii. and Hieronymus, adv. Lucif. c. xxvi. xxvii. Migne, Patrologia, vol. xxxiii. p. 180. ^ Elv. LXXVII. 5 Elv. XXXVIII. "> Elv. LXXVII. 7 Aries VIII. Nicaa XIX. ' Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 130, 131. On the baptismal cere- Irregular adjnission of Converts. 8 7 § 16. There is another Canon_, to all appearance standing in most intimate connexion with those already discussed, which provides for the case of a heathen of virtuous life according to the ordinary standard, who desires to show his conversion to the Christian faith, directing that " hands shall be laid upon such, and they shall become Christians.''^ '^ Judging from the preceding Canon,^ which admits the baptism of a faithful and upright believer in case of necessity, we may infer that in this similar case of need the intervention of a layman was also valid, when none of the clergy were within call ; though the terseness of the decree leaves con- siderable room for doubt. At any rate this may fairly be asserted, that as the catechumen might be irregularly baptised in case of need, so might the heathen be irregularly admitted to the catechume- nate ; for this is the strict and technical meaning of the title '^ Christianus.^' ^ This view harmonizes with the seventh Canon of the second OEcumenical Coun- cil, held in 380 a.d., the authenticity of which is, however impugned by Hefele and other com- mentators with considerable force.^ The Canon, whether genuine, or an extract from a letter of monies, cf. inter alia, Prudentius, Psychomachia. " Post in- Bcripta oleo fronti signacula per quae Unguentum regale datum est et chrisma perenne." Confirmation was the (T(j)pr]y\s, the seal of baptism. 9 Elv. XXXIX. ' Elv. XXXYIII. 2 Cf. Elv. XLV. LIX., and August. Tract. xKv., John, c. ix. § 2. Migne, Patrologia, vol. xxxv. p. 1714. » Cf. Hefele, vol. ii. pp. 27, 28, and Beveridge, Pandectse, P. II. Annot.p.lOOsq. Van Espen, Comm.in Can.p.l94, there quoted. SS The Sy7iod of Elvira. Martyrius_, Bishop of Antiocli some eighty years later_, says : — " Heathen are on the first day ad- mitted as Christians, on the next as catechumens, on the third day they are exorcised." So Constan- tino received the imposition of hands at Hellenopolis before his baptism.'* And, as Herbst points out, a heathen man in dangerous illness might well take this course, either in faith, or through belief in some supernatural power of the rite which would remove his sickness on account of the prayers of the Church on his behalf. Applications of this kind would lead to some hesitation as to the duty of the clergy and of lay Christians, and the practice is therefore formally recognized.^ On this hypothesis we have a complete and harmonious system throughout : the believer may admit the heathen in case of need to the cate- chumenate ; a layman of irreproachable character, or deacon, may baptise the catechumen ; and priest or a deacon may administer the Eucharist to a baptised Christian. Whatever recommendation other theories may have to support them, in this respect they are certainly deficient; and considering the concise wording of the Canons, the unity of the policy pur- sued by the Synod, and the context of the Canon, this explanation seems not only defensible, but even preferable. [Note C] 4 Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 480. s Herbst, Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1821, pp. 38, 39. Cf. Binius. Mansi, vol. ii. p. 40, Katerkamp, Kirchengeschichte, vol. ii. p. 21., and Dr. Nickes in the Zeitscbrift f'iir Katholiscbe Theo- logie, Wien, 1856, pp. 35, and 33 — 37. Gams, vol. ii. pp. 101, 102. Cf. Aries, C. VI. Sacerdotalism the Uniting Force. 89 § 1 7. These concessions, granted througli urgency and not on principle, show to how great an extent the sacerdotal function has been engrossed by the members of the clerical order. And hence it came to pass that the Synod had only to confirm the pre- existent system, and to secure the continuance of the monopoly of prerogative within certain limits in pursuance of their policy. There was an order in the Christian Church to link congregation to con- gregation. One bishop was the natural ally of his neighbour; presbyters and deacons of one city had the same interests at heart as their brethren in other parts of the province. And so the organic union, which with isolated and democratic communities would have been all but impossible, was developed and cemented by the universal presence of a conse- crated class, endowed with pre-eminent powers, and invested with peculiar responsibility ; who, in fact, fulfilled the functions of the osseous structure in the living organism, and gave compactness and strength to the ecclesiastical fabric, which without such artificial aid would have become flaccid or decomposed. § 18. It only remains to discuss the last of the three great methods by which the leaders of the Church proposed to make the autonomous and iso- lated communities integral parts of an organic whole ; that uniform system of discipline restricting individual action within the narrowest limits. Such a code of law was essential, as we have already seen, to the development of corporate life in the congre- gations subsisting within the Spanish Church, and 90 The Synod of Elvira. without such a basis a common national life would have been impossible : for it is in conformity to similar and universal standards that national and municipal life consists. Such a code, then^ was demanded by the circum- stances of the times ; and even in the absence of any special need^ the characteristic genius of the West could not have failed to produce one. For throughout that part of Europe the influence of Rome was para- mount^ and from Rome these nations had inherited the legal instinct which was the essential concomi- tant of empire won, by courage and held by wisdom. Even when political power began to wane, and the national fabric became decrepit and infirm, the legal genius survived in an otherwise degenerate race. A great exponent of the philosophy of law has pointed out the contrast of Eastern and Western Christendom, and how, in passing from one region to the other, " Theological speculation has passed from a climate of Greek metaphysics to a climate of Roman law.^' ^ And thus, while from Greece and Alexandria were derived the speculative and the metaphysical elements of Christianity, the Latin communities debated and decided questions of law and of morals : the one defines the Godhead, the other discriminates the penalties of sin. Nor could any other result be anticipated, for nations in changing their faith still keep their character ; and men who had been " occupied in applying a peculiar set of principles to all the combinations in which the circumstances of life are capable of being arranged,^' ^ Maine, Ancient Law, pp. 356, 357. De Broglie, 1. c. p. 58. The Ecclesiastical Code. 9 1 would inevitably transfer their interests and activities to the new sphere of thought and duty revealed to them in the Christian life." § 19. It is this tendency of the human mind which gives us codes like those adopted at Elvira, and by other Western Councils ; codes which, though they do not possess the detailed perfection of a com- plete legal system, in time approximate to it. At first sight, indeed, the immense preponderance of the penal elements in the code of a civilized com- munity seems to present a gross and palpable vio- lation of the laws which control the development of legal consciousness. The anomaly, however, is more apparent than real. For we must not forget that the Church, though a society of civilized members, from a legal point of view occupied almost the identical position of primitive communities, where law as yet exists only in its most rudimentary stages : the Church is not barbarous ; yet, like barbarous so- cieties, in the sphere of law its chief concern is with crime and its punishment. The explanation of the paradox is strangely simple. Every characteristic of primitive law recurs in the Church by reason of its nature and basis. In it, as in primitive society, there is no law of persons, the status of the individual being merged in common subjection to paternal power; for except so far as the ranks of the clergy are concerned, there is no distinction of Christians within the Church. Again, in such a society there is not necessarily any law of property and succession. In the one case, land and goods ^ Maine, Ancient Law, p. 358. 92 The Synod of Elvira. devolve within the family, and no legal direction is necessary to provide for their transmission ; in the other, the question is either removed from the juris- diction of the Church by the national law of the secular power, or is left to the conscience of the individual. And lastly, contract, the great cha- racteristic of mature civilized life, has no place in morals and religion, but is essentially foreign in nature and force. In the Church, therefore, and in early social developments, the same result is pro- duced by the action of dissimilar causes ; and the criminal law has priority and preponderance in both alike.^ § 20. To enumerate in this place the diversity of offences, moral and religious, on which punishment is inflicted by the Synodical decrees, would be tedious and futile. Their nature and number will appear as we pass through the various phases of Christian life in Western Europe at this epoch. Murder, unchastity, and idolatry are the cardinal sins ; but the Council occupied itself also with offences far less grave than these, and as different in kind as in enormity. The Canons which mark out for punishment the gambler, the church absentee, and the associate of Jews, may serve as typical illustrations of the variety and extent of the subjects included in their legislative action, but at present our concern is rather with the penalties imposed than with the offences which provoked them. The punishments, unlike the offences, vary rather in degree than in kind, and maintain throughout an 5 Cf. Maine, Ancient Law, pp. 368, 369. The Penal Powej^s of the Church. 93 essential similarity^ both, in the case of the graver and of the more trivial sins ; for the sentence which is imposed upon flagrant vices^ such as idolatry and impurity^ differs only in duration and intensity from the punishment of the delinquencies enumerated above. The direct physical vengeance which in- flicted disease or death on Elymas^ Sapphira^ and AnaniaSj had become a thing of the past. The power was temporary, and intended to supply the defect of civil and coercive power, of which the early Church was wholly destitute.^ Now that the Church possessed other methods of enforcing its sentence, this transcendent appeal was no longer necessary ; and when necessity ceased, the miraculous aid ceased too. Fire and cloud grow dim when the years of wandering end. And thus the weapon of the Church had now become sacramental instead of supernatural; for even in the social penalties the sacramental element was fundamental. Exclusion from the sacraments led to exclusion from the home : in Christianity, as in paganism, it is violation of the mysteries, and divine displeasure, that disqualify a man for companionship.^ § 21. It was this separation from the Christian and from the Eucharistic communion to which the Church resorted for the punishment of the dis- obedient ; or, in the case of those who had not yet fully entered into the privileges of discipleship, to a corresponding exclusion from baptism. Excom- munication thus had this double force, and the 9 Cf. Cave, Primitive Christianity, p. 359. ^ Cf. Horace, Odes, iii. 2 28. 94 The Synod of Elvira. offender forfeited Eucharistic access to God, and the sympathetic fellowship of the Church, by the self- same sentence, though the fact was not explicitly stated. Eucharistic communion was indeed the sign and seal of admission, or of restoration to the inner congregation of the faithful ; and when the Christian lost the one, he lapsed from the other. In a great number of instances, " communion ^' is a term of two- fold significance.^ At other times, the word specially applies to the legal status of Church membership — to the " communio Dominica.'^ ^ Thus, as Gams points out, the phrase " communion ^^ is never applied to the admission of the convert to the catechumenate, or of the catechumen to baptism, when the two years of preliminary probation required by this Synod had been honourably and blamelessly completed.'' Till hands had been laid upon them in confirmation, these " Christians,^'' as they were technically called, were not free of the communion in either sense ; only when fully initiated and admitted were these privileges theirs. As the heathen became a catechumen, so the heretic, baptised already, was admitted to penitence 2 Cf. Canons I. II. III. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XII. XIII. XIV. XVII. XVIII. XXII. XXVIII. XXXI. XXXII. XL. XLVI. XLVII.* LIII.* LV. LXL* LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXVII. LXIX.* LXX. LXXI. LXXII.* LXXIII. LXXV. LXXVI.* [The asterisk denotes that the specific force is confined to a part of the Canon.] 3 Cf. Canons XLVII.* L. LIII.* LVI. LVII. LVIII. LIX. LXII. LXIX.* LXXIL* LXXIV. LXXVL* LXXVIIL* LXXIX. 4 Elv. XLII. Exchcsion from the Eucharist . 95 aud then to communion ; while the children of such a father who had been led away in infancy^ were admitted even without such restrictions.'^ Ko heathen, Jew, heretic, or catechumen, therefore, had the rights of communion.® [Note D.] It was then in exclusion of this nature, formally and authoritatively imposed, that the Church of the fourth century, like the Church of previous centuries, sought a remedy for sin ; though a process which originally had been suggested by subjective incon- gruity had now been transformed into mere objective penalty. The culprit was excluded, not as unfit to participate in sacred mysteries, but with a vindictive and retributive, or rather a corrective, intention; and in this distinction is involved an immense difference. § 22. With this conception of the nature of the sentence, it was not inconsistent to define its dura- tion : had spiritual and moral unfitness been the criterion, with the recovery of purity and devoutness the exclusion must have ceased. But now, mortal sins, especially when combined, condemned the offender to life-long exclusion, terminated not even by the approach of death.^ In other cases, the sen- tence relaxed its severity when death was at hand or anticipated, and in his last hours, the penitent was restored to his old position, and allowed for 5 Elv. XXII. « Cf Gams, vol. ii. pp. 22—27. ' Canons I. II. III.* VI. VII. VIIL XII. XIII,* XVII. XX. (?) XXXIV.* XXXVII. XLI. XLVIL* XLIX. LXII. LXIII. LXIV.* LXVI. LXX.* LXXI. LXXII.* LXXIII.* LXXV, 96 TJie Synod of Elvira. the last time to share in the Communion of the Lord.« There were other gradations of punishment^ corresponding to similar gradations in guilt_, artificial and arbitrary though these might be ; and the term of excommunication was fixed at ten years/ at seven/ at five/ three/ two/ and at one." In some cases the term was left indefinite, either through variation of the conditions of restoration, or through a general agreement of pre-existing customs re- cognized by the Synod/ A second offence was, however, followed by permanent and irrevocable exclusion J In the same way, the clergy, subject to the operation of the universal code, might for special off'ences be expelled and excommunicated ever- lastingly ; ^ or after a term of suspension, sometimes of five years^ duration,^ sometimes of three,^ or un- defined,^ be allowed communion as laymen, having forfeited their holy ofiice/ s Elv. III. X. XIII.* Baptism was similarly admitted : [LXVIII.] 9 lb. XXII.* XLYI. LIX.* LXIV.* LXX.* ^ lb. v.* 3 lb. v.* XIV.* XVI. XL. LXI. LXIX. LXXII.* LXIV. LXVIII. Baptism, XL LXXIIL 3 lb. LIV.* LVII. LXXVIII. (?) Baptism, IV. 4 lb. LV. LXXIV. 5 lb. XIV.* LVI. LXXIX. « lb. IX. XXI. XXXI. L. LIX * LXVII. LXXVIII. 7 lb. VII. « lb. XVIII. XXX. XXXIII. LI. LXV. 9 lb. LXXVL ^ lb. LXXVI. 2 jb. XX. 3 Thus lay-communion was granted to the bishops who ordained Novatian, on his penitence and return to the Church. Euseb. H. E. vi. 43 ; cf . Cyp. Ep. lii. Ixvii. Novatians denied all pardon. Permanent Exconwiunication. 9 7 A solemn anatliema was occasionally pronounced against the worst offenders, subjecting them to permanent excommunication.'' Where the offence was less serious, or severity seemed unadvisable, censure and admonition took the place of positive punishment ; and in many cases, the nature of the precept was such that penalties were inap- plicable.* § 23. Where, however, the sentence was not irrevocable, abatement was admissible in time of extreme peril ; and the offender who was near unto death with his term of penance still incomplete, was not debarred from the spiritual comfort and succour which the sacraments of the Church might afford him ; and the believer received the Eucharist, and the catechumen baptism. '^ A personal con- fession too was permitted to abridge the ordinary term of penance and suspension, being considered as a proof of genuine sorrow and repentance in the heart of the offender. But universally, saving these two exceptions, the sentence once pronounced seems to have been final; and a bishop restoring a penitent informally and irregularly, must have shown such laxity at his own peril. § 24. This sentence of permanent excommunica- tion has not unnaturally been the subject of vehement and repeated discussion, the details of which cannot be given even in a brief summary. Gams, however, may serve as a fair representative of the hostile ' Elv. LII., and cf. 1 Tolet. XIV. ^ Cf. Elv. XV. XIX. XXX. XLIII. LXXXI. 6 Cf. Elv. V. IX. XI. XLII. XLVII. LXI. LXIX. LXXII. H 98 The Synod of Elvira. critics who endeavour to impugn and invalidate tlie authority of a penalty inflicted in nearly one third of the synodical decrees. He admits that this severity afi'ords high evidence of the lofty character of the assembled clergy, but asserts that their policy was in advance of the national conscience, and that their rigour was new and unknown. The next step in his argument is to question the fact that the Canons were ever put into execution ; for it is, he says, one thing to pass such decrees in the enthusiasm of a zealous and eager Council, and another to refuse communion to a dying man when he prays for it in his last moments : nor does history, he adds, supply any evidence that the rejection of such petitions was ever enforced. Even Hosius may have wondered, in listening and acceding to the prayers of the expiring penitent, how he could ever have introduced and sanctioned this departure from the customs of the universal Church ; and all present must have known it to be a departure, and an unjustifiable departure too. For had not Cyprian, whose advice must have been familiar, admitted a fallen bishop to lay communion ? And did not Innocent, in Lis letter to Exuperius in later times, indirectly censure the severity of the Council in imposing an unprecedented and un- paralleled penalty in circumstances which could be paralleled elsewhere?^ And in conclusion. Gams adds, the Council, as Innocent suggests, apparently seek to deprive the sinner, and certainly deprive themselves of eternal life, by their gross violation of 7 Ep. vi. 2. No Fictitious Pe7talty. 99 the precept, "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you/' Nor are we bound to believe that the merciless Canons were recognized in act by Spanish or by foreign bishops : they remained dead pages in the statute-book of the Church, which in its universal practice supplies us with the best clue to the issue of this particular case : what was done elsewhere was done also in Spain. ^ § 25. It is in this way that the historian, without adducing a single new fact to confirm his objection, seeks by probabilities and uncertainties to make good his position. What is the evidence on the opposite side ? In the first place, in 380 a.d., at the Synod of Saragossa, when seventy years and more had elapsed since the Convention, the same sentence was preserved in another f orm ; ^ and though by the time of the Synod of Toledo it had fallen into disuse, this fact does not impair the validity of the remaining evidence.^ Innocent himself, in his alleged censure would not have failed to mention so important a circumstance in support of his advice as the practical neglect, if such neglect had occurred, of an over-rigorous penalty. And Hosius, if wonder and repentance came to him at all over his part in the matter, must have had ample time and oppor- tunity to wonder and to repent in his episcopal expe- 8 Gams, vol. ii. pp. 28—30. 9 Sarag. III. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 744, 745. ^ Parseneticus, Bishop of Barcelona, 370 a.d., says of " peccata capitalia," " Hsec quicumque post fidem fecerit, Dei faciem non videbit." Gieseler, vol. i. p. 282. H 2 lOO The Synod of Elvira, rience before lie induced the great Synod of Sardica to re-enact a sentence of equal severity.^ We are not concerned to prove that the policy of the Synod was warranted by custom or by Scripture : it is the fact, and nothing more, that must be established. And Grams seems to forget that as Cyprian himself differed from the authority of Rome, so might Hosius differ from the authority of Cyprian. Then, finally, the sentimental rhetoric in which he ob- scures his weakness of argument, is hollow and evanescent. It was of personal offences and of personal forgiveness that the great precept was announced, and not of sins against God : those man cannot remit, and we may quote Cyprian against these false Cyprianists. For says the gentle bishop, " God alone can pity ; He alone can forgive offences committed against Himself, who bore our sins. Man cannot be greater than God.''' ^ The severity may have had neither justification nor parallel ; but in default of more satisfactory evidence, we are not justified in assuming that the individual members of the Synod annulled in practice the laws which they had conjointly passed; still less that Hosius — for Gams now advances still further along the same line — took the initiative in bringing the disciplinary system of the Spanish Church into, conformity with the leniency of other lands.'* § 26. While these historians deny the efficiency of the canonical laws, others impugn their ortho- doxy ; and the charge of Novatian heresy has again 2 Sardica II. *"' Cj'p. De Lansis, c. xvii. ^ Gams, vol. ii. p. 37. Charges of Novatian Tendencies. loi and again been brought against the Synod. Thus, among modern writers, Herbst tells us that '^ even the Novatians did not go further '^ than this perpetual excommuuication ; and Herzog describes it as Novatianist in tendency if not in act.'^ Other critics and commentators unite in the same strain.^ Now with reference to the specific point at issue — this life-long excommunication which is asserted to have been common to the discipline of the Nova- tians and of this Spanish Council : the fundamental distinction between the position occupied by the one party and the other has been utterly ignored. The Novatians contended for the realisation of an ideal Church on earth, from which offenders of certain kinds were necessarily excluded_, not as being past the reach of God's forgiveness, but be- cause they were unfit to associate with His saints and to be members of His pure community on earth ; and they denied the power of the Church to receive such, not the possibilities of the Divine Mercy. One who had sinned unto death was not to aspire to unite himself with *^ the communion of Divine mysteries on earth," but might still look for 5 Herbst, Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1821, p, 25. Herzog, Eeal-Encyklopadie, vol. iii, pp. 775, 776. C£. Lichtenberger, Encyclopedie des Sciences religieuses, iv. pp. 408, 409. "On en connait toutes les dispositions, elles sont impitoyables." " Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 151, and Mendoza, 1. c. p. 76. Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccl. Steel, iii. xxi. propos. ii. pp. 666 — 668. Cf. Gams, 1. c. p. 39 ; and Binterim, Katholik, 1821, vol. ii. pp. 417—444. Vid. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 116. Migne, Diet. Cone. i. p. 813. Cf. Wetze and Welter, Kirclien-Lexicon, vol. iii p. 545 : cf pp. 543 — 547. I02 The Synod of Elvira. pardon to God, who lias power and authority to forgive sins. [Note E.] At Elvira, however, there is no reason to suppose that any abstract principle of the kind influenced the members of the Synod. They legislated on other grounds, not denying the power of the Church to receive back any ofienders, but doubting the expediency of such a course ; taking policy, in fact, not principle, for their guide. That they were not working out a Novatian system is clear from other Canons, which stand in direct antagonism to any such conception. They were free in their choice of weapons, and in many cases they preferred the heaviest in their possession. On the other hand, the Synod of Elvira, unlike the Novatian, does not refuse to accept the baptism of Trinitarian heretics — if we may interpret the twenty-second Canon by the decrees of Aries and Nicsea.^ A still stronger contrast is afforded by the comparative leniency with which the Synod punished adultery/ and by the restoration conceded to sinners at death. The principle of reparation admitted in cases of seduction would to a Novation have been intolerable.^ The Novatians, further- more, especially in those districts where they united themselves with the remnants of the Montanists, declared in the strongest terms against the freedom of second marriage ; but this, though viewed with no favour, was not forbidden, and in some cases was 7 Elv. XXII. Aries VIII. Nicaa XIX. 8 Elv. XLVII. LXIX. LXXVIII. 9 Elv. XIV. XXXI. LXXII. Consequences of the Disciplinary Syste77i. 103 even encouraged by the Spanish clergy.* The charge of Novatianism is entirely dispelled the moment that it is brought under close and detailed examination; and the only specific traces of Mon- tanism occur in a single Canon." § 27. But the real evils which attended such a disciplinary system are both graver and deeper than these ; nor in an examination of this kind must they be suffered to pass without notice. For when the Church begins to compile a penal code, the inevitable tendency of the moral conscience is to dissever act from disposition; to transfer import- ance and attention from inward spirit to outward appearance. Evil is materialised in conception, and its true nature as alienation from the Divine nature and revolt against the Divine authority is forgotten, obscured under a mass of petty and irrelevant detail. For, once embarked upon such a policy, men, with or without Divine guidance, must set themselves accurately to determine the exact amount of punishment to be inflicted on each offender, must therefore take into consideration all the quali- fying and extenuating circumstances of the crime — the position and the supposed intention of the agent, the gravity of the act, and any special danger arising from local or temporary conditions. But to develope a system which shall be flexible enough ^ Elv. LXXII. ; cf. Soc. H. E iv. 28, v. 21, 22. 2 Elv. XXXIII. ; cf. Elv. XLVI. Cf. Herbst, 1. c. p. 84 ; cf. Herzog, 1. c. If Elvira is Novatian on this account, so are many other Synods. Cf. Aries XXIIL, Sardica II., Ilerda VI. 2 Toleto XL, 1 Caesar Au^^usta III. I04 The Syitod of Elvira. to adapt itself to the immense variety of liuman life and conduct^ is an all but impossible task ; and the distinctions which it entails and with which it cannot dispense, cease to be natural, and become arbitrary. Throughout the Canons of this and other Synods, the artificial and conventional nature of the moral standard cannot but cause wonder and dismay. Sex, ordination, baptism, celibacy, consecration, are all points on which the most important moral dis- tinctions are based. The woman is not punished as the man for an offence not only equal, but identical. What is venial sin in a layman or in an unconse- crated virgin, is intolerable when committed by one ordained to God''s service or under vows of vir- ginity. Catechumen and confirmed believer are set upon a diff"erent moral elevation. And what are we to say of such finely drawn distinctions as those dis- criminating the Flamen who has presented an offering and the Flamen who does not offer, but wears the crown of sacrifice ; or even of the reparation admitted in some cases of immorality to alleviate and diminish the sentence otherwise imposed ? ^ Even when the difference is more natural in kind, there is still the same careful casuistic measurement of the external elements of guilt, necessary, perhaps, in the legisla- tion of worldly communities, but foreign and in direct antipathy to the true spirit of the Christian faith.'' 3 Cf. Elv. ir. III. IV. LV. LXXII. ^ Cf. Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 296. De Wette, Christ- liche Sittelehre, vol. i. §§ 174, 175. ]3aur. Hist. Christianitj, Tol. ii. pp. 266, 267. M or I al and Venial Sin. 105 § 28. But wliile the moral sphere is arbitrarily and unnaturally divided and limited, the system produces consequeuces still more perilous in the distinctions which it creates between mortal and venial sins ; sins which involve the utter moral and spiritual death of the culprit — so far as the judgment of the human Church can foresee — and those which do not. How and where the awful conception originated and developed, whether among the Montanists or else- where, and how it was transmitted from sect to sect, and from Church to Church, we need not pause to inquire. Among the clergy assembled at Elvira the distinction was fundamental, and they followed it out to its legitimate conclusions, discriminating between positive and relative sin. A false moral creed carries with it fatal consequences, and we can easily understand how this distinction between mortal and venial sin created and fostered an elabo- rate system of casuistry. For it must have given rise to a '* natural anxiety to escape from deter- mining a particular act to be mortally sinful,^^ even in the absence of the pressure of any hostile force ; but when once confronted by a system which had shaken off these fantastic impediments to faith, the difficulties of its position aggravated and intensified the existing natural tendency, and the conflict with Protestantism carried the Church still further in " attenuating the moral features of actions.^' ' It was impossible to win the day when weighed down by such transcendent penalties; and as penalties were essential to the system, the sole resource 5 Maine, Ancient Law, pp. 351, 3o2. io6 The Synod of Elvira. consisted in palliating and extenuating immorality by an elaborate method of ingenious and arbitrary criteria. The advocacy and intercession of the '^ confessors/' which seems before the time of this Synod to have been discarded, was undoubtedly a grave evil, and produced the most pernicious results. But even that superstition, which was in part the remnant of the old heathen hero-worship which converts brought with them into the Church, was less perilous than a deliberate attempt to obliterate the stain on the con- science. A sinner who secured restoration and for- giveness by virtue of vicarious sanctity, was liable to ascribe an excessive veneration to human excel- lence, and to forget the enormity of liis own guilt. By unjustifiable methods his ideal of conduct might even be elevated and ennobled, and he might seek to emulate the courage and the consistency which could confer prerogatives so divine. But no such beneficent results could follow from a system which in its practical operation either blasted and annihi- lated the moral sense altogether by the terrible vengeance with which some sins were visited, or dulled the moral sensitiveness by a gradual process of plausible excuse and palliation. And though as yet the ultimate consequences of this pernicious policy were still far off", the seeds of the pestilence were already sown, to reveal themselves in later centuries, and to destroy the vitality of the Catholic Church, to alienate many of its devoutest souls, and to dim for ever its immemorial llght.^ « Baur, 1. c. pp. 268, 269. Gieseler, 1. c. p. 297. Sin and its Nature, 107 § 29. This distinction between positive and relative sin, and tlie fine gradations of punisliment which it entailed, had a larger share than might at first sight appear in determining the subsequent development, or rather corruption, of ecclesiastical discipline. At this period of Church life, ofiences, as Sir Henry Maine points out/ were viewed as "sins/^ that is, as ofi'ences against God, in contradistinction to '^ torts,'''' the injuries inflicted on man. The great legist does not, however, trace the effects of the false conception of sin to their ultimate issues, though the question is one of interest and of im- portance. An essential and primary difference between these two forms of evil is, that while " sin ^^ is absolute and invariable, wrongs against man admit of con- siderable variation in kind and in degree, thus admitting a corresponding variation in the penalties of retribution or reparation. Sin, on the contrary, cannot logically, from its very nature, be discrimi- nated in any such way, and admits no gradation in its punishment. It is easy to understand how a false distinction of mortal and venial, positive and relative offences, led to a confusion and misconception, assi- milating the sins against God with wrongs done to man, when the distinctive difference had once disappeared. And once started upon this line of thought, with a graduated system of penalties co- ordinated with the endless variety of offences, the Christian Church could not be saved from wandering further into error. For as wrongs against fellow- 7 Ancient Law, pp. 371, 372. io8 The Synod of Elvira. men could be atoned for by compensation, it was not difficult to believe that offences against God could be dealt with in a similar way. Thus sin became ^^ tort ^' with God for the aggrieved party ; and the Church, as God's representative, received a fictitious indemnity as reparation. In this way faith became a question of munificence instead of morals. § 30. The methods and instruments of punish- ment were as dangerous as the conception of sin, and involved a flagrant misuse of the sacraments instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. For whatever the essential nature of these sacraments may be, it is at least certain that they were never intended to discharge retributive or even reformatory functions. The very phrase of common occurrence in ecclesias- tical writers, — "' to arm with the sacraments/^ — fills the heart with instinctive repugnance and anti- pathy. The Cross may " send a sword on the earth,^' but is not to be itself transformed into one. Yet to this use the institutions of Baptism and the Eucharistic communion were now applied, while the mystical associations which had gathered round these rites invested them with an almost magical signifi- cance. In fact, as Neander points out, men sought in Baptism ^^ a magical lustration, which should render them at once wholly pure,'' ^ and this imaginary attribute led the Church to discriminate between sin committed before and after the administration of the baptismal rite, visiting with the most rigorous severity those who transgressed when temptation, as =* Hist. Christ, vol. i. p. 350. The Abuse of the Sacraments. 109 it was imagined, should have had no hold upon them. Such a consideration induced many converts besides Constantine, who was probably influenced by different motives, to delay their baptism till the end of life, when they were passing beyond the reach of evil; while in other cases, as the proceedings of the Synod show us, the rite was postponed as a penance.^ For those who fell into grievous sin after baptism found no second pardon ; and in a special sense we may apply to their case the pathetic lines of a despair- ing poet of our own age, — " Ah ! well a day ! For we are most bereaved Of all the creatures under heaven's wide cope : We are most hopeless who had once most hope, And most beliefless who had once believed." ^ Nor had the Eucharistic sacrament escaped a similar abuse. Though it had not yet been vul- garised to the level of the "obolus/"' which carried the soul of the dead across the infernal lake, it had suffered degradation in conception and in practice, and had been transformed into an instrument of law. To exclude the sinner was not in the fullest sense " to shut the gates of mercy on mankind /^ but the act separated him from the sympathy and the society of the Church, and refused those who needed it most that mode of access to God which the penitent soul often finds surest and closest. Those words of infinite compassion, " In the night in which he was betrayed,^^ which have given solace and strength to 9 Cf. Milman, Hist Christ, vol. ii. p. 283. ^ Clough, Poems. 1 1 o The Synod of Elvira . many wlio have denied their Lord like Peter, or for- saken Him in His hour of need, like James and John, might have taught the Church a truer con- ception of the nature of the " Table of the Lord/^ True it is that the prodigal son in the parable makes one return and no more, but the prodigal soul may find its way to the Father even if it wander many times j and though the feast may be one of tears rather than of unmixed joy, the robe is never refused, and the Table is still spread ; for God's ways are not as man's ways, and His mercy and long-sufiering endure for ever. [Note F.] Note A. — The order of the bishops to which Hefele and others refer, is of itself sufficient to demonstrate the falsity of their assumptions. Granted that Felix of Acci occupied his position as superior to other bishops, it is clear that Hosius, who stands next in the order of signatories, had no such title to pre-eminence. And where were the archbishops of the other provinces ? Nor is it probable that when distinctions of this nature were introduced, priority in age or antiquity of founda- tion would have remained the criterion of precedence. Political importance must in the majority of cases have determined the Metropolitan See, especially when the Church entered into such intimate relations with the State. Mendoza [Mansi, vol. ii. pp. 330, 331] stoutly contests this assumption of Gondalez Tellez. He is, however, taxed by Gams as tampering with the established text by the substitution of " episcopus primse catbedrse " in place of the '* prima cathedra episcopatus," which stands in all the nine MSS. collated by Gonzalez, and as attempting to foist primacy and archiepiscopate upon the system then prevailing in Spain [Gams, 1. c. p. 117]. It is hard to see how the misconception can have arisen, for Mendoza — (1) On the evidence of " vetusti et emendatiores codices " Notes. 1 1 1 prefers the reading " prima cathedra," Gams' own text, to " primse cathedrae " [1. c. p. 330]. (2) He cannot, he admits, infer the existence of an archi- episcopate from the facts of the case, much as he would like to do so. Because (a) the order of signatures is against him, and (6) the scandalous case of Basilides and Martialis would not in that event have been referred to Africa [1. c. p. 331.] (3) He would explain the Canon as advising a regular formal mode of procedure. Letters of commendation are not to be presented anywhere to the bishop, — e. g. at his country or private residence, " in villis," but at his official seat [1. c. p. 331]. Gonzalez points out that the distinction is really between the " cathedra sacerdotalis " and the " cathedra " of the presbyters, who, as in the Council, sat round the bishop. Though the bishop had not several seats, his was " prima " as compared with those in the parishes under his jurisdiction. Cf. Cennius, De Antiq. Eccl. Hisp. p. 54. Note X.— On Canon LIII. — After the death of Hosius, the Spanish Church Avas filled with irregularity and disorder through illegal intermeddling of the bishops with the internal affairs of other dioceses. Thus, as Gams points out, Priscillian became Bishop of Avila through the help of the heretical bishops, Salvian and Instantius [vid. Gams, vol. ii. p. Ill, and for the case of Ithacius of Ossonoba, p. 368]. The scandal called forth many letters of advice and remonstrance, from Siricius to Hieronymus of Tarragona, a.d. 385 ; from Innocent to the Synod of Toledo, a.d. 400, and from Leo in a.d. 447 to Tur- ribius of Astorga. [Vid. Innocent, Epist. iii. §§ 1 — 4. Eestora- tion of heretics. § 5. Illegal ordination of bishops. § 6 Com- munion refused to a bishop. § 7. Other informal ordinations. § 8 Special complaint of Gregory of Emerita. §§ 9, 10. Quali- fications and disqualifications for ordination. This letter deals with Church organization, and vi. " ad Exuperium," with ques- tions of morality.] Note B.— On XXXYIII. and LXXVII.— Nolte reads in LXXYII. "sub fide . . . quis crediderit " [1. c. pp. 313, 314]. Aubespine [pp. 83 — 86] explains that in such cases the offerings for the dead were to be received as for a man, righteous [iustus], yet not assured of eternal salvation. In XXXVIII. " navi- gantes " may refer to travel generally, and not limited to sea- 1 1 2 TJie Synod of Elvira. faring [cf. Gams, vol. i. p. 118]. Novatian's case well illustrates this and the preceding Canon [XXXII.]. («) He was an ** energumen," was exorcised, delivered, and baptised, but not by immersion [clinicus] ; (Zi) he recovered, but was never con- firmed ; and. (c) became a presbyter, secretly and informall3^ Cf. Euseb. H. E. vi. 43. Cf. Gams, vol. ii. pp 100, 101. Mendoza discusses the legality of baptism administered, (1) by an unbeliever, (2) by a bigamist, and concludes that the condi- tions set forth in the Canon are not essential, but merely preferable [1. c. p. 286]. Note C.-On XXXIX.— (1) Aubespine [pp. 54, 57] and Mendoza [1. c. p. 287] interpret the Canon of Christians already baptized. Hands are to be laid upon them, and they are to become " perfecti Christiani." But (a) in this case the descrip- tion, '*gentiles " and "infideles," does not apply; and (3) there could be no possible hesitation to confirm them under these circumstances. Cf. Migne, Diet. Cone. vol. i. p. 823. (2) Dr. Munchen [Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. xxvi. p. 80 foil.] interprets the Canon of those who are in the country districts. If they can call a bishop to their aid, they are to receive both baptism and. confirmation at the same time. Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 172, 173. He argues (a) that the Church was tender to- wards the sick, allowing the baptism of demoniacs, [XXXVII.] much more, then, of the sane sufi'erer. (5) The Church allows a layman to baptise in case of need [XXXVIII.], and therefore would allow confirmation if a bishop were present on board the ship, (r) The bishop inaccessible at sea is accessible on land, and hence confirmation and baptism are conferred together. But (i.) the Church allows the baptism of the demoniac who has directly or indirectly professed a previous belief in the faith : this is the case of the hitherto unbeliever. (ii.) " Fieri Christianos " cannot apply to the result of con- firmation, for it is a more elementary stage in the Christian development ; and if baptism at confirmation had been alluded to, other terms would have been used. (iii.) There is no mention of the bishop at all, and the context points to the function of a layman. Note D. — Cf Acesius, a Novatian bishop at Nicjea, Soc. H. E. i. 10, Oi' ;^pj) Tovi fxeTo. to ^dirTKr^xa rjixapTrjKOTas afxaprlav, fjv Trpo Bdvarov Kokovatv ai 6(lai ypa(pai, rfjs kolvcovlus tcov Notes, deicov iivcTTrjpicov d^iovadai, aXX' eVi fxerdvoiav TrporpeneLv avroiis, iXni^ia de ttjs d(p€a€C09 fJirj napa Upeoov, aXXa napa rov Qeov cKde- ^ecrdai rov dwafxevov Ka\ e^ova'iav e^ovros crvyxoipelv dp.apTTJpaTa. And Novatus, in a circular letter, a parallel to this passage, adds : rrjv de (Tvyxpr](rLU eirerp^TTev 0f&) [cf. Soc. H. E. iv. 28], in Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. vol. i. pp. 284, 285. Cf. Cave, Primitive Christianity, p. 375, " Whereas many of the ancient Councils [and the Illiberine Council especially] positively deny com- munion to some sorts of penitents, even at the hour of death, they are not to be understood as if the Church mercilessly denied all indulgence and absolution to any penitent at such a time, but only that it was thought fit to deny them the use of the eucharist, which was the greatest pledge and testimony of their union with the Church." Note E (I.).— On Canon XXII.-(1.) " Recurrerit," &c., must be understood to involve the renouncement of former errors. Cf. Nicaja VIII., which demands the confession and recantation of error in the case of the Kadapol. Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 209. (2.) The second part of the Canon raises a difficult question in casuistry. Parents took their children to heresy, as some com- pelled infants to sacrifice. Whose was the sin ? Cyprian, arguing from the Novatian position, admits the sin to be logically the children's, but says that their plea " we have done no sin," or " we, consciously, have offered no sacrifice," will be admitted in judgment. De Lapsis, ix. Augustine calls such parents " murderers " [Ep. ad Bonif xcviii.]. He analyses Cyprian's apparent inconsistency, but misses the real point of reconciliation. It was the Novatians, not Cyprian, who believed that the " little ones lost what they had obtained in the hour of birth." The Apostolical Canons [LXVIII.] forbad the ordination of heretics, but the African bishops ordained them. Cf Council of Hippo, XXXVII. Hefele, vol. ii. p. 59. Note E (II.). — Expressions for reception to baptism : " ad baptismum," " ad fontem lavacri," — " admitti," " recipi." Con- firmation : " perfici," " manus impositic." Cf. Elv. I. IV. X. XL XXII. XXXVII. XXXIX. XLII. XLIV. XLV. LXII. LXVIII. LXXIII. Excommunication : " abstineri, d(f)opL^€(Tdai, eKKonTfo-Oai ttjs Koivcovlas navrdnacTiv. pLTrrecrdai €K Ty]s €KK\T]aias, reiici." Cf. Cave, Primitive Christ, p. 361. I 1 1 4 The Synod of Elvwa, Note F. — Canon LXXIV. gives no traces of an organised ecclesiastical court, established to decide or to examine certain kinds of cases ("convento clero"). The clergy would adjudicate as the representatives of the Church, and the bishop would prescribe the sentence, as he cancelled it, with the approval of the Church. It is noteworthy that there is no allusion to the grades of penitence in the Canons of Elvira. 1^5 CHAPTER III. CHRISTIAN MORALITY. § 1. SiSMONDi, tlie famous historian of France, has distinguished three periods in the earlier history of the Christian Church, in which, he tells us, religion became successively a question of morals, of ortho- doxy, and of munificence.^ Obedience, belief, gene- rosity ; these were in turn the requisites of the first eight Christian centuries. There is a large measure of truth in this very broad generalisation from the facts of history, but it must be more precisely expressed if we would secure ourselves against misconceiving and misstating the exact nature of the first of these three stages — the one with which we are more immediately concerned. For though before long the conflicts of Eastern Christendom were to menace, and finally to confound, the peace of the Western Churches, at the time of the Synod of Elvira, there was little apparent cause for fear arising from purely doctrinal considerations. But when we say that at the beginning of the fourth century religion was still a question of morals, and that it "disciplined ^ Sismondi, Histoire des Fran^ais, vol. ii. p. 50. Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 229. I 2 1 1 6 The Synod of Elvira. hearts and souls by the search for what was really beautiful and really good/^ morality at once extends its range be3^ond the ordinary limits of the term. For in the Christian, as in the Jewish code, are united the elements both of morals and of faith. The "Ten Commandments^^ have more than an ethical aspect ; and the Canons of Elvira, in a similar way, though apparently dealing in many cases with ethical duty, involve questions and con- siderations of a deeper and more sacred interest. Under " morality,^^ used in this connexion, and among its precepts, must be included the pro- hibition of false and idolatrous worship, either by direct or indirect compliance and sanction : but worship, whether corrupt or pure, is certainly in no sense a part of any ethical system, and can find no firm basis either in utilitarian or intuitional theories of morality. Religious truth — and this is neces- sarily involved in a definite religious worship — must be the result of a Divine revelation : only as a response to such au appeal is certainty assured, and only thus can strict compliance be demanded. "By searching '^ it is impossible to " find out ^^ the true God ; and if He would be worshipped by men. He must Himself reveal His nature : but revelation and the science of ethical obligation are fundamentally and entirely distinct. § 2. Nor is this all. For while the Christian code includes duties which lie beyond the province of ethics, and cannot possibly be determined by cognate methods, the sanction on which it rests is also of a characteristic nature : it is religious in Christian Morality, 1 1 7 itself, and in all tlie methods of reward and punish- ment to which it has recourse. Often, indeed, the duty may not be necessarily religious, and might find a satisfactory foundation elsewhere than in the religious obligation ; but to this motive the appeal is inevitably made. And when the law has been violated, though the secular power would take cognizance of the offence, the Church prefers to reserve its guilty children for its own punishment, and substitute exclusion from Church communion, loss of religious privileges, or spiritual death, for the fine, imprisonment, or capital sentence pronounced by the common law. Religion was mainly a ques- tion of morals ; but morality has become assimilated to religion, and has lost its ordinary characteristics. The revelation of God in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the starting-point of Christian ethics ; and by its source and origin the nature of the whole system will infallibly be determined. In what directions will its chief energy be exhibited ? § 3. The two commandments which the Master Himself acknowledged as ^^ greatest,^' involve two chief and central principles ; the divine unity of God, and the natural unity of mankind. He claims our devotion and allegiance as His rightful due, and demands the affection of our spiritual nature without stint or reserve ; and to our human brethren we owe the same solicitude and the same tenderness which we are apt to confine to our own personal interests and concerns. God is supreme, and is One ; not to be humanised, and associated with the folly and frailty, much less with the vices of our kind : 1 1 8 The Synod of Elvira. nor, on the otlier hand, to be refined away into abstract and impersonal existence, etherialised be- yond man^s conception, and utterly removed from the reach of trust and affection ; most degraded, in reality, when He seems to be most ennobled. He Himself demands our love and worship as a direct offering, without the intervention of any mediator save the Eternal Son; and when we shrink from that mysterious and awful Presence, and substitute image or altar, or by gradations of worship seek to ascend from earth to heaven, we violate the divine unity and the divine supremacy : when we confess other gods, endowed with other attributes, and set them in His stead by false worship or by idolatry, we are guilty of the darkest crime against the majesty of God, and of an impious disregard of the Supreme Love. The same great law admits of a wider application ; for the Divine Majesty may be outraged in other ways than by the misguided worship of fictitious deities. God is also Purity, as well as Love and Power ; and those who would see His face most be themselves pure in spirit : to the impure in act or in thought the transcendent vision is denied. If idolatry is a heinous sin, impurity and immorality must be ranked in the same class : the one turns away from the divine Presence ; the other repels it. And the Christian, conscious of his obligation " to be perfect, even as his Father in Heaven is perfect,^' and to reflect that image in his own life, finds another motive to the same end in the second com- mandment as well as in the first. Men are equal in The Laws of Christ. 1 1 9 the sight of God, and are bound to recognise that equality. But, as M. de Pressense nobly insists, ^''the same principle which vindicates the unity and the equality of mankind, secures purity also. Re- garding every man as one of God's creatures, and one of Christ's redeemed, the Christian will recognise every man as a brother and an equal, and will not dare therefore to make any the mere plaything of his own pleasure, or to defile in him the image of the Creator.'^ ^ The '^ Rights of man,^' if recognised in their truest and deepest sense, forbid all im- morality as rigorously as they demand security of human life ; and we can now understand how, at the earliest date, idolatry, incontinence, and blood- shed were co-ordinated as the deadliest of sins.^ The tradition survived, and in later times the com- mon opinion of the Church refused to these special offences the pardon and restoration accorded to other, and, as they thought, lighter sins."* Some authorities, it is true, inclined to a greater degree of leniency, but at this point the general boundaries were fixed, rarely to be transgressed. § 4. Our investigation may begin with the sin of Idolatry, though much of the detailed legislation connected with this subject will be more con- veniently considered when we come to discuss the relations of the Christian to his heathen countrymen and to the heathen State. The broad principles 2 Pressense, Life and Practice in the Early Church, English translation, book iii. c. i. p. 349. 3 Cf . Acts of the Apostles, xv. 29. •* Cf. Tert. De Pudicit. c. xii. 1 20 TJic Synod of Ehnra. underlying the whole action of this and other Councils may, however_, be concisely stated. The first Canon of Elvira enacts that, " Any one, who after faith in the baptism of salvation, and being of adult years, shall have entered the temple of an idol [to commit idolatry] and shall have sacri- ficed — this being a capital ofi'ence, because it in- volves supreme guilt — shall not receive communion even at death/^ ^ From the operation of this law we are, I think, bound to exclude any Christians who had yielded under the stress of bodily torture during the recent troubles. Their fate had already been decided, and they would not be subjected to penalties imposed so long after the committal of the original off"ence. But now there was a brighter prospect opening before the Church, and no ap- parent cause to dread future persecution ; nothing to suggest sinister misgivings : and in their pre- cautions the Council left darker forebodings out of consideration. In this Canon at any rate, every- thing seems to point to an act of free choice, com- mitted under no fear of force, and if prompted by any exterior cause, only by a cowardly fear of popular sentiment and social consequences.^ [Note A.] Having thus asserted the general principle, the Synod proceeded to enforce its provisions in other forms, adapted to the special modes of transgression which had been, or were likely to be, of most frequent ^ Elv. I. ^ Cf. Aubespine, p. 1, " Non autem in lapsos, qui timore per- territi, ipsismet cruciatibus, et suppliciis superati, et coacti idolis immolaverant." Idolatry and its Piuiishnient. 1 2 1 occurrence ; to the end that a less serious offence might not escape punishment altogether^ nor yet be crushed under a sentence of undue severity _, which would irrevocably doom the sinner to lifelong penance and exclusion from Christian fellowship. To deter- mine all the motives which might induce the believer to forswear his fealty, and to incur the guilt of idolatry, would for the Synod, as for ourselves, be utterly impossible ; but we shall hardly go far wrong if we assign considerable weight to the social in- fluence — that instinct which leads a man, rightly or wrongly, to associate himself with others, to accept their conventional standards of thought and action, yielding an external compliance, if nothing more, with the dictates of popular sentiment. The variation of which this force is capable is a fact too apparent to require illustration ; the same motive may keep a man a heathen in one age, a Christian in another. In either case he avoids incurring the hostility and the resentment provoked by independent action ; or if his nature be a weak one, seeks in the common consciousness to submerge his individual feeling of self-reproach : fear and affection stand combined in a strange union. § 5. Considerations of this kind might lead some, and the revival of outworn superstition others, to return to the customs which they had once aban- doned; and though the convert might refuse to enter an idol temple to offer sacrifice in his own behalf, on days of special sanctity in the pagan calendar he might still accompany his kinsfolk and friends to the public offering in the sacred precincts 12 2 TJie Synod of Elvira. of the capitol. For every colony was a miniature copy of Rome itself; and in the provinces^ the sur- roundings of the imperial city would be studiously copied, and its titles faithfully reproduced.^ The existence of these local '^capitols^^ throughout western Europe is attested by ample evidence. In Spain the citadel generally contained the temple of Jupiter ; ^ and even in towns possessing no local eminence of the kind, the Roman " Capitol/' and the ^^ Clivus Capitolinus/' would justify the same tech- nical use of '^ascendere" as the verb of approach. In Rome, as in Jerusalem, the people '^ went up " to worship ; and in lowland cities, in thought if not in fact, they did the same.^ [Note B.] It is clear that the fifty-ninth Canon^ prohibits even the catechumen^ from giving this indirect sanction to idolatrous practices by his presence. To do so in time of persecution would, as Mendoza suggests, place him on the footing of those who con- cealed their faith and procured false certificates of immunity from the magistrates, for between the written document and the general supposition thus induced no possible distinction could be made. The guilt of subornation and of simulation is in this case equal, if not identical.'' The gravity of the offence 7 Of. Aulus Gellius, xvi. 13. ^ Cf. " Exin Iseti Capitolium scandunt, deosque tandem vene- rantur." Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 61. * Cf. Cicero, Ad Att. ii. 1, 7, and Livy. iii. 18. 2 Elv. LIX. ^ The catechumen here has the distinctive name of " Chris- tianas " as contrasted with "fidehs." ^ Mendoza, 1. c. p. 333. Idolatry and its Pttnishment. may be inferred from TertuUian's solemn impreca- tion, '' If I enter the capitol, or the temple of Serapis, for worship and sacrifice^ may I be cut off from God ! ^' * In times of peace and security, as a conces- sion to popular and social prejudice the act would be as despicable as it was faithless. It is noteworthy that both the great African leader and the Fathers of Elvira_, with the most precise care attach the supreme consequence to the motive, and not to the external act. The temple even of a heathen god can transmit no stain ; and in stones and timber, and the air and space they enclose, there is no taint. The sin consists, not in *^ going up to the capitol," but in so doing '* as a pagan,^' and " to assist at the sacrifice/^ presence without purpose is unessential. At first sight this distinction seems to have been ignored by the " Council of Ancyra,''^ ^ where indis- criminate condemnation is pronounced against those who during a heathen festival seated themselves in the place set aside for the heathen, and brought their own food to eat there. But in this case only one motive was conceivable — the duplicity and hypocrisy of cowards, who to save a morbid conscience ^^ab- stained from things offered to idols,^'' whilst they feigned to offer their own selves to the false deities which they had renounced and abjured. The qualifying provision was quite unnecessary.^ § 6. While the general tenor of the Canon enacted at Elvira is plain, the details admit of a considerable * '* Si Capitolium, si Serapeum, sacrificator et adorator, in- travero, a Deo excidam." Tert. De Spect. c. viii. 6 Anc. VII. A.D. 314. 7 Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 228, 229. 124 ^^^'^ ^y^^ 0^ of Elvira . latitude of interpretation. Most authorities are content to suppose that, while the punishment to be inflicted upon the guilty catechumen is not defined, the fully recognised behever is to be suspended for ten years, on the ground that complicity is as much a sin as participation, and to look on as bad as to sacrifice. But while in itself the crime is the same in the one case as in the other_, the penalty is re- laxed on account of the extenuating circumstances, and the lifelong exclusion of the first Canon is lowered to a decade. Dr. Nolte, on the other hand, by a slight change in punctuation, altering one conjunc- tion and interpolating another,^ interprets the Canon in a very different way. If a catechumen goes to the capitol like a heathen to offer, or as a specta- tor, regarding his offence he is on the level of a believer. He is not, however, to be cut off for his entire life,^ but may have his offence condoned after ten years. This would involve a vital distinction between the punishment inflicted on those waiting for admission into the Christian Church and those already within it, quite in keeping with the general principles adopted in the canonical code; whether the changes in the text entailed by such an inter- polation be too violent or no, the individual judg- ment of the scholar must be left to decide. The gravest cause for hesitation consists perhaps in the localisation of the idolatry in the special case of the catechumen only ; but this indirect idolatry en masse ^ Aut for et ; ac si for si : pari crimine teneatur ac si fuerit fidelis. Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1865, p. 312. 5 Cf. Elv. I. Apotheosis of the Einpe7'ors. 125 would in his case be most easy_, and to liim a most specious temptation. § 7. One of the most degraded forms of idolatrous worship,, the apotheosis of the emperor, was not directly alluded to in the legislation of the Council ; and if we are right in assuming its date to be subse- quent to the accession of Constantius to supreme power^ there was every reason to justify this prudent and cautious policy. At such a critical moment a single word which might hava given rise to suspicion, or have awakened the resentment of the new rulers, would have been folly amounting to crime. In case of need, there were other means of checking the practice without even the appearance of an insult to their former friend and protector. But it is only too certain that this evil superstition was deeply ingrained in the national character; and even the few meagre inscriptions surviving from the ancient Elvira show a preponderance of evidence for this hypothesis. Out of four, two contain the ascription of divine honours to the human sovereign.^ The custom had its rise in the superstitious venera- tion with which the nations of the East regarded their kings ; but the sentiment which might pass for reverence in Persia was mere abasement at Rome. Rejected there by the finer intellect of the empire, and confined to ambitious courtiers and the ignorant crowd, it was in southern and western Europe that the system found adherents. In Egypt, however, a land always remarkable for an unparalleled range of intellectual and moral life, sinking into the lowest ^ Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 59. 1 2 6 The Synod of Elvira. depths of a sensuous animalism on the one side, and rising to a faith of ideal purity on the other, the practice was congenial to men of the grosser and baser type. And in Spain, as in Eome, the marks of this influence may be clearly traced : it stamps society with servility and superstition. These waodering foreigners gave to the West its most unscrupulous citizens and its basest deities. The Council, when it prohibited idolatrous worship, did not except this cult from its sentence.^ § 8. Other enactments, similar in aim, will occur in the course of this essay ; and it will appear that in public as in private life, as landlord and as master, the Christian was bound to avoid complicity with the sin of idolatry in all its various forms. ^ He might not, directly or indirectly, associate himself with the idolatrous rites as a civil or religious official; he might not connive at sacrifice in his behalf by defraying its expenses ; his slaves, if he could stop them, were not to keep idols ; and his wife was not to lend her household stores for adorning any idolatrous procession. In the strictest and most literal sense of the precept, he was to " guard him- self from idols/^ No care, no precaution was to be neglected. One provision, and that of no secondary importance, was not formally enforced by the Synod, though its import would have received universal recognition — that no Christian should derive gain 2 Of. Eenan, Les Apotres, p. 306, " Sa divinisation en son vivant;" Tacitus, Ann. iv. 55, 56; and Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. i. p. 178. Cf. De Broglie, L'Eglise et TEmpire Romain," vol. i. pp. 52, 53. Cf. Cennius, De Antiqu. Eccl. Hisp. pp. 63, 64. 3 Cf. Elv. I. III. IV. XVII. XL. XLI. LV. LVI. LVII. Indirect Sanction of Idolatry, 1 2 7 from an idolatrous calling. That some such cases occurred, where a professed Christian gained a live- lihood by making or adorning the objects of idola- trous worship, is clear from the reply of Tertullian to the flimsy sophistries which were advanced against the prohibition. Some men excused them- selves by a subtle distinction between art and faith. ^* I make them,^^ such an one would say, " but I do not worship them.''^ The retort is irresistible : '^ Verily thou dost worship them, and that not with the spirit of any worthless savour of sacrifice, but with thine own ; not at the cost of a life of a beast, but of thine own .... Thou makest to them the offering of thy mind : thy sweat is their drink- offering; for them thou lightest up the torch of thine imagination. ■'' ^ Those who contracted for the victims, those who sold incense, those who collected the temple revenues, were all exposed to the same con- demnation ; and in it were involved all who practised the illicit but lucrative arts of divination, astrology, and magic. If the convert could not support him- self without recourse to such occupations, the Church would keep him, as it kept actor or jockey, from starvation. Whatever might be the issue, this was certain, that the Christian was to be the servant of God, not on one day, but on seven; in business falsely called secular, as well as in the worship acknowledged as sacred; his entire life was to be an anthem of harmonious praise, unmarred by the discord of sin.'"^ 4 Of Tert. De Idol. vi. vii. viii. ^ Xeander, Hist. Christ. [Bobn] vol, i. pp. 363, 36-1; cf. Laodicea XXXVI. Hefele, vol. i. p. 770. 1 2 8 The Synod of Elvira. § 9. That the decrees of the Council were not entirely successful in checking idolatrous practices is matter of certainty ; nor would it be reasonable to expect the ecclesiastical law to do what the edicts of Constantine and Theodosius failed to achieve, though acting over a wider range, and enforced by penalties more effectual with the mass of mankind than the displeasure and censure of the Church. In later Spanish Councils it proved necessary to re- enact similar statutes against this class of oS*enders_, and to rebuke in the severest terms the laxity and the indifference of bishops and their subordinates, who neglected to seek out and punish those guilty of idolatrous worship/ At the same time, among a people still in the darkness of heathenism, it was inevitable that the Christian community should suffer in some measure from the surrounding con- tagion. But while the heart of the Church kept true, the evil would be comparatively small, and con- fined to the weaker elements. How far the Synod was in advance of the general spirit of the age, it is not possible for us at this distance of time to judge. Legislation, though it depends for its efficiency upon popular feeling, in some degree shapes and moulds it ; and the principle that any share, however slight, in the rites and worship of heathenism was for the servant of Christ a deadly sin, must have been part of the universal conscience of the Church from its very foundation. § 10. The intense horror with which the Chris- tian Church regarded murder has already been traced 6 cf. 3 Tolet. XVI. The Sin of Mttrder. 1 29 to its original source in the recognition of the unity of mankind, and in the consciousness of the eternal destinies of every human soul. To put a sudden close by violence or by fraud to another^s life was to assume tlie prerogatives of Heaven ; perhaps, to destroy liis chance of eternal salvation, and to doom bis spirit to ages of infinite misery. The funda- mental conception was sound, if some of its appli- cations were invalid. At Ancyra wilful murder was punished with life-long exclusion from the privileges of communion ; while, to secure self- control and care in times of provocation or danger, unpremeditated homicide entailed a penalty of seven or five years' duration.^ At present, tbe artificial distinctions wbich developed in later centuries between the murder of a cleric and of a layman, were absolutely unknown ; no less tlian the graduated system of fines which obtained in other parts of Europe. § 11. The sanctity with whicli human life was now invested by tbe public opinion of the Christian Church finds a strong illustration in the attempt to grapple witb the evils of abortion and infanticide ; sins which had already met with condemnation, severe indeed, but inefi"ective to check or to deter. How widely the former of these loathsome practices bad permeated the society of the later Empire, and the terrible depravity of morals by which it was accompanied, are facts only too familiar to those who study the Roman satyrist and historian. In a state now teeming with urban population, many motives ? Ancjra, XXII. XXIII. K The Synod of Elvira. combined to develope this special evil. To unchastity itself tLcre now attached no disgrace sufficiently intense to prompt to crime, but selfisliness proved as potent as dishonour. Some mothers to avoid the cares of family duty, and others to escape pain, personal disfigurement, and loss of beauty, sought relief and deliverance in the drugs of the physician, who now had but too wide a field for perfecting his skill in this detestable art.^ Mr. Lecky has collected from various sources a large mass of facts connected with the subject, but there is no sufficient reason for selection and reproduction. The crime was a glaring blot upon the morals of Roman society, and the fact that some resisted the almost universal degradation brands with a deeper stigma those who systemati- cally and heartlessly outraged both human and divine law.® Infanticide must stand in the same category ; for there is no essential difference between the destruc- tion of human life, existent though unborn, and the same act committed when the sentient embryo has developed into the living child. But both in Greece and in Rome, the practice, though limited by legal restriction, was habitual ; and even the limitations, scanty as they were, admitted an easy evasion. Whatever may have been the case of infanticide, exposure was certainly no offence in the eye of the law ; and it was practised, says the historian of European Morals, " on a gigantic scale, and with absolute impunity, noticed by writers with the ^ Cf. Juvenal, vi. 592 — 595 ; and Sueton. Domit. xxii. '•' Ci: Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 22—26. Infanticide, most frigid indifference ; and, at least in the case of destitute parents, considered a very venial offence/^ ^ Without detailed investigation into these sources of corruption, it is patent that between the practices of heathen society and the Christian conscience, there was the most pronounced and vital antagonism . For one who accepted the great precept of Jesus Christ, that a man must become as a ^' little child/^ to enter the kingdom of heaven, and believed that in the heavenly order the child-like spirit held the first and noblest rank, it was an impossible act of cruelty and of sacrilege to abandon to the mercy of a careless world the oifspring* which he had learned to consider as the very gift of God ; while at the same time, as his religious teachers would not fail to impress upon his mind, to slay the unborn child was to destroy eternally the soul uncleansed by baptism : such magical efficacy was by this time attributed to the visible sign and symbol of divine purification. In after-ages the charity of the Church was destined to manifest itself in asylums of refuge for those whom misfortune or crime had cast out, that they might be rescued from misery or death ; and even within a few years after the Council, the civil authority, prompted by the Christian spirit, was to inaugurate this work of tender, even if misguided and impolitic, mercy. At present the Church could only act by means of this prohibitive legislation, and through private generosity : time was needed ^ Cf. Leek}', Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 29 — 30; and Schmidt, La Societc Civile dans le Monde Komain, pp. oQ — 58. K 2 The Synod of Elvira, for developing and organising its work of benefi- cence.^ In this spirit the Synod of Elvira enact, that a. female catechumen who destroys the fruit of her pregnancy, shall not receive baptism until the end of her life ; ^ while a woman who conceives in. adultery during the absence of her husband, and destroys her offspring, thus combining adultery with murder, is condemned to the corresponding and equivalent punishment of permanent exclusion from communion.'* The penalty imposed varies, however,^ at difierent times and in different places. Thus at Ancyra, sin entails a penalty of ten years, and at Ilerda,^ of seven ; but the conscience of the Church remains constant. At Ancyra there is apparently a similar penalty imposed upon those who contribute to the miscarriage ; but the expression is vague,, and admits of considerable doubt as to its genuine- interpretation. That infanticide and abortion are severely punished by the Canon, is all that we can confidently affirm.^ ^ The first of Constantine's edicts against infanticide dates from the year of his conversion. It was extended from Italy to Africa in 322 a.d., and received subsequent additions and modifications in the years 329 and 331. His policy was in the main to protect infant life, (1) by affording assistance to desti- tute parents ; (2) by granting rights of salvage to the charitable, :md cancelling all parental rights over the child thus exposed.. Cf. Cod. Theod. xi. 27, 1. ii. 3 Elv. LXVIII. "" Elv. LXIII. 5 Ancyra XXI. ; Ilerda II. * (i.) For " geminare scelus," cf. Elv. II. (ii.) In Ancyra, XXI. the words in question are : koI tovtoj arvvridevrai. Some commentators supply, rives : i. e. " And some agree with this " — The Exhibitions of the Arena. 133 § 12. Of the sin of murder, in its simplest and most unqualified forms, there is no direct mention at the Synod, except in the Canon punishing murder contrived by magical arts/ Indirect reference, illustrating the gravity attached to the crime, may be found in the clause where '^ homicide '^ is co- ordinated with idolatry and incontinence.^ The same motive inspires the prohibition of the sixty- second Canon, directed against all participation in the cruelties of the arena and the allurements of the stage ^ The Canon specifies the comparatively innocent occupations of the charioteer and the panto- mimist, concerning which there might have been room for doubt, in the case of the gladiator, beyond the reach of possibility ; for even to sit on the benches of the circus, is to be guilty of the blood shed in the arena/ The barbarous conflicts of the arena had their first origin in the ancient human sacrifice offered to the Manes; and the institution was preserved by the Koman nation, in its days of military greatness as an effective school for courage, in its degeneracy to satisfy the corrupt passion of a cruel and degraded mob.^ The excuse sometimes advanced in palliation of these monstrous horrors, that only condemned that there is good authority for the severity shown in the permanent exclusion of offendorvS. Others insert m : i. e. ■" and those who contribute to this " — those who are acces- sories. Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 210, and Routh. Eel. Sac. vol. iii. p. 447, there quoted. Cf. Mansi, vol. ii. p. 519. ^ Elv. VI. « Elv. II. 9 Elv. LXII. ^ Cf. the authorities quoted by Schmidt, La Societe Civile, p. 250 ; and for the actors, ib. p. 98 foil. 2 Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. i. p. 287. 134 The Synod of Elvira. criminals engaged in the sanguinary combats^, is at once fictitious and revolting. It is, as M. Renan says, one of the most hideous characteristics of Roman morals, that punishment was transformed into a public festival and entertainment, while the amphitheatre became the place of execution, and the tribunal supplied the arena.^ Even if the fact here assumed, had been invariably the case, this is no justification of the practice. To condemn the offender, as a punishment for homicide to kill a second of his fellow-creatures, is but to add crime to crime."* Even when man was matched with beast, a terrible sacrifice of life was an event of no rare occurrence ; and when the contest lay between professional com- batants and rebellious slaves, or captive prisoners, the scene was one of barbarous and unmitigated butchery. At the present time, or a little earlier, these encounters had been universal throughout the Roman empire. In Rome they were common, and in Thessaly :^ in Spain, admirably adapted as they were to display the bodily dexterity in which the Spaniards surpass other nations, they had almost reached the height of a national institution. Money for such exhibitions was often bequeathed, to honour the memory of the dead, and municipal authorities were made responsible for its proper expenditure f the custom, though repressed under the sway of •' Kenan, Conferences d'Angleterre, p. 87. •^ Cf. Tert. De Spect. xviii. xix. " Cf. Saeton. Claud, xxi., and Plin}-, N. H. viii. 45. ^ Cf Masdeu, viii. 49 ; Coll. 438. In Gams, vol. ii. p. 45. The Church and the Animal Creation. 135 the Gotbs, was restored by the Moors. To this thirst and craving for bloodshed, the Spanish Chnrch offered a prolonged and stubborn resistance, ineffectual, however, to subdue the fierce passions of the nation. § 13. Lecky, in his ^' History of Rationalism/' does scant credit to the exertions of the Church to put an end to these scandalous cruelties, though in his main proposition, that the activity of the Church in this cause was due to no tenderness for animal suffering but to an exclusive regard for human life, he is undoubtedly correct. It is undeniable that the new reverence with which the human soul was now invested by the revelation of its august dignity and awful danger, for a time submerged and obli- terated that kindliness for the animal creation which characterises part at least of the Old Testa- ment Scriptures. The same spirit may indeed be traced in the Gospels, but the more brilliant radi- ance fascinated the entire attention of the early Church, fixing its thought exclusively on the rela- tions of human existence to the Divine. It was but after a long interval that the lowlier duties of man towards the living creatures of the earth were again recognised and asserted/ But from comparatively early times the leadei's of the Spanish Church had made strenuous protest against all these forms of barbarity, and against the national sport of bull-fights in particular. From the pulpit, and through the press, when such appeal 7 Leckj, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 183 foil., and notes on p. 185. Cf The History of Rationalism, vol.i. pp. 331 — 334, and notes. 136 The Sy 710 d of Elvira. became possible^ bishop and priest made tlieir plea, leaving no opportunity unemployed. Even in his great history of the Spanish Councils, the Cardinal Saenz d'Aguirre, with intense fervour, inveighs against the brutality of exciting beasts to attack men, and insists that the death of those who fall in this murderous pastime, is directly attributable to those who encourage its continuance by their presence and applause.' Mendoza unites his advo- cacy in the same cause ;^ and Gams, the latest historian of the Spanish Church, follows in his turn, supplying new evidence of the disastrous con- sequences of this formidable institution. Even in the present century, he tells us, on two occasions, at an interval of forty years, in 1812 and again in 1852, four lives were sacrificed in the arena, and at other times the tale of victims has not failed; to say nothing of the countless cases in which health and strength have been permanently impaired, and the unfortunate " matadore '' crippled and maimed for life. On Minutoli's authority, he details some of the barbarities to which the contest between clergy .and people over this custom has led, and cites the case of Barcelona, where, as late as the year 1835, the mob, in disappointed rage, attacked the monas- tery to burn cloister and monks together.^ The Church, if it neglected its duty to the animal crea- tion, did not forget its responsibility towards man. Perhaps the conception of the duty was incom- s Aguirre, vol. i. p. G70. ^ Mendoza, 1. c. p. 350. ^ Minutoli, Altes und Neues aua Spanien, ii. pp. 71 — 122. Gams, vol. ii. pp. 126—128. The Church and Slavery, 137 plete, but the answer to its call was prompt and resolute. § 14. It is_, however^ impossible for a Church to be always in advance of the times ; nor can it always struggle so boldly against the vices and iniquities of the social system. To censure the early Christians because they did not at once ini- tiate a crusade against slavery would be a gross injustice. Such a movement at that period of time would have shaken the very foundations of the Empire, and the disorder which must have ensued would have destroyed both Church and State in one and the same chaos. Revolution, if successful, would have been the beginning of portentous evils ; and, if crushed, would have entailed the blind and merciless bar- barity which always follows upon panic. Other forces, too, were at work, tending to ameliorate the condition of the servile population, without a sudden break in the social order ; and these humane ten- dencies, and the improvements which they intro- duced, even if " they began in principles which were of Stoical rather than of Christian influence," were at any rate " quickened by the influence " of Chris- tianity.^ All that the new faith could wisely do was done ; the Church itself, in life and in death, recognised no diff'erence between the Roman citizen and the slave whom the wisest of Greek philoso- phers, without prejudice or passion, set down in the category of implements, attributing to him so different a grade of life from that of the free man, 2 Maine, Early History of Institutions, p. C3. 1 2>^ The Synod of Elvira. that between tlie two the bond of friendship was as impossible as between rational and irrational beings.^ But in this new community they might sit at the same table^ and on the rough monumental stones above their tombs there was nothing to recall the distinctions of human inequality. " While it is im- possible/^ says De Rossi, " to examine the pagan sepulchral inscriptions of the same period without finding mention of a slave or a free man, I have not met with one well-ascertained instance among the inscriptions of the Christian tombs.^^ ^ Nor was the Christian master regardless or ignorant of his responsibility towards his slaves, and of his obliga- tion to treat them with a humanity and forbearance surpassing the virtues of his unconverted neigh- bours. In some cases, indeed, the master might learn from his slave the laws and the promises of the Christian life ; for though by the Canons of this and other Synods, the ordination of slaves, some- times even after emancipation, was prohibited,^ there is abundant reason to believe that the enact- ments were subsequently evaded and disregarded ; nor would they check the informal ministrations and the unofficial teaching, which in the wild country districts cannot have been unfrequent or ineffectual.^ 3 Aristotle, Nic. Eth. viii. xi. G ^ Boll. di. Arch. Crist. 1866, p. 24, in J. B. Mullinger's article, s. v. " Slavery." Smith and Cheatham's Diet. Christ. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 1092 foil. ^ Elv. LXXX. '"' In Canon XIX. there is a significant allusion to the de- cadence of slavery. The cleric is to send, not a slave, hut a Crtielty to Slaves. 1 39 § 15. All unnatural relations between men, though theh^ consequences may be avoided for a time, avenge themselves at last; and this special case proved no exception to the general law. Where disobedience provoked passion, or fear prompted to crael repression; v/hen the law ex- acted its rights over the household of a master on his trial — before the system of torture was swept away — no personal amiability could withstand and counteract the pernicious and essential evils of the social institution. Still less could the virtues of one slave-owner compensate for the vices of another, and the self-restraint of the individual correct the habits and impulses of the class. At Elvira a special instance of this kind occurs, illustrating the actual state of the slave even under Christian ownership, and the caution which the Church was compelled to observe in dealing with offences of the kind. Against the masters there seems to have been no cause of complaint, if we can judge from the absence of any enactments dealing with their con- duct ; but it was necessary to restrain by law the cruel indignation of the women. Some of them, bitterly resenting the infidelity of their husbands, freedman [*' libertus "] to transact his business outside the province, or a hired man [mercenarius]. The clergy then no longer had slaves, as a rule, but only the laity. Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 73. Baur [Ch. Hist. vol. ii. p. 243] shows how the Christian spirit taught society to treat the individual no longer as "a means for the general ends of the whole," and to " regard the human dignity even of the lowest and weakest." 140 TJie Synod of Elvira. wreaked tlieir vengeance on the slave-girl who had dared to usurp the rights of her mistress, and under the lash some of the wretched victims suffered immediate or a lingering death. The Fathers of the Church were fully conscious that the death of a slave by violence was as grave a crime as that of a free man, but they could not outrun popular senti- ment so far as to make an offence committed under such provocation an act of murder. If a ringlet set awry, or a clumsy touch in arranging the mass of hair, had fired the unreasonable fury, then no other course would have been open to them ; but here the cause was less trivial, and a severe, though not an excessive punishment, was necessary for correction/ [Note C] Following the parallel in the Pentateuch, they fixed on a term of three days * after the infliction of the punishment, to determine the real cause of death. If the slave expired within this time, and intention could be proved against the mistress, she was to be excluded from communion for seven years, otherwise for five, due penance accompanying the excommunication.^ Constantine, in a letter to A. Maximianus Macrobius, asserts as a general principle that such accidental homicides are not to be considered as criminal,^ and with his view the latter part of the Canon stands in apparent contradiction. But the " Cf. Ovid, A. A. iii. 239, 240. « Exodus xxi. 20, 21. » Elv. V. ^ " Culpa nudi sunt, qui dum pessima corrigunt, meliora suis adquirere vernaculis voluerunt." Cod. Theod. De Emend. Serv. ii. Cf. Gonzalez iu Aguirre, vol. i. p. 378—380. False Acnisation and Evidence. 141 accident arising from heedlessness, in the absence of premeditation, is thus punished, not exactly as a crime, but to ensure a larger measure of precaution and self-control where passion was likely to lead, to these disastrous consequences. And in this way, though the slave is not yet restored to his true position as a rational human being, some care at least is shown on his behalf." § 16. There was one more phase in which the same sin of murder might appear, consisting not in an act of violence that broke the law and set it at defiance, but in the abuse of its processes by perjury and deceit, and in perverting the sword which should have been a terror to evil-doers into an instrument for the destruction of the upright. Even when hfe was not endangered by such malig- nant attacks, reputation and property might suffer ; and were the charge disproved, it would often be a difficult task to apprehend and punish the false accuser, especially where the accusation was of a political nature, and alarmed prefects trembled lest they too should be charged with conspiracy against the imperial power, or with undue indifference to the honour of their sovereign. By such an accusa- tion, supported by testimony as false, it was possible to do the work of rapier or potion with more certainty and more security; and the offender, by methods less clumsy than the cut-throat's, filled his purse with rapidity and ease. Under previous emperors, such as Nero, the trade had been a ' Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 14G— 150, and Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. m, 67, and 71. 142 The Synod of Elvivi i prosperous one, for tlie " delator '^ was rewarded with a quarter of tlie confiscated estates/ amounting in particular instances to an enormous sum. If only the guilty had been accused, it would have been a lucrative undertaking; but the infamous '' Frumentarii/' into whose hands this business had fallen of late years, chose their victims with tact and care. As the privileged spies of the empire, and being employed in other secret business, they had unusual opportunities for acquiring an intimate knowledge of each man's position and circumstances ; and the information thus obtained was utilised to the most degraded ends. A regular system of espionage and denunciation was organised, and the band, having risen almost to the dignity of a class, lived by mutual protection, and were not seldom befriended and shielded by high officials, who found in them the convenient and willing iustruments of ambition or enmity. In Spain, Gaul, and Syria., by threats of denouncing rich citizens as accomplices in imaginary conspiracies, they extorted immense sums of hush-money from rich and noble families.^ Constantino did his best to put them down, but before long the same characters reappeared in a new dress, and under another name, now charged with the nominal care of the public conveyances, and known as '^ Veredarii." No stronger argument ^ Hence the term "Quadruplatores." Cf. Tacitus, Ann. iv. 21. Cicero, Div. in Ca^cil. cvii. Llvy, iii. 72, " Populum Ro- manum quadruplatoris et interceptoris litis alienee personam laturum." ^ Cf. Burckliardt, Constantine, pp. 73, 74. The PicnisJuncnt of Info7'incrs. 143 could be alleged in support of Aristotle's plea, that all fines and forfeits should go for religious purposes, relieving individuals and the State from all motive to accuse or to punish undeservedly, than the iniquities of the judicial system of the empire.^ § 17. A Christian who played the part of informer, and secured the conviction and execution of his victim, was irrevocably excomn^unicated : if the charge was less grave, and did not affect life, the believer was suspended for five years ; or, in the case of a catechumen, baptism was deferred for a corresponding period.*^ But the Church did not stop at punishing the chief instigator : it was essential that his tools and instruments should be treated with similar rigour ; and the Council, in the case of a capital charge, put the witness on the level of the informer : otherwise, he was to be suspended for five years from communion and its privileges. It might, however, happen that the witness acted against his will, and under strong personal compul- sion or fear; and if he could prove this in the recognised ecclesiastical court, his term of punish- ment was to be diminished by three years ; though to mark the disapprobation of the Church with his conduct in not resolutely holding his peace at all costs, the penalty was not altogether remitted." The Church, unwilling at all times that the Christian should appear in the civil courts, or that he should inform even against the guilty, was bound to visit ■' Aristotle, Pol. vi. 5. '^ Elv. LXXIII. - Elv. LXXIV. Cf. Zeltschrift fiir Kathol. Theol, Wien, 185G, pp. 38—43. 1 44 The Synod of Elvira . witli its censure tliose who associated themselves in an unjust cause. There can be no doubt but that the same principle applied not only to secular but to sacred matters^ and that false charges laid in an ecclesiastical court incurred commensurate severity. At Elvira it is enacted that any one who falsely accuses any of the superior clergy, is to be excommunicated for life/ while at Aries ^ the same sentence is passed on all those who falsely accused their brethren; and though from the context it is clear tliat the Canon specially refers to the charges made against the clergy of betraying the sacred books and vessels, or even the names of the faithful — a great offence, and severely punished ^ — the enactment will also bear a wider sense without any undue strain. In the case of the clergy, their rank and character would aggravate their loss and suffering, and, consequently, the guilt of a charge falsely prefered against them. In the moral and in the social life of the community, this sin of denunciation and false testimony might well prove unto death ; and it was essential to punish it accordingly. [Note D.] § 18. The last of the three great evils which the Church had to encounter was the sin of unchastity, always deeply rooted m human nature, and at this time, through the utter debasement of Koman morality, as foul as it was inveterate. There can be no sufiicient reason for prying into the putrid heap of corruption which the perverted genius of classical 8 Elv. LXXV. « Aries, XIV. ^ Cf. Ancjra, IX., and Aries, XIII. S//!s of Ivipurity. 145 literature lias stereotyped for all generations to come^ or for tracing tlie development of national coarseness into the most infamous vice under the contagion of foreign immorality. There was no form of impurity which imperial Rome left un- touched ; none which she did not contaminate and degrade. No other cause was more effectual in producing the final collapse under the barbarian invasion than the utter rottenness of society ; and to it the historian may attribute the defeat of the Spaniards, once the flower of the Roman legions, by the purer and stronger tribes of the Goths. For the Church the problem was one of the gravest. In the earliest days of the Faith, and in the great discourse which has been to all ages the quarry from which the foundations of Christian morals have been hewn, the Divine Teacher had assigned to pure hearts as their special prerogative the vision of God Himself, denied to polluted and sordid natures. And all subsequent experience has confirmed men in the belief that to attain any degree of spiritual elevation and insight, purity of thought and act is the first requisite ; while, on the contrary^ nothing more surely deadens the higher aspirations, and incapacitates for the loftier activities and affec- tions, than the secret though conscious presence of impurity in the heart : of all evils it is the first to come, and the last to go. No human power seems able to expel it, and long and futile conflict has led many in their bitter agony to cry in weariness and despair for a final and complete release from ^^ the body of this death.'' L 1 46 The Synod of Elvira. § 19. Some writers have been perplexed, and others scandalised, by the prominence given to this class of offences in the thought and action of the Church of the early centuries. It is undoubtedly true, that " sins of unchastity occupy a larger place than any other in its enactments/' and also that '^the ascetic passion increased the prominence of this branch of ethics ; " ' but the statement and the conception of the cause are incomplete; for Mr. Lecky has missed the fundamental reason for this excessive attention and care. In the first place^ though civilised society does censure offences against purity, it resents them with much less severity than outrages against life or property; though th& general impulse is, broadly speaking, stronger in the former case than in the latter. Furthermore, while the temptation is intense, detection is difficult, and proof unreliable, rendering the punishment of offenders uncertain, and weakeuing the deterrent influences. And lastly, even where Law takes notice of the offence, and when evidence is clear, public opinion may still refuse to acknowledge the- breach of statute as a crime ; leaving the trans- gressor liable indeed to the vengeance of positive law, but exempt from the resentment of the general conscience. These forces co-operated during the- imperial regime. The law prohibited, but common opinion and universal practice tolerated ; while the law itself was practically inoperative, unless the offender involved himself in treason as well as im- purity, or had provoked the personal animosity of - Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 336. ImpU7'ity checked by the Church, 147 the prefect or his favourites. Mere vice in troublous times was a crime to be winked at^ probably to be laughed over, by the representative of law and order. But when the secular power failed, the Church was bound to act : and this case was one in which its action, resting* upon special sanction, and appealing to special motives, was sure to be effective in com- parison with all external influences. It had a deeper and more intimate acquaintance with the life and thought of its members than the governor or his agents could ever attain ; and for the guilty it had punishments of transcendent horror. Thus, its early legislation was directed, not to draw up a methodical code of sins and penalties on an abstract system, nor to co-ordinate crime and punishment, but to check and repress among its members the disorders which other leo:islators had to allow or to is^nore. The civil law secured life and property with some measure of efficiency; it did little or nothing to secure purity, and to this special duty the Church was forced to devote its thought and strength. Ordinary human tendencies, leaving asceticism out of the question, would be sufficient to account for the " prominence " to which the historian points. § 20. The elementary condition of morality even among parts of the professedly Christian community, may be inferred from the fact that the Church found it necessary to punish with its most drastic sentence the unnatural vice which had long been the curse and the shame of Greek and Roman society, and survived in the converts when they had surrendered their old faith; proving once more that with the L 2 148 The Synod of Elvira. mass of mankind the moral reformation is of slower growth than the religious/^ ^ The Synod had also to strike at parents, guardians, and other " believing women/'' who acted as procuresses, and sold into pollution ^^ another's, or rather their own body :" for there is a kinship not of blood alone, but of humanity.^ It was not, however, on degradation such as this that the attention of the Council was concentrated, but upon the task of raising the moral standard among the less debased members of society. One of the most important points which demanded con- sideration was pra3-nuptial unchastity ; and to diminish this special sin was a problem of no mean importance. The policy pursued by the Council was in the main wise and judicious, though in part it is open to criticism. It is enacted that a virgin who has committed carnal sin, if she subsequently marries the partner of her guilt may be readmitted to church-fellowship after a year, and without the infliction of special penance. If, however, she marries another, she is to be excluded for five years, and to perform due penance.^ A similar law is 5 Elv. LXXI. Cf. Becker, Gallus, iii. 66, 67. On the rnoralitj of heathen society, cf. Jowett, St. Paul's Epistles, vol. ii. p. 74 foil. < Elv. XII. Cf. Ulpian, 1. iv. in Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 168, 169, "Ait praitor de his qui notantur infamia, lenocinium facit qui qusestuaria mancipia habel, sed et qui in liberis hunc qugestum exercet in eadem causa est." " Parens " is not "father," as in Hefele, vol. i. p. 160. All the cases are those of women, in a descending scale of relationship; mother, kinswoman, any believer. ^ Elv. XIV. Unfaithful Virgins. 149 enacted with reference to youths guilty of the same sin, though the obHgation to marry the victim of seduction is not so explicitly stated : we are however justified in assuming the same rule in both cases/ Where marriage followed, the offence might be considered as an anticipation of the nuptial rights, and by penitence and a permanent union condoned. This leniency would prevent many from sinking deeper into sin ; and on a similar principle, subsequent laws allowed the legitimisation of the offspring of such illicit intercourse. Even the harlot was pardoned, if after conversion she left her evil courses, and settled down in lawful marrias^e. Her former sins were to be considered as part of the old life which she had now abandoned, and were to cast no outward shadow upon the new.^ § 21. There was, however, a special order of virginity which did not meet with these easy terms — those who had consecrated their maiden- hood to God, If they broke their oath of fidelity, and surrendered their honour, no such restoration was granted. Eveu if the irremediable act was com- mitted in a moment of blind passion, when they were not capable of recognising their disloyalty to Christ, only by perpetual vigilance and life-long penance could they regain communion at death ; having shown by prolonged abstinence both from illicit love and from the marriage tie, that their fall was due to persuasion or to the infirmity of the body. If, on the other hand, they continued in bondage to lust, they were doomed to permanent and irrevo- « Elv. XXXI. ' Elv. XLIV. 1 50 The Synod of Elvira. cable excommunication, and to be shunned as out- casts by tlieir family and friends.^ The Canon has given rise to considerable discussion, from the fact tbat uncbastity and marriage are botli put in the same category, — both unreservedly condemned in members of this sacred order. Mendoza indeed goes so far as to hold marriage under such circum- stances for the more heinous sin, because that relation is more lasting and more conspicuous.'' This view is well illustrated by one of the Canons of Anc^a'a, which, pressing the literal sense of the phrase " the bride of God," though applying it to men as well as to women, treats as actual bigamists those who have broken a vow of chastity, con- demning them to the same punishment.^ No more striking instance could perhaps be found of the evils resulting from the abuse of metaphor. The honour of the vow did indeed make fidelity more essential, from the Augustinian point of view; but to adapt human analogies to the divine life is 10 materialise and to profane it.- ^ Elv. XIII. Cf. 1 Tolet. XIX. » Mendoza, 1. c. p. 172. ^ Ancjra XIX. - On this *' votum virginitatis " cf. a letter attributed to Augustine, but probably written by Pelagius ; c. x., Migne, Patrologia, vol. xxxiii. p. 1106. "Non intelligentes," in Canon XIII., points to the following " semel persuasa:' : " they are carried away by passion into unconscious disloyalty. Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 161, and Gams, vol. ii. pp. 64, 65. Garcias Loaisa, Concilia, p. 7, interprets it as "without repentance;" while "lapsa3"= "against their will." So Aubespine, p. 23, interprets it of those who are penitent onlj' at life's close, and seek peace of the Church rather throug^h fear of death than of God. Dr. Nolte Clei'ical Unchastity. 1 5 f The same, or even greater rigour, is exhibited ia the case of otFending clergy, who are considered to vstand under a special obligation of purity, and to deserve a proportionately severer sentence if they fall. To them communion is not to be allowed even at death : ^ such as sinned in youth are not to be ordained to the humble office of subdeacon, because promotion to the higher grades might easily be made in ignorance ; those who had been so ordained were now to be deposed."* The Synod of Neocsesarea, held a few years later, degrades a presbyter if he marries, and excommunicates him for fornication or adultery ; ^ but the Apostolical Canons are more lenient, deposing for fornication, perjury, or theft, but not refusing- communion; on the ground that a prophetical passage ^ prohibits the imposition of a double penalty for the same offence." That even bishops were liable to the charges laid against the subordinate clergy is proved only too indisputably by the scandalous offences of Basilides and Martialis, a case still within the memory of some of those assembled at the Council.^ § 22. Sins before marriage were but the beginning of the Churches arduous task : those of the married state were more complex, and of equal importance. At this period there can be no doubt that celibacy [1. c. p. 309] refers *'' eidem " to the parents and others mentioned in the preceding Canon [XII.]. » Elv. XVIII. "^ Elv. XXX. ^ Xeocsesarea I. ^ Kahum i. 0. " Apost. Can. XXV. Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 807. s Cf. Gams, vol. i. p. 262. 152 Th e S) nod of Elvira . was regarded as a state absolutely good iu itself, and not siraply as a means to a life of detached spirituality. But nevertheless, measures of precau- tion were taken to secure the peace and honour of marriage ; and, even without legislative enactment, men would have thought it sinful to say that it was essentially an evil.^ Thus decrees were passed, strengthening the obligations incurred at betrothal, counteracting alike the propensities of parents to break through that contract from mercenary motives, and of those affianced to throw aside the restraints of betrothal in a moment of passion. If the parents, without serious fault on the part of their children, broke the solemn contract, they were liable to three years^ exclusion : if those betrothed committed sin together, the engagement was considered binding.* At the same time, the scandalous laxity of heathen society with respect to affinity, cases of which are sadly familiar, was restricted by statute; and five years' penance and excommunication were imposed upon the Christian who marries two sisters,^ and perpetual exclusion for union with a step-sister.^ [Note E.] § 23. The title of the sixty-seventh Canon, due to the corruption of the text and to the misinterpretation of the copyist, might easily lead us to misconceive the aim of another measure of wise precaution. The enactment has no reference to marriage with actors or stage-players, but is intended to prevent Christian women, believers and catechumeus alike, from keeping lascivious and dissolute slaves in their ^ Cf. Apost. Can. LI., and Hefele, vol. i. p. 816. ' Elv. LIV. 2 Elv. LXI. 3 Ei^. i^xVI. Slaves of the HoiiseJiold. i53 households, always the source of domestic impurity and infidelity. Danger from such causes had for long menaced the Christian Church. Milman, on the authority of the '^ Paidagogos ^^ of Clement of Alexandria, points out that in Christian society we find ^^1ll the vices of an opulent and luxurious community : splendid dresses^ jewels, gold and silver vessels, rich banquets, gilded litters and chariots, and private baths. The ladies kept Indian birds, Median peacocks, monkeys, and Maltese dogs, instead of maintaining w^idows and orphans. The men had multitudes of sJaves.^^ "* And while it could not be said with truth in Spain, that " the Christian alone is rich,^^ ^ we are bound to suppose that the same law operated in this as in other provinces, and that large numbers of the wealthy mercantile class professed adherence to the Christian faith : the ceremonial munificence which was checked by the Council is an indirect proof that the Spanish Church did not suffer from extreme poverty.^ The wives of these men would have ^'^ many a purchased slave ^^ — to frizz and curl their locks, to build up the lofty structure of hair,^ or to act as artists in false tresses. Such attendants were coveted by those who possessed riches, or married them. Sedan- chairs, mules, and slender hair-dressers from abroad, " Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. p. 209, note h. 5 Clemens Alexandrinus, naiSaycoyd?, iii. vi. Migne, Patro- logia, vol. viii. p. 603 foil. 6 Elv. XXVIII. and XL VIII. ; and cf. Baur. Ch. Hist. vol. ii. p. 231. ' Cf. " Tot adhuc compagibus altum ^dificat caput," Juv. vi. 502. 154 ^^^ Synod of Ehdra. are coupled in the same clause by Tertullian; and tliese men, no less than their companion eunuchs, ministered to the passions of their mistresses, or, where there was no previous inclination to de- bauchery, lighted and quickened the illicit flame. The Synod was bent on eradicating this source of corruption, and suspended the believer from com- munion and the catechumen from baptism, until they dismissed these slaves from their homes. ^ [Note F.] § 24. The whole question of adultery presents special difficulties in treatment; partly due to the nature of the subject, partly to the obscurity and confusion in which early Christian thought and legislation are involved. In a striking article, con- tributed to the '^Dictionary of Christian Antiqui- ties,^^ ^ the Bampton lecturer for 1875 has en- deavoured to distinguish three stages in the definition of the term, and a corresponding variation in the degree of guilt assigned by current morality to such offences. It is impossible to follow the writer into the details of his argument : for the immediate purpose, a general summary will suffice. The essen- tial characteristic of the offence is, that the woman should be married;^ and this conception marks the first stage, the woman being '*" adultera '^ in the strict sense, while the man is only '^adulter '^ by association « Elv. LXVII. Cf. Tert. Ad Uxor. ii. 8, "peregriiia proceritate." '■' Diet. Christ. Antiq. vol. i. pp. 17—30. ^ "Adulterium in nupta committitur," Dig. 48, tit. v. s. G, § 1, Papinian. The sin of Adultery, 155 with her. The same principle is recognised in the Jewish code.^ From this fundamental distinction arises a corresponding difference in the respective punishments meted out to the offenders ; and while the husband may put away the wife for adultery, the wife has not the same power, unless the offence had been committed with a married woman.^ This inequality of treatment strongly impressed divines like Jerome and Gregory ; and they now began to insist that the sin of incontinence was equally grave, whether committed by man or woman, and that difference of sex did not modify the obligation of conjugal fidelity. The precise considerations which influenced them in their views, and in the adoption of a single standard, were, as Mr. Jackson points out, mainly the following : — ^^ A feeling of the absolute unity of a married couple, a healthy bequest from the first age; indignation at marital licence, and desire to find a remedy for woman's wrong; and the wish to recommend celibacy by contrast with the ^ servitude of marriage/ " ^ The last stage is that reached by the canon lav/, in which the offence is characterized as being com- mitted " cum persona coniugata '' of either sex ; ^^ simplex,'^ if one of the guilty parties alone be married ; '^ duplex,^' when a married man sins with a married woman. At Ehdra there is a strange confusion of these various views, pointing to a transition state of - Levit. XX. 10. Deut. xxii. 22. •■^ Basil, Canon XXI. Diet. Christ. Autiq. 1. c. pp. 21, 22. •* Diet. Christ. Antiq. 1. c. p. 22 b. 156 The Synod of Elvira, opinion in the society represented at the Council. At one time the obligation of fidelity is recognised as equally binding upon both sexes ; at another, it is ignored. For example : the Synod condemns offenders against the law of marriage, without any distinction of sex, to a five years' penance/ ex- tended by the Council of Ancyra to seven :^ bub the term is indefinitely reduced for sin committed, if confessed, with a Jewess or a heathen woman.' Again, while communion at death was granted to a married man who had been guilty of prolonged and repeated sin, if he professed penitence and desired pardon,^ the same leniency was not extended to the unmarried woman who had been the partner of his guilt. She was condemned to excommuni- cation till death, if she persevered in her evil courses ; or to ten years of penance, if she forsook her sin while repentance and amendment were still possible.^ It was only after unexpected recovery and a renewed transgression, that excommunication was imposed upon the equally guilty husband. § 25. While the penalty for the simple offence is comparatively light, the punishment of connivance or complicity is most severe. If the husband knew the guilt of his wife, he was bound at once to put her away. If he hesitated and delayed, he incurred a penalty of ten years' penance : if permanently recalcitrant, he was excommunicated.^ Under the Roman law, connivance of this nature was cou- ^ Elv. LXIX. 6 Ancyra XX. 7 Elv. LXXVIII. 8 Elv. XL VII. 5 Elv. LXIV. > Elv. LXX. The pimishment of Adultery. 1 5 7 sidered as equivalent to '^ lenocinium ;^^ and the same principle was adopted in the Christian code of the fourth century. The obligation was still more stringent in the case of the clergy, who were specially required to present an unstained example to the world_, giving no occasion for scandal to those under their charge." On this point, how- ever, the law and some of the great leaders of the Church were at variance. The lenient Shepherd of Hermas allowed, and urged, one reconciliation with a penitent wife,^ while Augustine at one time leans towards gentleness, at another, to stringency/ It is at least noteworthy that, already, domestic infidelity in Spain should be marked by the special characteristic which has been so prominent, both in that country and in Italy, during after-ages, — the indifference, or the toleration of the husband.^ § 26. The woman, as she possessed no such power, was exempt from its responsibilities, and was therefore not exposed to the same penal con- sequences. The Julian law at Eome allowed the husband to proceed against the wife, but not the wife against the husband; and the same principle held its ground in the morality of the Church for a considerable period. When Constantino's edict granted freedom of divorce to the wife for homicide, poisoning, and violation of sepulchre, and when 2 Elv. LXV. Cf. Neoca^sarea YIII. ^ Lib. ii. Mandat. iv. "* Augustine, De Adult. Con. ii. viii,, and Retract, i. xix. 6. Migne, Patrologia, vol. xl. pp. 475, 476 ; vol. xxxii. p. 606. 5 Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 374. 158 TJic Synod of Elvira, later emperors extended the right to cases of aggra- vated profligacy, the spirit of the Charch resisted the tendency to take advantage of these concessions, and at this early period of the fourth century the ancient system prevailed in all its rigour. Even at Rome, Tvhere a wife could procure divorce with comparative ease, the lines of Plautus were not without point : — • " Ecastor lege dura vivont miilieres, Multo iniquiore miserce quam viri. Utinam lex esset eadem quse uxori est viro." ^ § 27. In Christian society the lines were still more applicable, for at present the Church, if it raised woman, did not free her. To prevent any laxity in separation, such as was common in heathen society,'' the Council enacted that a wife leaving her husband without cause, and living in adultery with another^ should not receive communion even at death.^ The sentence agrees with the tone of the sixty-fourth Canon. In three other Canons the Synod dealt with the question of separation and re-marriage, and put it beyond all doubt that, in the case of the woman, separation was not equivalent to a divorce admitting a second marriage. A believing woman who has left a believing husband on the ground of his adultery, is forbidden to marry another. If she persists, communion is to be denied her, except in '"' Plautus, Mercator, iv. 5, quoted in Diet. Christ. Antiq. 1. c. '> Cf Plutarch, Probl. xiii. * Elv. VIII. Separation and Divorce. 159 the most urgent need^ till her first and real husband has set her free by death.^ The outraged wife is thus forbidden to enter into a second marriage after a separation on justifiable grounds. In the tenth Canon, another case is provided for — that of a woman who has been deserted by her husband, a catechumen, and re-marries.^ The union is not lawful, but is not to exclude her from baptism. The same law applies in cases where the desertion is on the wife^s side, she being the catechumen, and the second marriage that of the husband. Further- more, if the husband thus deserting his true and lawful wife, marries a believer who knows him to have abandoned his wife without cause, she is not to receive communion till death : for such an one must have been aware that separation without cause, both for Christian and catechumen, was unjustifiable alike. If a catechumen had been guilty of this dis- graceful complicity, her baptism was to be put off for five years.^ It would appear then, from the ninth Canon, that the aggrieved husband might re-marry with im- punity, though this freedom is not conceded to the wife under similar conditions. BasiP denies the right, even to the husband ; and the Council of Aries'* enforces the same view, though it imposes no penalty for the misdemeanour. The inequality was due to the state of the civil law, the provisions of which were contravened or superseded by these ecclesiastical enactments. In marriage itself, and in " Elr. IX. ' Elv. X. - Elv. XI. 3 Canon XXI. "^ Aries XL 1 60 The Syiiod of Elvira. divorce, tlie man occupied the position of vantage ; and it was not till more than a century later that both sexes were, in this respect, put on a footing of equality.^ § 28. Nothing further remains but to point out, in the briefest terms, the law as it applied to the misconduct of widows. Their special privileges and duties in the Church of the Apostles are well- known, from the New Testament records, and no fundamental modification had, as yet, taken place in the relations of these women to the Church. As they had special functions to perform towards the younger women, and in the conversion of their heathen sisters, it was in the highest degree essential that they should lead an exemplary and irreproach- able life; and though a second marriage was not forbidden them, except by the ascetic sects, mono- gamy was encouraged even before the exhortations of Ambrose and Jerome had led to the reprobation of such a practice, and to the organisation of widowhood as a new religious order, with special vows of continence. At present, things had not come to such a pass ; for a widow who fell into transgression was enjoined to marry the man with whom she had sinned : in that event, a penance of five years was imposed ; if she married another, she was permanently excommunicated ; and such an one, being a Christian, was liable to ten years' suspension for allying himself with a woman no 5 Cf. IMendoza, 1. c. pp. 153—171. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 159, 160. Munclien, Bonner Zeitscbrift, vol. 26, p. 58. Diet. Christ. Antiq. 1. c. and especially pp. 28 b, 29. Notes on the First Canon. i6i longer free/ The principle is that which was laid down in the case of the unmarried; bat though similar stress is laid upon the one reparation pos- sible, the widow, as resting under a stronger obli- gation to continence_, for an example to those under her guidance and care, suffers a five-fold penalty : in other respects, there is nothing to distinguish the Canon from those which have already passed under examination/ Note A. — On Canon I. — The text of this Canon is singu- larly corrupt, and the same may be said of very many others enacted at this Synod. Among the variants may be noted nos [for eos] ; idolaturus, idololaturus, and idolatrionis ; principale, for capitale; and ad communionem eum suscipere, for eum communionem accipere. As to idolatrionis and its equivalents, I have no hesitation in striking them all out of the text as marginal interpolations, produced by the copyist's misconception, shared by many subsequent editors, of the idiom of " fecerit." Hefele in his first edition, and Herbst with his co-editors, punctuate : — " et fecerit quod est," and translate " and shall have committed, &c." But "facere" like its Greek equivalent pi^ui, is used with the technical meaning of " sacrifice " ; it is Virgil's "Cum/rtc«aw vitula pro frugibus." Hefele, vol. i. p. 138, English translation : Herbst and others in the Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1821. p. 64. « Elv. LXXII. ' Note on Canon LXXII. — Mendoza, 1. c. p. 375, explains the latter part of the Canon thus. (1) If the widow thus offending marries a man other than the partner of her gnilt, and a heathen, communion shall not be granted at all ; (2) or, if he be a believer, only after ten years' penance. But Aubes- pine, pp. 77,78, followed as usual by Migne [Diet. Cone. vol. i. p. 828], rightly refers " ei " to the husband, who would be culpable, though in a less degree. M 1 6 2 The Synod of Elvira. Binterim in Lis scathing but malignant reply to the editors of the Quartalschrift does not fail to point out their error, which is corrected by Dr. Nolte, and by Hefele in his second German edition. The former rightly points out that the words, " Quod est crimen capitale," are a parenthetical explanation and justi- fication of the sentence pronounced at the close of the Canon, and that they stand in apposition to, and cannot be objectively united with the verb, " fecerit." Binterim, Katholik, 1821, vol. ii. pp. 417—444. Nolte, Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1865, pp. 308, 309. Note B. — Capitols in Spain. — For the Capitols of Spain, cf. " Et capite insigni despectans Tarraco pontum." Paulinus, x. 233; Migne, Patrologia, vol. Ixi. p. 458; and Fructuosus, iii. 4. " HispanoD pete Tarraconis arces." Gams [vol. ii. pp. 119 — 124], in a style, and at a length worthy of Mendoza or Aguirre, discusses the subject in detail, quoting from Dr. Braun's " Die Kapitole " a list of the Capitols existing in the Western Empire. Dr. Braun asserts the existence of such institutions in the Spanish cities of Saragossa, Seville, Elvira, Barcelona, Ilerda, Calagurris, Fibularia, Pampelona, and Tarraco. Dr. Herbst reinforces the list with illustrative evidence drawn from Capua, Beneventum, Epidaurus, Narbonne, and Toulouse. The details of the argument are not essential, and may be omitted without further notice. Note C. — (i.) For the crueltj'of Roman ladies to their slaves, cf. Schmidt, La Societe civile dansle Monde Romain, pp. 92, 93, " En Grece deja, dans ce pays de mceurs plus douces, il y avait eu des femmes maltraitant leurs esclaves, les fatiguant jusqu'a la mort, leur refusant la nourriture, faisant couler leur sang sous des coups furieux : mais c'est chez les dames Romaines de la decadence qu'il faut chercher les examples les plus revoltants de cet endurcissement du coeur feminin et de cet odieux mepris de la nature humaine. Un seul trait suffira pour les peindre : pendant leur toilette, elles sont armoes de grandes epingles qu'elles enfoncent dans les membres de leur esclaves, si elles negligent quelque detail de ce service complique, et, pour que les coups portes sans colere par des femmes habitudes a la vue du sang, i'assent plus surement de plus larges blessures, les mal- heureuses servantes sont jusqu'a la ceinture depouillees de leurs vetements." N'otes on the Seventy 'fo7irtJi Canon. 163 (ii.) The Canon [V.] is exact in its use of " flagra," the instru- ment of chastisement used for slaves ; '* f ustes " were for free men. Constantine deprived slave-owners of their power of life and death, thus following out the principle asserted bv the Synod. Note D. — On Canon LXXIV. — The Canon is obscure and corrupt. It runs thus : — («.) Falsus testis prout est crimen abstinebitur ; (&.) Si tamen non fuerit mortale quod obiecit et probaverit quod non [v. 1. diu\ tacuerit biennii tempore abstinebitur. (c.) Si autem non probaverit convento clero [v. 1. conventui clericorum'] placuit per quinquennium abstineri. The main difficulty lies in {h). Keeping *' non " and punc- tuating thus, — probaverit, — the sense will be, ^' if his charge shall not have been capital, and he has proved this " to the as- sembled clergy. With — obiecit, — and " diu," translate, " and he has proved that he was silent for long.'' Migne and Mendoza prefer the latter view, Hefele and Gams the former. In the one case, in mitigation of his sentence, the offender has to prove that the charge was not capital, the words *' Quod non tacuerit " stating the reason of his being punished at all ; in the other, that he for long refused to give his false testimony. Cf. Hefele, English trans, vol. i. pp. 168, 169, German edition, 1873, and vol. i. pp. 188, 189. Gams, vol. ii. p. 133. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 381, 382. Migne, Diet. Cone. vol. i. p. 828. Aubespine, pp. 79 — 81, explains the whole Canon of eccle- siastical, and not of secular courts, defining three separate cases. (1.) The false witness who fails to prove his charge, — sc. of mortal sin — and is to be suspended for a time proportionate to his guilt. (2.) The " false witness " who brings a charge not capital, and proves it [thus showing himself to be no false witness at all]. He is to be suspended from communion for two years, because he did not refrain from giving evidence against a brother. (3.) The charge not capital, but unproved. This offence punished with five years' exclusion. But the explanation in (2) is most unnatural ; nor is there any sufficient evidence to limit the application of the Canon to religious charges and ecclesiastical courts. Cf. Ivatholische M 2 1 64 The Synod of Elvira. Zeitschrift, Wien, 1856, pp. 38 — 43, and the argument of Dr, Nickes. Note E. — On Canon LXI. — This is the first official decree referring to marriage with a sister of a deceased wife, or indeed to affinity as an impediment, occurring in the records of the Church Councils. It annuls the old law of Eome, under which Csecilius Metellus married two sisters, and the wife of Crassus two brothers. The Council of Neocsesarea [II.] completes the prohibition on the woman's side. She is to he excommunicated for such an offence till death ; but if in extreme danger, she pro- mises, recovery being vouchsafed, to break off the connexion, she may, as an act of humanity, be restored. \hia ttjv cPiXavOpoi- TTiav . . . €^€i Tf)v jjierdvoiav.^ Basil, in a remarkable letter addressed to Diodorus [Migne,. Patrologia, vol. xxxii. pp. 621 — 628], in a.d. 373, refers to a communication he has received ** signed Avith the name of Diodorus, but befitting any one rather than him who is the Gift of God." He then states " our custom," i. e. in Cassarea, on this point of marriage morality : edv tls ndOei oKaOapalas irore KpaTri6e\s iKirecn] irpos hv^'iv dbik(^u>v (iB^CTjxov Koivatviav, ftJ/re yap.ov T]ye1crdaL tovtov, p.r]6* oXoas ci? eKKXTjaias 7rXr]p(op,a TTapa~ dex^crOai Trporepov, t] diaXva-at avrovs an dWrjXcov. Lastly, he proceeds to discuss the Mosaic law. Note F.— On Canon LXVII.— Of nine MSS. compared by Ant. Gonzalez, four read " cenorarios " and one " generarios."^ Keep, therefore, "comatos aut viros cinerarios." The terms were not understood, and so corrupted to " comicos aut viros scenicos," the prohibition being interpreted of marriage with actors, &c. Cf. Mendoza, 1, c. p. 363. But all other authorities agree, Aubespine, Gams, and Hefele being all of one mind. **Cinerarii," cf. ciniflones, and vid. Rich, Diet. Ant. s.v.,were the men who heated the curling-irons, i.e. the frizzers; "co- mati " are the " structores capillaturie " [Tert. De Cult. Fem, ii. vii.], the artists in false hair: cf. "comato calvo turpius,' i.e. ** a bald man with a wig of luxuriant hair." Cf. Sueton. CaL xxxv. ; Martial, i. Ixxiii. 8 ; x. Ixxxiii. 3, 12; and vide Becker^ (^Jallus, 2. 138 ; 3. 197. The " coniati " may have been, as. Hefele suggests, drawn from " Gallia comata :" he adds that in the glossary " cinerarius " is translated SoOXoy eVatpas. Cf, Migne, Index Latin. TertuUian, ii. § 1271; Juv. vi. 366 foil.; jVo/es on the MariHage Canons. 165 Martial, vi. 67 ; Hefele, vol. i. pp. 185, 186 ; Gams, vol. ii. pp. 129, 130; and the Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. Ixxxii. pp. 91, 92. Note G. — (i.) In Gaul the remarriage of the divorced hus- band was forbidden bj the Council of Aries [X.] : and in Africa, one of the Canons commonly attributed to the Concilium Mi- levitanum [XVII.] deals both with *' dimissus ab uxore " and " dimissa a marito." Augustine [De Fid. et Op. iii. ; Migne, Patrologia, vol. xl. p. 198] tells us that such offenders were ex- cluded from baptism. C£. Innocent I. Ep. ad Exuperium, iii. ^ 6. Ambrose, on one occasion, allows divorce to the husband, but not to the wife [Ep. ad Corinth, i. c. vii.]. But, says Men- doza [1. c. p. 159] he here alludes to the civil, not to the Christian law, " Legis JuHse non Dei "...*' Imperatorum Severi et Antonini non Christi." (ii.) Canons IX. X. XI. — The explanation of these Canons given in the text is that approved by Hefele, and seems, on the whole, satisfactory. In the title of IX. the use of " relicta " is ambiguous ; it must mean '' a wife abandoned," and not a *' widow " in its more technical sense. Gams explains X. thus ; vol. ii. pp. 62, 63 : A catechumen abandons his wife, and unites himself to a heathen woman. She, however, may be admitted to the catechumenate and baptism, because of her ignorance of Christian wedlock. The same prin- ciple will apply to a catechumen leaving a heathen husband, wlio marries again. But if the partner of this second marriage be a Christian, and enter into it with knowledge of the circumstances, this toleration is inadmissible. Aubespine [p. 19] says, without any apparent reference to the Canons under discussion, that a heathen who has abandoned his wife without cause, must first restore her, and then, and not till then, receive baptism. But if she were united to another this course would be impossible, and baptism was not to be refused. In IX. the use of ducere, for nubere, is noteworthy. XoTE H. — Second marriage is not included among the questions legislated upon at Elvira, except in a few special cases in which there was in reality no freedom to remarry through the continuance of prior obligations. The practice was con- demned by Tertullian, and by the Novatians. At Nica3a [VIII.] it was made a special condition of the restoration of their clergy. 1 6 6 The Synod of Elvira . that tLey should no longer refuse communion to Christian men and women in that position. In the absence of all valid testimony it is impossible to determine what would have been the decision of this Council upon the matter ; but in all probability they would have allowed remarriage after the death of husband or wife, as they appear to allow it to the husband who has separated from his wife on sufficient grounds. Hefele, in his article upon " Rigorismus " in the ancient Church, Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1841, pp. 415—446, traces the growth of the sentiment forbidding a second marriage, and the successive prohibitions set upon it. Both in Greece and Rome the fidelity of the survivor to the dead had been illustrated and honoured. " Univira" was a title which adorned many a sepul- chre even in the degeneracy of the empire, and the feeling found pathetic expression in the words of Dido : — " Ille meos, primus qui me sibi iunxit, amores Abstulit ; ille habeat secum, servetque sepulcro." Virg. ^n. iv. 19, 20. Much confusion has been caused by the use of the phrase " nuptiae secundse" and its equivalents to express a second and an adulterous marriage while both husband and wife still sur- vive ; an offence which is punished by the Spanish Synod. The Samaritan woman is the most familiar illustration of promis- cuous " marriage " of this kind ; and in many cases where a second union is supposed to be prohibited, we should really interpret the edict of Bigamy, or even of Polygamy, either after desertion or groundless divorce. Cf. Binterim, Denkwiirdig- keiten, vi. i. pp. 330 — 336, and Bingham, iv. 4. 3, vol. i. pp. 498. The first important development of this sentiment would naturally appear in the case of the clergy and of those women who had consecrated their widowhood to God. Cf. Apost. Const, iil. 2, Aiyafxia fie /^er' iTvayyehiav Trapdvofiov, ov 8ia tt]v crvvd- (peiav, a'AXa dui to ylreiibos. The " profession " was the cause of sin, and not the union in itself. We have already seen that the same principle applied to those who had taken and broken a vow of virginity. Cf. Ancyra XIX. At Neoctesarea, in the Synod held about the same period of the century, the spirit is stronger, though the intention and sense of the Canons are open to dis- Notes on the Marriage Canons . 167 cussion. The third [III.] states that in the case of those who often marry [TrXet'crroij TrepnniTTovTOiv ydfjiois^ their assigned term of penance is well known, but may be lessened by their reforma- tion and faith. In the seventh the presbyter is forbidden to attend the marriage feast of those who marry for the second time, as inconsistent with his disciplinary duties [VII.]. But it is quite possible to interpret both these Canons of contemporary, not successive, union, and the words quoted above from the thii'd Canon support such an hypothesis. 1 68 The Synod of Elvira, CHAPTER IV. ASCETICISM, SACERDOTALISM, AND SUPERSTITION. § 1. So far, in our survey of Christian morals, we have encountered few questions leading to any di- vergence of opinion as to the abstract justice of the case, even where the expediency of a particular penalty might fairly be challenged. The standard, as historians and moralists agree, could admit neither debasement nor deviation without a vital compromise of Christian principle and integrity. In other directions, however, some writers find a ten- dency towards unwise asceticism, not essential to and inconsistent with the reasonableness, the eineUeLa, of the Christian spirit. While admitting that the Church was justified in its hostility to the gladia- torial shows, they aver that towards the music and dancing of the theatre or of private representations, it was unnecessarily severe : such action, it is said, " was an excess of rigour, brought the arts into con- tempt, and invested human life with sombre gloom, by depriving it of legitimate distractions, and by re- pressing the free activity of genius. ^^ ^ M. Renan, with cautious vagueness, tells us that the Christian * Schmidt, Societe Civile, p. 251, takes the opposite view. Charges of A sceticism . 169 was " too virtuous/'' and that lie erred in his abne- gation of *^ the great delight of the soul, which ho confused with vulgar pleasure/^ ^ If his criticism has any direct force at all, this must be the point of application. And indeed such pleas for a ficti- tious breadth of culture are not the creation of our days. In the works of Origen, Cyprian, and Ter- tullian, we have ample illustration of the modes of defence employed by contemporary Christians who were anxious to combine a life of devotion to God with the enjoyments and excitements of heathen society. The mere pleasantness of pleasure, they urged, was nothing; the essential element was the inward spirit. In all amusements God's own gifts to men are employed, — gifts bestowed for use and enjoyment : what harm, they asked, can there be in their legitimate employment ? The absence of all prohibition of music and dancing in the sacred writings would not fail to be put in evidence against the more rigorous school; and we know that the party of laxity appealed to David's harp, Miriam's song, and Elijah's chariot: in the New Testament they could point to the athletic and pugilistic metaphors of St. Paul, and to the joyous close of the parable of the prodigal son.^ The literalists would appeal in the same way to the parable of the talents for a sanction of usury. Gamblers who could find no countenance in Scrip- 2 Conferences d'Angleterre, p. 373. s Cf. Tert. De Spect. c. i. : Oiig. c Celsum, vlii. 21, and Cyprian, De Spect., quoted in Neander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. p. 367—369. The Synod of Elvira, ture, would turn for refuge to the tolerance of human nature^ when the sin of gambling was de- nounced, and at best could only excuse their pro- pensity as towards a harmless and innocent pastime. We must deal with these various questions in turn, briefly and concisel}^, to discover the real nature of the offences which were thus palliated. § 2. The theatre, it is certain, could not claim the slightest measure of toleration on grounds like these. Its jests were obscene, its dances lascivious, and even its music was debased to the level of the surroundings. Whatever excellence it may have possessed in its aesthetic character — and there is no reason to suppose that it was characterised in any high degree by this subordinate merit — need not be taken into consideration : for with all their faults of temper and intelligence, the Christian leaders could see the fallacy of the delusive dogma, "Art for art's sake /^ they insisted that fidelity was not the sole criterion and standard in such matters ; and that unless such creations tended to the moral elevation of humanity, the more true they were to nature, the more degraded they were in essence. As truth survives her exponents, so she anticipates them. Before Ruskin taught, and threw his whole life and energy into the work, his principle was realised and accepted. The gymnastic exhibitions and the legitimate drama, so far as the latter still survived, were harm- less in comparison with the forms of entertainment which now monopolised and absorbed all the in- terest and enthusiasm of the public. These spec- The Eute7^tainiJients of the Theatre. 1 7 1 tacles united superstition and irreverence, cruelty and licentiousness, in tlieir most debased and most degrading phases; and to portray even in outline the scenes of debauchery unblushingly represented before an assembly o£ both sexes and of all ages, would be an outrage. If the arena was drenched with more blood, to the spectators the theatre was deadlier and more dangerous, fatal as it was to all purity and loveliness of soul.'* § 3. No defence has ever been advanced for its iniquities, and those who ventured to raise their voices in mitigation of the universal censure passed upon it, qualified their aj^proval by the demand that the stage should first be purified from its temporary and transient pollution. In the Mimes and in the Pantomimes there was no redeeming element : the one was probably marked by more of buffoonery, the other by more of obscenity ; in music and speech, gesture and dress, there was the same taint. The favourite dramatic subjects were taken from the amours of the gods, nor was any detail, however re- volting, spared in the representation even of the 4 Milman takes too favourable a view of the state of the higher tragedy and comedy during the later empire. Two good actors, and the devotion of a few finer spirits to this form of re- creation, are insufficient evidence to support such an opinion. At any rate, popular favour was concentrated in the more vulgar diversion of the Mimes and Pantomimes. Milman, I.e. vol. iii. pp. 337, 338. " The games killed the theatre : " Lecky, Eur. Mor. i. p. 292. To this view there is an overwhelming weight of testimony. " Theatrum sacrarium Veneris ; " it was only in this character that the institution, once the pride of Athens, still survived. 172 The Synod of Elvira. legends of Leda or Pasiphae. At Antiocb, women were exhibited swimming naked througli water : in other cities the crowning attraction was the spectacle of Venus Anadyomene represented by some courte- zan famous for her beauty and her shamelessness. In every large city an enormous number of women devoted themselves to this calling, no less than 3000 of them existing in Rome at the same time. The theatre, in fact, became nothing more than the antechamber of the brothel, and the abomi- nation was only aggravated by the introduction of male actors in female parts. It was a hotbed of vice and corruption with which no authority, earnest and determined though he might be, could effectually cope ; defying every attempt at amelioration and reform : even under Christian emperors the scandal was gross and palpable.^ § 4. But the stage was cruel as well as profligate ; was stained with blood as well as filth. When dramatic exigencies required, an unhappy slave or criminal — sometimes a Christian — would be put to death on the pyre of OEta, having first endured in- tolerable agony in the Nessus-robe ; or would be doomed to some other painful form of death, vary- ing with the plot of the play. The passion of the people spared neither sex nor age. In the incisive words of the Dean of St. PauFs, '^ that which had been a delight became a madness/^ ^ It is un- * Cf. Athenseus, xiii. c. Ixix. Milmaii, Hist. Christ, iii. pp. 329 — 348, and especially p. 339, and note ^3. Schmidt, 1. c. pp. 97—102, and 251--255. ^ Milman, 1. c. p. 330. The Entertairwients of the Theatre. 173 necessary to describe in detail the intricate organi- sation maintained for tlie production of such enter- tainments, and the immense funds [Theoretica] raised in many cities for defraying the enormous expenses they involved, recurring as they did on most of the festival days, which now made up a third part of the entire year. Besides the regular sums devoted to this purpose, tradesmen thus expended the wealth they had acquired by commerce; some to secure social distinction ; others, prompted to the same profusion by ambition/ The nation was absolutely demoralised, and the contagion spread from the stage to the home. For the actor ^^ transmits the taste for evil into the soul of the spectator, and inflames ignoble and criminal passions ; familiar as he is with vice, he sometimes blushes for the disgraceful part he is obliged to play before the eyes of the crowd.''^ ^ § 5. While, on the one hand, the religious associa- tions of the stage had not yet entirely died out, the State, on the other, branded those occupied in its service with complete and unmitigated ignominy ; disfranchising them, and reducing them to the level of slaves. At times the law would expel them ^ from Kome ; at others it would impose the most " Cf Martial, iii. 59. Lecky, Eur. Mor. i. p. 292. Milman, 1. c. p. 334. 8 Mill. Fel. xxxvii. p. 140. Schmidt, 1. c. p. 98. Cf. Tert. De Spect. xvii. ^ Domitian banished them from Rome ; Nerva restored them. Cf. Cassiod. Var. Ep. i. 20, to Trajan, " Neque enim a te minore concentu, ut tolleres pantomimos, quam a patre tuo ut resti- tueret, exactum est." 174 ^/^^ Synod of Elvira. degrading restrictions on tlieir dress and attendance : even in tlie theatre they might not show themselves among the spectators. They were at once the idols and the scorn of the people. The paradox was seized upon by Tertullian^s keen eye ; and he emphasises the contrast : ^' For the same art they both degrade and glorify them ; they openly condemn them to public shame and to disfranchisement ; exclude them from the senate-house and the platform ; from the senate, the knights, and all other posts of honour, precluding them from some badges of distinction at the same time. What perversity ! They love those they fine ; disparage those they admire ; glorify the art, brand the artist.^^ ^ Nor was this all. The law regarded them as slaves, and treated them as such. Once embarked in his calling, the actor could never hope to regain his freedom ; he was fettered to the stage, and his children were born to the same slavery. If man or woman attempted to escape, after once practising the "ars ludicra,^^ they might be compelled to return to the pro- fession which now filled them with loathing and disgust. Only in this way could the state ensure an adequate supply of human victims for its amusement." Such then was the treatment which the favourites of the Koman populace met with from the secular powers. Were they worse off under the more con- ^ Tert. De Spect. xxii. 2 " Persona} inhonestse." *•' Munus turpe." Cod. Theod. 1. XV. tit. i. iv. and xii. Cf. xv. 7, 10. Cf. Lcckj, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 335. Stage-players and the CJmrcJi. 175 sistent, and, as we are told, more ascetic laws of the Churcli ? § 6. The Synod of Elvira enacts that those engaged in these occupations — on the stage or in the excit- ing chariot races, which in later times shook the whole city of Constantinople with feud and frenzy^ — should renounce their calling before admission to baptism f and that if they returned to it again, they should be expelled from the Church. The Apos- tolical Constitutions contain a similar provision ; ^ and the Council of Aries places jockeys and stage- players under the same sentence.*^ But at the same time it granted reconciliation to the repentant even in their last hours," and strenuously endeavoured to secure for them some measure of freedom. The Church Councils sought for their converts exemption from this servitude, and obtained their freedom from Gratian and Theodosius. Thus we find in the Canons of the Fifth African Council ^ a statement that an 3 Gibbon, vol. v. pp. 49—52. -» Eh^ LXII. 5 Apost. Const, viii. 32. 6 Aries IV. and V. In Elv. LXII. Aurigis, not Auguribus, is the true reading. The latter would be out of place in this connexion. They are the " Agitatores " " et theatric! " of Aries. Vid. Kich. Diet. Antiq. s. v. Of. Sueton. Calig. liv., " Aurigabat extructo plurifariam circo." Spanish horses were especially sought for their speed. Cf. Pliny, X. H. viii. 42, and letters of Symmachus, prsefectus urbis, " Familiaribus meis ad longinqua Hispanise pergentibus ad coemptionem curuliuni equorum." In several he shows great anxiet}' about the busi ness. Cf. ix. xii. xviii. xix — xxiii. For the distraction of Roman society over the two colours of the course, cf. Gibbon, I.e. supra. " Council of Hippo, XXXIII. a.d. 393. ^ Can. YII. InCod. Can.Eccl.Afric.lxiii. Hefele, vol. il. p. 75. 1 76 The Synod of Elvira. actor who lias once become a Christian, may not be carried back or compelled by any one to return to his former occupation ; and even in earlier times these converts found assistance in the bounty of the Church.^ Prudence, however, was not forgotten ; and by careful vigilance the Church ensured that the profession of faith should not be abused by unfit persons, anxious to exchange one mode of vice for another ; consistency of life and conduct was insisted on in those who procured this religious privilege/ § 7. So far, then, the conduct of the Church stands out in favourable contrast with the general contempt in which these unfortunate toys of society were held. Nor is there anything approaching to ascetic severity in the restrictions put upon the presence of Christians at such scenes of lewdness, cruelty, and superstition. In Africa, the performances were pro- hibited on Sundays and festivals ; " and the sons of bishops and clergy were forbidden to join in these secular plays or to witness them.^ At the Council of Laodicea the superior and the subordinate clergy were enjoined to leave weddings and feasts before the entrance of these licentious troups/ The laity, except the catechumens — and this is not matter ^ C3'prian, Ep. Ixi., De Histrione. ^ Cod. Theod. de Scenicis, xv. 7, 2, 4, 8, 9. Milman's stric- tures on the " rigour and jealousy " of the Church are ground- less [1. c. pp. 341, 342]. The object of the restrictions was that no one might make godliness a source of gain. 2 Afric. [V.] LXI. Cf. Hefele, 1. c. supra. 3 Hippo XI. -» Laod. LIV. The Prohibition of Us2try. 177 of absolute certainty ^ — were kept away by opinion and feeling, and by the exhortations of the clergy, rather than by legal restriction. And from the evidence given in this brief summary, it is clear and incontestable that in these measures the Church showed no excessive severity towards the players themselves, nor to those who frequented their per- formances. Its whole action was directed, not against the genius of an ^schylus, nor even of an Aristophanes — shameless as modern taste considers some of his comedies — but against obscenities which polluted the heart, and poisoned the society of the day. If the Church was ascetic, there was no asceticism here.'^ § 8. The restrictions put on the loan of money at interest is a matter in which much more hesitation is admissible before pronouncing an opinion one way or the other. This, however, must not be forgotten ; that the Council of Elvira is the only one which punishes layman as well as cleric — albeit with a lighter penalty — who shall have been proved guilty of this offence. The Councils of Nicaea, and of Aries, of Carthage, Hippo, and Laodicea, all agree with the Apostolical Canons " in limiting the prohibition to the clergy ; in this extension of discipline Elvira stands alone. The clergy were exposed to special temptations in ^ Cf. Augustine, De Symb. c. iii. — v. ; Migne, Patrologia, vol. xl. pp. 638, 639. * Cf. Hefele, " Rigorismus." Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1841, pp. 396—402. " Nic. XVII., Aries XII., Cartb. XIII., Mansi, vol. iii. p. 143 foil., Hippo XXII., Laod. IV., Apost. Can. XLIV. Elv. XX. N 1 7 S The Synod of Elvira. this direction. Deriving no considerable stipend in most cases from their sacerdotal office^ and excluded from free commercial activity/ they were driven to seek a living from other sources. Their own capital would be insignificant^ and their savings were con- sidered as the property of the poor and the Church.* But there was a serious danger that they might apply the accumulated funds of the Church entrusted to their keeping, for their own private ends, and without diminishing the capital amount, procure for themselves large sums of interest. This would aggravate an offence serious in itself, and intolerable in one who taught men to pray. " Forgive ns our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.''^ § 9. We should be hardly justified in explaining the prohibition, with Herbst, as applying merely to- excessive interest.^ There is no evidence to support 8 Elv. XIX. '■' Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 422. ^ Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1821, p. 28. The ordinary legal interest at Kome was the " usurse centesimaj," i. e., 12 p. c. per annum ; but we know that the most exorbitant rates were exacted when the weakness and need of the debtor made this possible. " QuaterntB usurse," 48 p. c, was not uncommon ; and even higher rates were occasional. Cf. Cicero c. Verr. 3, 70, As Hefele points out, it was considerations of this kind that gave to the settling days of the Kalendie the epithets " celeres "" [Ovid], and "tristes " [Horace]. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 421, 422. The penalty is heavier for the clergy than the laity ; the Council of Nicsea [XVII.] removes them from office, and Arles- [XII,] suspends them from communion. Xicffia especially cen- sures those who demand 150 p. c. rjixioXias dnaircov. Jost, the historian and apologist of the Jews, comments with severe irony on the necessity of stopping the clergy from pursuing an occu- pation slanderously attributed to his own nation. Jost, Hist, Jews, vol. v. p. 11. The Prohibition of Usuiy, 179 this strong qualification ; and on the other hand, the practice of usury has at all times been repugnant to the feelings of a healthy humanity. At the same time it is absurd to put the loan of money at interest on the level of theft, as some moralists have done; and it is clear that a universal re- striction of this character would have done vital injury to the advance of commercial and industrial civilisation .- An aversion to usury was a characteristic feature of the Mosaic code, and has been transferred to many other systems of social and moral reformers in all times. Mr. Ruskin's condemnation of it is familiar to all readers of the daily newspaper and of the fantastic " Fors Clavigera.^^ Nor can there be any doubt that the usurer is terribly liable to a special deterioration and debasement of character. His calling develops an intense greed for power and in- fluence over his fellows, and an irrepressible inclina- tion to exercise power tyrannically. His experience of human nature is confined to its most servile and corrupt phases ; he sees it in its deepest degradation. With the outgoing and the return of money, increased by no exertion of his own, the fancy fastens on the gold, which begins in itself to fascinate its possessor, who is not secured by any healthy action of body or of mind in his calling from the development of those morbid sympathies and affections. Other men are saved by physical exertion, or by pride in skill, from diseases of this nature ; the usurer is without 2 Cf. Hefele, " Rigorismus," Tubingen Theol. Quart. 1841, 402—415. N 2 1 80 The Synod of Elvira. any such, protection in subordinate motives and means. § 10. But the question has another aspect^ in whichL it was regarded both by Moses and by the Fathers of the Christian Church — its inconsistency with the natural unity of the race. Thus, in the Mosaic code the prohibition was against lending '^ as an usurer ^^ '^ to any of My people that are poor by thee," and it was his " neighbour's garment '^ that a man was forbidden to keep in pledge after sundown."' There is no restriction on lending at interest to a Gentile ; and the motive of the law was to prevent and remove all source of division among a people destined to be moulded by their sojourn in the desert into an inseparable unity, which neither time nor place has been able to impair. It is on account of the solidarite of the race that Christian teachers and legislators strove to repress this " breed of barren metal." Tertullian points out the simi- larity between the precepts of the old and the new dispensation — showing that formerly men were taught not to expect gain for what they lent ; now, they were to bear even its loss.'' Clement of Alexandria takes a still deeper and wider view ; he extends the prohibition to take interest from kin to the brother- hood of the Church and the whole human race.^ The terrible sufferings of the poor under the tyranny of those in whose debt they were, often leading to social discord and riot, and to repeated ^ Exodus xxii. 25, 26. '» Tert. Adv. Marc. iv. 17. 5 Clem. Alex. Strom, ii. § 171. Migne, vol. viii. pp. 1023 —1025. Gambling and its Penalties. 1 8 1 attempts at reform by legal action, emphasised only too clearly the danger of admitting usmy within the pale of a new society to which unity and peace were essential. While the Church endeavoured to pro- scribe usury, it also addressed itself to the poor, warning them of the danger to which they exposed themselves by contracting these obligations, and honouring the generosity of the rich who freed the debtor from his liability.'' In a community where charity had been and was still the most prominent feature of social life, anything that approached to a hard and ungenerous spirit of covetousness.,was beyond all tolerance ; the special prohibition may have been unwise, but it was not the outcome of asceticism. § 11. The Fathers of Elvira were not content with providing against the more serious dangers of every-day life : they knew that it is in hours of rest and recreation that some of his severest temptations assail the Christian. And indeed there is no surer test of a man^s spiritual health than the tone and temper of his leisure hours : if when the strain of work is suspended the soul's needle-point returns instinctively to the diviner region, the evil of the world can have but little hold on it. What passion, or motive, leads men to take part in games of hazard, has long been an unsolved problem of morals. Covetousness is the last quality which can be attributed to many of the most in- veterate gamblers ; and excitement is a concomitant, and not a primary impulse. '"• Sf-.hmidt, 1. c. p. 2G8. 1 8 2 The S) 'nod of Eh ira . It would seem as if the pride in personal supre- macy which appears in games of skill here assumes another phase, and that this same spirit, here unconnected with any such antecedent condition, leads the same man to prefer his ^^ luck '^ to another's : gambling thus would be an assertion of personal superiority; and pride would induce a man to continue the struggle against fortune when adverse, with resolute tenacity. The game of hazard had long suffered from an evil reputation, and had always been unfortunate in its associates. Aristotle, in one of those passages which glow with repressed indignation, couples together dicer, footpad, and pirate, in the same class. ^ And when the name of *^' gambler ^' had become so disreputable, that the rich preferred to be known as '^ dicers,^' Chrysostom points out that the differ- ence between the two unsavoury titles is only that which discriminates thieves and robbers.^ We need not describe the madness which possessed the Roman of the Empire staking his gold from the money-chest guarded by an armed slave, and the German who risked his liberty and his life on the cast of the dice.^ Fraud, as at all times, aggravated folly; and it was necessary to correct the blind indifference of Fortune in dispensing her favours. Loaded, or leaded dice, were not unknown to Aristotle ; and the dice-box of Martial, muffled 7 Nic. Eth. iv. i. 43. ^ Horn. xii. 1 Cor. : " Quidam aleatoram vocabulum decli- nantes, ideoque se cupientes appellari tesserarios." ^ Juv. i. 89—91. Tacit. Germ. xxiv. Ga7nbling and its Penalties. 183 except at tlie Saturnalia, to elude the vigilance and the vengeance of the law, was not seldom furnished with a cube of indifferent quality.^ The statute-book certainly was not empty of laws devised against the evil — most of them uncer- tain in date, and in their specific provisions, but of undoubted existence both in earlier and later times." Reaction, however, was sure to follow severity when several emperors were devoted to the pursuit ; one, Claudius, even going so far as to write a treatise on his favourite subject. The laws, still on the pages of the statute-book, were a dead letter ; the disgrace of the preceding age became the fashion of their degenerate grandsons.^ § 12. How remote was all this profligacy from the Christian ideal, needs no illustration. Self-restraint and respect ; the personal devotion due to Christ, the Lord and giver of life; the obligation to use wisely the wealth that was his gift — combined to deter the believer from extravagance and folly. We have the very arguments used to enforce both the moral and the religious prohibitions ; the former, preserved for us by Isidorus, who discusses all the technical terms in his Etymology ; the latter, in a work attributed to Cyprian. Isidorus gives us a remarkable illustration of the union of mysticism 1 "Xequiore talo," Mart. iv. 14 9. Yid. Becker, Gallus, sc. X. Ex. ii. p. 502. 2 Plautus, Mil. Glor. ii. 2. 9. Cic. Phil, ii., xxiii. Horace, Carm. iii. 24. 58. Leges, Titia, Publicia, Cornelia, in the Digest, refer to the subject. ^ Ovid, Trist. ii. 471. And on the prohibitory laws, of. Ptein, " Verbotene Spiele." Criminalrecht v. Rom, p. 833. 184 The Synod of Elvira . and immorality in perverted natures : some men of Lis day, lie tells us, insisted that the game had for them an allegorical significance ; the three dice which they used, represented the triple conception of time and human life as past, present, and future, always in motion and ceaseless change. Other phantasies filled their minds, as wild and as base- less.'* § 13. There were other objections not less forcible than this repugnance, involved in the very nature of the game. The dice [tali] were marked with numbers on their four flat sides ; and the highest throw, the " Venus," was when all the dice showed different points; the lowest, when all turned up aces.^ Besides the " Venus,'' and the ^^ Dog," other casts had similar names, adopted from gods or heroes. *' Stesichorus," to take a single case, was the cast of the two aces and the two trays. The eponymous deity, or a mistress, as the personification of " Our Lady of Love," would naturally be invoked before the cast, and the idolatrous association would of itself be sufficient to repel the consistent and conscientious believer. But these titles, and an ambiguous expression in Pollux [S^^'J/aa tov ttto)- ^aro^'] are not sufficient to justify Aubespine and Hefele in asserting that figures were now substituted * " Sibi videntur physiologice hanc artem exercere." Isidorus, Etym. xix. c. 409—418; Migne, Patrol. Ixxxii. pp. 660—662. Cyprian, I)e Aleat, ii. ; Migne, iv. 827 — 836. ' Cf Propert. iv. 8. 45, 46, "Me quoqiie per talos Venerem qua^rente secundos, Damnosi semper subsiluere canes." Sue- tonius tells us the "Venus'' took "the pool:" Aug. Ixxi, *' Venus tollehat universos.'' The influence of Dttalism. 185 for the original pips.^ No such dice are found among the specimens which have come down to us, and no allusion to the supposed fact occurs in the literature of the times. But the idolatrous element in the game would be the same in either case ; even though the denizens of Olympus and Hades were not actually depicted on the cubes. The yearns penance inflicted by the Synod was only a natural punishment." § 14. We have hitherto been occupied in con- sidering a morality, rigorous indeed, though by no means ascetic : but indications have not been wanting of the development and prevalence within the Christian Church of a very different spirit and policy — unsound in fundamental conception, morbid in constitution, and pernicious in result. To trace the sentiment to its original source would be a task exceeding all the limitations of space which must be observed in a dissertation like this : a brief outline must suffice for our purpose. Though the tendency to draw unsound dis- tinctions between the worlds of spirit and matter has always been inherent in systems of human philo- sophy, among Jewish Essenes and Greek Platonists, the immediate source of Christian dualism^ must be 6 Aubespine, p. 86. Hefele, i. p. 191. Cf. Rich. Antiq. p. 130, and Smith, Diet. Antiq. s. vv. alea, tali, tessera?, fritillus, tabula, &c. 7 Elv. LXXIX. Cf. Apost. Can. XLII. XLIII. where gambling is coupled with drunkenness. " Tabula " has no necessary reference to pictures ; it is the synon3'ra for " alea," " ludus tabulfB." Becker's Gallus may be compared through- out : Sc. X., and Exc. ii. p. 499 foil. 8 Whether we accept Neander's theory, and trace the de- 1 86 The Synod of Elvira, sought in the school of Alexandria, and in the Grnostic separation of the Demiurgus, the creator of the material universe and of the human body, its microcosm, from Christ ^on, — the lord of the spiritual world.^ The mystical distinction of the Gnostic [6 7i/ft)o-TiAco?] from the commonalty of the believers, leads in the same direction : he has a higher virtue, and is more like God ; free from all sensual affections and from personal ties. He has, to borrow an old Platonic metaphor, already effected an almost perfect deliverance of the soul from the body of flesh and blood, which was now disparaged as the *■' tomb," the " fetter," the " prison-house " of the spirit.^ The danger from this tendency was increased by the accession of the ascetic philosophers of Egypt and the East to the new faith ; who, retaining their former habits, secured a temporary respect for their adopted religion, but velopment of Gnosticism to the operation of a dualistic principle, or assign it, with Baur, to the allegorical philosophy of religion centred in Alexandria, so far as its ascetic j^roducts are con- cerned the question is not affected. For, as Baur himself admits, though dissatisfied with Neander's interpretation of its nature, " the fundamental character of Gnosticism in all its forms is dualistic : " and we arrive at the same point from different ways of approach. Cf Neander, Ch. Hist. vol. ii. p. 1 foil, and Baur, Ch. Hist, of the first three centuries, vol. i. p. 193, and 186 foil. ^ On this antithesis, cf. Baur, i.e. pp. 195 — 199. The one is " the artificer " of the world, the other " a universal cosmical principle." ^ Ta'^os- .... dea-fxus aapKiKos rr^s -^vxrjs, are terms of fre- quent occurrence in the works of Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Cf. Clem. Strom, vi. c. ix. : Migne, vol. ix. p. 294. Asceticism and Sacerdotalism, 187 exercised a pernicious influence upon its develop- ment : the cloak might be serviceable for a while^ but it was a dangerous ally." This detachment from the common round of life was increased by the cessation of persecution and hostility, removing the causes which had hitherto kept the Christian be- lievers united and secure in the midst of the factions and the impurities of heathen society. It w^as harder to be faithful in prosperous days than in adversity ; and men sought a refuge in an unwar- rantable isolation from social and domestic life. § 15. From these forces there could be but one resultant, which manifested itself in two cognate principles — Asceticism, which denies all excellence to matter and its derivations ; and Sacerdotalism, which confines the highest type of virtue to the limits of a caste : the one eliminates good from the universe ; the other, from the community. The error signally avenged itself; and the development of the sacerdotal and ascetic ideal is contempo- raneous with the largest concessions ever made by the Church to the world. These theories inevitably produced two distinct conceptions of moral duty, the one for the laity, the other for the clergy. And thus while one class strained every nerve to reach a false ideal of exaltation above the world of time and sense, their folly re-acted in the debasement of the rest. The great law of the Christian priesthood had been forgotten:— ''Ye are all kings and priests:'' - For the influence of the rpiQcov, cf. Neander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. pp. 381, 382, and the experience of Justin Martjr, Dial. c. Trjph. Jud. 1 8 8 The Synod of Elvira. and till this august privilege, witli its terrible duties, is recognised, the Christian must fail utterly and irrevocably. To transfer the obligation of sanctity to a select class is immeasurably to degrade the moral elevation and earnestness of the whole community.^ § 16. The tendency of the Spanish Church at the time of which we write was sacerdotal rather than ascetic, and what asceticism there was charac- terised the class and not the community. To trace the growth of the distinction between the clerical and the lay elements in the Christian Church would be superfluous, and by attempting the task we should but incur a fresh debt to Mr. Hatches Bampton Lectures. Before this date, the separation between both bodies had become definite ; the clergy were now no mere administrative or educa- tional officers, chosen by the Church and standing on the same level as the electorate ; they were an order, intervening in fact i£ not in theory between man and God, subject to special restrictions and special penalties, possessed of special honours, rights, and privileges. To accuse any Christian falsely was a sin, but the accuser of a cleric subjected himself to penalties of increased severity.'* While other Christians were not forbidden, except by one Synod, to take interest for their capital at loan, in the clergy the same practice was an offence ; or when by this solitary Synod the same prohibition was imposed both on cleric and layman, a clerical offender was far more 3 Cf. Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. vol. i. pp. 289-291.. * Elv. LXXV. Sacerdotalism in Development. 189 severely dealt with than his lay brother.^ Even in the conduct of ordinary business and trade, the clergy were subjected to stringent restrictions. In the early days of the Church the offerings of the faithful were insufficient to maintain their officers without the aid of some secular occupation; and many of the clergy, following St. Paul's great example, were compelled to work with their own hands. The voluntary monthly collection afterwards instituted was primarily devoted ^^ to the support and burial of the poor," and to the relief of " the orphans, the sick, and the shipwrecked ; of prisoners, and those entombed in the mines '' for fidelity to Christ : the clergy, as such, had but a secondary share.^ It was later that the funds increased to a large amount. At present the Churches possessed no considerable wealth ; and though rich Christians were not uncommon, it was still necessary that the clergy should gain their livelihood in part if not entirely. The Canon, as Mendoza points out, clearly attests the early date of the Council; for when Constantine's edict was put into operation, the Church and its members were enriched by the restitution of money and lands lost or unjustly with- held during the persecution.' But while a total prohibition of traffic was as yet out of the question, it was none the less essential to ensure some amount of circumspection in those under obligation of preeminent sanctity. Bishops, priests, and deacons were therefore forbidden to 5 Elv. XX. 6 xert. Apol. xxxix. ? Elv. XIX. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 196. I go The Synod of Elvira. leave their posts and to visit other provinces for the business of commerce : a son, a servant, or freedman was to represent them in all distant enterprises. The so-called fourth Council of Carthage^ gives directions as to the calling they were to pursue, re- commending the clergy to live by handicrafts, agri- culture, or letters. They were not, however, to acquire in excess ; not to be richer in the Church than they had been in the world, nor '^ to possess under Christ, who was poor, wealth which they had not under the rich and deceitful devil." ^ From the frequency of similar decrees, covetousness seems to have been a characteristic vice of the Spanish clergy, and almost justifies a hostile critic in his assertion that their moral tone was low, and pietv subordinated to selfish aims.^ [Note A.] In other ways also they were separated from the laity. In ordinary cases, an ofience committed before conversion or during the catechumenate was not allowed to cast a shadow on the future life of the penitent ; but immorality in youth permanently disqualified the Christian for the diaconate, lest by promotion he should rise to higher rank in the sacerdotal order." If he confessed, or was dis- covered, he was deposed, and degraded to lay communion after due penance, but for ever debarred from all ministration in the holy sacraments, and ex- 8 Hefele, ii. p. 73. 4 Carth. LI. LII. LIU. ^ Hieronymus, Ep. lii. Ad Nepot. Migne, xxii. 1 Jost. Juden-Gesch. vol. v. p. 11. 2 Elv. XXX. Asceticism in Development. 191 eluded from some parts of the church edifice.^ The clergy were also liable to graver penalties than lay- men for the same offences ; thus their punishment for immorality was one of extreme severity/ and their connivance at the infidelity of an unchaste wife was considered as a crime of the deepest guilt.^ All these facts prove indisputably that their position was peculiar, and that sin in their order acquired a new and terrible significance. § 1 7. While the sacerdotal tendency led to this separation of classes within the Church, asceticism too had its own abnormal developments, some of which affected the whole and not a portion of the Christian community. Following the usual law, attention was directed to the negative rather than to the positive side of perfection — to the mortifica- tion of the body, not to the purification of the soul. Celibacy, possessing advantages for some forms of work and duty through its detachment from the I'esponsibilities and cares of married life, was en- dowed with intrinsic merit, and virginity exalted as a virtue ; while fasting, good as an occasional resource and when practised without ostentation, had early become systematic and compulsory, and, with complete oblivion of its spiritual ends, had been materialised into a mere mechanical process. § 18. Besides the great Fast of Lent and those occurring at intervals of three months and continu- 3 Elv. LXXVI. Cf. Sardica I., passed " Hosio suasore/* punishing bishops who exchanged their diocese through ambition or avarice. -* Elv. XVIII. ^ Elv. LXV. 192 TJie Synod of Elvira, ing for three days, tlie Church had come to observe special days of abstinence in every week — the " Stationes ^^ — so-called because the Christian then retired within his encampments for security against the assaults of the Evil One.^ Wednesday and Friday were the days ordinarily set apart for this purpose, but considerable laxity and diversity of practice prevailed throughout the Church in this matter. In Rome, and in parts of the West, the Sabbath was added as a third fast-day, or substituted for the Wednesday.^ This innovation, however, did not secure general recognition, and was expressly denounced and punished by the Apostolical Canons, which degraded clergy and expelled laity convicted of fasting on the Sabbath, Holy Saturday excepted, or on the Lord's Day.^ The Synod of Elvira dealt in brief, and conse- quently obscure, terms, with this question, and decided that the customs of the Spanish Church should be reduced to conformity, and the Sabbath fast universally kept.^ The Council also enacted that once a month, except in July and August, the ordinary hours of abstinence should be extended from the ninth hour to vespers,^ thus increasing for the occasion the severity of the customary weekly fast, on the Friday certainly, and presumably on the Wednesday also ; for the account of the martyrdom ^ Cf. Ambrose, Ser. xxi. Migne, xiii. p. G44. Cf. Tert. De Cor. c. xi. ' Augustine, Ep, xxxvi. [Ixxxvi.] Ad Casul. § 31. 8 Apost. Can. LXVI. 9 Elv. XXVI. 1 Elv. XXIII. The Fasts of the Western Church. 193 of Fructuosus sliows that the Wednesday was ob- served about this time. The Wednesday the martyr kept with his companions in prison ; the Friday^s fast he broke in heaven.^ Nor are we led to suppose that this was one of the cases of error which the Synod sought to correct; for Binterim has produced some evidence to show that at Rome three days of abstinence were observed in the week.^ The excep- tion of the two late summer months from the rule must be attributed not to harvest labours, as some have, supposed^ but to the fierce heat which prevailed during that season in Southern Spain,, making un- usual physical strain a serious if not a dangerous burden^ when travel was imjDossible except at night. In Gaul, a Council made a similar distinction for August, while a permissive indulgence was conceded during July."* § 19. The tenacity with which the Spanish Church clung to the Sabbatic fast may be easily explained. Nor are we confined to the ^^ Gnostic dualism ^^ which led Marcion and his followers to fast on this day in our search for a satisfactory hypothesis.^ Where Jewish influence was strong and hostility 2 Gams, ii. p. 80. 3 Binterim, Denkwiirdigkeiten, ii. 2, 613. But cf. v. 2, 124. ^ C. Turonense, ii. c. 1.3. Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 75. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 213. ^ Cf. Hefele, vol. i. p. 820, and Epiphanius adv. liar. bk. i. tom. iii. vol. i. p. 304, who attributes the Sabbatic fast to antipathy to the God of the Jews. Cf. Tert. Adv. Marc. iv. c. xii. The Alexandrian Christians abstained in a remarkable degree, both in this and other cases ; justifying Philo's description, De Vit. Contempl., " Assueti sicut cicadea rore vivere, et canticis solari inediam." O 1 9 4 The Synod of Elvira . fierce, the Christians would be led to obser\^e the Sabbath as a fast in antagonism to the festivity and supposititious excess of the Jewish rest day, or even as a mere contrast to Hebraic custom and conscience." An ascetic tendency would lead to the same result by continuing the fast of the Friday up to the eve of the Lord^s Day, thus to begin it in a special degree of supposed purity; while the ana- logy of Easter Eve and of the two days of mourn- ing before the day of Resurrection, would exert strong influence in the same direction.' All these causes would unite to intensify the natural inclina- tion of the Spanish Church, leaving the powerful influence of Rome out of consideration, and to em- phasise the distinction which at this time separated the practice of this small minority from that of Eastern and Western Christendom. Subsequently, where the Sabbath had once been kept as a festival, the fast usurped authority for a time, finally giving place itself, and leaving the day without special recognition and commemoration of any kind. At present the Sabbatic fast characterised the party of asceticism, and it is under this aspect that the legis- lation of Elvira dealing with the subject becomes important. [Note B.] ^ Bingham, xx. 2. 4. Cf. the authorities quoted in Diet. Christ. Antiq. voh ii. p. 1825 b, 1286 a, s. v. Sabbath, and Augustine, Ep. xxxvi. [Ixxxviii.] § 31, Ad Casulanum. " Cf. Victorinus, De Fabrica Mundi, "Hoc die soleraus super- ponere ; idcirco, ut die dominioo cum gratiarum actione ad panem exeamus." Migne, v. 306 ; Apost. Const, v. 15, and 18, 2; and Tert. Adv. Psjch. xiv. Christian Celibacy. 195 § 20. This was, however, neither the sole nor the most important form of abstinence. We have already seen that in the sentiment of the Church marriage came to be looked upon as a necessary evil, and virginity as the ideal state of perfection ; and though the Western Church never went to such lengths in this respect as the Montanists and Encra- tites, or the Manicheans, who only tolerated mar- riage among the lower orders, yet there was a strong disparagement of the nuptial state. In all the discussions for and against celibacy^ two facts stand out in special prominence — the selfishness and the coarseness of the whole conception of mar- riage and its effects. The moral aspect of its in- fluence is entirely ignored, and nothing is considered save mere sexual instincts ; while, on the other hand, the Christian is never taught, even by suggestion, to think of anything else but his own personal wel- fare and security. To this, family and State are utterly and always subordinated.^ § 21. But whatever may have been the character of the arguments employed in the cause of celibacy, their force was proved by results ; and even before the relaxation of the laws unfavourable to celibacy, the tendency led to the development of a new order in the Church. As some widows bound themselves ^ Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 341, 342, and Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. iii. p. 196. Baur, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 260, 261. The evil of marriage was asserted (1) by Saturninus and other Gnostics ; cf . Epiphauius, H.Tr. xxiii. 2 ; (2) by the Marcionites, Clem. Strom, iii. ; and (3) bj Tatian and the Encratites. Eusobiiis, H. E. iv. 29. O 2 196 TJie Synod of Elvira, by vows of strict continence^ so maidens consecrated their virginity to God, or, if united in marriage, pledged themselves to abstain from its rights. Fronj the frequent mention of these " virgins ^^ in the acts of this and later Councils, it is clear that they were very numerous, while the special hostility of the Arians to this order, and the persecution to which they were subjected by Julian, supply further evi- dence of their importance.^ The vow had two stages or degrees, and might either be ''^ simplex ^^ or " solemne,^' while the vows of the more elementary " novitiate " at any rate, were not irrevocable.^ Afterwards, as we see in this Synod," any such retrogression was considered in the light of a heinous sin, and punished accordingly. Still, though the members of the order were thus separated from the world, and distinguished by a special dress, the time had not yet come when they were to be secluded in isolated homes and com- munities. Not till a date considerably more ad- vanced in this century do we find any mention of nunneries SjrapOevoive^;'' and there were at present no nuns *^ properly so called.^^ Hefele, therefore, or his English translator, is somewhat incautious in his careful distinction between virgins still living 9 Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. p. 398. Cf. Elv. XXVII., Ancyra XIX., Carthage IV., (falsely so called, vid. Hefele, vol. ii. p. 418), XI. XII. XCVII. CIV., 1 Toledo VI. IX. XVI, XIX., Apost. Const, iii. 1—3, iv. 14. 1 Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, iii. pp. 197, 198. Cyprian, Ep. Ixi. De Disc, et hab. virg., c. ii. Cf. " novitiate " and " velatio." - Elv. XIII. 3 Cf. Sozom. H. E. v. 15. Clerical Celibacy. 1 9 7 with their parents and those residing in common dwellings ; ■* and even Gams, who is over-anxious to prove the existence of such orders in Spain at an improbably early epoch in the history of the Faith, gives up this part of the theory altogether.^ Such maidens still lived at home with their parents, though by their vows of consecration their hearts were to be separated from the world around them. [Note C] § 22. In the order of the clergy these two currents combined their forces ; for in a class of men singled out for religious honours and duties, and from whom a special degree of holiness was demanded, it was only natural that asceticism should be unusually developed. Even without any inclination of their own they would have been compelled, in deference to popular sentiment and for the preservation of their influence, to rival the lay ascetics in austerity ; and the acts of the Council tend to prove that this natural propensity was strong in them as among other members of the Christian Church. In fasts, in penances, in mortification, the clergy might be rivalled by the laity ; ^ in the matter of celibacy, they might rise to be supreme. For though as yet no legal restraint had been set upon their mar- riage, the feeling of the Church had gravitated slowly in that direction, and during the latter part of the third century few cases, if any, can be found of marriage after ordination.*^ That a married ^ E. trans, vol, i. p. 143. ^ Vol. ii. pp. 64, 65. *^ Hefele, Beitrageu zur Kircheng. vol. i. p. 123, and in the original article on " Rigorismus," of which this is mainly a reprint, denies that such marriage ever occurred- We know, 198 The Synod of Elvira. clergy existed in Spain at the time of the Synod is a fact that cannot be questioned for a moment. The Canon enjoining continence on such/ and the command laid upon the clergy as a whole, not on the inferior members of the order, as Aubespine thinks^ to put away a guilty wife/ furnish abundant proof, corroborated by the provisions of the last of the authentic and genuine synodical acts.^ It is there ordered that women shall not send letters to laymen in their own, but in their husbands^ names, and that they shall not receive letters of commendation so addressed. The Canon recommends, but does not enforce its advice with any penalty. Its import, in spite of some objections, is clear. The wives of the higher clergy, and of the bishops in particular, had been accustomed to write in their own name — which in Spain was not changed by marriage — letters of commendation, and perhaps letters of private friendship, to laymen, though this is less probable, and had also received similar letters, addressed to them and not to their husbands. The custom was liable to dangerous abuse, and so incurred official censure.^ on the other hand, that early in the third century, Hippolytus, the bishop of Ostia, was charged with exaggerated asceticism because he opposed the practice. Cf. Pressense, vol. iii. p. 135, *• Life and Practice in the Early Church." ? Elv. XXXIII. ^^ Elv. LXY. ^ Elv. LXXXI. Aubespine, p. 74, and pp. 45, 46 ; and cf. Herbst, Tub. Theol. Qu. 1821, pp. 43, 44. ^ Aubespine, p. 88, Mendoza, 1. c. p. 391. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 191, 192, and Gams, vol. ii. p. 136, quote illustrations of the national custom of retaining the maiden name. The son can Rest7'ictLons 2tpon Marj'iage. 199 § 23. While marriage was allowed^ conjugal abstinence was at the same time considered meri- torious, and as a near approach to the honour of celibacy : approbation before long turned into a command. Thus at Elvira, the influence of Hosius ^ availed to pass the Canon enjoining such abstinence upon the married clergy, which at Nicjea was re- jected through the emphatic protest of the Egyptian saint, Paphnutius.^ Even accepting the improbable theory that the prohibition only applied to the parts of the year occupied in the duties of the sanctuary, and that the clergy were treated like the Levites, the case is not a whit bettered.'' Marriage once admitted, the attempted restriction was un- natural, and would certainly produce a revulsion of feeling through the domestic scandals inevitably ensuing from such a monstrous prohibition.^ Once formulated, the principle made further advances in the West. Marriage after ordination was definitely forbidden, or admitted only among the lower orders of the clergy.^ Deacons were in take the name of either parent. Hence the proverb, " El higo de ruyn Padre Tuma el appellida de la Madre," i. e. " The son of a bad father takes his mother's name." Carter, Journeyings in Spain, vol. ii. p. 281 '•^ Cf. Drey, Neue Untersuchungen, pp. 57 and 310. 3 Cf. Stanley, Eastern Church, p. 169. ^ Cf. Herzog, Real-Encyklopiidie, iii. pp. 775, 776. 5 Elv. XXXIII. The Canon was repeated at 2 Aries II. and at Carthage. Cf. Jerome, Adv. Jovin. p. 175. For Peter's alleged abstinence, cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 111. Men- doza discusses at length, cf. 1. c. p. 247. Binterim, Kathol. 1821, vol. ii. pp. 430—432. « Neocsesarea, I. Apost. Can. XXV. Apost. Const, vi. 17. 200 llie Synod of Elvira. some cases allowed to state their intention to marry at their ordination, without incurring any disquali- fication/ Second marriage, or marriage with a widow, had long since been discountenanced. The Council of Gangra, convened not more than fifty years after this Synod — probably in the year 350 A.D. — in its censure of Eustachius, shows to what a pitch sentiment had come ; and the edict of Siricius, thirty-five years later, prohibiting all intercourse of the clergy with their wives, repeats in a more authoritative form the decision of this Council. In the East, opinion had not moved so quickly, and in this matter the Church had been far outpaced by the clergy of the West.^ § 24. All enforced and unnatural abstinence leads to reaction or to gross evasion, and many of the clergy, to whom lawful marriage was forbidden, compensated themselves in irregular ways. Others, with no evil intention at the outset, entered into a so-called spiritual union with Christian virgins not related to them by blood or kinship, and kept them in their homes on terms of the closest familiarity. Such women were variously designated — ^' subintro- ductas,^' "sorores,^'' " a^yairriTal, and (TweicraKToi/^ being the most common titles employed in this con- nexion. The scandal which resulted from such intercourse was gross, and the custom more per- " Ancyra X. « Cf. Milman, vol. iii. pp. 277—282. I>eckj, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 347, 348. Diet. Christ. Antiq. vol. i. s. vv. Asceticism and Celibacy, and especially pp. 324, 325. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 432, 433. Herbst, Tub. Tlieol. Quart. 1821, p. 31, foil. Celibate Immorality . 20 1 nicious to the ideal of purity tlian the disparaged nuptial tie. But the evil was very tenacious, and seems to have refused to yield to any legislation. At Elvira, at Ancyra, at Nicaea/ we find strong pro- hibition of these intimacies, and most stringent restrictions set upon the presence of any woman within the homes of the clergy on whom suspicion could possibly fall. In later years, too, the disease seemed to have become inveterate ; the Priscil- lianists are charged with haviog sanctioned and encouraged the custom, and Council" after Council adds its influence and power to counteract the cor- ruption to which it gave rise. At one time we find that the contagion had spread to the consecrated virgins, and that they had their "companions'" living with them, as the clergy had their o '^sisters.''' Two courses lay open to the Church in this posi- tion of danger; to abolish artificial restrictions and restore a healthy and natural life, or, on the other hand, to add one degree of conventional separation to another, and to enforce the provisions of a law insufiicient to cope with the instincts of humanity by more stringent and ruthless penalties. It chose the latter; and in time the natural outcome was the total prohibition of private intercourse between the clergy and women ; even a bishop was not allowed to grant such an interview without the presence of 9 Elv. XXVII. Ancyra XIX. Xicsea III. ^ Cf. Gregory Xazianzen, Ad Hellenium. Migne, Patrologia, xxxvii. 1468, 1469. 202 The Synod of Elvira. clerical witnesses." This indeed was tlie logical issue of a restriction apparently not without wisdom and justification in its earliest origin.^ § 25. The Canons which have been under our immediate consideration are important^ no doubt_, in themselves ; but they deserve special notice, apart from any intrinsic qualities. As we have already pointed out, the Synod of Elvira must be in large measure considered as the work of one man, the Bishop Hosius; and when we find him in other assemblies re-enacting, or at least proposing, the edicts of Elvira, it may be inferred that he at- tached no small importance to its work. Now its chief function was to formulate, systematise, and perpetuate the sentiments prevailing in the Church of the West at the time of the convention, and that with too little consideration either of the necessities " 1 Matisc. III. 1 Orange, XX. Migne, Diet. Cone. i. p. 1204. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 231. 3 Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. iii. pp. 282, 283. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 160. Migne, Diet. Cone. vol. ii. pp. 78, 79. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 380, 381. Gams, vol. ii. p. 82. Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccl. Sa?c. iii. Dis. xxi. II. pp. 678, 680. Hieronymus, Ep. xxii. Ad Eustoch. Cyprian, Ep. Ixii. Ad Pompon. Chrysostom, Serm. Trpoy tov^ e^ovras TrapOkvovs (TVVCiaUKTOVS. This Canon [XXVII.] was repeated at the Couneils of Carthage [XL VI.], vid. Hefele, vol. ii. p. 73 ; 2 Aries III. ; Lerida XV. ; Antiocb, which removed Paul of Samosata for this among other charges ; 2 Tolet. III. ; 2 Bracar. XV. ; and many others. It is noticeable that XiciBa is less rigorous than Elvira in exceptions which it admits to the rule. Dr. Nolte, Tub. Theol, Quart. 1865, explains " vel " as = " especially." Cf. XXXIII. and XII., " Vel quaelibet fidelis, — iwl parens." Sorcery iii Spain. of human nature or tlie truths of divine revelation. A spirit, if we may so call it, of positive law had entered into the Church in the person of Hosius, with all his devotion to the cause of Christ, and with all the loftiness and purity of his character and aims ; and decrees like these were the outcome. The sentiment, unformulated, would have been at the time hardly less effective than the specific precept ; and when the tide had turned, the error would have been amended. But once defined by statute and enforced by penalty, the system could not fail to develope fresh modifications, as natural forces proved too strong for arbitrary and artificial law. The forces of asceticism and sacerdotalism had united before now, but till the legislation of this Synod there was neither foundation nor permanency for the sentiment of the season. Elvira gave it both, and we may date all the subsequent develop- ment of this abnormal system from this date. § 26. From the same dualising tendency, intensi- fied and aggravated by the convictions of heathen society, came the partition of the world between opposing powers, and the consequent belief in sor- cery, witchcraft, and magic. Within five-and-twenty years from this Synod, Spain was to be deeply pene- trated by a heresy in which this superstition was a prominent characteristic ; and after admitting the pestilence brought from Alexandria by Marcus and his followers, and transferred through Agape and Epidius, it was to repress the heresy with a severity hitherto unparalleled. But even before this "pupil cf the spirits,^^ as he was termed, had entered Spain 204 The Synod of Elvira. witli a creed in wliich magic was an esssential element, there was already superstition enougli and to spare, deeply permeating all classes even in the Christian community. [Note D.] The Fathers assembled in this Synod were cer- tainly not exempt from the influence of the popular creed ; and as we may see from the prohibition of magic arts in all their forms, they recognise such practices as effective though illegal. Nor is there any cause for surprise in the fact that Christians of the fourth century should have shared in a super- stition which survived in the Church for many ag-es to come. Sorcery, witchcraft, and astrology were all put in the same category, and on each fell the dark shadow of idolatry. The stars were named after the heathen gods, and made supreme in the arbitrament of human affairs, to the contempt and exclusion of the Christian deity ; while, on the other hand, the powers of darkness were directly appealed to for aid. The hostility which astrologers incurred even from those who had not deserted the faith and rites of paganism, was an additional justification of Christian antipathy : those whom Rome again and again expelled, the Church might well hate.'* In the sixth Canon, the Synod punishes those who cause death by sorcery — a crime involving idolatry as well as murder.^ This art of destruction was one of the most fixed and elementary articles of the ancient creed, as illustrated in classic prose and ^ Cf. Tacitus, An. ii. 31. Tert. De Idol. c. ix. Eein, Crimi- nalgerecht der Homer, pp. 901 — 910. " Elv. VI. Death by Witchcraft. 20 ; poetry. Throughout the idylls of Theocritus, in whom the Egyptian influence is strong, in the epic of Lucan and the satires of Juvenal, the two greatest poets of Spain, the allusions to such practices recur with unusual frequency; and all believed that the mind, untainted by the venom of poisoned draught, might decay by enchantment." Poisonous herbs, melting wax, and magic wheel were alike instruments in this deadly science, specially known as '^ male- ficium,^^ the '^/orjreia of the Greeks. Those who practised it were known as Chaldgei, Magi, or more commonly as " Malefici,^' — " workers of evil.^' ^ To be guilty of any such crimes was sufficient of itself to warrant expulsion from the Chu7xh. But it is to be remarked that at Elvira, only the sin of employ- ing witchcraft for death, and not for divination, is specifically punished, while at Ancyra the prohibition is extended to soothsayers and all who admit them into their houses ; the same or similar precepts being repeated at other Councils for several cen- turies after.^ § 27. The superstition was in one sense a growth ^ " Mens haiisti nulla sanie polluta veneni Excantata perit," Lucan, Pharsalia, vi. 457. ^ Veneficium [Burchard, vi. 26] would be possible without idolatry; maleficiura, not. Cf. Lactant. Inst. ii. 17, "Magi, et ii quos vere maleficos vulgus appellat;" and Constantine de Mag. et Math., " Chaldsei Magi, et ceteri quos maleficos ob facinorum magnitudinem vulgus appellat." Cf. August. Do Civ. Dei, x. 9. 8 Anc. XXIV. Laodicea XXXVI. Carthage LXXXIX. 4 Tolet. XXIX. Trullo LXI., punishing the eKarvvTapxoi. Cf. Lerida II. Cf Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1823, p. 3C foil. 2o6 The Synod of Elvira. of tlie fourtli century, for the Christians of the first three centuries, while they universally recognised the existence of evil spirits, their communication with men, and their power to affect human life, saw in baptism and the divine presence a force greater than that of the Evil One, and above the control of malignant spirits. Under the influence of this be- lief they abstained from all magic arts, and dis- credited their efficienc}' in the case of the Christian, while admitting it where there existed no such counter-charm ; and thus it was not till this time, and perhaps not universally even now, that the pro- hibition was necessary. Before long, however, the superstition spread, and involved itself with theo- logical and religious feuds in the wildest ways. Thus, in the latter days of Constantino, when the corn fleet was detained by adverse winds at Alexandria, the populace of Constantinople, under the pressure of famine, broke into tumult, and the Christians charged Sopater, a Platonist, and a scholar of the great lamblichus, with having bound the winds in the north by his unlawful arts.^ The emperor was constrained to yield to the mob, and the philosopher was put to death. Such a spirit, however, could not fail to meet with retaliation, and before long Athanasius was assailed with a similar charge, and sent into exile for no less fictitious a crime. ^ ^ For a similar charge brought against Christians, cf. a letter of Adrien to Servien, in I)e Broglie, vol. i. p. 107, " II n'y a point de pretre Chretien qui ne soit a la fois mathematicien, aruspice, et astrologue." ^ Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 380, 381. Lights at the Grave, 207 The same spirit manifested itself in other less un- equivocal decrees of the Synod. For example, one of the Canons seems at least to illustrate the belief that fields might be laid under enchantment, and crops charmed from one field to another. The crops were blessed — possibly, judging from the title of the Canon, baptized — by Christian priests, not as a thanksgiviog, but as a defence against practices such as these ; and the farmers, fearing the power of the Jews to ban, called in the same power to bless, to the disparagement and indignation of the Christian clergy.^ This appears to be the best ex- planation of an ambiguous Canon, which must be reserved for a fuller and completer discussion else- where. [Note E.] § 28. The thirty-fourth Canon, which deals with a superstition of a kindred nature, raises a fierce and intricate controversy. The terms in themselves appear simple and distinct : — " Tapers shall not be lighted in a cemetery during the day, for the spirits of the saints must not be disquieted." Offenders were punished with exclusion from Church com- munion.^ To come to any understanding of the Canon, it is necessary to recur for a moment to other customs connected with the commemoration of the dead. Christian cemeteries, and especially the graves of the martyrs which they contained, had ever been a favourite place of meeting for the Church. In- formal gatherings were common, as well as the vigils, forbidden by the Synod in the case of women ' Elv. XLIX. 5 EI7. XXXIV. 2o8 TJic Synod of Elvira. on account of the disorder and debauchery to which the practice too often gave occasion/ There were also annual festivals held in the same place to honour those who had suffered in the name of Christ, and the association too of the martyrs with the forgiveness of sins, either as abiding in the captivity of the Lord and as assessors in the final judgment, or as actual partners of His present kingdom, judgment, and power, could not but fix attention on this special form of intercession, and localise it in the place of burial.^ § 29. Nor would sentiments of this kind be con- fined to those Christians who had rendered them- selves illustrious by their confession, and their heroic death. The obscure and the unknown could claim similar tribute from the afi'ection of surviving friends, and the natural desire to hold some com- munion with the departed, combined with the relics of the heathen superstition which fettered the spirit at least for a time to the material tomb, would lead to a fresh attempt to bridge the dark and silent gulf which separates the worlds of life and death. The chief, though not the only, method employed to this end, was a ritual celebrated at the grave, in which lighted tapers formed a prominent part, as instru- ments of necromantic art. Spain, now and always, ^ Elv. XXXV. Cf. Edict of Coiistantlne. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 159. "^ Cf. €is TO. KciKov^eva KOL^T]Tr]pia dlaruvai, Euseb. H. E. vii. 2, 14. Cf. vi. 42, 43. Dionys. Alex., ot vvv tov Xpio-rov ndpe- S/^oi Koi Trjs ^aaiXeLas avTOv KOtvcovol, kol /xeTo;^oi rrjs Kpiaecosr avToii, Koi avvdiKa^opTes avrw. Candles in Spanish Ritual. 209 has been celebrated for its devotion to lights ; if, says Gams, it is the " land of sunshine/' it is also the "land of candle-light/' In no other country is the use of tapers in religious services so universal. Lorinser, in his Travels, gives a total of two thousand five hundred candles, over and above the ordinary lights, used at a single celebration in six churches at Barcelona in 1843 ; and Wilkomm describes their use in the churches and in the processions, especially on Palm Sunday and Maunday Thursday. On All Souls' Day, we are told by the same authority, the custom of burning lights in honour of the dead is still observed in the cemeteries of the country. " An enormous amount of candles is con- sumed, as the adornment of the grave consists in setting lighted tapers on or before them. These tapers are of extraordinary length and thickness, and are set before the graves on candlesticks or in frames." " I have seen/' he says, " in the case of men of rank and fame, as many as a hundred burn- ing candles arranged to form a pyramid." A grave costs three thalers for four years ; and if the money be not forthcoming, the bones are at this time cast out into the "osario comun," the detestation and the horror of all generous hearts. The poor who cannot afford the cost of a grave, honour the places where they suppose their dead to rest, with a candle of yellow wax stuck in the ground, and bearing the name of the departed on a slip for distinction's sake. In this innocent form the ancient practice has survived.^ ^ Cf. Gams, vol. ii. pp. 91, 92. Loriiiser, Reisesk. vol. i. pp. P 2 1 o The Synod of Elvira. § 30. But at this time darker elements were, ■undoubtedly, blent with tliis natural tbough mate- rialised affection ; and the Fathers of Elvira, in censuring the practice, add their testimony to the possibility of necromantic charms. Binterim, indeed, is indignant that so gross a superstition should be attributed to the Council, and insists that ^^ a spirit of uncleanness ^' has entered into Herbst and his co-editors, who venture to allege such audacious fictions against the Fathers of Elvira. There is no want of elucidating evidence, he says, but a number of satisfactory explanations of the Canon ; and he recommends to his opponents the answer of Socrates, taken from Mendoza : — '^ What I understand, is honest : What I do not, I believe is honest too."" ^ But it was only natural that the clergy assembled at Elvira should have shared in the common belief of their times. Death by sorcery was an admitted fact ; the recall of the dead was a sin subsequently punished by the Church ;^ possession by evil spirits was universally recognised; and the barbarous slaughter of children, for purposes of divination, was not uncommon in Spain after the date of this Council.^ How then could they divest them- 162, 1C3. Wilkomm, Zwel Jahre in Sp. iii, 341, and Eeise, i. 248 — 252. Cf. Eenan, Apotres, p. 359, " La piete des tombeaux etait presque la seule que le peuple gardat. On aimait a songer qu'on ne serait pas jete aux horribles fosses communes." Cf. Hor. Sat. i. 8. 8. 7 4 Tolet. XXIX. 8 Katholilv, 1821, vol. ii. pp. 433, 434. ^ Cf. Justin Martyr, Con. Apostol. i. 18, veKvofiavrelaL, ddiacf)' €6jjrcv Trai8u)v iTroTrrtva-eis, Kal \|^v;!(coj/ dvOpcoTTLUOiV K\i]aeis, Ka Belief in Necroinaiicy. 2 1 1 selves of the influences of their age and nation ? And this much is clear^ that the bishops did believe in the possibility of such mysterious and magical intercourse^ both from the general tenor of the Canon^ and from the special use of the word " in- quietare/^ employed in the story of the ^^ Witch of Endor_," as here^ for summoning up the spirits of the dead.^ There is no reason to suppose that the mere attempt is denoted, for it is clear^ in spite of the discussion provoked by that spiritualistic episode, that the possibility of such apparitions was not generally denied, especially in the days of " a superstitious infidelity, and of the degraded Bas Empire." Those who burnt the candles may have had a vague conception of the precise nature of the act : they would wish to honour the dead, and to bind them to themselves by some tie.^ The pro- gress from an instinctive and natural yearning to an unhallowed art would be only too easy ; and, in natures possessed by so intimate a belief in the reality of the spirit-world, coarse and covetous im- postors would find an easy prey. On the other hand, to pious souls it would be an inexpressible horror, that the souls of martyrs, abiding under the altar till their day of vengeance, or in the unseen place reserved for them by Divine will, should be ot Xeyo/iei/ot irapli rols fxayois ovetpuTTOfji'TTOi kol nupedpoi. Cf. Socrat. H. E. iii. 13. Euseb. H. E. vii. 10. Tertull. Apol. xxv. ^ 1 Sam. xxviii. 15. Mendoza, Aguirre, and other com- mentators, reproduce at great length the earlier discussions vnep TTjs eyyaarpLpvdov. 2 Cf. Lucan, vi. 762 and 556, 557 ; 706—709. P 2 2 12 The Synod of Elvira. thus vexed and disquieted in their peaceful rest, and by the profanity and daring of human sorcery. It was a natural reason to be the basis of the pro- hibition_, that " the souls of the saints must not be disquieted. [Note F.] § 31. This same underlying influence affected the spirit of the Church in other and less ignoble ways ; but though the manifestation is less debased, there can be no doubt that the originating cause was one and the same. Thus in its treatment of the insane the Church always proceeded upon the hypothesis of demoniacal possession in its diagnosis and ex- planation of the mental or physical malady. All humanity, as they thought, could be affected by the activities of spirits, good and evil ; and some of the miracles of Christ had implanted the belief still more strongly than the influence of Jewish and heathen creed would have done without aid of this order and power. Without entering into this much- vexed question in detail, it is abundantly clear, that demoniacal possession, if asserted at all by Divine Scripture, was but temporary in duration ; and that only while the world became, and continued, the sphere of the miracles of Christ and His Apostles, was this hostile force permitted to assume these visible and unparalleled forms. But the Church perpetuated the belief, and gave an immense exten- sion to the supposed power of evil spirits, subject- ing the whole community, save those delivered by Christian baptism, to their unhallowed sway. Those, however, who suffered in a special degree from such malign influences, to the derangement of mind and The Treatment of Demoniacs, 213 intellect^, were, by the Church, subjected to special treatment ; and for their cure, a regular order of official exorcists was organised and maintained from the earliest times. § 32. The afflicted Christian was not, however, admitted to membership ; nor, if baptised before the appearance of the disease, considered to stand on the footing of full membership. His name could not, therefore, be read out from the diptychs, with his offering at the service of Communion ; and he was bound to leave the Church with the penitents and catechumens at the conclusion of the scriptures and the psalms. The Council of Orange decreed that all possible religious privileges should be conferred on them ; both the prayers of the Church, and religious rites suited to the case. In Africa, where such mala- dies seem to have been of very frequent occurrence, it was ruled that these energumens should be kept out of Church funds, and that they should discharge various small duties about the buildings, such as sweeping, cleaning and scouring.^ At Elvira, how- ever, a spirit of antipathy seems to have modified the ordinary temper of the Church, for it is specially ordered that these sufferers should not be employed in any service of the Church, even to light the lamps, which had evidently been one of their duties and privileges : if any persisted in disobedience, they were to be cat off from communion with the Church. [Note G.] 3 Cf. Merida XIX. Ek. XXIX. Cf. Can. Ap. LXXIX. Orange, XIII. 4 Carthage XC. XCI. XCII. Hefele, vol. ii. p. 75. 2 14 The Sy7iod of Elvira. To endeavour to determine the causes which pro- duced this revulsion of sentiment would be futile ; but there can be no considerable error in attributing the reform to the scenes of disorder which must at times have occurred through these public minis- trations of the insane. Nor would a certain incon- gruity be absent in imposing upon those specially disqualified for the full rights of membership, a duty which placed the performer among the inferior grades of the ministrants_, if in no higher place. Where insanity or possession necessitated a deposi- tion from holy orders, it was grossly inconsistent to admit the services of men labouring under the same malady in any part of the ceremonial of the Church. At the point of death, however, the energumen, if unbaptised, was to receive baptism ; if he had already advanced so far, to receive communion.'' The Council of Orange made it a condition that the sufferer should have desired deliverance, and sub- mitted himself to the advice and exhortation of the clergy ; and also that he should have requested the sacrament before falling into frenzy : then he might receive the Eucharist as a protection and salvation from the torments of the demon.'^ In the African Church, if they could not speak for themselves, they might receive baptism on the testimony of friends or relatives.*' From the whole mass of details con- ^ Elv. XXXVII. •■' Cf. Migue, Diet. Cone. vol. ii. p. 151. Oran-e, XXXVII. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 236, 237. In a more lax discipline they were admitted, and tlieir names read out. Cf. Cyprian, Ep. x. e 4 Carth. LXXVI. Hefele, vol. ii. pp. 74, 75.' Notes : the Mercantile Cleroy, 2 1 5 nected with the subject, this much is clear, that the Church, if it inclined to superstition, inaugurated a policy adverse to the cruelty and carelessness with which these unfortunate beings had hitherto been treated. Even here we can see the beginning of that great system of beneficence in which the later Church was to engage with its institutions of refuge and of cure, mitigating, even if from false supersti- tion, the barbarity of earlier ages. And it was in Spain, let us remember, that the first asylum for the insane was founded/ Note A. — Cyprian, in his tract De Lapsis [§ 6], illustrates this evil as it existed in his times. " Many bishops," says he, " who ought to give encouragement and example to the rest, disdaining their sacred charge, devoted themselves to secular business ; abandoned their seats, deserted their people, and wandering up and down through foreign provinces, hunted the markets for profitable merchandise [nundinas aucupare negotiation is qusestuosfs] ; while their brethren in the Church hungered, they coveted money in abundance, seizing on lands by deceit and treacherj^ and swelling their capital by compound interest " [usuris multiplicantibus fenus augere]. Cf. *' inhiaut possessionibus suis," Sulpic. Severus, i. 23. Ambrosius tells them to be content with " agelluli sui fructibus," De OlF. iii. 9; cf. iii. 6. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 198, 199, gives the parallel of the mission at Lima, in Peru, where we find the clergy among the Indians doing business in oil, wine, corn, stone, and undertaking con- tracts for baggage-cattle. To their predecessors Constantine gave exemption from the ordinary trade dues, save under cir- cumstances such as those here censured, " auraria pensio," 1. viii. De Episcop. et Cler. Provincia is, of course, not Spain, Lecky, Eur. ]\Ior. vol. ii. pp. 91 — 95. 2 1 6 TJic Synod of Elvira. but one of the four provinces into which the country was divided, previous to the addition of the fifth, provincia Car- thaginiensis. Note B. — In Elv. XXIII. *' per singulos menses " may = " during all months," and nothing more ; it is, however, more probable, judging from the peculiarity of expression, that the true meaning is "once in every month;" i. e. = " singulis mensibus." In Elv. XXVI. the brevity of the Canon has made its force exceptionalh'- ambiguous, and caused grave doubt whether it is to be interpreted as a precept or a prohibition. Some, relying on the authority of Clemens, Const. Ap. vii. 23; Ignatius, Ep. viii. Ad Phil, et similia, assume that the *' ut " is prohibitive, or rather explanatory of the " errorem," and argue on the analogy of the Apostolical Canons [LXVI.] that the Sabbatic fast is here forbidden. We know, however, (i.) that the custom of the East and West, and even of neighbouring Churches, differed in this respect. Cf. August. Ep. xvii. Ad Hieron. c. 2, and Ep. xxxvi. Ad Casul. Casulanus consults him, as Lucinius consults Hieronymus, («) about the fast of the Sabbath, (5) about the daily Eucharist customary in some churches in Spain. The first point Augustine treats as a non-essential of faith, and replies in the words of Ambrose, so often misused, " Quando sum hie [Milan] non ieiuno, quando Roma} sum ieiuno Sabbato." The Roman custom is said to have been derived from Peter, who fasted on that day before his conflict with Simon Magus. Cf. ib. liv. Iv. (ii.) Jerome tells us that Spain fasted on the Sabbath [Ep. xxviii. Ad Lucin. Bsetic] (iii.) The phraseology is the same as in XLIII., where no ambiguity is possible. Mendoza [1. c. p. 227] suggests that this Council was the first to promulgate a definite command on the custom, perhaps the first to institute it ; but his assertion is challenged by Gams, vol. ii, p. 79, who attributes it to " Spanische patriotismus," Siiperposltio ieiunii thus = (i) to prolong a semi-ieiunium from nones to vespers [XXIII.] ; (ii.) to add a second day of fasting to a first [XXVI.]. Cf. " continuare," and avvaiTTeiv vrja-Teiav, and vTrepdfo-is. Cf. on the whole subject, Diet. Christ. Antiq. s. vv. Sabbath, statio, superpositio. N'ofes : Celibacy ; PriscuLianists. 217 Gams, voh ii. pp. 75, 76, 78 — 81. Binterim, Denkwurd. ii. 2, 615 ; V. 2, 98, 128 ; and Katholik, 1821, vol ii. p. 429. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 220—227. Aguirre, vol. i. pp. 465, 466. Bingham, xxi. 1. 25. Kouth, Eel. Sac. ii. p. 419. Hefele, i. pp. 164 — 166. Garsias in Aguirre, vol. i. p. 466, and Gonzalez, ib. p. 467. Neander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. pp. 385, 386, 407, and especially 409 — 411 and notes. Note C. — (i.) For a contrast with the vestals of Paganism, the remnants of an alien and extinct creed in the Koman faith, cf. Prudent, ii. c. Sj-mm. ad fin. : — " Nee contempta perit miseris, sed adempta voluptas," and, — " Captivus pudor ingratis addicitur aris." (ii.) The celibates among the men would either be Eremites, though these were not at this time common in Spain, — or would belong to the clergy. Others would be encouraged to marry, if on no other account, because of the preponderance of Christian maidens for whom no husband could be found except outside the Church. (iii.) The cognate question of second marriage has already been treated under the head of morality. This same tendency would intensify the discredit which attached to it. Cf . Milman, vol. iii. pp. 279, 280. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 344, 345. Note D. — On the Priscillianists, cf. Migne, Diet, des Heresies, vol. i. pp. 1131 foil. Gams, vol. ii. p. 361 — 366, argues with incontestable force against the advanced date to which the importation of this heresy into Spain is usually assigned. Most historians seem to admit its existence only after the death of Hosius , though, as we know, Marcus died some years earlier, and at least before the Council of Sardica, at which the Arians specially charged Hosius with his outrages against " Marcus of blessed memory.'' Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 362, and Tillemont, vol. vi. p. 335, and ex opere Historic, fr. iii. Inc. decretum Sj^nodi Orientalium apud Sardicam, c. xxvii. Other traces of this intercourse between Spain and Egypt, and of the imported superstition, are mentioned elsewhere. Gams, quoting from Montfau9cn and Carter, alludes to a block of black 2 1 8 The Synod of Elvira. Egyptian marble, discovered by Carter, the material from which most " Abraxas " gems were manufactured. They were used as talismans against disease and sickness, and engraved with myste- rious and undecipherable characters. Carter, Journeyings in Spain, vol. ii. p. 165. Montfau^on, Paiaiographia Grseca. Hefele, " Abraxas," in the Freiburgen Kirchenlexicon. Gams, vol. ii. pp. 43, 44. Note E. — On Canon XLIX. — The custom of blessing the crops still survives, though in a modified and less superstitious form, among the peasants of the wine country in France. " Notwithstanding the respect which the French peasant feels, for his cure and his Church, he does not scruple, having per- formed with care his religious duties, to spend the remainder of the Sunday, from about eleven a.m. to sunset, in gathering in the rich, luscious fruit, which he feels in a peculiar sense to be God's gift, inasmuch as, in the early spring, he, in common with all his neighbours, has accompanied his priest all through the vines, stopping at various stations, where an impromptu cross has been raised, with prayers and hymns, to ask the bless- ing of God upon his vines. In this respect there is a beautiful simplicity among the French peasantr}^, and there are few- prettier sights to be seen about the month of May, Avhen the country is in all its spring beaut}', than one of these processions, headed by its white-robed priest, and all in holiday dress, winding in and out among the various patches of vines." — The Times, Sept. 23, 1881. Note F. — [I,] For the use of tapers in religious ceremonies, of. Pauliniis, — *' Clara coronantur densis altaria lychnis, Lumina ceratis adolentur odore papyris ; Nocte dieque micant, sic nox splendore diei Fulget, et ipse dies cselesti illustris honore Plus micat innumeris lucem geminata lucernis," and,- Undique rapta manu lux cerea provocat astra, Credas ut stellis ire trahendo comas. Lacteus hinc vesti color est, hinc lampade fulgor Ducitur, et vario lumine picta dies." Paulinus, v. 5, in Katholik. I. c. p. 435. Notes : Tapers in Ritual. 2 1 9 For candles at nocturnal rites, cf. — " Auroque nocturnis sacris Adstare fixos cereos." Prudentius, De Sacro Laurent. Herzog tells us tliat in Portugal priests are called " Wachs- lichtverbraucher " [not " verschwender," as Gams, ii. p. 93]. Herzog, Real-Encyklopiidie, xii. pp. 74 — 79, s. v. Portugal, especially p. 78. The controversy has generally shifted from the use of candles in the cemetery to their presence in the church and on the altar. In either case, the prohibition was vehemently resented by the later Spanish Church. Gonzalez Tellez goes so far as to say that the Canon is " against the custom of the whole Church, and especially of Spain ;" and Mendoza, in his long dissertation [1. c. p. 257] impugns its validity. On the other hand, Vigilantius, at a very early date, attacks no less strenuously '• the heathen customs introduced under the guise of religion, and the lighting of useless masses of candles while the sun shone in the church," together with the superstitious adoration of relics. Vid. Hieronymus, Migne, Patrologia, xxiii. p. 342, 343 ; and cf. Lactantius, Div. Inst, vi. 2. " Num igitur mentis su£e compos putandus est, qui auctori, et datori luminis candelarum ac cerarum lumen offert pro munere ? " Thus Herbst is not quite correct in his statement that Vigilantius was censured as a heretic for reproving what was forbidden at Elvira ; he attacked the use of candles in the church, not at the grave. Tub. Theol. Quart. 1. c. pp. 35, 36. The controversial references of the Reformers to this Canon were similarly conceived. Thus Calfhill, in his " Answer to the Treatise of the Cross " [Publications of the Parker Society] bases upon it an argument against the use of tapers in the services of the church [p. 302], while he mentions that the Synod was condemned at the second Nicene Council. Fulke, vol. ii. p. 185, is more strict in his application, for though his main use is the same, he retorts on the Romanists, who would limit the application of the Canon to the place therein specified : — " Why come you, then, with your torches and tapers into the churchyard, both in processions and at burials?" Rejoinder unto J. Martiall's " Reply to Master Calfhill." 2 2 o The Synod of Elvira . Jewell, in his *' Defence of the Apology of the Church of Eng- land," vol. iii. p. 167, refers to Canon XXXV., and thus remarks on " night-watches condemned," " We renew heresies. If Vigilantius were a heretic for reproving of night-watches, why hath the Church of Rome so long sithence condemned and abolished the same watches, agreeably to Vigilantius, and con- trary to the judgment of St. Hierome ? " [II.] It is impossible to do more than tabulate in the briefest form the various explanations suggested by commentators upon this Canon [XXXIV.]. [a,] The Synod prohibited the custom as a method of necro- mancy, and to prevent the superstitious use of tapers derived from pagan ritual. Cf. Suet. Nero, xxxiv. Pliny, X. H. xxviii. They were anxious to avoid even the appearance of sorcery, cf . Acts XV. 19, because this would disturb (i.) the souls of the bishops — i.e. in a metaphorical sense — by grief and pain at such superstition. Hurtando and Barbosa. (ii.) The souls of living saints [similiter]. Suggested by Gonzalez Tellez, in Aguirre, vol. i. p. 534 (iii.) The souls of the dead, metaphorically, on account of the superstitious and idolatrous worship offered to them. Baronius. (iv.) The souls of the dead, literall}', by summoning them from under the altar or their other place of rest. Aubespine, who does not, however, reject decisively Garcias' view : v. infr. B. i. pp. 46—48. Cf . Tibullus, i. 6. 15 ; Lactantius, Div. Inst. ii.2. But— (a.) Excubia? of men are not forbidden at night. (h.) This prohibition only applies to the day, while necromantic arts might be practised at night. Cf. Tert. de An. Ivii., " Apud virorurn fortium busta eadem de causa abnoctare." {c.) This evocation might be attempted away from the ceme- tery, and without the use of caudles. Gonzalez would read perinde for per diem, but the emenda- tion is without support. [b.] The custom was prohibited to prevent an excessive quantity of lights being used in funeral processions during the day, which would (i.) distract the souls of believers praying in the cemeteries. [For sancti = fideles, cf. Romans i. 7, " Omnibus, qui sunt Romaj, dilectisque Dei vocatis Sanctis," and comment, N'otcs : The Thirty-foiu'th Canon. 221 " Olim enim omnes Christiani vocabantur sancti."] Aguirre and Garcias Loaisa, in Aguirre, vol. i. pp. 536 and 531. (ii.) The souls of the priests fulfilling their holy offices [i.e. sanctorum = sacra agentium]. Binterim, Katliolik, 1821, vol. ii. p. 435. [c] The worship of martyrs was prohibited. But this has no evidence in its support. [d.] To prevent the attention of heathen being drawn to graves which they would unearth and disturb. Mendoza for- merly inclined to this view. Cf. Gonzalez Tellez, in Aguirre, i. p. 535. The graves, however, they would know in any case ; and unless the soul remained, only the body [not " anima "] would be '•' disquieted." [e.] Basterus, in Aguirre, vol. ii. p. 11 foil., gives a most in- genious explanation of the Canon, and argues that the act was {a) legal at night, and {h) not intrinsically evil. Now, — (i.) Funerals of the ancients were held at night. Cf. Servius, ^n. xi., " per noctem cadavera efferebantur," and " vespillones " [vesper] := undertakers. (ii.) Eomans, and the heathen generally, had a great horror of coming into contact with a dead body ; it made them unclean for worship ; and their funerals were therefore held during the solitude of night. (iii.) This Council was held during the remnants of persecu- tion, and the Canon refers to day-funerals, which Avould provoke the popular resentment — and did so, when first attempted. Cf. Cod. Theod. ix. 17, 1. 5, " Secundum illud est quod eflferri cog- novimus cadavera mortuorum per confertam populi frequentiam .... quod quidem oculos hominum infaustis incestat aspectibus .... Ideoque quoniam et dolor in exequiis secretum amat, et diem functis nihil interest, utrum per noctes an per dies efFerantur, liberari convenit totius populi aspectus, ut dolor esse in funeribus non pompa exequiarum nee ostentatu videatur." Unfortunately the Canon, interpreted in this sense, is strangely circuitous in statement for the terse style of the Synod of Elvira. For (1) the real danger was the procession not in the cemetery, but in the town ; and (2) the passions of the heathen, and not the souls of the saints, would be directly disturbed by pro- 2 2 2 The Synod of Elvira, cessions of the kind. (3) AVhy should a part of the funeral ceremony be thus taken for the whole ? And even supposing the words Quia — inquietandi to be a marginal interpolation, we should be driven back upon the theories of [a.], having got rid of the ambiguous and obscure clause stating the cause of the edict. (4) Lastly, the severity of the punishment imposed points to an offence not of policy but of principle. Cf. The Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. Ixxxii. p. 93 foil., and the long discussion of the Canon in Johannes Faes, De Cereis Baptismalibus Veterum Christianorum, c. xsxiii. pp. 270 — 284. Note F. — There can be no doubt but that the last clause of XXXVII. should be replaced at the end of XXIX. Nothing has been forbidden by the first clause of the latter Canon, so that the " etiam " [prohibendum etiam] loses all force; while the subject matter of the clause is directly connected with the per- sonal service mentioned in XXIX. Hefele's attempt to connect it with the Canon in which it stands, by the hypothesis that it was usual for communicants to light the lamps at their first celebration, is mere ingenuity, and without any substantial recommendation (vol. i. p. 171). Aubespine, missing the very simple solution of the difficulty, confesses his entire perplexity in the dilemma [pp. 51, 52], which seems to have been due to the ambiguous sense of the word " communio." Braun and Achterfelt's view that the clause referred to the candles lighted at the death-bed to scare away the demons, is equally untenable. Bonner Zeitschrift, 1. c. p. 95. For the acolytes in the Church of Africa, at a later period, cf. 4 Carth. VI. '• Acolytus, quum ordinatur ab episcopo, doceatur qualiter in officio suo agere debeat : sed ab archidiacono accipiat ceroferarium cum cereo, ut sciat se ad accendenda ecclesiffi lumina mancipari." But these terms are not yet in use at Elvira, and the institu- tion of the office in Spain is probably later. 22 CHAPTER V. THE RELATION OP THE CHRISTIAN TO THE STATE AND TO SOCIETY. § 1. Tertullian_, in one of his i^hetorical epigrams, has summed up the views of an important section of Christian leaders and thinkers on this question in one terse and incisive sentence: ^^Nec ulla res aliena magis quam publica : '' if the Stoic was a citizen of the world, the Christian was no citizen at all.^ The statement, without being incorrect, can hardly be accepted as a full statement of the truth. The influence of the apostolic age had indeed sur- vived to affect the earlier centuries ; the Church was still conscious of having " no abiding city," and still looked upon the world as a place of pilgrimage, not of sojourn. The sentiment of patriotism had first been suppressed by isolation from the national in- heritance of Judaism and from the imperial gran- deur of Rome; and it had then been ousted and supplanted by the nobler and intenser devotion in- spired by the organisation of the visible Church, which to the Christian of that ago was not only a home, but a kingdom. And thus, even before the ^ Tert. Apol. xxsviii. 2 24 ^/^^ Synod of Elvira, development of tlie monastic spirit, and tlie growth of religious communities wliicli inspired and ab- sorbed the enthusiastic loyalty of their members, patriotism had sunk into chill ashes without a smouldering spark. How this fact told upon the subsequent decay of the empire need not be investi- gated here ; a single illustration will suffice to show the spirit with which the Christian leaders witnessed the national ruin and disgrace. Christianity in its perverted forms had not only deprived the state of the services of the clergy and the recluse, but even led St. Augustine to think the preservation of the sanctity of the church buildings sufficient compen- sation for the havoc of the imperial city : to him the superstitious reverence of the conquering Goths seemed better than the audacious unbelief of the Romans. The patriotic spirit of St. Paul had not descended to a saint who would have considered the meanest city of the heathen on a level with the noblest — perhaps even have ranked it higher, as less debased and polluted. At any rate, without accept- ing later legends, such as that of the betrayal of the Pass of Thermopylae by the monks, or even facts as well substantiated as the alliance of the Donatists with the Yandals, and of the Monophysites with the Mohammedans, it is certain that the patriotism of the Church of the fourth century had turned its activity into different channels, leaving a dead em- pire to bury its dead. If it was *Hrue to the in- terests of mankind,^^ it was " treacherous to those of the Roman Empire. '''' ^ '- Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 149—153. Merivale, The Christian Laiu of Citizenship. 225 § 2. But though the finer spirit for theru had de- parted from national life and duty, it was impossible for those dwelling in the civilised communities to escape all share in the burdens while they enjoyed the benefits of citizenship, and the Christian was compelled to pay his taxes, and to bear his share of the duties devolving upon the members of the local organisation. If Tertullian^s law of life could be accepted at all, its first clause must have received a fuller and wider meaning : ^' Let the image of Ceesar, which is on the coin, be rendered to Cossar ; and the image of God, which is in man, be given to God : give, therefore, thy money to Ccesar, but thy- self to God; for what will remain for God if all belongs to Caesar ? '' In its deepest sense, the precept is profoundly true ; but under the head of " money '' we must rank all the meaner faculties and energies of man, which may be used in the service of his Lord while apparently engaged in the grosser business of earth. And at this time it was neces- sary to give more than the mere money to the state and its constituted authorities ; for though a policy of centralisation had deprived the provincial muni- cipalities of many of their former prerogatives, a certain degree of independent responsibility was still left them, entailing a considerable amount of labour and expense, which devolved upon the nobler and wealthier classes. Among these offices, which need not be enumerated and described in detail, we find the local council and the duumvirate, corre- Conversion of the Northern Nations, pp. 207 — 210. Milman, Latin Christianity, vol. ii. p. 213. 2 26 TJie Synod of Elvira . sponding respectively to the senate and tlie consuls of Eome : '^ duumvir " was tlie title obtaining in Spain, "decurio" in the lesser Italian cities. An- other post of importance was that of priest or ^' Fla- men/' also involving many duties of an onerous nature. At first sight the former would appear to be distinctively civic offices, and the latter religious or sacerdotal ; but so intimately were civic and reli- gious elements united in the Eoman organisation, that no defining line can be drawn separating the one class from the other with any sufilcient degree of accuracy : the civic magistrate had to discharge many sacerdotal duties ; and in his official capacity the flamen was at least as much the servant of the state as of the hierarchy. The consuls, and subse- quently the emperors, held the first place in both dispensations, the secular and the sacred. § 3. This combination of functions intensified the natural reluctance of the Christians to hold any such public posts ; for if the empire looked with suspicious jealousy on any corporations existing within its midst, and suppressed them by the strongest power of law,^ the Church had a repugnance no less intense s Trajan's letter to Pliny furnishes a good example of this intolerance. The emperor there commands the total suppression of a guild of firemen which was in process of formation at Nicomedia, always noted for its turbulent propensities. Asso- ciation and assemblies were thought to constitute the danger of such organisations by the officials of the empire. Cf. Pliny, Ep. X. 43. There were also edicts against the haipiai : "clubs." Ep. X. 97. Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. i. 438, 439. Though Kenan's view is too extreme, and his statement needs qualification, there is some truth in his words : — " La loi sur les confreries, bien The Church and the State, to the recognition of tlie claims of any secular organisation upon tlie allegiance of its citizens : tlie ^^Civitas Dei" and the "Imperium Eomanum " might not come even into apparent antagonism. M. Kenan's picturesque account in some recent lectures^ in which he shows all his old power for producing a false impression with genuine facts, is inaccurate in the representation he gives of the relations subsisting between the Church and the Empire. From the very outset, he would have us believe, authority in the world of faith recognised authority in the world of force as an equal power, to be courted and conciliated. Such considerations guided the policy of Paul, and of the writer of the Acts ; and this fact explains their invariable courtesy in their references to the civil authorities, even when magistrates were immoral and disreputable.'* It is true that the Church desired no conflict with the State, but it avoided all close connexion with it, so far as circumstances admitted. In his celebrated history of Christianity, Neander has analysed the three main causes which induced the Church to aim at this special separation from political and civil activity. The first place must be given to the abhorrence of the idolatrous rites and customs which were inseparably associated plus que rintolerance religieuse, f ut la cause fatale des violences qui deshonorerent les regnes des meilleurs souverains." Les Apotres, p. 351. Cf. pp. 354 — 356, for action taken at Eome lor their repression. Mr. Hatch, in his Bampton Lectures, p. 26 foil., and especially pp. 26 — 29, has collected the authorities relating to this ver}-- important subject. "* Conferences d'Angleterre, pp. 183, 184. Q 2 2 28 The Synod of Elvwa, with most official honours, some surviving without any record or remembrance of their original signi- ficance, as husks of a decayed faith. A few learned " antiquarians/' as the great German points out, might remember it, but '^it had long faded away from the popular consciousness." Chaplet and crown were unmeaning symbols of an almost extinct superstition; but so long as they survived, the superstition, by allusion and allegory, survived too.'' To walk in a path thus beset by hidden as well as open perils, without a slip, was a task of con- summate difficulty ; and the danger was the graver because the sin to which the Christian was here specially exposed was the darkest and most' de- praved in the conscience of the early Church; the prevalent idolatry of the heathen society by which it was surrounded reacted in a fierce and violent indignation against such sin in its most trivial forms. Even to use the name of Jupiter in conversation was to pious souls an utter abomina- tion. There were also subjective reasons for the same line of conduct, arising from the general conception of Christian life and duty which prevailed in those earlier ages. Christ had lived on the earth as a servant of men ; had performed menial service for his own disciples ; had rejected the purple and the '' fasces " of royal power to which he was justl}^ entitled ; refused the heavenly legions which were ^ Neander, Hist. Christ, i. p. 360, ^i^ives as an illustration the researches of Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria into the origin and significance of the custom of crowning. Christian Antipathy to Sectdar Powc7'. 229 ready for liis succour and aid.*^ Wliat tlie Master liad done must be imitated by tlie disciple ; and a blind spirit of literalism led tlie believers of tliat day to interpret falsely the precepts Christ had given for their guidance, as their predecessors had mis- interpreted the promises of his second coming. A position of humble dependence, not only in spiritual but in material life, was essential to the performance of his commands ; and worldly power and distinction, even unaccompanied by gross and apparent evil, were temptations to be avoided rather than privi- leges to be accepted, if not sought. Official rank was in itself distasteful, and responsibility for the execution of laws '^ which in all cases were dictated and animated by the spirit of rigid justice alone, without any admixture of mercy or love,'' was re- pugnant to the whole temper of the Christian Church." The temptation to idolatrous sin, the ex- clusion of Christian clemency, and the deviation from a systematic obscurity and humility of life, were considerations of weight enough to determine Chris- tians against the acceptance of any office which they could refuse. ^^Honores et purpuras despi- ciunt,'' says the pagan in Minucius Felix ; ^ and the charge is a true one. § 4. It may at first sight seem a strange incon- gruity, that before the toleration of the new faith heathen society should have been willing to accept the services of a Christian in any official post, or to p Tert. De Idol, xviii. ' Xeander, vol. i. pp. 374 — 376. ' C. viii. Migne, vol. iii. p. 259. The Synod of Elvira. entrust a citizen lying under such a disqualification witli power and responsibility, involving, as it did in most cases, the performance of sacerdotal and reli- gious duties. To the Christian, such a policy would have appeared as despicable as it was dangerous; even the heretic, so far as opportunity allowed, was excluded by Christian intolerance from all posts of civic influence and authority : and though the Church of later ages was more gentle to the heathen than to the heretic, there is no reason to suppose that in a mediaeval community, where the State had usurped the functions of the Church — where, at least, the one had become assimilated to the other — the promotion of an unbeliever to civil and ecclesiastical supremacy would have been viewed with any degree of general equanimity. Even if the duties of the office were discharged with external decency and regularity, such indifferent acquiescence in rite and form would have been the occasion of a still graver scandal, and have kindled a more embittered indignation. But under the Roman system, the whole conception of religious obligation was widely different. " Their religion,'' as M. de Pressense has pointed out, " was essentially an art ; the art of discovering the inten- tions of the gods, and of acting upon them by a varied ritual/' ^ It was a political religion, with but one end and aim — to ensure the prosperity of the citizens and of the State, and based on the narrowest system of contract. Only after a long struggle was any inno- vation made, in the introduction of foreign deities^ ^ Hist, des trois premiers Siesles, vol. i. p. 192. Alinnczpal Office, 231 and tlie recognition of their worsliip. But, while in practice, the policy of absolute exclusion was pursued, in speculation there co-existed the most perfect freedom. ^' Do like others, and believe what you choose/' was the universal principle of action/ As the historian of European Morals has pointed out, Cicero, whose influence was exerted against national superstition, was himself an augur, and insisted upon the duty of complying with the national rites; while Seneca, after detailing the absurdities of popular belief, closes his derisive description with the statement that, ^' the sage will observe all these things, not as pleasing to the divinities, but as commanded by law.'* Action and belief were irrevocably severed.^ § 5. It will be convenient to deal with municipal, military, and ecclesiastical office in succession, premising, however, that the duties of one official often assimilate to those of another, and that strict definition and limitation are impossible. The Council of Elvira passed a special law ex- cluding magistrates, and the duumviri in particular, from the Church and its communion during their year of office ; though this was the only penalty inflicted upon them. In this leniency some histo- rians have seen the worldly v>'isdom of the Church in its infancy, and have supposed that the policy ^ " II y a lieu de croire que cbez les payens la religion n'estoit qu'une pratique, dont la speculation estoit indifferente. Faites comme les autres, et croyez ce qu'il vous plaira." Fontenelle, Hist, des Oracles, p. 95, in Lecky, 1. c. vol. i. p. 429. 2 Lecky, 1. c. vol. i. pp. 423—431. TJic Synod of Elvira. was dictated by the desire to secure some power at any rate for Cliristian citizens from the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by their heathen oppressors.^ But there is no ground for the adoption of any such hypothesis : such a course would have been in absolute contradiction to the whole spirit of this assembly, which, if it erred at all, inclined to- wards an excessive asceticism and severity in their legislative action. They were in reality influenced by other considerations — by the fact that the office was not one which could be refused or avoided, according to personal preference and inclination : the duty once imposed by rotation or by election Avas inevitable, and the law inexorable, admitting no loophole for evasion. § 6. The office of duumvir was, as we have seen, almost the counterpart of the consulship at Kome, and has for its modern equivalent in Spain the post of " Alcaldes.'' The '' Decurio,'' though the title does occur in Spain, was a less familiar official, and is mentioned in surviving inscriptions only five times as against 227 references to the duumviri. In one inscription, quoted by Gams, the titles are almost equivalent ; but, as a general rule, the duties of the decurionate were legal, and those of the duumvirate municipal in character.'' Besides their responsibility ^ Elv. LVI. Hefele, vol. i. p. 181. ^ "L. Lucretio Severe Patriciensi et in municipio Flavio Axatitano ex incolatu decurioni, Statuam, quam testamento poni sibi iussit, datis sportulis decurion — es [II. viri] M. F. Axatitani posuerunt." Masdeu, Coll. 704 ; in Gams, vol. ii, p. 115. Duties of the Dimmvirate. for maintaining order in tlieir districts,, the duumviri were answerable for the due collection of the local taxes ; and in all probability were bound to make good any deficiencies that could be distinctly attri- buted to their indifference or want of rigour. They constituted the municipal senate, and from their number, and by them, the local magistrates were elected. They would no doubt have to preside on occa- sions of public festivals and anniversaries ; and possibly the care of the temples and the priesthood may indirectly have devolved npon them; though Hefele is ill advised in asserting that tlieir exclusion from the Church must be referred to their patronage of idolatry. It would be a cause, but certainly not the sole cause ; if that were so, the penalty would have been more severe. But the office, at all events, was burdensome in labour and in expense, involving also a large amount of unpopularity. So distasteful, indeed, was it to the ordinary citizens, that they resorted to every method of escape, even leaving their homes and taking refuge in the less civilised parts of the world, where such ofiSces were unknown, and men lived as they would — subject to the laws of central Rome, which were always weakened, and often, almost inoperative, in the remoter parts of her vast Empire.^ And when the edicts of Constantino, in ° (i.) For the sufferings of these officials, some of whom, in violation of their rights as Eoman citizens, were roasted to death before slow fires to extort the contributions required, cf. Milman, Hist. vol. ii. p. 224 (ii.) When the exemption of the clergy was thus abused, two restrictions were imposed : (1) that 234 The Synod of Elvira. 313 and 319, liad relieved the clergy from tliis burden^ and others of a similar kind, the coveted freedom drove large numbers of men into the ranks of the clergy, hoping by their office to purchase exemption. Others concealed their property to escape service.^ But at present no such exceptions were admitted, and every citizen outside of the senatorial families, and possessing twenty-five acres of land, or an equivalent amount of other property, was qualified and compelled to serve in his turn. Without a violent conflict with the civil power, it was therefore impossible at this time to keep Christian men by a penal edict of the Church from serving in this office ; but, nevertheless, the concession in its mildest form was distasteful to the spirit represented by the Council. TertuUian enumerates acts which, though part of the common experience of all magistrates and rulers during that age, were inadmissible in the true servant of Christ. ^^ As to the duties of civil power,'' he says, '^the Christian must not decide on any one^s life or honour — about money it is per- missible; he must bind no one, nor imprison and torture any.'^ '' It was considerations of this nature, rather than the idolatrous associations connected the number of religious charges vacated should determine the number of those appointed ; (2) that none eligible on the score of wealth for municipal office should be elected. Cod. Theod. xvi. 2, 17, 19 ; and Milman, 1. c. vol. ii. p. 314. ^ Lecky, 1. c. ii. p. 161. Gams, vol ii. p. 114. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 313 — 315. Savigny, Komische Ilecht, i. 18. Theod. Cod. iii. 1—8. ' De Idol. xvii. xviii., cf. Pallio v. Christian Govcrnoi's and the CJinrcJi. 235 with the office, which led the Synod to exclude the official, during his year of tenure, from communion with the Church: for to sentence even a slave to death, to imprison the debtor, or to put the house- hold of a suspected criminal to the rack, though the duty of a magistrate, would in the Christian be a sin. § 7. Such was the temper of the time ; but with the changes entailed by the new administration, fur- ther modification was inevitable ; and as soon as the year 314, the Council of Aries takes a decided step in advance. By this date, Constantine had pro- fessed his loyalty to the Church ; and even in the Eastern provinces almost complete toleration was secured to the Christian subjects of the empire, who, so far from finding their faith a disqualifi- cation for honour and office, were even aided by it in securing the advantages of worldly power and prosperity. Even before, as we have seen, they had occasionally held posts of public trust ;^ and now, such appointments would become general. What was to be done with a believer who was sent as governor, or, in his train of subordinates — " Pr83ses '' being the general term for all these grades of higher officers — to another province, in accordance with the traditional policy of Rome ? And how was a man to be dealt with during his tenure of political or municipal office ? The Council of Aries settles the problem in the following way.^ " Believers who have attained the position of ^ Praises,' shall on their promotion receive letters 8 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. viii. 1. ^ Aries VII. 236 The Sy7tod of Elvira. of communion from tlie Church, on the under- standing* that thej shall be in the charge of the bishop of the district in which they may hold office ; and if they begin to violate the laws of discipline, they shall then be excluded from communion. The same course shall be observed with those who seek municipal power/^ This is a great advance on the policy determined upon at Elvira ; the governor is no longer debarred from Church fellowship during his tenure of office, and is even specially recom- mended to the ecclesiastical authorities of his pro- vince ; by whom, if in his public or private life he violates the ordinary laws of the Christian Church, he is to be summarily dealt with. But in the absence of any such imputation, he retains all his privileges. The new law may be briefly formulated : the believer is under the same obligation to serve his Master in public as in private life ; and that Master claims supremacy in the whole life of the world, and not in a part of it. *^ On his head are many crowns,'^ and He reigns in his own right over every province of human activity and thought. The Christian faith is not narrower than the Stoic philo- sophy, and can contain both an Aurelius and an Epictetus within its range.^ § 8. The Christian's duty in reference to mili- tary service is certainly a most important omission in the acts of a Council which discusses questions more trivial in nature than this, which must have ^ Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 323—325. Gams, ii. pp. 113—115. Ilefele, i. pp. 208, 209, and 181. Military Service. 237 affected very large numbers in a country from whose people the flower of the Roman army had been drawn in earlier and in later times. It is not neces- sary^ even if it were possible, to decide the grounds which led the Council to pass over the question in silence. They may have been anxious to avoid any occasion of conflict between a Government favourably disposed and a Church only recovering from recent persecution ; or, on the other hand, the omission may be due — and this seems the most pro- bable explanation — to an even balance of opinion in either direction ; so that it was found advisable to leave the subject for further consideration at a sub- sequent time. The general opinion of the early Church leaves no room for doubting what was their ideal_, and the facts of history show with equal clearness what was the common practice. A life of obscurity and peace was from the earliest stages of Christian society considered as the true aim of the believer ; and the Church, by prohibiting the introduction of arms into the sanctuary, and by imposing penance on those who had returned from a campaign undertaken in a just cause, forcibly expressed its disapproval of the military calling. We know also that many Christians either refused to take up arms at all, or at the deci- sive moment of action flung them down ; and one of their apologists, while he admits the charge as true, replies " that the Christian renders the emperor a divine assistance when he puts on the divine armour.'' ' Gibbon suggests, with some plausibility, '■^ Origen c. Celsum. Neander, i. 377. 238 The Synod of Elvira. that this custom was the most vital cause of the out- break of the Diocletian persecution, and the hypo- thesis receives some support from the fact that it was asrainst Christian soldiers that the earlier edicts were specially aimed. ^ § 9. But on the other hand, all authorities are at one in asserting that the number of Christians actually serving in the army was considerable. Tertullian, who looked upon war with no favour, distinctly asserts the fact, ^^Navigamus et nos vobiscum et militamus ; '^ '^ and his statement is corroborated by legend and authentic history. " The thundering legion " may be a fiction ; but un- less there had been Christians, and many of them pursuing a military calling, the legend could never have originated, and would have found no credence. We may assume then the existence of Christian sol- diers ; and that as no special law laying them under special obligations was existent at the time of the Synod of Elvira, they were liable only to the ordinary discipline of the Church for common offeuces against its laws. Military service was not prohibited, but had as yet received no direct sanction from official sources.^ At Aries, however, we find a decree, the meaning of which has been the subject of considerable con- flict, apparently referring to this same question.'^ In the Canon a penalty of excommunication is enacted against those ^^ who throw down their arms 3 Gibbon, c. xvi. "" Apol. c. xlii. 5 Lecky, 1. c. vol. ii. 2G2— 2C5. Neander, vol. i. pp. 377—379. •^ Aries III. The policy of A rles and Niccea . 239 in time of peace;" and the edict seems to refer to cases of desertion on the plea that the profession of arms is inconsistent with Christian duty. To meet this danger, and to prevent the hostile prejudice which would be its inevitable outcome, the Council of Aries expressly decreed that the believer was bound to serve the state in. case of need as a soldier, and that desertion was not a duty but a crime, meriting disgrace instead of honour. Desertion in war would entail more serious consequences, and the offender would receive an instant punish- ment, relieving the Church of all responsibility. [Note A.] § 10. At Nicasa we find penalties enacted against those Christians who had served in the ranks of the lieathen Licinius in the strucc^le with the forces of the emperor, and against those who, having once renounced military service, sought readmission to the army on account of the numerous privileges and advantages secured by the military calling. But at the same time, it is absolutely certain that the Church, while punishing these two classes of offenders, did not discountenance military service generally." The Church now admits the possible identity of the soldier and the Christian, provided that his cause is good, and his motive pure ; men who can be ranked in this category are under no disqualification on account of their allegiance to the imperial standard. It was possible for them also to be '^just men,^' like the famous centurion; and if 7 Cf. Hefele, " Rigorismus," Tub. Theol. Quart. 1841, p. 386, and Councils, i. pp. 415, 416. Cf. Nicaea XII. 240 The Sy7tod of Elvii^a. they built tlie Church no sanctuary, they themselves might be the temples of the Holy Spirit, and as devout in their faith as their great example had shown himself before the glory of the new religion had shone out in its full brightness. There remained but one more stage of develop- ment to be reached by the conscience of the Church in reference to this subject. In later Synods, at Kome in 08G and 402 a.d., and at Toledo in 400, we find that while no mention is made of the lay element in the Church, it is ordered that one who has served in war may not become a cleric ; or, if the sub-diaconate is left open, he is debarred from the diaconate. The second of the Roman Synods assigns as a reason the laxity of morals inseparable from the military life ; in the other cases no cause is stated; but it is clear that the lay Christian is not expected to refrain from what is considered incom- patible with the character of the ecclesiastic. One of the Apostolical Canons in the same spirit orders the deposition of a presbyter or a deacon who devotes himself to military service.^ Innocent, in his famous letter on the disorders of the Church in Spain, written 400 a.d., imputes as a grave offence the ordination of men who had been soldiers.^ This is a good illustration of the effect of the ten- dency to asceticism already pointed out, reacting as a comparative laxity in general society. The development of asceticism and sacerdotalism un- doubtedly preceded a debasement in the moral standard of the commonalty ; and the Church re- » Apost. Can. LXXXIII. » Ep. iii. § 7. Christian Flaviens. 241 cognised for the first time a double standard of virtue, the one required of its saints and its clergy, and the other of the mass of believers who composed the Church. In this way did the Christian con- science of that age for the time degenerate ; though the inward obligation to holiness was again recog- nised in after-days as one and the same universally for all men.' § 11. There was still another office of importance, occasionally, if not frequently, held by professed Christians, though associated with duties absolutely incompatible with a pure and devout life — the post of Flamen. The distinction was often hereditary ; and the regular transmission of the honour from father to son, continued through successive genera- tions, invested the office with the attractions of domestic affection and family pride. Refusal or resignation would cut the last ties which bound the unfortunate possessor to his kindred and former friends ; and there seems to exist reasonable ground for the supposition that such a course was directly prohibited by legal enactment ; ^ in that case the obligation of the Flamen was as irrevocable as that of the Duumvir. And, whether the legal difficulty had to be encountered or not, the Christian would find motives sufficient to induce him to retain the office. The position was one involving expense, labour, and forethought ; to ensure successful per- formance of its duties some faculty of organisation ^ Hefele, vol. i. p. 825 ; vol. ii. pp. 45, 46 ; 79, and 88. 2 Cf. Justinian's Code, and S. Jerome's " De Vita Hilarionis," quoted in Hefele, i. pp. 156, 157, and Aubespine, pp. 8 — 11. E 242 The Synod of Elvira. and arrangement was requisite ; wliile for tlie loss of time and monc}^^ abundant compensation miglit be anticipated in public lionour and popular esteem. Hereditary sentiment^ liberality, conscious power, and ambition, all prompted to tlie same course ; to say notliing of tlie fear wdiicli tlie more prominent citizen would feel in publicly acknow- ledging liimself an adherent of a new and despised sect. For a man of position, to renounce tlie ancient w^orsliip was no less dangerous tlian dis- creditable. Tlie temptation to retain tlie office was strong ; and to counteract evil so pronounced, tlie Synod adopted tlie most peremptory measures of pro- liibition, witb a scale of penalties graduated in severity to meet tlie varying exigencies of guilt in all its pliases.^ § 12. The second Canon of tlie Council, dealing with the offence in its extreme form, is remarkable both for its expression and for the light which it throws on the contemporary state of heathen ritual ; it runs to the following effect : '^ Flamens who after the faith of baptism and regeneration shall have sacrificed, because they vdll have doubled their guilt if murder be [added, and have tripled their sin if ^ It is quite impossible that the title of Flamen can be here applied by analogy to Christian bishops. Vid. Ducange s. v» To say nothing of the incongruity of supposing the identity of a bishop and a catechumen [cf. LV.], it is clear that the con- tents of the Canons II. III. lY. LV. show that they are directed against Christians resuming or retaining their former sacerdotal positions in the heathen societ}'. Cf. Bingham, xvi. 4. 8 ; and Diet. Christ. Antiquities, i. p. C79 a (s. v.). Heathen Worship, 243 immorality be involved, shall not receive communion even at deatli/' '* The first part of tlie next Canon is most intimately connected with the preceding-, and must stand by its side : " Furthermore, Flamens who have not offered human sacrifice [immolaverunt] , but have only given a simple offering [munus], because they have kept themselves from deadly sacrifices, shall receive communion at death, supposing due penance to have been performed/^ ^ § 13. To comprehend all that is involved in these brief sentences, it is necessary to recur for a moment to the actual state of heathendom as it existed during the fourth century. It is too often assumed that paganism, as it approached its final fall grew purer and gentler, divesting* itself of the abominations and horrors which had caused the best and brightest spirits of former ages to recoil from it in loathing and disgust. Nothing could be more contrary to fact ; and in the title of one Canon and the contents of the next, there is clear evidence that some of the worst practices of antiquity were still retained in common or occasional use. What had happened in Spain may find a parallel elsewhere. The country had been completely Romanised in literature and in speech, and had all the surface civilisation of Italy itself ; at least, throughout the southern pro- vinces. But religion was more tenacious, and survived when little else was left. The people had indeed accepted the gods of Greece and Rome, paid them due honour in temple and in worship ; 4 Elv. II. 5 Elv. III. E 2 244 TJic Synod of Elvira. but still preserved tlie deities of a more ancient date, derived from tlie religions of Phoenicia and Libya; tbey amalgamated tlie different systems, transferring tlie attributes and titles of tlie old dynasty to tlie new, and retaining the fiercest and foulest rites of tlie former dispensation under its successor.^ § 14. A detailed investigation of these elements of heathen faith would be altogether superfluous in connexion with the immediate subject, but a few instances of the results of this process will give sufficient illustration for our purpose. Tlie import- ance of Hercules as a national deity in Spain has been fully recognised; the traces of his worship survive in ruin, inscription, and local legend. But the Hercules of Spain, whose temple has been traced at Tarraco within the last few years, and who possessed countless altars and shrines through- out the land, was not the toiling, patient god of Greece or Eome. His mission was indeed the same — ^to purify the earth of plagues ; to clear it of mon- sters and of all hurtful and dangerous creatures ; but the Hercules of Greece was gentler than the kindred deity of Phoenicia — the stern, relentless god of fire. And it was to the latter that Hercules- Melkart, once famous at Cadiz, had closest affinity, thus associated and almost identified with the Baal and Moloch of the east. Closely allied, again, stands Artemis-Tanais, the fire-goddess, equivalent to Astarte-Tanais of the Plia3nicians, and worshipped ^ Gams, vol. ii. pp. 39 — 42. Cf. Dollinger, '•' Jew and Gen- tile," vol. ii. pp. 100—165. The Gods of Spain, 245 as such. [Note B.] Tliere was also El-Saturnus, another product of the double religion. To multiply examples of this kind is unnecessary ; but it may bo noticed that other deities were adopted from the foreign systems without any conscious identification of this character. Thus Salambo was worshipped in Spain and at Rome, apparently without any suspicion that the goddess was in reality Aphrodite in her lamentation for Adonis. JSTethos, too, was honoured at Acci in a similar way. To almost all of these deities it was customary to make human sacri- fices. On special days of festival, at the initiation of great undertakings, and in the purification of cities, El-Saturnus used to receive a tribute of girls, often violated before they were slain ; and Arteniis-Tanais shared the same honour. The " fire of Moloch ^^ is a familiar phrase, and the original attributes were retained, at least in part, by his Spanish representa- tive.^ At Cadiz, as Gams reminds us, Hercules had a great temple ; and the cult would survive even when the faith was nearly extinct ; the husk is the last thing to fall, and yields only to a strong wind. But at this time Cadiz was probably not a Christian town ; and as it certainly sent no representatives to Elvira, we may assume that there was no Christian Church in that great centre of heathen worship, where the passion of the populace against all disturbers and opponents of their faith was fierce and vehement.^ "^ Mo\rers, Religion und Gottheitender Phonicien, vol. i. pp. 301—303, 401—414, 585, and 625. 8 Cf. Pliny, N. H. xxxvi. 4—12, " Nee in templo ullo Her- 246 The Synod of Ekdra. Salambo, at Rome itself, under tlie Emperor Helio- gabalus, and at liis instigation, liad been worshipped " in the Syrian fashion " — as Lampridius tells us — with processions and human victims : to intensify the horror, children of rank and beauty were specially sought for the purpose throughout all Italy.^ Nor would she fail to receive in Spain what was conceded in Italy. Indeed, Movers ^ expressly asserts that girls were offered to her, as part of the established ritual. It is remarkable how even in the most degraded super- stition Tv^e find the same involuntary testimony to the mysterious dignity of human life. To it is assigned an incomparable value, adequate to pro- pitiate the divine anger when all other gifts and offerings fail ; and to the expiring agony of human nature, strange virtue was attributed for the reve- lation of the will and purpose of heaven. Sacrifice and divination made this unconscious acknowledg- ment of the very principle Avhich they violated. § 15. In the rites of this impious worship the Christian Flamen would at times have to take part ; and it might even be his special duty to imbrue the sacrificial knife in the blood of the human victim. But his presence at such a ceremony, in an official cules ad qnem Poeni omnibus annis liumana sacrificaverunt victiina, hum! stans, ante aditum porticus ad natlones." Viator, the heathen, who caused Servandus and Gernianus to be arrested and taken before the authorities, came to this town on account of the temple of the god, a.d. 305. Gams, vol ii. p. 41. ^ Cf. " lectis ad hoc pueris nobilibus et decoris per omnem Itallam patrimis et matrimis," Lampridius, c. viii. ^ Movers, 1. c. vol. i. p. C2o. Guilt of the Christian Fla7nen. 247 capacity, would involve liim in tlie deepest guilt : to witness, witliout an indignant protest, would be an implied sanction. Tlie idolatrous offering would, in itself, be a deadly sin, involving excommunication ; but the sin o£ idolatry might be aggravated by this human murder, or still further intensified by such immoralities as we have already mentioned, in which honour was sacrificed as well as life.' This was a triple sin ; and though the Church had no heavier penalty to inflict upon offenders so degraded than permanent exclusion from communion, it did not refrain from branding the terrible enormity of tho crime. In this one offence were combined the three deadliest sins — idolatry, immorality, and murder ; to which mercy was, at this time, rarely or never accorded.^ § 16. Some Flamens, however, who continued to hold the office in violation of the laws of the Church, - There can be no doubt but that *' immolare " = " hostiam humanam sacrificare," occurring, as it does, in the title of Canon II., and in the contents of III. in connexion with " funestis sacrificiis." This fact rather makes in favour of the hypothesis that " munus " is a simple gift as contrasted with a sacrifice. The games of the arena might involve all these sins here enumerated, though in a secondary degree ; but, on the other hand, the penalty would be excessively severe for an act so trivial in itself. ^ Cf. Council of Jerusalem, Acts c. xv., and the command to abstain from (1) things offered to idols, (2) fornication, (3) blood. Augustine, De Fid. et Op. xix,, combines " im- pudicitia, idolatria, homicidia.'' With these vices the Christians were often falsely charged by the heathen. Cf. Tert. Ad Nat. cc. xli. xiii. XV. xvi. Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 137, 138. Moechia, ixoixeia, is a general term for impurity ; not adultery specifically, Cf. Augustine, Exod. c. Ixxi. Migne, xxxiv. p. 022 248 The Synod of Ehi7'a. were more scrupulous in tlieir conduct ; and while tliey discliarged the ordinary duties of their official position^ were careful to abstain from human sacri- fices. Nevertheless^ they made no scruple in the case of ordinary offerings ; nor did they disburden themselves of the cares of the sacred processions and gladiatorial shows, which devolved upon their order. Much of the expense,, certainly was defrayed by them^ either from trust-funds bequeathed for that purpose, or fi^om their own resources."' Such conduct was not suffered by the Christian Church to pass without the severest censure ; for it involved an intimate connexion with the armed combats in the arena, which were a secondary form of murder ; and with the stage-plays, in which the grossest obscenities were represented before the assembled audience. This was intolerable in a society which disqualified even the contractor who undertook to supply the beasts for the altars of the state, and the offender was excommunicated during life, only ob- taining reconciliation and restoration in his last hours. § 17. A special provision, standing as an append- age to the main subject of the Canon, has given rise to considerable debate and unnecessary con- fusion. This portion of the decree enacts that a believer, who had thus received the communion when to all appearance life was for him a thing of the past, but survived by an unexpected recovery, should by auy act of personal immorality forfeit, and then irrevocably, the standing and the privilege ^ Tert. De Spect. xii. : De Idol. c. xvi. Catechumens as Flamcns. 249 he liad regained. Tlie sin now alluded to is not tliat committed in liis official capacity as Flamen, but in liis own private life ; proving that his professed repentance was not genuine. If^ with recovered health, the oifender resumed the forbidden office, there could be no doubt as to his absolute impeni- tence. The provision undoubtedly was suggested by some special case which had come mtliin the experience of some members of the Council, who were perplexed as to their true course of action/' § 18. In some instances the Flamen might happen to be one not yet admitted into the full privileges of Church fellowship, but still included among the catechumens. If he continued to exercise his official functions, his term of probation was extended from two years to three,^ with the implied addition of due penance ; on the principle laid down by Clement, that the Christian must first depart from incon- sistencies and then be introduced to the mysteries." At any rate it is obvious that the fourth Canon has no reference to the subordinate clause of the preceding- Canon : the other hypothesis would entail an irre- levant allusion to sexual sin, and an incongruity between the provisions contained here and else- where.^ § 19. There is one other allusion in the acts of the Synod to offences committed by those who held this, or a similar office. Some baptised Christians, * A similar penalty is decreed against repentant moechi who again offend. ' « Elr. IV. XLIL ? Cf. Const. Ap. vi. 40. ^ Cf. Elv. IV. and XLII. 250 The Synod of Elvira. more scrupulous than those who shared in the responsibiHty of the games, retained the title of their office, but made no offering, though they wore the sacrificial crown^ and sanctioned the idolatry by their presence. The crown^ which was originally dedicated to the god, but had then been transferred to the victims and the celebrants, was now worn even by the bystanders who took no actual part in the sacrifice.^ This compliance with heathen customs was punished by two years' exclusion from communion with the Church. The Apostolical Canons supply a fair parallel to this prohibition, expressly enacting that a Christian who has supplied oil for the rites of the heathen, or to a synagogue of the Jews, or has lighted their lamps, shall be excluded from communion. TertuUian insists that to give ^^ merum sacrificanti " is equivalent to an act of idolatry. At a later date, public opinion became still more severe against oftences of this order, and under the Theo- dosian laws, as the historian points out — '^to offer a sacrifice was to commit a capital offence ; to hang up a simple chaplet was to incur the forfeiture of an estate. '^ ^ Not yet had the Church become invested with the sword and sentence of the secular law ; and in its present temper, such powers could not have been used ^vithout a distinct violation of the most fundamental principles of its unwritten but ^ Cf. Becker, Gallus, Introduction, p. vii. Pliny, N. H. xvi. c. iv., and Tert. De Cor. c. x. ^ Apost. Can. LXX. Tert. De Idol. xvli. Lecky, 1. c. vol. ii. p. 210. Tlie CInirch and Heathen Society, 251 ucknowledged code : punisliment for sius against religion must be purely religious in its cliaracter.- § 20. AYe have now examined in detail tlie rela- tions wliicli existed between the Christian Church mid the secular organisation of the State. The modification which that structure was about to undergo could not fail to affect in a corresponding degree the policy of its rival power, and before long* the services of the Christian clergy were sought in the difficulties and dangers of national life. Perma- nent exclusion from civil activity was in the nature of the case impossible^, and at Elvira we can see the first beo-innino's of the movement of the future. But in the social relations of man to man, change was less essential, and the policy of the Synod might be reasonably expected to survive for a considerable time — until, at any rate, heathen society had been permeated by the new influence of the new faith. The experience of the past few years could not have failed to make it clear to the Spanish Christians that the Church was secure only so long as its spiritual unity was maintained entire, and that every associate out of sympathy with its spirit and - Aubesp. in Mansi, ii. p. 51 Mendoza, 1. c. p. 319. In Canon III. it is difficult to suppose that " raunus dederint " applies to those who had not actually sacrificed, but by a gift to a magistrate had procured letters of immunity. As Flamen, he could not escape from his responsibilities by becoming one of the " Libellatici." There is more probability in the suggestion that the phrase refers to the gifts often bestowed on the priests "who took their begging gods from street to street." Cf- Movers, Phon. i. p. 655 ; Gams, vol. ii. p. 55 ; Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 142, 113 ; and Juv. Sat. iii. 15. The Synod of Elvira, aim was not only an annoyance but a danger. In the time of persecution, so far as this special source of weakness was concerned the Church had suffered but little; now, with the return of the warmer winds and softer skies of outward security and prosperity, fissures and cracks began to open in the structure, so compact during the winter season. If the Christian community could have removed to some remote region uninhabited by mankind, or could have lived a life of perfect isolation among the nations of the world, the difficulty which now faced it would have vanished ; but the conditions of existence were as unchanging as the laws of the physical universe, and no miracle now occurred to suspend the operation of one or the other. Though they were to be ^^not of the world,^^ they must remain " in it," without the possibility of escape. On this assumption, how was the Church to ensure the most complete immunity from the influence and attractions of that outside world ? For every tie by which a Christian was bound to it was a menace of danger, if it were not harmful in itself. The true aim of the Council of Elvira was to base the social life of the community upon principles which with- out revolutionising the actual condition and organi- sation of the social fabric, should yet secure its members against the special entanglements which would draw them away from their faith and from their friends. § 21. In the world outside the pale of the Church were comprised three great classes — unbelievers, heretics, and Jews ; and with each a definite and The Social Policy of the ChurcJi. ^ -^oo distinctive method of treatment was employed. To speak more correctly, the method was the same in principle ; though in application the severity of the means varied in proportion to the danger to be apprehended from each source. At present, indeed, the restrictions applied were confined to the personal and social relations of life ; those of commerce and trade were left untouched. We see that while marriage with these religious aliens was in certain cases prohibited, a Christian was as yet under no obligation to refuse to enter into business relations witlian unbeliever or a Jew, provided that such association was not necessarily immoral in itself or its consequences. Thus it was perfectly legitimate for a Christian to retain slaves that were heathen, or to let out his land to an unbelieving tenant f though it would have been irregular to keep slaves engaged in the adornment and decoration of the temples, or a; tenant who used the land to breed oxen specially for sacrifice. Without these evil accessories, such relations were not forbidden, though they would hardly be encouraged. In the closer intimacies of life the peril of such intercourse was not so insig- nificant that it could be neglected with safety. Where the case was one of daily and familiar inter- course, and of companionship in the cares and relaxations of life, the union was a source of the gravest danger ; and in marriage, absolutely fatal. In that close association of natures, enthusiasm would soon change to indifference ; and indifference, to positive hostility. And of all assaults to which 3 Elv. XLI. 2 54 TJlc Synod of Elvira, ChristipvU faith iu man or woman was exposed_, none could be more fatal than tliat wliich came concealed in tlie tenderness of a devotion, daily and hourly to quench the old aspirations and beliefs, till the soul surrendered all to the love with — " Eyes that help me to forget." ^ The prohibition of marriage with outsiders was inevitable ; and it did not lead to any sudden con- vulsion in the state of society. The most important security could be won at the smallest cost — leaving* out of consideration that pain and suffering of hearts united in affection but divided in faith, which must endure so long as truth and error survive. § 22. The Synodical Canons prove beyond all doubt that the greatest danger was anticipated from the side of the Jews; for the regulations affecting them are the most numerous and the most severe. The motives by which the Fathers of Elvira were actuated in their policy have been variously interpreted according to individual sympathy. All authorities are agreed in acknowledging that the Jewish community in Spain was at this time both large and influential. Tradition reports them to have first settled in the country during the reign of Solomon, in the pursuit of commercial enterprise; while another version assigns their arrival to a legendary conquest of Spain by iSTebuchadnezzar. At any rate, they came over in large numbers from Africa during the century before the birth of Christy '' Browning, Christmas Eve and Easter Day. The Jews in Spain. 255 and rapidly spread througli the land^ attaiuing" special importance and influence in the centres of commercial industry. TL.ey would be joined by large reinforcements of tlieir more unfortunate countrymen, shipped over to the west after the cam- paigns of Titus and Vespasian in Palestine, ending in the final capture of the holy city itself, and its entire overthrow. Graetz sets the number of the captives sent into this slavery at 80,000, but his estimate is excessive, if the figures of Josephus are in any degree trustworthy. At Jerusalem the pro- portion of the captives to the slain was about one in ten ; and though it would be greater elsewhere, yet accepting a million and a half as the gross sum of those who perished from first to last in the country and cities of Palestine, even 200,000 would be a number insufficient to account for the transportation of 80,000 to one country alone. ^ He also lays great stress on the evidence supplied by local names in Spain to substantiate his assertions on this score, and points to the fact that Granada and Tarraco were once specially designated ^^ the cities of the Jews /' while in Cordova there was a ^^ Jews^ Gate/^ and at Saragossa a fortress, " Ruta al Jahud,^^ with similar associations. He further sees in the name Toledo an etymological derivation of the Hebrew '^ Taltel " — exile, and asserts in explanation that the Jewish slaves, who were its builders, thus associated it with their banishment in a strange land ; and in the names of the cities of Escaluna, Maqueda, and Jopes he traces the corresponding ^ ]\rilmai], Hist. Jews, c. xvi. 256 The Synod of Elvira. originals Ascalon^ Makeda, and Joppa.^ But in ascribing the nomenclature to Hebrew influence alonC; he leaves out of consideration the connexion of the land with the Pha^nicians, which had subsisted from the earliest times. § 23. The main facts, however, with which we are concerned, need no additional proof. The Jewish population had been considerable for several cen- turies, and had without doubt been increased by the operation of Claudiuses edict expelling the Jews from Eome ; for the outcasts would flock to the chief resorts of their countrymen." And the Jews were not only numerous, but active as well. For though Gibbon is justified in his generalisation that ^^ the Jewish religion is admirably fitted for defence, but never designed for conquest,^^ ^ in the present instance it is a well ascertained fact that the Jews gained more by proselytes than they lost by apos- tates. At this particular time, indeed, they were gaining converts of importance and distinction, and carrying on a successful aggressive movement against the Christian Church in Spain.^ Where they could not gain, they disfigured; and to their evil influence much of the subsequent Arianism which infected the Spanish Church, was due.^ From these facts, and from the legislation of later Councils, such as the third and fourth of Toledo, it '"' Graetz, Gesch. d. Juden, vol. v. p. ^1 foil, and pp. 440 — 442. Hefele, Ximenes, pp. 256, 257. ' Suet. Claud, c. xxv. ^ Gibbon, c. xv. ^ Jost, Gesch. der Juden, vol. v. pp. 32, 34. ^ Cf. Helfferich, West-Goth. Arianismus, p. G9 foil. The yeivs and the Chdstians. 257 is clear that tlie struggle was a severe one, and that the Church had to use its utmost energies. As yet, the methods are lawful; and the intolerance which interdicted Christians from being present at " their festivals,, banquets^ marriages^ and baths ; ^' and their employment as *^ nurses, physicians, marriage- agents '^ [matrimoniorum proxenetas], or in public and scholastic posts, has no part in the tactics employed against them.^ But even this instalment of separative legislation is bitterly resented by the Jewish historians ; and Jost charges the Church with a jealous desire to weaken the power of the Hebrew faith by means fair or foul ; while Graetz, with a na'ive simplicity, laments that before con- version the Spaniards did not consider the Jews as a God-forsaken people whose intimacy was to be shunned. On the contrary, both sections of the community, he asserts, lived in a happy intimacy and unity, which lasted till the Christian priests, elated by imperial favour, had an opportunity of venting their malignant envy upon an isolated and powerless people. But the historians, in this con- nexion, are wisely silent about the proselytising activity of the Jewish leaders; and observe a dis- creet reticence as to the part often played by Jews as informers and spies in the recent persecution. The scene at the martyrdom of Polycarp may serve to illustrate the real state of feeling, in portions at least, of the Hebrew race. There is no ground to impute to the fathers of Elvira any exaggerated " Juden-Hass;^^ they saw a danger in the free inti- 2 C. Basillense, Mencloza, 1. c. p. 309. s 258 The Synod of Elvira . macy of the two faiths, and they restricted it by provisions in which there was neither cruelty nor in- justice : their efficiency for securing the end desired is more questionable. At any rate, it was found necessary to re-enact them on more than one occa- sion ; and time only diminished tolerance. Lecky traces the animosity between Jews and Christians back to the " calamities that fell upon the prostrate people^' at the siege of Jerusalem and elsewhere.^ But he puts the case strongly when he says that " the Jews laboured with unwearied hatred to foment by calumnies the hatred of the Pagan multitude."*' As he himself shows, the Christians were regarded as a mere Jewish sect, and included in the general contempt and dislike which the separatist " followers of Moses '' always provoked. There would be more than one Gallio among Roman officials, and a sec- tarian animosity would be discountenanced.'* § 24. At present, intercourse was put under general restriction, and confined to the narrowest limits ; the Synod now making it a penal offence for a Christian in full communion, either of the clergy or the laity, to take food in company with Jewish associates. The prohibition, and the indefinite punishment attached to its violation — a suspension from Church fellowship for the correction of the offender — would have the effect of setting a barrier against all free social intercourse and mutual hospi- tality between Jews and Christians, while it still ^ Merivale, Eomans under tlie Empire, vol. viii. p. 176. ■* Juv. Sat. xiv. pp. 102—105. Leckj, Eur. Morals, vol. i. pp. 412—447. The J'eivs and the Chrisiians. 259 allowed tliem to meet in tlie relations of commercial life.^ Jost's view, that the measure was one of retaliation because the Jews would not take meat in the homes of Christians, misses the drift of the general policy adopted by the Synod in this matter.^ Marriage between Christians and Jews it was essential to restrict, and special provision was made to prevent all such alliance. As the parents of the bride were considered responsible for engagements of the kind, and were even punishable by the fifty- fourth Canon for breach of contract in betrothal, the penalty, and that a severe one, of five years' sus- pension from communion with the Church, falls upon them. A woman so marrying, or a man, would of course be cut off from the Church altogether ; but the Council seek to anticipate the danger at the very source, where prompt and stern action might check effectually its development. Subsequently, such mixed marriages were punished in much the same way. At Toledo, Jews with Christian wives are to become Christians, or to be separated ; and 6 Elv. L. ^ Gesh. der Juden. vol. v. p. 34. The Canon is repeated iu a very similar form at many Councils in Spain and Gaul, and elsewhere. The thirty-seventh Canon of the Council of Lao- dicea [343 — 381 a.d.] forbids the acceptance of festal presents [feriatica] from Jews or heathen, and the presence of Christians at their assemblies. In a spurious Nicene Canon [52 apud Alfonsano Pisanum] the intercourse is prohibited on the ground of usury; but all chari^es of this order, and the animosity by which the third and fjurth Councils of Toledo are characterised, are happily absent here. Cf. 3 Toledo LVII. — LXIII. a.d. 633. Hefele, vol. iii. pp. 85, 86. Mendoza, I. c. 307—309. s 2 2 6o The Synod of Elvh^a. at the Council of Clermont^ husband and wife are formally excommunicated/ In the matter of mar- riage^ Jews and heretics are placed in the same category ; and for parents to contract such an alliance for their daughters is considered a serious offence : the law of the Church not only forbids^ but punishes it. But it will at once be noticed that the fifteenth Canon, which prohibits similar marriages with the heathen, fixes no penalty for its violation, while its wording suggests a recommendation, to be enforced by the moral sense of the community rather than by judicial condemnation and sentence. The phraseology of the Canon is instructive in more than one way. For, in the first place, it accounts for the repeated reference to the case of the woman, while that of the husband is at the most only included by implication. § 25. The number of women among the Christians of this age was large in comparison with that of the men ; and so while the latter could easily find wives within the Church, the others must either go outside or remain unmarried. The second alternative was clearly objectionable. It would be a source of con- stant danger and temptation to those whose celibacy was a matter of compulsion, not of choice ; and at the same time it would seriously cripple the Church in its development by the operation of the natural law of growth among its first adherents. A certain measure of evil was inevitable : how could it be reduced to the narrowest dimensions ? One dis- tinction between the position of the heathen and 7 Elv. XVI. 4 Toledo LXII. C. AiTernens. [Clevmont] VI. The Christians and the Heathen. 261 that occupied by the Jew and the heretic was of vital importance. The Jew and the heretic possessed positive convictions, and a rigid system of worship ; while they also, as compared with the masses of the heathen in Spain, were insignificant in number, and associated together in narrow communities, where the influence and power of the sect were paramount.^ § 26. But the hearts of many heathen were possessed by no strong conviction. A man might conform with the outward ritual of sacrifice or worship, though he attached no meaning to the act ; he might frequent temples which, for him, had out- lived the gods whose names they bore, till at last the slightest shock would avail to shatter his mould- ering faith in utter and irrevocable ruin ; at the sound of a Christian hymn, or through the imper- ceptible power of daily intercourse^ it would vanish away, unable to withstand — " Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of time." '•* Even though he himself might not yield to the attraction of a nobler faith, the unbeliever had a large measure of tolerance or indifference ; and with his ^^ half belief in his casual creed,'^ ^ he would ^ On the Jewish community and its organisation, cf. Hatch, Bampton Lectures, pp. 57 — 61. ^ Wordsworth. ^ There would be many a man also — to borrow the description of the same poet and essayist — who accepted the creed and ritual of paganism, not " as the literal and beautiful rendering of what he himself feels and believes," but as an approximate rendering of it ; as language thrown out by other men, in other 262 The Synod of Elvii^a. consent to leave his wife undisturbed in her religion^ or might allow his children to be brought up in her faith. The offspring of a mixed marriage was not seldom Christian ; and the union^ though not free from those inconveniences on which Tertullian dwells with such force,, was often most happy in its results on both sides ; and father and children alike were one with the mother in faith and in life. Care and forbearance would indefinitely modify the in- compatibility of such a union^ which might at the worst involve differences concerning dress and con- versation, and all the details of daily life^ the collision of Pagan festivals and Christian fasts, in addition to the natural reluctance of a husband to allow his wife to attend mysterious rites in the darkness of the night, or to visit unknown men in prison, poverty, or sickness." Such antagonism would, however, be rare ; and in a more settled state of society the difficulties would be gi-eatly diminished. But no lapse of time would have any such effect in the case of a Jew or a heretic ; and such a union would expose the wife to the whole influence of sect and synagogue, and to the positive convictions of a times, at immense objects which deeply engaged their affections and their awe . . . objects concerning which, moreover, adequate statement is impossible." Arnold, Last Essays, p. 36. Such natures would suffer from the " olfendiculum of scru- pulousness " as lightly as Mr. Arnold's own ideal Christian clergy. •' Tert. Ad Uxor. ii. c. 3, 4. Marriage luitli the Heathen, 263 nature as strong as her own. The danger to be apprehended in this case was greater, and the gain was, owing to the inferiority in numbers, of much less importance ; and thus the restriction which was made definite and direct in the case of the Jew and the heretic, was somewhat relaxed for the heathen;* In Africa, the same preponderance of women over men [copia puellarum] limited the prohibition to the daughters of the clergy/ § 27. There was, however, one special exception, made in the case of a pagan priest, where such marriages were absolutely prohibited. Most of the mitigating circumstances already enumerated could not possibly exist in a union of this nature ; and the priest, by his sacerdotal functions, would incur special guilt, involving his wife and family in heathen associations and in the sins of his own calling. But the honours and exemptions enjoyed by the priest- hood would exercise a special fascination over the minds of Christian parents, who are therefore made liable to the deterring penalty of life-long excommu- nication.^ It is not necessary to suppose, with Gams, that the wife must necessarily have shared in her husband's official sacrifice ; it was sufficient offence that she should acquiesce in the idolatrous rites by 3 At Aries, girls who marr}' heathen are excommunicated for a time ; and the Canon relates to them, and not to the parents. It enforces a penalty, though a vague one ; the Elviran Canon does not. Aries XL Cf. Miinchen, Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. xxvi. p. 6. ■' Hippo. XIT. Mansi, vol. iii. p. 921. Leclcy, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. pp. 374—378. Bingham, Antiq. xxii. 2, §§ 1, 2. ^ EIv. XVII. Gams, vol. ii. p. 71. ]Meudoza, L c. pp. 193,191. 264 The Synod of Elvira, union witli their ministrant, and bear sons to suc- ceed to their father^s office and honours/ § 28. There is another Canon/ affecting a question of cognate nature —the adultery of a believer, mar- ried to a Christian wife, with a Hebrew woman. A distinction is clearly drawn between adultery with a Christian, a sin on which five years' suspension was imposed,^ and the same offence committed with one outside the pale of the Church. In the case of a personal confession the penalty here is undetermined; but Mendoza, arguing on the analogy of the seventy- sixth Canon, completes the parallel, and assumes a three-years' penance in LXXVIII., to correspond with that imposed in LXXVI.*^ At any rate, it is clear that on this offence a lighter penalty was imposed, and the only possible explanation is that the Church of the fourth century regarded sexual sin with an unbeliever as a more tolerable offence than the same act committed with a Christian believer or even a heretic.^ § 29. So far we have been occupied by questions relating to heathen, heretics, and Jews in common ; we now come to a special case arising out of the relations subsisting in Spain between Jews and ^ It is unnecessaiy to enter upon the questions discussed by Gams at some length, arising out of the marriage of Christian women of noble family with Christians poor and of low rank, or even slaves. The law of Eome prohibited such alliances, which were however recognised in the Church on the decision of Callistus I. Vol. ii. pp. 68—70. 7 Elv. LXXVIII. « Elv. LXIX. ^ Mendoza, 1. c. p. 388. ^ Hefele, vol. i. pp. 190—191 . Blessino the HarvesL 265 Christians. The Canon is obscure in meaning, and has occasioned considerable controversy at all times. It is advisable to quote the exact terms : — " It has been resolved to warn landholders not to allow their harvest [fructus], which they receive from God with thanksgiving, to be blessed by Jews, that they may not make our blessing invalid and of none effect. Any one who shall have been guilty of so doing after this prohibition, shall be utterly cast off from the Church.^^ " Everything turns upon our explanation of the words "fractus ... a Judaeis benedici/^ and our interpretation of this part must fix the sense of the whole. Basnage's view must be summarily dismissed. He interprets the prohibition as aimed at the Jewish tenants, who took the first-fruits of the harvest to their synagogue to give thanks with the offering. But they would be free to act in this matter on their own responsibility, just as the heathen tenant would be allowed at his own cost to offer sacrifice to his tutelary deities to ensure the safety of his crops ;^ no restraint was put upon their freedom of action; it was the Christian, and he alone, whose conduct could be called in question, except as the responsible master and owner of slaves, and even in that case a considerable degree of laxity was admitted.^ Jost gives a different explanation, and points us to the Jewish custom of thanksgiving at meals and ' Elv. XLIX. 3 cf. Elv. XL. ■* Basuage, Histoire des Juifs, vlii. 4. 10; vol. v. pp. 33, and 327, 328. 266 1 he Synod of Elvira, on special occasions of social festivity ; one acted as leader to the company, and the others responded, so that the ceremony was formal and impressive. And though the greater proportion of the Spanish Jews was to be found in the industrial and commercial occupations, a large number would be engaged in agriculture ; and as tenants or servants of Christian landowners, these would take part in the festivity of the harvest-home, at which the finest fruits were set before the assembled guests ; while the character and nature of the viands would admit of their pre- sence without any violation of the Jewish ritual. At the table they observed their custom, and thus a double blessing was pronounced, and separate thanksgivings offered, to Jehovah, and to the Eternal Father of the Christian believers. This custom was a grave offence to devout Christians, who, in the words of the Council of Laodicea, thought it '^ a sin to accept the blessings of heretics, since they are rather curses than blessings ;" and ranked the God of the Jews among the " decs nationum.^^ ° At the same time they were actuated by the belief, either their own or one of common acceptance, that the one blessing anticipated and invalidated the other; there could be no recon- ciliation of the grace of God with the blessing of any other deity. And to check and eradicate a practice of such danger, the severest penalty at command was applied in a spirit of superstitious jealousy. •^ Laodicea XXXII. Cf. Tert. De Idol, xxii., " Benedici per deos nationum, maledici est per Deum." Blessing tJic Harvest. 267 There are objections of considerable weight against sucli an interpretation. For in the first place, " fructus ^' has a wider application than to a portion of fruit and grain set on the table at a convivial gathering ; and secondly, such an assembly, under one roof and at one table, of Jews and Chris- tians, is expressly prohibited by the next Canon. " Fructus '^ is not the " harvest-home/^ and if it were, either Jew or Christian must have been absent ; in which case this injunction would have been super- fluous. It is far simpler to apply the prohibition to an actual " blessing ^^ of the harvest-fields, partly, no doubt, intended as an expression of gratitude to the Creator, but also not without a possible admixture of superstition, as a protection against the magical tampering with the harvest, which, in a land so devoted to sorcery and witchcraft as Spain, would be an article in the popular creed. Even the laws of Eome prove the existence of the superstition ; and if it survived anywhere, here it could not have become extinct.^ But the provision was at least intended to prevent the fields being blessed by the adherents of hostile faiths, and with different rites and ceremonies. The Fathers of Elvira could not have believed that the blessing of the Jewish priesthood might supplant their own with God, as Jost asserts, because they would not identify their deity with that of the Jews j they did fear ^ Cf. Eein, Criminalrecht der Komer, pp. 901—910. " Fruges excantare,"XII. Tab., Plin3',N. H. xxviii. 2. " Carmine Isesa Ceres sterilemvanescitinherbam," Ovid, Am. iii. 7, 31, and" Alienam scgetem pellicere," Servius, Yerg^. Eel. viii. 99. 268 The Synod of Elvira. tliat it \YOuld make their consecration useless and futile / § 30. This same principle, that the Christian is not to sanction a false worship by act or consent, has another application in the fortieth Canon, which is intended for the guidance of landowners in their dealings with heathen bailiffs or tenants. The prohibition has been variously explained. Some authorities erroneously interpret it as a direction to the master not to allow his tenants or agents to buy flesh for idolatrous offerings ; others, with Hef ele, that the landlords, receiving their rent in kind, are not to accept anything offered to an idol ; a theory absolutely incongruous, for what has been consecrated to the idol will hardly return to the landlord. Others, again, in the same sense, see a repetition of the old command given to Gentile converts that they should " abstain from things offered to idols ;^' but there is not the remotest reference to any custom of the kind. The provision deals with a purely business transaction, and applies as much to payment in coin as in kind. These commentators have stumbled through ignorance of the technical phrase " accepto ferant,"*^ which is really equivalent to our '^ credit with ;" it is to enter something on account to the good of the debtor. The state of the case was really this. The heathen ' The Jews were intimately connected with magic and sorcery ; and if they could ban, might they not also bless ? Milman, Hist. Jews, bk. xx., accepts Jost's view. Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 307. Gams, ii. pp. 107 — 109. Hefele passes over without comment, i. p. 158. Offerings of Heat hot Tenants. 269 agentj tenant, or bailiff made his due offering to Pan_, Vertumnus, or Flora, or to some other agricul- tural deity, to secure divine protection for the fields and crops. In the business-like religious system of Kome, the transaction between man and god was as prosaic as a modern insurance against damage by fire or hail effected on ricks and standing corn. A passage in Columella's treatise on husbandry shows that such duties and precautions were often, perhaps usually, left to the actual cultivator. ^^ An agent,'' he says, "must not offer sacrifice except at his master's orders ; nor shall he have recourse to wizards and witches, both of which sorts by idle superstition drive ignorant minds to extravagance, and so to crime." ^ When quarter-day brought round the reckoning, the tenant w^ould demand that in the settlement of accounts he should be credited with these legitimate expenses, and a corresponding- deduction made from his rent. This custom the Canon disallows ; the landlord's capital is not to be invested even at secondhand in idolatrous worship ; and if he offends, five years of excommunication are the penalty. Directly or indirectly, by partici- pation or by mere authorisation, idolatry was a grievous sin, in catechumen as in Christian; and this offence was on a level with taking contracts for the supply of victims, assigning the temples to care- takers, or administration of their revenues.^ ^ Columella, De Ee Eustica, i, p. 8. ^ Ambros. Ep. lii. Ad Eug. Migne, vol. xvi. pp. 1174 — 1178. Tert. Deldol. c. xvii. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 288. Gams, ii. pp. 102, 103. Hefele, i. p. 173. 2 70 The Synod of Elvira. § 31. Sucli then was the duty of Christian land- owners in their relations with tenants or agents ; but there remained another question for settlement — how the master was to act towards slaves who were heathen, and kept their idols in his house. Un- believing slaves were evidently very numerous, as may be inferred from the latter part of the Canon ; but Gonzalez Tellez is mistaken in his supposition, based on this decree and the words ^^ adstanti omni plebe ^^ in the opening formula, which he misinter- prets, that all the free population of Elvira were believers. The slaves were not the only class in the town and neighbourhood which had not yet broken with heathendom; there were citizens as well as slaves who were still wedded to former superstition and ancient error. But if unbelieving slaves were numerous, so were the objects of their worship. Every chamber in the house was infested with idols, and so were all parts of the city : " the squares and the courts, the baths, the inns, and our very houses, are full of them ; and Satan and his angels have possessed the whole world," says Tertullian. In another treatise too he points to the existence of such gods as Cardea, Forculus, Janus, Limentius, and Apollo Thyrsus, connected with the threshold, gates, and door-hinges ; in fact every detail in the domestic furniture and fittings had its own special patron deity. In the treatment of these household gods their votaries showed little veneration, and indeed not even delicacy. " Your household gods, as you call the Lares," says the same stern teacher, '^ you treat as household chattels \ you pawn them. Siippi'cssion of Idolatry. 271 sell them, transform them; turn Saturn into a frying- pan, and Minerva into a ladle. ''^ ^ But whatever might be their own contempt, any effort to deprive them of their deities would have been fiercely resented by the fanatical minds of the lower orders of heathen society, and such a policy would have led to bloodshed as well as strife. The Synod, anxious to preserve the peace now vouchsafed to the Church without a sacrifice or violation of principle, wisely decided that a Christian placed in this position should do his best to induce his slaves to remove the idols from his house ; but in case of failure, he was at least to keep himself pure, carefully guarding against any return to the superstitious devotions and customs associated with them. A return to idolatry in any shape or form, even under these temptations, would entail absolute suspension from Church fellowship. § 32. The prohibition seems to have been in- effectual in its operation, for we find Constantine forbidding by edict these private and domestic sacri- fices, while, as a compromise, he still allowed the people to consult the official augurs when they had been alarmed by the fall of a thunderbolt or by the lightning^ s stroke. He could not eradicate this idolatry, but he endeavoured to regulate and restrain it. Theodosius and Arcadius acted with much greater severity. A house in which such rites had been observed, on proof of the offence was con- fiscated, and its owner rendered liable to still more drastic penalties. The third Council of Toledo [580 A.D.] explicitly directed the clergy to make dili- ^ Tert. Apol. c. xlii., De Spectacul. c. viii., De Idol. c. xv. 272 The Synod of Elvira, gent searcli after sucli offenders^ commanding all masters to put an end to tliis evil_, botli on their estates and in their own household." In Africa, a special restriction was applied in the case of those who sought ordination, and a Christian was disqualified even for the diaconate unless all in his household had professed their loyalty to their master's faith.^ But this expedient could operate only in a few instances, and some remedy of wider range and greater force was needed to deal with the evil. At present the members of the Synod could see no better way than to allow their own faith to carry conviction with it, without any sudden and violent disturbance of the prejudices and passions of the great masses of the heathen by which they were encompassed. To deprive the slaves of their idols was not to win them from heathenism ; if superstition died, the idols would share its fate.^ § 33. The principle involved in the foregoing Canons admitted of a still wider application outside the family circle ; for if it was an offence against the Divine majesty for master or landlord to concede a personal sanction to the superstitious practices of heathen slaves or agents, even when the connexion was comparatively distant, responsibility diminished but did not disappear. The forms and phases which evil assumed were as subtle as they were numerous, and the Synod made no attempt to deal with all possible eventualities. But against one particular custom they made a strong protest, enforcing their 2 3 Toledo XVI. ^ Hippo XVII. a.d. 418. -* Mendoza, 1. c. pp. 289—293. Heathen Proeessions. 273 censure with an exclusion of three years' duration. The reliQ:ion of the heathen world was above all others one of scenic effect, and in magnificent pro- cessions and costly decorations much of its energy was expended. By modification a procession could be made to express emotions of a very different kind ; the sorrow of those who mourned for their dead ; the joyful pride of the newly wedded husband ; the contrition of a nation sufiering from divine ven- geance; or the triumphal might of a conqueror just returning from the scene of his victories with his exulting legions. But the procession was also an important appendage to the games of the circus, and served as a preliminary, or even as a part of the performance. The religious element in it was very prominent, and in the midst of the spectacle the gods were carried in effigy, sometimes even demanding alms on their way through the crowded streets. It was indeed through their conduct on such an occasion that Justa and Kufina sufi'ered martyrdom at Sara- gossa many years before the meeting of the Synod. Ovid sums up the scene in a single line : '' Circus erit pompa celeber numeroque deorum/' ^ Spain was a country devoted to spectacular maguificence, and would vie even with Eome itself in ostentation and display. How these festivals were abhorred by the Christians it is unnecessary to describe at length. Centuries have not been able to eliminate the evil associations of the word ; and when we pie dge our- selves ^' to renounce the pomps and vanities " of this world, it is but a reminiscence, in a wider sense, of '• Fasti, iv. 391. T 2 74 T^^(^ Synod of Elvira. the ancient ^^ pompa diaboli/^ which, was the horror of pious souls in the early days of the Christian Church. Tertullian^ in his fiery strain, insists that whether the procession be great or small, and if only a few images are carried round, is no matter ; even in one there is idolatry; if the procession escorts one image-car, that one is the waggon of Jupiter.^ Believers would avoid being present in the streets while the procession was on its rounds, and to have appeared in the circus would have been a grave ofi'ence. § 34. But danger menaced the believer from another side. It was customary for the Prsetor, or the other ofiicials responsible for the organisation of the games, to lend ornaments and dress as stage-properties, or for decoration ; and on some occasions, he would himself borrow statues and paintings, either from friends near at hand, or even from distant lands. If this resource was not suffi- cient, money might succeed where friendship or courtesy failed.^ No doubt, the Christian woman or her husband would be applied to for the loan of her cloths rich with Tyrian purple, or for the fine stuffs spun from the finest fleeces of the pastures of ^ De Spectacul. c. iv. vii. viii. ; for tensa, cf. Suet, Julius Csesar, c. 76, and Cic. Yerr. ii. 1. 59, "Via tensarum atque pompse." 7 Ulpian, "Vel si quis ludos edens praetor sceniels commo- davit, vel ipse prsetori quis ultro commodavit :" and Asconius Paedianus (Act 3 in Verrem), " Olim enim cum in foro ludi populo darentur, signis ac tabulis pictis, partim ab amicis, partim a Graecia commodatis utebantur ad scense speciem :" and cf. Gains and Ulpian, 19, § i., and § 18, de usufructu. Christians a7id Heathen Spectacles, 275 the Guadalquivir ; and tlie desire to escape notoriety, or to retain tlie friendships of neighbours and friends, would be powerful inducements to compliance with the request. But to consent to act in this worldly wise ^ was an act of flagrant cowardice ; or, if money considerations determined conduct, of sordid cove- tousness, unworthy of a loyal Christian, and all the more reprehensible because the temptation was not severe in kind and degree.^ There were cases, as we have already seen in discussing the action of the Church towards holders of public office, in which the severity of the code was relaxed on any just ground; but here no such extenuating circum- stances existed. The indignation aroused by such compromise with heathen idolatry would be kindled to an intenser glow by the memories of the death of martyrs and of saints ever to be associated with such spectacles. And that a Christian by profession should choose the scene where his brethren had suffered such heroic agony, for making his terms with heathen society by a concession involving direct idolatry, was a feature that could only intensify the natural resentment of all loyal hearts.^ § 35. But tenacious as the Spanish Christians were of their own liberty and rights, they did not absolutely disregard those of others ; and while they maintained their own freedom of worship, using all legitimate means for the subversion of idolatry, they « " Seculaviter." Nolte, Theol. Quart. 1865, p. 312. » Eh^ LVII. 1 Mendoza, 1. c. 327, 328. Gams, vol. ii. 115, 11(3. Hefele, vol, i, 181. T 2 2 "j^ The Synod of Elvira. repudiated, and even punished in an indirect way, improper aggression on tlie objects religiously venerated by the superstition or the faith of their heathen neighbours. The precaution seems to have been all the more necessary on account of the icono- clastic genius of the Spanish people : for again and again, in the early as in the later religious history of the land, such outrages were more than frequent ; and the retaliation Avhicli ensued could only lead to their more energetic repetition so soon as opportu- nity allowed. Before this time there had been some such cases of special prominence. At Hispala, Justa and Eufina, two Christian women, while selling their wares through the streets of the city, met a procession carrying their goddess Salambo about on a begging expedition, and demanding gifts in her name from those whom they encountered. The pair refused to give the priests as much as a cheap pot of earthenware from their stock ; and an attempt was made to levy a compulsory offering. A struggle followed : the stall and its wares were destroyed; and in their indignation the victims attacked and disfigured the idol. They were then tortured, and finally put to death.- A parallel case was that of Germanus and Servandus, though it presented some distinctive features. A similar spirit revealed itself in after-years. Theodosius the Great, who was a Spaniard by birth, made tbis destruction of images his great concern ; and Ida- - Mendoza, 1. c. p. 335, goes so far as to assert that this collision was the cause and origin of the provision, and that the suggestion was mooted by Sabinus, the bishop of the town. Iconoclasni Prohibited. 277 tius records with approbation of Cynegius^ a Spanisli prefect of tlie East, that '^ he went as far as Egypt, destroying everywhere the idols of the heathen/' ^ In the resentment which the Canon dealing with the practice has provoked among the later Spanish commentators, and in their eagerness to impugn and to disprove its genuineness and validity, we can see the same inherited tendency. § 36. The question was of vital importance, and one which the Synod could net altogether over- look. From their own words, and from the nature of the case, it is clear that the Fathers did not con- sider iconoclasm, even when unprovoked, as a sin ; and they thus were led to dissuade rather than to prohibit. The sixtieth Canon runs thus : — " Any one who shall have destroyed idols, and been slain in the act [ibidem], shall not be included among the martyrs, since it is not so commanded in the Gospel, and was never done under the Apostles '^ [sub Apostolis]. The argument and appeal are somewhat disin- genuous ; for even if we reject the supposition of some historians, that the decree was occasioned either by the martyrdom of Justa and Rufina, who suffered death in imprisonment, or of Servandus and Ger- manus, who were literally " slain in the act,'' it is patent that the policy now decided on was not the outcome of the scriptural conscience. Two causes, opposite in nature and in scope, would operate most strongly to produce the result."^ In the first place, 3 Chronicon Idatii ad ann. 388, in Gams, vol. ii. p. 125. 4 Elv. LX. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 335. Gams, vol. ii. p. 125, and vol. i. pp. 372—375. 278 Tfie Synod of Elvira. it was at this time essential, as we have already seen, to avoid giving any provocation to the heathen population around, who, if exempt from all outrage in their own rites, would have no ground for reprisals on the sanctuaries of the Christians. Further, those assembled in council could not but remember that when the idol is destroyed by violent hands, the superstition of its votary grows deeper and more intense ; and that Dagon^s fall and proved impotence does not always turn the hearts of his heathen worshippers, whose fidelity is even strengthened by an indignant pity : the Christian faith, if it was to win its way among the idola- trous nations, must rely more upon gentleness and charity than upon reckless daring and ostentatious courage. And, in the second place, the Church itself anticipated evil consequences within as well as without, for in self-sought martyrdom the poor and the wretched often attempted to escape from all worldly troubles of the sordid and meaner order. Augustine tells us how " by imprisonment men desired to relieve a life burdened by many debts ; or thought they purified themselves, and in some measure washed away their own guilfc ; or because they thought that they would certainly gain money, and in ward enjoy luxuries supplied by the venera- tion of believers.''^ "' To be free from the pressure of debt and of poverty, and to have ev^en more than the necessaries of life supplied by less zealous friends, was a temptation sufficient to influence ^ Aug. Brev. Coll. 3 di. Patrologia, Migne, vol. xliii. p. 631, S 13. Iconoclasni in Spain, 279 any one in troublous times ; not to mention all tlie high religious privileges which would appeal with even greater force to purer and more saintly souls.*' But the motives, whether base or noble, were of a dangerous kind ; and the Synod was driven, reluc- tantly no doubt, to take measures to counteract them. A similar precaution had been already adopted at Carthage by Mensurius, to prevent a similar practice in the African Church. For during the Diocletian persecution they had suffered, not only from the treachery of the '' Traditores " — afterwards punished, as at the Council of Aries, for their betrayal of the sacred books and vessels of the Church" — but also from the zeal of those who spon- taneously confessed that they had in their possession such treasures, and suffered death rather than con- sent to their surrender. It was this self- sought martyrdom, not only useless, but even harmful to the interests of the Church, that was discountenanced in Africa and Gaul. But the decree would not apply to such a case as Eulalia^s, of Emerita, who, having been commanded by the Judge, in the court of trial, to worship an idol, in pious indignation broke the image and spat in the face of the official.^ But on the other hand, it has been suggested that the Canon may serve to explain the omission of ^ Aguirre, vol. i. pp. 649, 650. " Aries XIII. This Canon onlj' deals with the clerical offenders ; but they, from their position of trust, would be at once the most numerous and the most reprehensible. 8 Migne, Diet, des Conciles, vol. i. p. 827. Cf. Prudentius, De Martyrio S. Eulalise. 28o The Synod of Elvira. Eulalia of Barcelona from Prudentius's martyr- roll, on the ground that slie had voluntarily provoked death by the wanton destruction of idols, and had thus forfeited the heroic honour. Germanus and Servandus are also left unmen- tioned, with the Captain Marcellus, and the well- known Justa and Kufina, who had all courted their fate in the same way. If the silence of the poet be due to nothing more than accidental coincidence, it is at any rate somewhat strange to find this uncon- scious observance of synodical precept in so many brilliant cases of self-sacrifice.^ § 37. This leaves but one point for consideration — Why the condition of ^^ death in the act '^ is em- phasised. Two explanations are possible, though the question has received no attention from histo- rians and commentators. Firstly, let it be remem- bered, that under the new dispensation the iconoclast would find a graver danger in the prompt vengeance of the angry votaries than in the penalties of the law : death would be inevitable, if the penalty was exacted by "lynch-law^^, though the official tribunal would be satisfied with fine or imprisonment ; so that if the offender escaped death in the act, he would escape it altogether. And secondly, if this interpretation be rejected, it would be possible that the Synod, while refusing the honours of the martyr to those who had reached the high prize by so short a journey, and a conflict so brief, could not dis- franchise those who were reserved for a more prolonged and painful trial of their faith, and, by '•• Gams, vol. i. p. 309. Notes: AIilita7y Se^^vice. 281 patience at the end, atoned for their rash impetu- osity. [Note D.] Note A. — (i.) This explanation gets rid of the forced sense attributed to " in pace " — "while the Church is in peace with the state." Herbst, Tubingen Quart. 1821, p. 666; Remy Oeillier, iii. 705 ; Aubespine, Mansi, ii. p. 492 ; and Migne, his faithful follower, Diet, des Conciles, i. p. 191, agree in this view ; and some older commentators boldly alter " in pace " into " in prselio," on the authority of one ancient manuscript giving the variant " in hello ;" but this is hardly an admissible course. Dr. Miinchen, Bonner Zeitschrift, vol. xxvi. p. 74 foil., has ex- plained " arma proicere " as an allusion to gladiatorial combats, and maintains that the Canon interdicts them, and has no reference to military duty. It is true that eleven years later Constantine forbad by edict these dangerous and cruel ex- hibitions, but the policy would have been premature at this earlier date ; and the prohibition must have been more ex- plicit. And even if we accept this explanation, and apply the injunction to the use of arms in time of peace, the qualification countenances by implication their use in war, and we obtain a result almost equivalent to that supplied b}^ the other interpre- tation : for we are fully at liberty to apply the term " arma proicere " in its strict and natural sense. If it has that signifi- cance at all, the phrase includes the use of arms at all times and in all places. Hefele, i. pp. 206, 207. (ii.) In an edict of Constantine's, Cod. Theod. xv. 12, there is a parallel, on the surface at least, to this Canon. It is there enacted : " cruenta spectacula in otio civili et domestica quiete non placent," i.e. combats in the arena are only permissible in war time, when foes have been captured. But we cannot suppose that the Council of Aries conceded even this to the murderous tastes of the heathen. Note B. — A temple and grave of Hercules have been dis- covered during the present century at Tarragona, surrounded by a large amount of local legend, relating the arrival of the god from Africa with an army, and his death in Catalonia. Minutoli says, that after the disappearance of earlier colonies, The Synod of Elvira. temple and grave were built in the fourth century, all the artistic representations pointing to an Egyptian origin. Altes und Neues aus Spanien, ii. 153 foil. The growth of the Priscil- lianist heresy at a later date, introduced from Egypt into Spain, is a further evidence of the intercourse between the two nations. Gams, ii. pp. 42, 43. The ancient Lusitanians divined from human entrails, and the practice was not uncommon in later times; cf. Euseb. De Pra?p. Ev. i. iv. It was attributed to Julian and Apollonius, and was certainly the custom of some emperors and priests. Note C. — For the feeling of the Church about those Chris- tians who had indirectly assisted in the gladiatorial shows, compare the letters of Innocentius to the bishops of the Spanish Church. He complains [Ep. iii. § 9] that men who have given games have been promoted to the episcopate : " Quantos qui voluptates et editiones populo celebrarunt, ad honorem summi sacerdotii pervenisse ; " and again, in a letter to Yictricius, Ep. ii. § 12, he points out that men have been ordained who in secular offices have thus acted : " Constat eos in ipsis muniis etiam voluptates exhibere . . . . et ludorum vel munerum apparatus." Attendance with him is as grave an offence as official presidency : *' aut praeesse aut interesse," 1. c. § 13. On the games, cf. Juv. Sat. iii. 36, and Suet. Tit. vii. Note D. — (i.) Iconoclasm may have been the Christian form which the national passion for suicide in Spain assumed ; if so, of those passed at Elvira, this is the only Canon referring even indirectly to the subject. Lecky, on the authority of Apol- lonius of Tj-ana [Phil. Apollon. v. 4], says that the Celts went so far as to raise temples and chant hymns in praise and honour of death. At any rate, the lines of Silius Italicus, there quoted, may be applied without violence to the Spanish iconoclasts, as well as to their impetuous countrymen : — " Prodiga gens animse et properare facillima mortem: Namque ubi transcendit florentes viribus annos Impatiens nevi, spernit novisse senectam, Et fati modus in dextra est." Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. i. p. 218. (ii.) The Donatist schism arose originally out of an excessive desire for martyrdom, partly from pure, partly from impure Notes: Iconoclastic Suicide, 2 S3 motives. Mensurius, the bishop, and Csecilianus, his arch- deacon, opposed it : and, on the death of the former, another candidate, Majorinus, and then Donatus, were set up in opposi- tion. Their plea was that Ca3cilianus had been consecrated bj a " Traditor," Eelix. The whole question was discussed and settled at Aries. Cf. Gieseler, vol. i. pp. 288, 289. The fanatical sect of the *' Circumcelliones," in the fourth century, provoked martyrdom by insulting pagan assemblies, and committed suicide by leaping from lofty crags. Cf. Lecky, Eur. Mor. vol. ii. p. 52, and Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 305 — 309, and authorities there quoted. (iii.) Cave, Primitive Christianity^ i. c. v., gives many in- stances where Christians suffered in retaliation for insults of this nature. Cf. Tillemont, Me'ra. Eccl. vii. 354, 355, and Remy Ceillier, Auteurs Sacrcs, iii. 531 — 533. (iv.) Clement of Alexandria insists upon the same principle, even in less important matters, severely censuring those Chris- tians who challenged observation by the salutation of the brotherly kiss given and received in public. Such men, he says, are full of a senseless boldness, and would display them- selves to the outer world, but have not the least grace. Clemens, Psedag. iii. § 110. Migne, viii. p. 659. Neander, Hist. Christ. i. 363. : 8 4 The Synod of Elvira . CHAPTER VI. CHEISTIAN WORSHIP. § 1. Cheistian worship and its institutions occupy but an insignificant position in tlie thouglit and policy of tlie Synod of Elvira ; and were it not for a soli- tary Canon, whicli lias again and again served as a weapon in the most embittered of later controversies, this phase of its legislative action would receive but scanty attention from historians and divines. Nor is it difficult to account for this subordination of worship and its accessories in a Convention mainly occupied with questions of ecclesiastical polity and moral duty; for deviation from established custom in the details of ritual, so long as doctrinal teaching remains unaffected, produces little if any serious evil. And, in all probability, the services of the Spanish Church still retained much of the elasticity, without the disorder, which characterised the reli- gious assemblies of the Apostolic converts ; for till the ecclesiastical order has become stereotyped in a hard and fast mould, the details of worship admit of no less variation. During the earlier part of the fourth century such a system of ritual would continue in growth, retaining old customs, but undergoing Christian Worship, 285 modification and expansion to meet tlie needs of tlie new position whicli tlie Cliurcli had now reached ; for in appealing to a new constituency _, though Faith remained one and the same^ to do new work it neces- sarily adopted new methods, such as artistic and aesthetic genius might devise and suggest. We must not be misled into the supposition that as yet the Christian Church had failed to recognise the true importance of worship to the development of a sound and deep religious life, because there is little mention of its details in the Sy nodical Acts. It had learned that in the service of the sanctuary the sorrow of the great lord, — the ^' deposed king/^ as Pascal describes the human soul in its longing for its pristine greatness and purity,^ — could find solace ; that in the thrill of emotion which passes through a sympathetic assembly the sinner could weep and believe ; and that there devout souls caught a divine radiance which made them humble messengers of mercy to their race, and their lives, in the words of the old poet," — " A meeting of gentle lights without a name." But inspiration of this order, they knew well, could not be compelled or controlled by human power and authority ; and their special work was rather to punish sin than to lift virtue to regions of loftier ideal, and was confined to that great mass of Christian society as yet barely saved from the cor- ruption of heathen society, and still exposed to its fascination. When they had strengthened their * Pascal, Pensees, iv. iii. ^ Sir John Sucklinor. 2 86 The Synod of Elvii^a. wavering converts, and purified tlie sinful; wlien_; above all_, they had united their congregations in one corporate Church, then would be the time to turn their energy to nobler work. § 2. Before this time, at any rate in the muni- cipalities of Spain, assemblies for worship in private houses or at the abode of the bishop had almost fallen into disuse, the Church now possess- ing its own special accommodation for meeting. Diocletian, as we have already seen, issued orders for the destruction of Christian sanctuaries, which were disregarded by Constantius, the responsible governor of Spain ; and on the express testimony of Eusebius ^ that Constantius allowed no such edifices to be destroyed, we may infer that churches existed in that country before the persecution, and that they survived it. The Council met in a church, and the twenty-first Canon, with its distinction between urban and rural districts, proves beyond dispute that the towns possessed an organised system of church accommodation.'* § 3. While we are sure that churches existed, we have but little definite and well-ascertained infor- mation as to their exact nature. At a subsequent period, Constantino transferred to Christian use the revenues and the buildings of heathen temples, thus converting the '^ lodging of demons into a house of God ; ^^ but this transfer was rare ; and even when the general confiscation was consummated under 3 Euseb. H. E. viii. 13. Other references have already been given. -* Elv. XXI. Christian Churches, 287 Theodosius, tlie State^ and not tlie Churcli, was en- riclied by tlie wealtli of lieathendom.^ Nor had the Christians yet obtained the use of buildings origi- nally occupied by the secular authorities ; if indeed this privilege was ever conceded to them. The theory of such a grant may be attributed to the imitation of the plan of the Basilica in ecclesiastical architecture ; and the common application of the terms Basilica and Bema to the church buildings is by no means accounted for, as Mr. Hatch insists, by the transfer of a few secular court-houses to the Christian Church.'^ The fact is that these buildings served as the seat of the Presbyteral council of discipline besides accommodating the assemblies for religious worship. These edifices would at first be plain and simple in structure, like the originals after which they had been modelled, and would certainly never emulate the magnificence of the great temple built by Paulinus at Tyre, of which Ensebius has left us a detailed description.'^ In after-years, throughout the world, Christian churches rose to dispute the claims of pagan shrines to preeminence in majesty and grace ; but at present faith had not become materialised, and there was little temptation to rivalry of this kind. The churches which existed ^ Cf. Hatch, Bampton Lectures, p. 150, n. 30, and authorities there quoted. •^ lb. pp. 66, 67, n. 30. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 342 — 344; and Nesbitt, in Diet. Christ. Antiq. p. 181, s. v. Basilica. 7 Euseb. H. E. x. 4. 37. Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 239, 240; and cf. Diet. Christ. Antiq. pp. 368, 389, and for cliurch architecture of Spain, pp. 382 and 384, s. v. Church. 2 88 The Synod of Elvira. at the beginning of tlie fourth century in Western Europe were less imposing in site, and of humbler proportions.^ So long as the great principle that church buildings are for the profit and convenience of man, and not for divine need, is still firmly appre- hended, such a development is abnormal, if not im- possible.^ § 4. But even at this elementary stage of Chris- tian life and worship, difficulties did not fail to arise concerning the adornment of the sanctuaries, and the Synod of Elvira took strong measures to repress some objectionable practices. Images re- presenting the Divine Founder of the Christian faith and his disciples, so far as they existed at an earlier date, were to be found rather in the houses of religious heretics or eclectics than among pro- fessed Christians.^ Orthodox believers indulged their inclination to religious symbolism, but did not materialise the Divine Nature in artistic representa- tion. In fact up to the present time, between art and the Christian conscience there existed the deepest antipathy and the most irreconcilable an- tagonism ; so that the use of painting and sculpture, if admitted at all, was confined within the narrowest limits. Before the age of Constantino, Christian art had been mean and degraded. Such produc- *^ Cf. Neander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. pp. 402, 403, and notes. 'J Lactantius, Div. Inst. vi. 2., in Mendoza, 1. c. p. 207. 1 Cf. Neander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. p. 404. Euseb. H. E. viii. 18 ; and for the images of the Gnostics, cf. Irenaeus, Adv. Hser. i. 25, Migne vii. p. 685, and Epiphanius, Adv. H£er. xxvi. 0, Migne xli. p. 374. Christian Art in the Fourth Ccntnry. 289 tions as have been preserved on tiie gravestones of the earlier church are worthless and cheap, with- out beauty, grace, or symmetry. *^ Daubs and smudges/^ so a great authority informs us, super- seded the masterpieces of extinct genius, until the great revival of later years occurred : at present. Christian art was unworthy of its name, and for its unworthiness was rejected and despised. Gams, indeed, seems inclined even to deny its very ex- istence at Rome, and much more in the provinces, during the first decade of the fourth century ; ' but the view is too extreme, and we may accept Mr. Browning^s lines as a more accurate description of the instinctive habits of the time : ^ " Love, while able to acquaint her — While the thousand statues yet Fresh from chisel, pictures wet From brush, she saw on every side, Chose rather, with an infant's pride, To frame those portents which impart Such unction to true Christian art." § 5. But though the description is true in the main^ there was something more than the '^ infant's pride '"' to determine the preference of the Church. Eor all aesthetic associations, as we have seen in an earlier part of this essay, were essentially pagan in origin and character; and as primitive Christians rigidly avoided everything connected, however re- motely, with heathen worshij^, and had neither 2 Cf. Buonarotti, in Hefele, Rigorismus, Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1841, pp. 363 — 366 ; \vith Perret, and Lehner, quoted in Gams, vol. ii. pp. 97, 98. 3 Browning, Christmas Eve and Easter Day. U 290 The Synod of Elvira. temple nor altar, but a mere house of prayer^ so pictures and images in like manner, and tlirougli the influence of similar associations, were at first ex- cluded from buildings erected for worship. And the abhorrence was the more intense because art as it then existed was pagan, not only in applica- tion but in spirit and conception : to have admitted it into the sanctuary would have been to desecrate the purity of the Christian faith ."^ § 6. There was another danger which could not be overlooked; the development of an improper hero-worship, to which the admission of images into the churches would have given rise. This tendency to idolatrous worship already needed re- pression ; and without due precaution, not only the dead but the living would have received similar honour in a country predisposed by its antecedents to the adoration of the emperor. This charac- teristic of religious life in Spain and elsewhere, it must be remembered, had often produced a vehe- ment commotion of popular feeling, always excitable on this point ; so that in the Diocletian persecution it was not an unusual outrage to throw the remains of martyrs into deep wells or into the sea, where their bodies might be secure against all recovery : the object being, as Eusebius informs us, '''to prevent such men from becoming gods of the Christians ; and that they who refuse to worship our gods, may not begin to worship our slaves.''^ ^ ^ Cf. Herbst, Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1821, pp. 36, 37. 6 Cf. Euseb. H. E. viii. 6 ; Mendoza, 1. c. p. 2G6 ; and Hefele, Rigorismus, 1. c. p. 394. Christian Antipathy to Art. 291 Nor can tliere be any doubt but that tlie Mosaic law exerted a most powerful influence in tlie same direction. The Old Testament Scriptures, which were still the chief subject of Christian study, for- bade all works in wood and stone, and on this pro- hibition great stress was not unnaturally laid. And thus it was, when this restraining force began to lose strength and vitality, and when the danger of relapsing into heathenism and idolatry had appa- rently disappeared, while on the other hand the spiritual tone and elevation of the Christian com- munity had been lowered, that such representations became universal. Then the craftsmen who had been debarred from the free use of their art, or excluded from the Christian Church, once more found scope for the activity of their genius, and they depicted Christ, his apostles, and his martyrs, in pictures, mosaics, and statues; and not content with these, gave Constantino a position of equal honour.^ § 7. But at present the antipathy was profound, and no objects of worship were allowed to be repre- sented in material forms. Thus Epiphanius tells us how he indignantly rent the curtain of a church in Palestine, because it bore the embroidered image of a saint ; " and Eusebius of C^sarea asks those who admit any portraiture of Christ, what kind of image is that to which they attribute such a name ? Is it the ^ Cf . Hefele, vol. iii. p. 368 ; and Eigorismus, ib. ; and Herbst, ib. " Epipban. Op. ii. 313. Cf. August. Ps. cxiii. Migne, xxxvii. pp. 1481—1484. u 2 292 The Synod of Elvira. true and the unchangeable form of the Divine Son^ or that which He took with His human nature when for our sake He assumed the semblance of a slave ? And he appeals to the universal conscience of the Church, and to its established custom^ as repudiating and banishing from Christian society all representa- tions of the kind. The Church tolerated symbolism ; religious images it abhorred.^ But it is easy to conceive how symbolic art would develop into a ma- terialised imitation ; how the picture of the " lost sheep ^^ would lead on to that of the ^^ Good Shepherd.^^ Nor could productions of this kind be kept within the private houses of Christians, but from the home they would inevitably make their way into the common sanctuary. It was to check such a practice that the Synod of Elvira passed the Canon which has been the centre of almost incessant con- troversy ever since, declaring that ^^ There shall be no pictures in the church, lest what is W'Orshipped and adored should be depicted on the walls.^^ ^ § 8. The simplicity and directness of the lan- guage would seem to leave little room for questioning its meaning. The Canon prohibits the admission of pictures, and^ by implication, of images^ into the Church, on the ground that if such representations are allowed to appear within its precincts, the objects of worhip and adoration cannot fail to be depicted there, leading to a profane degradation of ^ Eusebius Ccesar., Ep. ii. Ad Coustant. Aug. Migne, pp. 1546—1550. Cf. Gieseler, Ch. Hist. vol. ii. p. 38; cf. Tert, De Pudic. vii. ; Apol. xvi. ; Origen, c. Celsum, vi. 14. 3 Elv. XXXVI. Pictures in Christian ChnrcJics. 293 the Christian faith. The Church wishes to exclude a particular tjpe^ and to secure the efficiency of the prohibition, the prohibition is made general. It is not with a view of excluding the objects of a false cult_, of heathen veneration, that the walls are to be left bare, as one commentator has supposed; not because, if any such pictures were tolerated the great variety of pagan superstition and its objects would render all precautions futile, and entail the surreptitious intrusion of heathenism into the temple of God. It was intended to secure the Church and its worship from within, and from the idolatry not of heathen but of Christians.^ § 9. Persistent and determined attempts have been made by writers of a particular school to limit the application of the Canon ; some contending, with Aubespine at their head, that the prohibition refers only to representations of the Divine Being; others, that it applies only to the arbitrary taste and unwarrantable presumption of individuals. It is, however, impossible to see what justification can be found for the theory which interprets the Canon as a restriction upon an obtrusive ignorance which filled the walls of the Church with frescoes without ^^ order, law, or proportion.-" " The in- junction is clear and explicit, and the prohibition expressly censures, not the painter, but the picture ; ^ Bastevus, in Aguirre, Concil. vol. ii. in init. - Binterim, Katholik, 1821, vol. ii. pp. 436 — 138, who adopts this view, asserts the common and natural interpretation of the Canon, and Dr. Herbst's in particular, to be " eiue geschriebene odor fredruckte Unwahrheit." 294 The Synod of Elvira. censures it, moreover,, on a particular ground,, wMcli would not be affected by authorsliip and artistic skill. The picture was condemned, not for its intrinsic demerit, still less for its origin, but purely and simply for its presence in a particular place, wbere it miglit lead to pernicious and lament- able consequences. And altliougli we know that the ordinance was neglected and contested, disobedience does not alter its true significance. Of the two views mentioned above, the first has the stronger recommendation, though inadequate to secure its acceptance.^ Aubespine argues, that ''■ adoration ^^ in the original text can be referred only to the worship of God, and that the prohibition must therefore be confined to representations of the Divine Nature and its attributes. But unfortunately for this theory, the term '*' adoration ^^ has the very opposite significance in the language of the empire. It had at first a physical meaning ; expressed, in fact, the raising of the hand to the lips of the dependant, and subsequently was specially applied to the semi-religious worship accorded to the Emperor. "Sancti colendi, deus adorandus,^^ as Gams well suggests, in the imperial idiom would be exactly reversed.'' In the present case, the use of both terms *^ colo '' and " adoro ^^ is decisive against 3 Aubespine, pp. 50, 51. 4 Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 97. Pliny, N. H. xxviii. 2. 25, " In adorando dexteram ad osculum referimus." Statius, Thebais, xii. 817, " Longe sequere, at vestigia semper adora ; " and -/Emllian, in Gams, "Qui audiuntur, qui tinientur, qui adovantur, si Dii non coluntur, nee imperatorum vultus adorantur "i " Pic hires in CJiristian Churches. 295 arguments of this nature. It was not merely lest tlie Illimitable should be limited, and the Spirit mate- rialised, to the surprise and scandal of converts and catechumens ; but to ensure that in the sphere of worship there should be neither human nor divine semblance to divert the souFs homage from its true and lawful object, that this decree was pronounced.^ Other interpretations have been suggested, some ludicrous, some fantastic. The dampness of the church walls has been adduced as a cause, and the desecration which would necessarily occur when beams and stones were peeled. An alternative suggestion is, that while images, which are not for- bidden by the words of the Canon, could in a time of danger be easily and promptly removed, paintings were fixtures, and must be left to heathen outrage ; while such representations would promote caricature of the divine mysteries, always a popular practice among the heathen.^ Others point to the reserve habitual in the Church, which provoked the common allegation that the Christians concealed the object of their worship, and to their reluctance to reveal the deeper truths of religion even to their new con- verts. These mysteries, we are told, could not be hidden if they were once depicted on the walls of the building, and artificial covering would be futile.^ To examine such theories separately is an unneces- sary task, and one which may safely be neglected : 5 Cf. Gleseler, Ch. Hist. vol. i. p. 272, n. 5, and Hefele, vol. i. r. 170. •■' Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 266. " Cf. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 275. 296 TJic Synod of Ehdi^a . tested by the language of the Canon, they all have a false and hollow ring. One point, however, is worth notice, that while the Mosaic law strictly prohibited the use of " graven images," it contained no specific allusion to works of pictorial art. The silence of the Old Testament may have induced rigid literalists to countenance the one form of idolatry, while they lavished their indignation upon the other. This hypothesis may, if well grounded, explain the restricted reference of the ambisruous Canon.^ § 10. There is another Canon, dissimilar indeed to that which we have just been consideriug, but also having for its aim the protection of the church edifice from practices derogatory to its honour and dignity, and liable to disturb the peace and to debase the elevation of worship. The thirty-sixth Canon guarded against illegitimate adoration; the fifty- second restrains from insult, and punishes in the severest way those who should have been convicted of exposing satires or pasquinades in the church precincts.^ The exact nature of these compositions cannot be ascertained with any degree of accuracy, but we are justified in assuming that they were scurrilous and profane, corresponding perhaps in 8 Dr. Nolte, Tubing. Theol. Quart. 18G5, p. 311, reads " de- fingatur " or " diffingatur " for " dejiingatur " = " pingendo corrumpatur." Keander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. pp. 405, 406, note, asserts that the Canon is ambiguous. The cases, however, which he selects are not ambiguous in any sense : '" walls " in such close connexion with " ecclesia " can be nothing save the walls of the church, and " colere " and "adorare " must, as we have seen, refer to the objects of an imj)roper Christian worship. 3 Elv. LII. Satires in ChurcJies. 2()j kind to tlie polemical verses wliicli Avere so popular in the controversies of Eastern Christendom, or to the audacious lines in which Constantino,, having outlived his popularity^ was at Rome^ in his own city^ compared to the tyrant Nero.^ The weapon would be only too serviceable, not only against secular but against ecclesiastical authorities, who were secured against all but covert attack by special safeguards. The Church in this instance inherited the severity of the Roman law, which visited this offence with a capital sentence. Augustus, too, put offenders of this order on the same level as those guilty of high treason ; and it was only against the gods, as Augustine ironically suggests, that such licence was enjoyed with impunity. The Church, as well as the emperor, was bent on suppressing a practice which might lead to disorders of the gravest kind." § 11. "VYe might, I think, justly infer from the foregoing evidence that the Church was beginning* to suffer from the accession of members attracted by little of devout motive or lofty aspiration ; and the first impression is corroborated and deepened by the Canons which deal with Church absentees. In the period of persecution, indeed, still lying in the immediate past, converts, and even believers, I Cf. Milman, Hist. Christ, vol. ii. pp. 328, 329. - CT. August. De Civ. Dei, ii. 9—14. Cf. Leg. XII. Tab., " Si quis actitaverit, sive carmen condiderit, quod infauiiaiii flagitiumve alteri precatur, capite punitor." Cf. Sueton. Oct. Iv. Juvenal, vi. 244 Mendoza, 1. c. p. 311. Gams, vol. ii. p. 110. The Canon is repeated in the Corpus luris Canonici, III. c. V. q. 1. 298 The Synod of Elvira . fearing to imperil life and fortune by presence in tlie cliurcli, had not unnaturally abandoned all attendance at its services, and by tlieir own act, rather than through any formal resolution of the faithful, separated themselves from communion. Now, however, that peace was again restored, these practical apostates were anxious to return to their old allegiance, and to resume the position which the}?- had deserted. But to the conscience of the Church it was intolerable that one who had pro- fessed faith in Christ should forsake His cause in the hour of danger; and even if, betrayed into cowardice, he had not aggravated his sin by idol- atry, the offender could not be suffered to escape all punishment. On the believer, therefore, who had apostatised, ten years' penance were now im- posed, during which period he was to be excluded from communion.^ In the case of the catechumen whose conduct had been similar, the Synod were more lenient ; for they allowed such an one, even though he might have been absent from worship for a long time, on the testimony of one of the clergy or of trustworthy laymen, to be admitted to baptism, in consideration of the fact that he had abandoned his old indifference. Provided that the Church had satisfactory evidence to attest his Christian character, they were content to condone his former misdemeanour."* 3 Elv. XL VI. ^ Elv. XLV. Cf. Hefele, vol. i. pp. 156, 157. Dr. Nolte, 1. c. p. 312, suj^gests "quis" for " quisque," and "in vetere homine deliquisse " for " veterem hominem deliquisse, " i.e. the sin was C In I veil Attendance Enfo7rcd. 299 § 12. This legislation was specially directed against tlie offenders of tlie past. But tlie provisions of the Canons did not yet cover the whole extent of the evil ; for indifference had now taken the place of cowardice, and produced a similar irregularity in church attendance. The Synod were anxious to cope with this danger ; and in default of the reli- gious earnestness which gathers men to worship in secret chambers or on solitary moors_, they en- deavoured to substitute law for enthusiasm, and by pain and penalty to compel the absentees to come in. To this end they ordained that any Christian dwelling in a town where a church was accessible, who should fail to attend religious worship for three weeks, should be suspended from communion for a short time, to mark the displeasure and the censure of the Church.^ It was not to the clergy alone, as some have attempted to prove, that the penalties of the decree were applicable; on the contrary, when Hosius induced tlie Council of Sar- dica to re-enact this Canon, lie expressly alludes to to be considered as appertaining to his former self. Aubespine, pp. 61 — 67, followed by Mendoza, 1. c. p. 301, and by Migne, Diet. Cone. vol. i. p. 824, interprets part of the Canon in another and a very artificial way. He refers it to the case of a catechumen who, having been absent from church for a long time, then during sickness loses the power of speech, and thus becomes unable to express his desire for restoration in baptism : in such a case, the clergy or a trustworthy layman may serve as sponsors. But, as Aubespine himself admits, p. 65, there is in -the Canon no ostensible reference to sickness. Cf. Hippo XXXII., and Carth. (I.— IV.) LXXVI., Hefele, vol. ii. pp. 74, 75 ; and cf. August. De Adult. Con. i. xxvi. Migne, xl. p. 469. 5 Elv. XXI. 30O The Synod of Elvira. tlie fact that it was against tlie laity that the edict was specially directed.'^ No doubt priests also were irregularly absent from their cures, but this is not the special evil which is here under consideration. If any Christian absented himself from church, when one was near at hand, for three consecutive weeks, there was reasonable ground for supposing that his religious life had become enfeebled and impaired; prompt action might effect a lasting cure. The rural districts, however, are expressly ex- cluded from the operation of the Canon ; for there churches were comparatively few, and it might be difficult, and even dangerous, for a Christian man or woman to traverse the long distance, save on excep- tional occasions and in temperate seasons. Even in later times it was no easy matter to enforce regu- larity in church attendance among Christians living in the country parts ; and Mendoza gives us a good illustration of the difficulty in a passage quoted from Burchart,^ in which the clergy are commanded to warn the people under their charge to compel, or at least to allow the shepherds, the herdsmen, and the husbandmen, who spent their whole lives in the fields, and so lived like beasts, to attend service on the Lord^s Day and on other festivals. It also points out that Christ chose for His disciples, not nobles and orators, but fishers and men of low estate, and that it was to shepherds that the Divine Nativity was first revealed. This problem was one " Sardica XI . " Barchart, lib. ii. dec. 71. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 203. Baptismal Offerings AholisJica. 301 wliich is common to all times and places, and the leaders and councillors of tlie Chm^cli had to devise some solution, by means of wliicli they might secure the presence at worship of those who would, if left to themselves, have stayed away, gradually loosening all the ties which bound them to the Faith. That the policy adopted by the Synod was unjustifiable, one would hardly venture to assert ; that from its very nature it was and must have been inefficient, can hardly be gainsaid. It could reach ouly the coward and the hypocrite, while the man of inde- pendence and courage would only see in its pro- visions an additional incentive to choose and to persevere in his own path. At the same time it debased worship into a matter of outward form, ensuring neither spiritual aspiration nor harmony, while it seemed to insist on mere bodily presence in a place, rather than on communion with the Lord and Saviour of the Church. § 13. Two other Canons suggest degeneracy of another kind among priests and people, arising from covetousness, combined with indifference. It had been the custom in the Spanish Church, and else- where, for the catechumen when admitted to the baptismal rite to make an offering, as a testimony, perhaps, that he consecrated not only himself but his wealth to the service of the Master whom he vowed to obey. Observances of this order have always a tendency to become stereotyped, and to lose their voluntary character. This had been the case with the baptismal gift, which had been con- verted into a compulsorv tax levied on the neophytes 302 The Synod of Elvira. wlio presented themselves at the font of immersion. The Synod peremptorily forbade the continuance of such a practice, that there might be no appearance of bartering the gift of God for money — a charge to which the custom certainly exposed the offending clergy.^ The scandal, indeed, seems to have been characteristic of Spain ; for we meet with similar evils recurring, under other forms, at later Councils. Thus at Bracara, no less than six Canons deal with clerical extortion, practised at Episcopal visitation and ordination, in conferring the chrism, in the other ceremonies of baptism, and at the foundation and consecration of churches.^ An enforced enter- tainment of the bishop and his assistant clergy has also been recorded as a source of considerable expense to individual Christians in other lands ; but the evil must have been more pronounced in Spain than elsewhere/ § 14. Another ceremony existed in connexion with the same rite of baptism, specially characteristic of Gallican ritual. This custom of washing the feet of the newly baptized Christian immediately after the infusion of the chrism was derived from the great symbolical act of our Lord, and, no doubt, found a supposed sanction in the words — ^^ He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.''^ ' The practice, apparently, had only a national prevalence, for though some evidence « Elv. XL VIII. ^ 3 Bracara II.— VII. Migne, Diet. Cone. i. pp. 376, 377. ^ Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. xl. Migne, vol. xxxvi. p. 304. - John xiii. 10. Washing of the Feet at Baptism. 30 o exists to establisli its existence at Milan/ the facts are not well autlienticated : to Eoman usage it was certainly contrary ; and to tliis difference Mendoza attributes its discontinuance in Spain/ There, at any rate, the custom at present existed, and in intimate connexion with baptism : the question now arises, as to the reason of its prohibition. Dr. Herbst^ accounts for the decree,^ on the ground either of the increase in the number of catechumens, by which the process became laborious and tedious, or of a sense of indignity produced in the minds of the clergy by the obligation to perform such a menial office. But if numbers or disgust had brought the rite into unpopularity, what occa- sion was there to disallow it by a formal decree ? It would have disappeared without any compelling force. And, moreover, the connexion in which the prohibition stands is certainly not without signi- ficance, and suggests another explanation. The clergy exacted fees for baptism ; may they not have bartered the other honour at a proportionate price ? The hypothesis, if correct, accounts, and in the most natural way, for the conjunction of two apparently incono^ruous statutes." 2 Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 107, and Ambrosius, De Mjst. vi. ; De Sac. iii. 4. Migne, xvi. p. 398. ^ Mendoza, 1. c. p. 305. 5 Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1821, p. 40. ^ glv. XLVIII. 7 Cf. Diet. Christ. Antiq. vol. i. pp. 164—166. Hefele, vol. i. p. 177. Gams, vol. ii. pp. 106, 107. Remy Ceillier, Hist. des Auteurs Sacres, ii. 610. The Corpus Juris Canon. CIV. c. i. q. 1, repeats the prohibition. (i.) Gams, vol. ii. pp. 100, 107, distinguishes the various 304 The Synod of Elvira. § 15. I should be less inclined to lay stress on this particular theory^ were it not for the support which it finds in another Canon of Elvira^ relating to the Eucharistic sacrament^ and forbidding the bishop to receive an offering from one who is not in communion, excluded from the Lord^s Table as a neophyte, or in discipline.^ The prohibition admits of alternative ap23lications. It may refer to the offerings of bread and wine made at the Eucharistic feast by those present, partly consumed at the time, and recalling to mind not only the supper of the nio-ht of betrayal, but that memorable evening when Christ took the loaves and the fish from a lad in the crowd, and Avith them fed the hungering multi- tudes. Now, in some mysterious exercise of power, the offering was not multiplied, but was trans- muted — not in substance, but in essence ; not to the body of Christ, but into a spiritual force, which was inspiration and support to the true believer. Or, on the other hand, it may refer to the contribu- tions in coin or kind, made for the support of the clergy and the poor. In either case the principle is one and the same, and asserts that wealth cannot senses of " concha," as : (1.) A niche in altar or choir. (2.) Any tronch-like vessel used in church service. Cf. Paulinus, xxviii. 41, 42, " Quinque nitentium agmina concharum." (3.) A receptacle for baptismal water, such as the font or the baptistry. (4.) A receptacle for money at the church doors. (ii.) The ceremony of " capitilavium" was common elsewhere, and gave a name to "Palm Sunday" in some places. Cf. Isidorus, Etym. vi. 18 ; De Off. Eccl. i. 28. Augustine, Epp. liv. 17, Iv. 18. Migne, xxxiii. « Elv. XXVIII. Christian Offerings. 305 be allowed to serve as a passport into the com- munion of earth or of heaven. This law had always been recognised among Christians, and the gifts of unqualified donors had been restored;^ while Clement, in a passage of splendid indignation, repels the fears of those who would have taken such offerings as the only means to sustain the widow and the poor, insist- ing that if the Churches are in distress so extreme, it were better to die than to receive anything from the enemies of God, to the insult and scorn of His friends/ Whether the vSynod of Elvira would have gone to such extreme lengths in self-sacrifice to consistency it is unnecessary to discuss : it does assert, in the most unequivocal terms, here and elsewhere, that in the mysteries of the Faith only the faithful can share ; and condemns, in the most direct way, the laxity and the greed of Church officers who -would have betrayed their sacred trust through mercenary motives.' § 16. The questions which we have been consider- ing have reference only to the more external elements of Christian worship, and are concerned more inti- 3 Tert. De Prsesc. adv. Hajret. c. xxx. Cf. Adv. Marc. iv. 4. ^ Apost. Cons. iii. 8. - Duguet insists upon the offering, Aubespine on the collec- tion ; cf. Migne, Diet. Cone. vol. i. p. 821. Aub. p. 35. As to the communion offerings, cf. Laodicea XXXVII. (and also XLIX.). It was a scandal for a Christian of means not to bring a due portion to the communion feast. Cf. Cyprian, De Op. et El. XV. ; Xeander, Hist. Christ, vol. i. pp. 457, 458, and notes : Hatch, Bampton Lecture, and references quoted on pp 39, 40. Gams, vol. ii. p. 82 ; and Ilefele, vol. i. p. 167, admit either alternative. 30 6 The Synod of Elvira. mately witli ethics tlian religion; but only tliese meagre details concerning tlie worship of the Church are supplied by the direct evidence of the Synodical Canons. And although we may infer from incidental allusions a few more facts relating to the times of assembling and to the laws regulating admission to services and sacraments, which show a substantial agreement between the customs of Spain and other churches — about the subordinate officials connected with the edifice and the ritual of worship, about liturgies. Scriptures, and sacred song, the Synod is altogether silent; and such information must, it required, be sought from other sources lying beyond the province of this restricted essay. § 17. There is, however, one indication of the prevalence of Montanist heresy in connexion with one of the great festivals of the Church. It had been the practice, apparently, of some Spanish Christians to celebrate the Ascension of Christ, and to neglect the day commemorating the gift of the Holy Spirit ; that is, they kept the fortieth and not the fiftieth day after Easter. Among the followers of Montanus, indeed, the season which followed Easter derived its entire significance from the presence of Christ on earth among His disciples ; and they observed their period of fasting not before Easter, but after the Ascension, when, as they argued, the Bridegroom was "" taken away,^^ and the '^ days of fasting came.''^ ^ Their system acknow- 3 Matthew ix. 15. Cf. Hieronymus in loc. ; cf. Casslan, Col. xxi. 19, 20, in Mendoza, 1. c. p. 297. Easter Heresies. 307 ledged no conferment of tlie Holy Spirit at Pentecost, substituting the advent of Montanus for that of the Paraclete. Now, as Dr. Herbst suggests, independently of the fundamental rejection of Pentecostal grace, no better method could have been devised by antago- nistic sects than to fast during the festivals of the rest of the Church.^ This course was adopted by the Montanists ; perhaps also by the early forerunners of the Priscillianists, who at this time existed only in embryo and in germ, and not in any definite and developed form. Denying the fact, they ignored the festival. But the Holy Spirit had descended, so the Church confessed, on the Day of Pentecost, and to keep the Ascension of Christ without celebrating the advent of the Comforter was a strange travesty of sacred joy. How could the Church exult, if, bereaved of the bodily presence of its Lord, it had received no other abiding manifestation of the Divine Spirit ? ' To deny the reality of the event which Pentecost commemorated, was to reject a truth second only in importance to Christ^s atone- ment ; the error was not of ritual, but of faith, and was therefore denounced by the Synod.^ 4 Tubing. Theol. Quart. 1821, pp. 39, 40. ^ Epiphanius, Adv. Ha,>r. iii. 1 ; Migne, vol. xlii. Easter, §§ 823, 824 ; Pentecost, § 1105. ^ Elv. XLIII. MS. Tolet. i. has " diem Pentecostes post Pasclia celebremus non quadragesimam nisi [sed] quinquagesimam," i.e. one festival is futile without the other. Cf. Mansi, vol. ii. p. 13 ; and for an abridgment of the Canons, p. 21 : vid. Mendoza, 1. c. p. 296 ; Hefele, vol, i. p. 174 ; and Gams, vol. ii. pp. 104, 105. X 2 30 8 I he Synod of Elvira. § 18. Such then was the work of the Spanish Synod — the prelude to a greater and more universal policy ; political and moral rather than spiritual in character aud aim ; seeking to unite individuals in the corpo- ration, and to combine ^''the union and discipline of the Church/^ on which Gibbon lays such stress, with *^ the pure and austere morals of its adherents,'^ though to secure the one end, sacrifice on the other side was inevitable. * That which has been the theory of after-ages was the practical experiment of the Church of the fourth century. Eelieved from the repressive edicts of the secular power, and seeing the political fabric far gone in dissolution, the Church determined to establish a new centre of union amid the social ruin, and to rest not solely upon the individual basis of personal faith, but ou the wider though weaker foundations of a corporate existence, subject to its own rulers, and controlled by its own laws ; admitting men freely through gates which opened inwards, making* entrance easy, egress diffi- cult. In this new corporation the clergy would serve as the indispensable element of union ; they would secure a general cohesion among the parts of the enormous fabric, as a class possessing exceptional powers, devoted to the same ends, and in great measure severed from the duties and affec- tions of domestic life. The Synod of Elvira indeed had not advanced to the critical point ; that was still in reserve. And yet the outcome of its policy could only be an attempt to establish spiritual life by material force ; to transform the ^^ invincible altar" into vulnerable " rampart /^^ to substitute '' Kiniaacop de Trupyov ^(0}xbs,appr]KTOv aaKOs. Msch. Supp. 186. Its lV07^k, 309 the feebleness of man for the very power of God. Synod after Synod_, in Spain and other lands, assem- bled to deal with the evils which confronted the Fathers of Elvira, and attempted to suppress them by similar methods. It was all in vain : the penal law could not reach a disease which lay at the very heart of life and would yield only to spiritual remedies. Even when clear of disingenuous fallacy and casuistical eva,sion, a uniform code too often serves to debase and impair the nobler conceptions of Christian life and duty ; and where it finds no such ideals, it certainly creates none. The attempt to inclose the w^hole world in one visible and material Church was to repeat the errors of the Babel-builders in another form. As Heaven is not to be approached by such material access, so it is not to be brought down to earth by the mechanism of human invention. In the Spirit men may ascend into the ^' Hill of the Lord," and even while on earth escape from the perils and sorrows which surround their human lot ; and in the SjDirit too already exists that Kingdom of God for which they seek. It is here within them, but is '' not of this world ; '^ it has its laws, and its rulers : but the laws are not of mortal making, and Councils and Synods cannot repeal or transform them ; they may not be enforced by sword or sacrament. He who gave the law may safely be left to vindicate His own will. It is hard in the hours when the heart fails, and faith droops, to see how immeasurably the power of the Spirit transcends the visible forces of the material world. We endeavour to fortify our con- scious weakness by human organization ; to restrain The Synod of Elvira. our struggling passions by laws and penalties which men like ourselves have made ; and when the vision of Heaven is withheld, to excite our emotion by the resources of human ritual. But artificial codes o£ law can never secure righteousness among men ; and a Church that is made by men, and served by men, is human^ save in the inner spiritual life, which cannot find expression in these outward forms ; while it is impossible to perpetuate the human institution when waves of invasion or revolution sweep over nations. The Foundation survives, but all that the faithlessness, the ignorance, and per- versity of men have built into the spiritual structure is swept away, to return no more. These early days of the Church are long past now. The Synod of Elvira is for us nothing but an historic name to which we look back through the deepening shadow of centuries. Storm and tempest have again and again convulsed Europe, and the kingdoms of life have been recast in new moulds. But the main problem which perplexed that age is one which meets every new generation at its birth, insisting upon an answer, and not to be evaded or ignored, — How, in a world of accumulated error and hereditary evil, is a life of holiness and purity possible to our race ? How can men be induced to acknowledge and obey the Divine Will ? This was the ultimate and supreme end of the Synod's policy, circuitous and wavering though that policy may have been ; this is also the question for the Christian Church of to-day. Too easily are the mistakes of the past repeated. Too prone are we to think that Its Work. the Spirit is witli us when we have built the Temple, and that Rio-hteousness dwells in the Law. But not on this wise, — not *^with observation^^ comes the Kingdom of Heaven ; not by institution or edict is the final victory over evil assured. Only when the heart of man forsakes the things of earth, and, forgetting human sin and human sanctity, melts in the Divine love and is transfigured by the Divine Holiness, does it approach the Eternal God. Not in the creations of this world, but in that Spiritual Church not made with hands does it find its abiding home, for Unless He shall have hiiilt the house, then labour in vain that build it. Note A. — Canon XXXVI. and Peotestant Conteo- VEBSY. — The Canon prohibiting the admission of xnctures within the Church has been a favourite weapon of Protestant reformers. It has been quoted by — (1.) Becon, vol. ii. p. 71, " Catechism of the Law." (2.) John Bradford, vol. ii. p. 308, *' Hurt of hearing Mass." The Council " damned all kinds of images, yea, pictures in the temples." (3.) Calfhill, p. 154, " Answer to the treatise of the Cross," repels the argument that Christians in the prohibition were influenced bj the fear of heathen desecration. (4.) Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 179, " Answer to the Fifteen Articles of the Eebels, Devon." Article vii. states that " images were first set up only for a remembrance to laymen," and that it was then decreed that '•' they should be worshipped." Cranmer in reply quotes the Canon. (5.) Fulke, vol. ii. pp. 153, 154, *' Eejoinder to J. Martiall's reply to Master Calfhill." (6.) Jewell, vol. i. pp. 69, 70, " Controversy with Dr. Cole : reply of the Bishop of Sarum." "You quote the Councils : but what respect have you for them ? Eliberris decrees no images : 3 1 2 The Synod of Elvira. je have broken this Council, and filled your church full of images." Jewell, vol. ii. pp. 659, 690, " Controversy with Harding on the Adoration of Images ; " " Sermons on Haggai," i. 2 — 4, quotes the Canon. Jewell, vol. iv. pp. 791 and 1110. " Defence of the Apology of the Church of England," iii. 1 and 2. Harding sets the second Nicene Council against Elvira. " But, ex malis moribus house leges ortfe sunt." " Images may have existed, hut they are now forbidden.'' (7.) Parker, Archbishop, p. 93, "Archbishop Parker and others to Queen Elizabeth." *' These blind books and dumb school- masters (which they call laymen's books) have more prevailed by their carved and painted preaching of idolatry, than all other written books and preachings in teaching the truth and the horror of that vice." [Much of this also occurs in Eidley " Concerning Images,'' p. 95 : a remonstrance addressed to King Edward VI.] (8.) Philpot, p. 407, " Curio's Defence of Christ's Church. Other references to the Council and its Canons occur in Eulke, vol. ii. pp. 126, 153 ; Calfhill, pp. 154, 303 ; Latimer, Sermons, 1758, vol. i. pp. 237, 443. Jewell, vol. i. p. 176, refers to one of the spurious Canons. The references throughout the note are to the publications of the " Parker Society." APPENDIX A. CONCILIUM ELIBERITANUM^ DECEM ET NOVEM EPISCOPOEU^I CONSTANTINI TEMPORIBUS EDITUM EODEM TEMPORE QUO ET NIC^NA SYNODUS HABITA EST.- QuuM consedissent sancti et religiosi episcopi in ecclesia Eliberitana^ hoc est : Felix episcopus Accitanus, Osius episcopus Cordubensis_, Sabinus ^ The text of the Synodical Acts has heen reproduced with little change from the edition of the Spanish Councils published in the year 1804 by F. Antonius Gonzalez, the Superintendent of the Public Library at Madrid. [Collectio Canonum Ecclc- sicB Hispance nunc primiim in lucem edita a Pullica Matritensi Sihliotheca.'] Gonzalez based his version on a collation of nine manuscripts, two of which can with certainty be assigned to the tenth century ; the others are of uncertain date, or belong to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They are thus designated. (1) Codex Alvedensis, seu Vigilanus [A.] : transcribed in the Monastery of Alveda by Vigilanus, a priest, a.d. 976. (2) Codex iEmilianensis [-TE.], from the Monastery of St. iEmilian de la Cogolla, a.d. 994. (3) and (4) Codices Toletani [T. 1. ; T. 2.] : the former may belong to the eleventh century ; the second was transcribed '* in Complutensi civitate " by Julian, 3 1 4 Appendix. episcopus Hispalensis, Camerinus episcopus Tucci- tanus, Sinagius episcopus Epagrensis, Secundinus^ episcopus Castulonensis^ Pardus episcopus Mente- sanuSj Flavianus" episcopus EliberitanuSj Cantouius episcopus Urcitanus, Liberius episcopus Emeriteu- sis^ Valerius episcopus Csesaraugustanus, Decentius episcopus Legionensis^ Melantius episcopus Tole- tanus^ lanuarius episcopus de Fibulana_, Vincentius episcopus Ossonobensis, Quintiauus episcopus El- borensis^ Successus episcopus de Eliocroca, Euty- cliianus episcopus Bastitanus^ Patricius episcopus Malacitanus : residentibus ^ etiam viginti et sex presbyteris/ adstantibus diaconibus et omui plebe, episcopi universi dixerunt. ' Secundus, BR. - Flavins, T. 1. 2. ^ Die iduum maiarum residentihus, Ant. Gonzalez. * U. and G. contain the names of the presbyters. a priest, a.d. 1133. (5) Codex Bibliothecse Regise [BR.] is a copy in the Royal Library of Madrid, of uncertain date. (6) and (7) Codices Escuriales [E. 3.; E. 4.], possibly of the eleventh century, but probably later. (8) Codex Urgelitanus [U.] may be attributed to the latter part of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century. (9) Codex Gerundensis [G.], containing a reference to events of the 3'ear a.d. 1068, can- not be earlier than the close of the eleventh century. The Codex Hispalensis and the Codex Lucensis, which perished in the fire at the Escurial, a.d. 1671, preserved in copy, were also used in the work of collation. To the text of Gonzalez I have added in foot-notes the more important of Dr. Nolte's emen- dations [N.] \Tulnngen Theologische Qiiartalschrift, 1863, vol. xlvii. pp. 308 — 314], and some alterations introduced by Hefele and Gams. - Era CCCLXIL, M. T. 1. 2. Appendix. 3 1 5 I Be Ids, r[ui]post haptismum idoUs immolaverunt. Placuit inter cos :^ Qui post fidem baptismi salu- taris adulta aetate ad templum idoli idolaturus'^ accesserit et fecerit_, quod est crimen capitdle^ quia est summi sceleris_, placuit nee in finem eum. communionem accipere. ' MSS. Eos : nos, N. ^ Itlololatratnrus, e conj. * Cajntale: v. I. j^rincij^ale, Codd. JE. BR. T. 1. 2. II. De sacerdotihus gentium qui post haptismum ivimo- laverunt. Flamines qui post fidem lavacri et ^ regenerationis sacrificaverunt, eo quod geminaverint scelera, acce- dente homicidio^ vel triplicaverint facinus, coheerente moecliia, placuit eos nee in finem accipere com- munionem. ^ JPost haptismum, U. G. III. De eisdem si idolis munus tantum dederunt. Item flamines qui non immolaverint^ sed munus tantum dederint, eo quod se a funestis abstinuerint sacrificiis, placuit in finem eis prrestare^ commu- nionem, acta tamen legitima pcenitentia : item ipsi si post poenitentiam fuerint moccliatij jolacuit 3 1 6 Appendix. ulterius his noii esse dandam communionemj ne illxisissQ ^ de dominica communione videaiitur. ^ FrcBstarif N. " Lusisse, M. BR. T. 1. 2. U. G. Illusisse in, or illusisse dominiccB communioui . N. IV. JDe cisdem si catcchumem adhuc immolant^ quando haptlzentiir. Item fl amines si fuerint catechumeni et se a sacri- ficiis abstinuerint, post triennii tempora placuit ad baptismum admitti debere. ^ Immolarent, U. G. Y. Si domina jper zelum ancillam occiderU. Si qua femina ^ furore zeli accensa flagris verbe- raverit ancillam suam, ita ut intra" tertium diem animam cum cruciatu efFundat, eo quod incertum sit voluntate an casu occiderit; si volantatOj post septem annos, si casu post quinquennii tempora,^ acta legitima poonitentia ad communionem placuit admitti ; quod si iiifra'^ tempora constituta fuerit infirmata, accipiat communionem. 1 Domina, T. 2. " Infra, U. G. ■'* Quinquennium, T. 1. 2. ^ Intra : cf. Tubingen Theolog. Qaartalschrift, 1807, p. 55. Appendix, 317 VI. SI quicumque 2'>er maleficium hominem occidei'it. Si quis vero maleficio interficiat alterum, eo quod sine idolatria perficere scelus non pot nit, ^ nee in finem impertiendam esse ilU' commimionem. ^ Potuerit, Hefele, vol. i. p. 158. ■^ Hi, U. G. YII. Be 2)oeniten{{biis moccJut^ si rursiis moechaverint. Si quis forte fidelis post lapsum raoecliiae^ post tempera constituta acta poenitentiaj denuo fuerit fornicatus,, placuit nee in finem habere eum commu- nionem. VIII. Be feminis qiice relictis viris sicis aliis nulmnt. Item feminsG;, qua3 nulla prajcedente causa reli- querint viros sues et alteris se copulaverint^ nee in finem accipiant communionem. IX. Be feminis quce aduUeros maritos rellnqnunt et aliis niihunt. Item femina fidelis, qua? adulterum maritum reli- querit fidelem et alterum ducit_, prohibeatur ne 3 1 8 Appendix. ducat : si duxerit non prius accipiat communionem^ nisi quern reliquit de sceculo exierit, nisi forsitan necessitas infirmitatis dare ^ compulerit. 1 BarL N. X. De relicta catechumeni si alterum duxerit Si ea quam catechumenus relinquit duxerit mari- tum, potest ad fontem lavacri admitti : hoc et circa feminas catechumenas erit observandum. Quod si fuerit fidelis quae ducitur ab eo qui uxorem incul- patam relinquit, et quum scierit ilium habere uxorem^ quam sine causa reliquit, ijlacuit in finem huiusmodi ^ Placuit Jiuic in jinem non dandam esse commzmionem, BR. Placuit hide nee in finem dcuidam^ T. 1. 2. XI. JDe catecJiumena si graviter cegrotaverit. Intra quinquennii autem tempora catechumena si graviter fuerit infirmata^ dandum ei baptismum placuit, non denegari. XII. De midierihus rpi.ce lenocinium fecerint. Mulier vel parens vel quaslibet fidelis_, si lenoci- nium exercuerit^ eo quod alienum vendiderit corpus Appendix, 319 vel potius suum^ placuit earn nee in finem accipere communion cm. XIII. De virginihus Beo sacratis si adulter aver int. Yirgines qnaa se Deo dicaverunt, si pactum iwr- diderint^ virginitatis^atqne eidem libidini inservierint non intelligentes quid admiserint," placuit nee in finem eis dandam esse communionem. Quod ^i semel persuasce aid infirmi corporis lapsic vitiatce omni tempore^ vitre suce liuiusmodi femince egerint poenitentiam, ut abstineant se a coitu^ eo quod lapsae potius videantur, placuit eas in finem com- munionem accipere debere. ^ JProdiderint, N. ^ Amiserint. ^ Quod si semetipsas poenituerint, qicod infirmitaie corporis lapscefuerint, et toto tempore, etc. XIY. De virginihus secularihus si moechaverint. Yirgines que© virginitatem suam non custodierint^ si eosdem qui eas violaverint duxerint et tenuerint maritos, eo quod solas nuptias violaverint, post annum sine poenitentia reconciliari debebunt ; vel si alios cognoverint viros_, eo quod moecliata) sunt, placuit per quinquennii tempera acta legitima poeni- tentia admitti eas ad communionem oportere. Appendix. XY. De coniagio corum qui ex gentilitate veniiint. Propter copiam puellarum gentilibus minime in matrimoniam dandge sunt virgines christian ce_, ne 86tas in fiore tnmens in adulterium animae resol- vatur. XVI. Do puellis fidelibus ne infidelibiis conmngantur. Hseretici si se transferre noluerint ad ecclesiam catholicam, nee ipsis catliolicas dandas esse puellas ; sed neqne ludaeis neque hsereticis dare^ placuit^ eo quod nulla possit esse societas fideli cum infidele : si contra interdictum fecerint parentes, abstineri per quinquennium placet. 1 Dari, N. . XVII. De his qui filias suas sacerdotibus geuUUum coniun- gunt. Si qui forte sacerdotibus idolorum filias suas iunxerint, placuit nee in finem eis dandam esse communionem. Appendix. 3 2 1 XVIII. De sacerdotlhus et mintstris si moechavermt, Episcopi, presbyteres et diacones si in ministerio positi detecti fuerint quod sint moecliati, placuit propter scandalum et propter profanum crimeu nee in finem eos communionem accipere debere. XIX. Be clericis negotia et nundlnas sedantlbus. EpiscopI, presbyteres et diacones de locis suis negotiandi causa non discedant; nee circumeuntes provincias qiccestiiosas nundinas sectentur : ^ sane ad victum sibi conquirendum aut filium aut libertum ant mercenarium aut amicum aut quemlihet' mittant ; et si voluerint negotiari, intra provinciam negoti- entur. * ^e circumeuntes provlncias, qucestuosas nundinas sec- tantes in periculo incurrant, U. 2 Quemlihet Jidelem, U. XX. Be clericis et lalcis usiwariis. Si quis clericorum detectus fuerit usuras accipere, placuit eum degradari et abstineri. Si quis etiam laicus accepisse probatur usuras_, et promiserit cor- reptus iam se cessaturum nee ulterius exacturuni, placuit ei veniam tribui : si vero in ea iniquitate duraverit, ab ecclesia esse proiciendum. Y ,2 2 Appenaix. XXI. De Ids qui tardiiis ad ecclesiam aceedunt. Si quis in civitate positus tres dominicas ad eccle- siam non accesserit, pauco tempore abstineatur, ut correptus esse videatur. XXII. Be catholicisinhoereseyn transeuntihiis, si reverfantur. Si quis de catholica ecclesia ad hseresem transitum fecerit rursusque recurrerit, placuit huic poeniten- tiam non esse denegandam co quod cognoverit peccatum suum; qui etiam decem annis agat poeni- tentiam, cui post decem annos praestari communio debet; si vero infantes fuerint transducti, quod non suo vitio peccaverint incuDctanter reciipi dehent.^ 1 Dehebunt, BR. XXIII. De iemijore iciuniorum. leiunii superpositiones ^ per singulos menses pla- cuit celebrari, exceptis diebus duorum mensium lulii at Augusti propter quorumdam infirmitatem. ^ Superimposiiiones, M. T. 2. Appendix. XXIV. Do Ills qui ill iieregre haptizantur, ut ad clerum non veniant. Omnes qui in peregre fuerint baptizati, eo quod oorum minime sit cognita vita, placuit ad clerum non esse promovendos in alienis provinciis. XXV. De epistolis communicatoriis confessorum. Omnis qui attulerit litteras confessorias ^ sublato nomine confessoris, eo quod omnes sub hac nominis gloria j9(Xs-sim^concutiant simplices, communicatoriaa ei dandas sunt litter£e. ^ Y. 1. litteras confessio7iis. 2 y. 1. parfim. XXVI. Ut omni sabbato ieiunetur. Errorem placuit corrigi ut omni sabbati die superpositiones celebremus. XXVII. De dericis, ut extraneas feminas in domo non Jtaheant. Episcopns vel quilibet alius clericus aut sororem aut filiam virginem dicatam Deo tantum secum habeat : extraneam nequaquam habere placuit. Y 2 324 Appendix. XXYIII. -De ohlationibus eorum qui non communicant, Episcopum placuit ab eo, qui non communicat, onimus ^ accipere non debere. » Munera, M. BR. T. 1. 2. G. XXIX. De energnmenis cjiialiter haheantiir in ecclesia. Energumenns qui ab erratico spiritu exagitatur^^ huius nomen neque ab altare cum oblatione esse re- citandum, nee permittendum ut sua manu in ecclesia ministret. XXX. De his qui 2)ost lavacrum moecliati sunt ne suhdiacone3 fiant. Subdiacones eos ordinari non debere qui in ado- lescentia sua fuerint moecliati, eo quod postmodum per subreptionem ad altiorem gradum promovean- tur: vel si qui sunfc in prseteritum ordinati, amo- veantur. XXXI. De adolescentihus qui post lavacrum moecliati sunt. Adolescentes qui post fidem lavacri salutaris faerint moecliati, quum duxerint uxores, acta legi- tima poenitentia placuit ad communionem eos admitti. Appendix. 0^5 XXXII. Dd excommunicatis ^ presbyter is, ut in necessitate communionem dent. Apud presbyterum, si quis gravi lapsu in rainain mortis incident, placuit agere poenitentiam non debere, sed potius apud episcopum : cogente tamen infirmitate necesse est presbyterem communionem prosstare debere, et diaconum si ei iusserit sacerdos.^ ^ De 2:)reshiiteris, ut excommimicatis, Hefele, vol. i. p. 168. De preshyteris exc. ut, sive de preshyteris ut in, IS". 2 Aliter : — Si quis gravi lapsu in ruinam mortis inciderit, placuit, agere poenitentiam non debere sine episcopi consultu, sed potius apud episcopum, agat, cogente tamen infirmitate. Non est presbyterorum aut diaconorum, communionem talibus proestare debere, nisi eis iusserit episcopus. XXXIII. J)e eiJiscopis et ministris, ut ah uxonhus ahstineant. Placuit in totum probibere episcopis, presbyteris et diaconibus vel omnibus clericis positis in minis- terio abstinere se a coniugibus suis, et non generare filios : quicumque vero fecerit, ab lionore clericatus exterminetur. XXXIY. Ne cerei in coemeteriis incendantur. Cereos per diem ^ placuit in coemeterio non inccndi, inquietandi enim sanctorum spiritus non sunt. Qui .26 Appendix, liEec non observaverint arceantur ab ecclesise com- munioTie. ^ Perlnde, Gonzalez Tellez. XXXV. Ne femincB in coenieteriis jpervigilent. Placuit prohiberi ne femin88 in coemeterio pcr- vigilent, eo quod s^pe sub obtentu orationis laten- ter Bcelera committunt. XXXVI. Ne pidurce in ecclesia Jiant. Placuit picturas in ecclesia esse non debere, ne quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus depingatur.^ ' Kcc, M. BR. E. 3. T. 1. 2. 2 Defiiigatur, sive diffingatur, N. x:xxviT. De cnergurnenis non haptizatis. Eos qui ab immundis spiritibus vexantur_, si in fine mortis fuerint constituti, baptizari placet ; si fideles fuerint, dandam esse communionem. [Probibendum etiam ne lucernas bi publico accendant ; si facere contra inter dictum voluerint, abstineantur a com- munione.] XXXVIII. TJt in necessitate etjideles haptizent. Loco peregre navigantes, aut si ecclesia proximo Appenaix, 327 non fuerifc, posse fidelem^ qui lavacrum suum inte- grum habet iiec sit bigamus^ baptizare in necessi- tate infirmitatis positum catecbumenum, ita ut si supervixerit ad episcopum eum perducat, ut per manus impositionem perfici possit. XXXIX. T)e gentilibus si in discrimine haptizarl c.cpetnnt. Gentiles si in infirmitate desideraverint sibi manus imponi, si fuerit eorum ex aHqua parte honestavita^ placuit eis manum imponi et fieri Christianos. XL. Ne id rpwd tdolothytum estfidelcs acciplant, Probiberi placuit^ ut quum rationes suas accipiunt possessores^ quidquid ad idolum datum fuerit accepto non ferant : si post interdictum fecerint^ per quin- quennii spatia temporum a communione esse ar- cendos. XLL Ut prohibeant domlni idola colere servis siils. Admoneri placuit fideles, ut in quantum possunt probibeant ne idola in domibus suis babeant : si vero vim metuunt servorum vel se ipsos puros conser- vent, si non fecerint_, alieni ab ecclesia babeantur. 328 Appendix. XLII. De Ids qui adfidem veniunt, quanclo hajptizentur. Eos qui ad 'priina'mjidem credulitatls ^ accedunty si bonse fuerint conversationis, intra biennium temporum placuit ad baptismi gratiam admitti debere, nisi infirmitate compellente coegerit ratio velocius suhvenire' periclitanti vel gratiam pos- tulanti. ^ Fidel credulitatem, N. 2 Suhveniri, N. XLIIL Be celehratione Pentecostes. Pravam institutionem emendari placuit iuxta auctoritatem scripturarum, ut cuncti diem Pente- costes celebremiis, ne si quis non fecerit ^ novam hseresem induxisse notetur. ^ Diem Pentecostes post Pascha celehremus^ non quadra- gesimam nisi qiiinquagesimam : qui non fecerit, T. 1. XLIV. De meretridhus 'paganis si convevtantur. Meretrix quao aliquando ^ fuerit et postea habuerit maritum, si postmodum ad credulitatem venerit, incunctanter placuit esse recipiendam. ^ Pag ana aliquando , TJ. Appendix. 329 XLV. De catecliumenis c[ui ecclesiam non frequentant. Qui aliquando fuerit catechumenus et per infinita tempora numquam ad ecclesiam accesserit, si eum de clero quisqiie ^ cognoverit esse Christianum, aut testes aliqui extiterint fideles^ placuit ei baptismum non negari^ eo quod retercm liominem dereliquisse ' videatur. ' In vetere liomine dereliquisse, N. In vcterem liominem deliquisse, M. T. 1. 2. U. XLVL De fidelibus si apostavcrint quamdlu pceniteant. Si quis fidelis apostata per infinita tempora ad ecclesiam non accesserit, si tamen aliquando fuerit reversus nee fuerit idolator_, post decem annos placuit communionem accipere. XLVIL De eo qui iixorem hahcns sce-pius moechatur. Si quis fidelis liabens uxorem non semel sed s^pe fuerit moecliatus, in fine mortis est conveniendus : quod si se promiserit cessaturum^ detur ei communio : si resuscitatus rursus fuerit moecliatus, placuit ulterius non ludere ^ eum de commuDione pads? 1 V. 1. edere. Cf. Aubespine, p. 78. - Y. 1. x^anis. Appendix. XLVIII. De haptlzatls ut nihil accipiat dents. Emendari placuit, ut hi qui baptizautur, ut fieri solebat_, nummos in conclia non mittant, ne sacerdos quod gratis accepit pretio distrahere videatur : neque pedes eorum lavandi sunt a sacerdotibus vel ^ clericis. '■ Sed, T.l. XLIX. Be frugibus fidelium ne a ludwis henedieantur. Admoneri placuit possessores^ ut non patiantur fructus suos, quos a Deo percipiunt cum gratiarum actione, a ludasis benedici, ne nostram irritam et innrmam faciant benedictionem : si quis post inter- dictum facere usurpa^erit, penitus ab ecclesia abiciatur. L. De Christianis qui cum ladceis vescuntur. Si vero quis clericus vel fidelis cum ludaBis cibum sumpserit, placuit eum a communione abstineri ut debeat emendari. LT. De Ticereticisj tit ad clerum non j)romoveantur. Ex omni hserese fidelis si venerit, minime est ad Appendix. 00 clerum promovendus : vel si qui sunt in praeteritum ordinati^ sine dubio deponantur. LIT. De Ills riu'i in ecclesia llhellos fariiosos ponnnt. Hi qui inventi faerint libellos famosos in ecclesia ponere auatliematizentur. LIII. De episcopis qui excommunicato alleno com- miinicanf. Placuit cunctis_, ut ab eo episcopo quis ^ recipiat communionem^ a quo abstentus in crimine aliquo quis fuerit ; quod si alius episcopus prassunipserit eum admitti^ illo adhuc minime faciente ' vel consen- tiente a quo fuerit communione privatus, sciat se huiusmodi causas inter fratres esse cum status sui periculo praestaturum. ^ Quisque, N. - Y. 1. scicnie. JAY. De pareniihus qidfidem sponsaliorum frangunt. Si qui parentes fidem fregerint sponsaliorum, triennii tempore abstineantur; sitamenidem sponsus vel sponsa in gravi crimine fuerint deprebensi, erunt excusati parentes : si in eisdem fuerit vitium et polluerint se, superior sententia servetur. 33^ Appendix. LY. De sacerdotihiis gentium qui iamnon sacrificant. Sacerdotes qui tantum coronas portant nee sacri- ficant nee de suis sumptibus aliquid ad idola praestant, placuit post biennium accipere commu- nionem. LYI. De magistratibus et duumviris. Magistrahis^ vero nno anno quo agit duum- viratum, proliibendum jplacet' ut se ab ecclesia cohibeat. ^ Maglstratum, Hefele, vol. i. p. 181. 2 Placuit, T. 1. 2. LYII. De his qui vestiinenta ad ovnandam ]Jom])am dederunt. Matronoe vol earum mariti vestimenta sua ad ornandam seculariter pompam non dent ; et si fecerint, triennio abstineantur. LYIII. Be his qui commiinicatorias litteras portant, ut de fide interrogentur. Placuit ubique et maxime in eo loco^ in quo prima cathedra constituta est episcopatus,^ ut inter- Appendix, 333 rogentur hi qui communicatorias litteras tradunt; an omnia recte haheant ^ suo testimonio comprobata. ^ PrimcB cathedrcB constituius est ej)isco2)ics, e conj. ' Se haheant, Hefele, vol. i. p. 181. LIX. Befidelibns, ne ad CapitoUum causa sacrijicandi ascendant. Prohibendum ne quis cbristianus, ut gentilis^, ad idolum Capitolii causa sacrificandi ascendat et^ videatj quod si fecerit, i^ari crimine teneaiur : si fuerit fidelisj' post decern annos acta poenitentia recipiatur. 1 Auf, N. " Quodsifecei'it, jyciri crimine teneaiur ac si fuerit ^delis et jpost, N. LX. Be Jus qui destruentes Idola occiduntur. Si quis idola fregerit et ibidem fuerit occisus, quatenus^ in evangelio scriptum non est neque invenietur suh" apostolis umquam factum, placuit in numerum eum non recipi martyrum. * Quatenus quia, G. ^ V. 1. ah. LXI. De his qui diicd)us sororihus copulantur. Si quis post obitum uxoris sute sororem eius OO' Appendix, (iuxerit, et ipsa fuerit fidelis, quinquennium a com- munione placuit abstineri, nisi forte velocius dari pacem necessitas coegerit infirmitatis. LXII. De anrigis et i:>antomimis si converfmitur. Si auriga^ aut pantomimus credere voluerit, placuit ut prius artihus^ suis renuntient et tunc demum suscipiantur, ita ut ulterius ad ea non rever- tantur : qui si facere contra interdictum tentaverint, proiciantur ab ecclesia. ^ Y. 1. augur. " Y. 1. aciihus. LXIII. De uxorihus qucefilios ex adulter'io necanf. Si qua per adulterium absente marito suo conce- perit, idque post facinus occiderit, placuit nee in finem dandam esse communionem eo quod gemin^- verit seel us. LXIV. De femiiiu qucc usque ad morte))i ciuii alienis viris adulterant. Si qua usque in finem mortis sua3 cum alieno viro fuerit moecliata, placuit nee in finem dandam ei esse communionem : si vero eum reliquerit, post decem annos accipiat communionem acta legitima poeni- tentia. Appendix, jj LXY. De achilferis uxorihus clericorum. Si cuius clerici uxor fuerit moecliata et scierit earn maritus suus moecliari et non earn statim proiecerit, nee in finem accipiat communionem, ne ab his qui exemplum bonae conversationis esse debent, ab eis videantur scelerum magisteria procedere. LXYI. Be Ills qui 'privlgnas suas duciint. Si quis i^rivignam ^ suam duxerit uxorem, eo quod sit incestus, placuit nee in finem dandam esse com- munionem. ^ Antenatam jprivignam, T. 1. LXYII. De coniiKjio catechumence fevihicc. Probibendum ne qua fidelis vel catecliumena aut comatos aut vivos cinerarios ^ babeant : qugecumque hoc fecerint, a communione arceantur. ^ Aut comatos aut vivos cineravios, M. iE. BR. T. 1. U. Cenovavios, A. E. 3. Generavios, T. 2. V. II. comicos^ scenicos. LXVIII. Be catecliumena adultera qucefilium necat. Catechumena si per adulterium conceperit et praefocaverit, placuit eam in fine baptizari. OJ 6 Appendix, LXIX. De viris coniugatis jpostea in achdteriiim lapsis. Si quis forte habens uxorem semel fuerit lapsus, placuit eum qumquennium agere debere poenitentiam et sic reconciliari, nisi necessitas infirmitatis coegerifc ante tempus dari communionem : lioc et circa feminas observandum. LXX. Defeminis quce conscils marltls ad alterant. Si cum conscientia mariti uxor fuerit moechata, placuit nee in finem dandam ei ^ esse communionem : si vero eam reliquerit, post decem annos accipiafc communionem, si eam quam sciret adulteram aliqua tempore in dome sua retinuit. 1 i:is, BR. U. G. M, M. LXXI. De stupratoribus puerorum. Stupratoribus puerorum nee in finem dandam esse communionem. LXXII. Be vichds moecMs si eumdem postea maritum diixerint. Si qua vidua fuerit mcechata et eumdem postea babuerit maritum, post quinquennii tempus acta legitima poenitentia placuit eam communioni recon- Appendix. ciliari : si alium duxorit relicto illo, nee in finem accipiat communionem ; vel si fuerit ille fidelis quern accepit, communionem non accipiet, nisi post decern annos acta legitima poenitentia, vel si infirmitas coegerit velocius dari communionem. LXXIII. De delatoribus. Delator si quis extiterit fidelis, et per delationem eius aliquis fuerit proscriptus vel interfectus, piacuit eum nee in finem accipere communionem ; si levior causa fuerit, intra quinquennium accipere poterit communionem : si catecliumenus fuerit, post quin- quennii tempera admittetur ad baptismum. LXXIV. Defalsis testihus. Falsus testis prout est crimen abstinebitur : si tamen non fuerit mortale quod obiecit et prohaveritj quod non ^ tacuerit, biennii tempore abstinebitur ; si autem non probaverit convento clerOy ])lacidt ' per quinquennium abstineri. ^ J^t probaverit quod din tacnerit. Cf. Gams, vol. ii. p. 133. 2 Conventui clericorum jplacuit, Nickes, Zeitschrift fiir Katholisclie Theologie, Wien, 1856, p. 38. LXX7. Be his qui sacerdotes vel ministros accusant nee iwohant. Si quis autem episcopum vel presbyterum vel z 2,3^ Appendix, diaconum falsis criminibus appetierit et probare non potueritj nee in fiaem dandam ei esse comrau- nionem. LXXYI. De diaconibits si ante honoreni loeccasse probantar. Si quis diaconum se permiserit ordinari et postea faerit detectus in crimine mortis, quod aliquando commiserit, si sponte fuerit confessuSj placuit eum acta legitima poenitentia post triennium accipere communionem : quod si alius eum detexerit, post quinquennium acta poenitentia accipere commu- nionem laicam debere. LXXVII. De hwptizatis qui nondum confirmati mor'mntur. Si quis diaconus regens plebem sine episcopo vel presbytero aliquos baptizaverit, episcopus eos per benedictionem perficere debebit : quod si ante de sasculo recesserint, sub fide qua quis credidit poterit esse iustus. LXXVIII. De fulellhus coniitgatis si cum ludcea vel (jentlU moecliatce fuerint. Si quis fidelis liabens uxorem cum ludaea vel gentili fuerit moecbatus, a communione arceatur : quod si alius eum detexerit, post quinquennium acta Appendix, 339 legitima pocnitentia poterit dominicoe sociari com- munioni. LXXIX. De Ills qui tahulaiii ludiint. Si quis fidelis aleain, id est tabulam, luserit nummis, placuit eum abstineri ; et si emendatus cessaverit^ post annum poterit communioni recon- ciliari. LXXX. De lihertis. Proliibendum ut liberti^ quorum patroni in S83Culo fuerint, ad clerum non promoveantur. LXXXI. Be feynlnariim epistolu'. Ne feminae sue potius absque maritorum nomiuibus laicis scribere audeant^ quce^ ^deles, sunt, vel litteras alicuius pacificas ad suum solum nomen scriptas ac- cipiant. ' V. 1. qui. z 2 APPENDIX B. A CONCISE summary of tlie Magazine Articles dealing with toe work of this Synod will not be out of place : — I. Tubingen Theologiscbe Quartalsclirift. («.) The Synod of Elvira : Canons and Commentary. [1821.] An anonymous article, but probably the work of Dr. Herbst, in conjunction with his colleagues, Drs. Drey, Hirscher, and Feilmoser : (i.) Introductory, pp. 3 — 5. (ii.) Canons, after Mendoza's text, i^p. 5 — 24. (iii.) Commentary, pp. 24 — 44. Hefele, in his " Conciliengescbichte," repeatedly refers to the article, some parts of which are valuable, and have been incorporated in the work of more recent writers. (&.) " Kigorismus in the Early Church." [1841, pp. 375 — 446.] Hefele, in a long and learned dissertation, discusses the various forms assumed by a supposed Asceticism, and vindicates the action of the primitive Church. He examines (1) the effects of a dualistic system of philosophy among heathens, heretics, and Jews : and (2) special cases of apparent severity, as illustrated (a) in the prohibition of the chaplet and crown, {/3) of military service ; (y) in dress and ornament ; (S) in the aversion to art, (e) and to thea- trical exhibitions, {Q to interest on loans ; [j]) prohibition of second marriage. {c.) A Review of Dr. Gams' " Kirchengeschichte von Spanien " by Dr. l^olie. [1865, pp. 308—314.] A conscientious and accurate criticism oftext and scholar- ship, but without any pretension to historical importance. Appendix. 341 II. " Der Katholik." [1821, vol. ii. pp. 417—441.] Binterim replies witli considerable acerbity to (I. a), and says tbat an " unclean spirit " has taken possession of the four editors. He then impugns (a) the authority and O) the genuineness of the Synodical Canons, giving a long list, beginning with Melchior Canus and ending with Berardi, of those who deny both. He then criticizes the Quartal- schrift in detail, often with success. III. "Bonner Zeitschrift fiir Katholische Theologie." First published at Koln, then at Koblenz, and edited by Braun, Achterfelt, and others, (a) "The Synod of Aries." An article by Dr. Milnchen, traversing much of the legislation of Elvira, and discussing and explaining many of the obscurer Canons of the Spanish Synod. [1838, vol. xxvi. p. 61 f.] (6) " Spanish Church History." [Vol. Ixxxii. p. 70 foil.] An anonymous article, dealing mainly with the Synod of Elvira and its Canons. IV. " Zeitschrift fiir Katholishe Theologie," Wien. [1856, pp. 33—58.] Dr. I^ickes reviews Hefele's " Conciliengeschichte," and devotes ten pages to Elvira [pp. 33—43], discussing Canons XXXIX. [pp. 33—37] and LXXIV. [pp. 38—43]. V. Herzog, " Keal-Encyklopadie," vol. iii. pp. 775, 776. Contains the charges brought by various schools against the policy and principles of the Synod. Cf. also Rohrbacher, vol. iii. p. 415 f., and Wetzer and Welter, iii. 543—547. INDEX. Abdera, 3. Abdul-Khaman, 9. Abortion, 129, 130, 132; vide Murder. Abraxas gems, 217, 218. Accusers, vide Informers. Acesius, 112. Acolytes, 222. Actors, vide Theatre. Adoro, meaning of, 29-1. Adrien, letter of, 206. Adultery, 151, 154; with Jewess, 264; ' definition, 155—158; connivance punished, 156, 157 ; vide Unchastity. u5:schylus, 308. Agape, 203. Alexandria,Hosiusat,42,43, 59. Ambrose, 160, 165, 192, 215, 216, 269, 303. Ancyra, Synod of, 18, 23, 129, 132, 144, 150, 156, 166, 196, 200, 201, 205. Animal creation neglected by Church, 135. Antioch, Synod of, 22, 70, 72, 75, 78, 202. Apollonius, 282. Apollonius of Tyana, 282. Apostolical Canons, 22, 72, 75, 113, 151, 152, 177, 185, 192, 199, 213, 216, 240, 250. Apostolical Constitutions, 166, 175, 194, 196, 199, 216, 249, 305. Apotheosis of Emperor, 125, 126. Arcadius, 271. Arena, games of, 133— 137, 247, 248 ; origin of conflicts, 133 prevalence in Spain, 134 criminals executed at, 134 gladiatorial combats of, 281 282; bull-fights, 135, 136 antagonism of Church to, 135, 136. Arians, 40, 43, 196, 217, 256. Aristotle quoted, 72, 137, 143, 182. Arius, 25. Aries, First Synod of ; Canons common to Elvira, 21 ; 42, 49, 53, 59, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 84, 86, 88, 102, 103,144, 159, 165, 175, 177, 178, 235, 238, 239, 263, 279, 281. Aries, Second Synod of, 24, 199, 202. Arnaldus Pontacus, 15. Arnold, M., 260. Art, Christian, 288 foil. ; anti- pathy to sacred represen- tation, 291 ; religious sym- bolism tolerated, 292 ; images and pictures, 292 foil. Artemis-Tanais, 244, 245. Asceticism, Church charged with, 168 foil. ; antipathy to theatre, 170 foil. ; usury, 177 foil ; gambling, 181 foil. ; as a result of dualism, 187 ; in Spain, 188—191; celibacy. 191—195 ; fasting, 191 foil. ; antipathy to art, 288 foil. Astarte-Tanais, 244. Athanasius, 43, 44, 206. 344 Index, Augustine, 42, 113, 150, 157, 165, 177, 192, 194, 205, 216, 224, 247, 278, 297, 299, 304. B^Tis, river, 1. Baptism, administrants of, 86 ; heretical, 86, 102 ; by layman, 86 ; confirmation of, 86, 94, 112 ; order of, 88 ; penal exclu- sion from, 93, 108 ; probation, 94 ; superstitious attributes, 108 ; by bigamist or un- believer, 112 ; terras for, 113 ; of demoniac, 214 ; offerings at, 301, 302; washing of feet, 302, 303, of head, 304; at death, 97. Basil, 155, 159, 164. Basilica, 287. Basilides, 52, 111, 151. Basiliense Concilium, 257. Basnage quoted, 265. Becker, 148, 183, 185, 250. Becon, 311. Bema, in church architecture, 287. Betrothal contract enforced, 152 ; sin during, 152. Bishops autonomous, 70, 71 ; powers restricted, 71 foil. ; powers of, 69, 70, 84 ; centre of organisation, 68 ; pre- cedence of, 68, 69 ; rural bishops, x''^P^'^'^^*^^'^'^^y 70 ; election of, 83 ; no archiepis- copate yet, 69, 110, 111 ; and excommunicated, 73 ; examine letters, 74 ; give letters, 75 ; intermeddle. 111; in trade, 189 ; interviews with women, 201, 202 ; receive no offerings from aliens, 304, 305 ; extortion of, 302. Bland in a, 80. Boabdil, 6. Bracara, Synods of; 202, 302. Bradford, John, 311. Browning quoted, 41, 59, 254, 289. Burchart quoted by Mendoza, 300. Cadiz, Hercules worship at, 245, 246. Csecilian, 41, 283. Cjscilius, 8, 12. Cagsaraugusta, Synod at, 103. Calfhill quoted, 219, 311, 312. Callistus I., 264. Capitil avium, 304. Capitols in Spain, 29, 122, 162. Carnattah, 9, 10. Carter quoted, 199, 217, 218. Carthage, Synod at, 78, 175, 176, 177, 190, 196, 199, 202, 205, 213, 214, 222, 229. Catechumens, idolatry of, 122, 124, 159, 176; as flamens, 249 ; church attendance of, 298, 299; baptismal offerings of, 301, 302; feet washed, 303 ; called Christians, 87, 94, 112, 122. Celibacy, 151,152,191,195,196, 217; vide Asceticism, Mar- riage. Cemeteries, 27, 65 ; vigils of women in, 207, 208 ; modern customs in Spain, 209 ; lights in, 207 foil. " Christians " an equivalent for " catechumens," 87, 94, 112, 122. Christians and the State, 223 foil. ; antipathy to secular office, 227, 228 ; modification of feeling, 230, 231 ; as sol- diers, 236 foil. ; as flamens, 241 foil. ; relations to hea- then society, 251, 252; to individuals, 253 ; to Jews, 254 foil. ; preponderance of women, 260 ; art, 288 foil. Chrysostom, 182, 202. Church.buildings, 65, 286 foil., 290 ; at Tyre, 287 ; basilicas, 287; images and pictures in, 288 foil, ; satires in, 296, 297. Church, attendance at, 297 foil. Index. 345 Cicero, 178, 183, 231. Cinerarios viros, 153, 154, 161, 165. CircnmcelHones, 283. Claudius, 256. Clement, of Alexandria, 153, 180, 186, 228, 283, 305. Clergy, ordination of, 76, 77, 79; disqualification for, slav- ery, 79, 80, 138; youthful immorality, 190 ; distin- guished fi'oni laity, 78, 81, 82, 191 ; exemption of, from duumvirate, 233, 241' ; orders of, 83 ; their accusei'S, 144, 188 ; uniting element in the Church, 64, 89 ; punishment of, 96, 150, 190, 191, 198; deposition of, 78 79; de- graded to lay communion, ^Q', celibacy of, 166, 167, 198 ; immorality of, 151, 200, 201 ; wonien in houses of, 201 ; intercourse with women, 201, 202 ; marriage of, 151 ; not married after ordination, 197, 198, 199, 200 ; wives of, 198, 199 ; second mari'iage of, 200; connivance at adultery, 157, 198 ; their children at stage-plays, 176; present at licentious banquets, 176 ; re- press bigamy, 167 ; enforce church attendauce, 300, 301 ; catechumen restored on their testimony, 298, 299 ; usurers, 177, 178; mercantile, 189 foil. , 215, 216 : covetousness of, 301—303: "Wachslicht- verbraucher," a title in Spain, 219. Clermont, Council of, 260. Clough quoted, 109. Colioure, or Cauco Illiberis, 2. Columella, 269. Comatps viros, vide Cinerarios. Communion, twofold signifi- cance of, 94 ; lay, 96, 190. Communion, Eucharistic, penal use of, 93, 108 ; at death, 96 ; degradation of, 109 ; exclu- sion of demoniac from, 213; demoniac receives at death, 214; offerings at, 213, 304, 305. Concha, senses of, 303, 304. Confessors, 74, 75, 106. Confirmation after baptism, 86, 94, 112 ; with baptism, 112. Conjugal abstinence enjoined at Elvira, 199. Constantine, 13, 14, 41, 42, A^, 58, 59, 88, 109, 128, 132, 140, 142, 157, 163, 189, 205, 206, 208, 215, 233, 234,235, 271, 281, 286, 297. Constantius, 3, 12, 19, 31, 32, 34, 45, 125, 286. Constantius, 41. Cordova, 39. Council, Second CEcumenical, 87. Courts, clerical, 114; to try false witness, 243. Cranmer, 311. Crops, blessing the, 218, 265— 268. Cynegius, 277. Cyprian, 59, 98, 100, 113, 169, 176, 183, 184, 196, 202, 215. Dacian, in Spain, 19, 24, 33 foil. Deacon in charge of rural church, 70 ; represents bishop in need, 85 ; baptises, 86, 88; unchastity disqualifies for ordination as, 190 ; heathen slaves disqualify, 272; in trade, 189 ; marriage of, 199, 200. Decius, 26. Decuro, 226, 232. Delatores, 142, vid.e Informers. Demoniacs, 112 ; treatment of, 213 ; excluded from Church, 213, 214, 222; baptism of, 214 ; asylums for insane, 215. Deuteronomy quoted, 155. Dice, 184, 185. 346 Index. " Diocese " and " province " political terms, 67, 68. Diocletian, 14, 31, 32, 31., 35, 45, 60, 286, 290. Dionyaius, 208. Divorce, 157, 158; vide Mar- riage. Domitian, 173. Donatists, 13, 42, 79, 224, 282, 283. Donatus, 283. Daalism, philosophic, influence of in Church, 184 foil, j deve- lops asceticism and sacer- dotalism, 187 ; and super- stitious sorcery, 203 foil. ; Gnostic, 193. Duumvirate, 28, 226, 231 foil, duties of, 233; compulsory, 234 ; Christians inofl&ce, 234, 235. Easter heresies, 306, 307. Egypt, connexion of Spain with, 203, 204, 217, 218, 282. El-Saturnus, 245. Elvira in Narbonne, 2, 3. Elvira in Baetica, position, 1 ; Eliberis, Eliberris, Illiberis, Illiberris, 2 ; on or near the present site of Granada, 5 ; Monte Sacro, 6 ; Gate of Elvira, 5, 6, 7; change of name to Granada, mythical account, 8; Carnattah, Gar- natha, Granathah, 9, 10 ; '* municipium," title of, 51, 52. Elvira, Synod of, date; fic- titious superscription of the Acts, 12, 13 ; why not stated, 13,14; main theories, 15, 16, 17 ; argument of Binius, 18 ; of Aguirre, 20 ; Hefele, and Gams, 21 ; Mansi, 22 ; Har- duin, 21 ; Baluze, 22, 23 ; internal evidence, 25 foil. ; not before persecution, 26 foil. ; previous events, 31 foil, ; Dacian's persecution, 33 foil. ; Valerius of Sara- gossa 34 foil. ; Hosius of Cordova, 39 foil. ; theory of Gams, May 1st, 46. Constitu- tion, 46 foil. ; precedence of signatures, 47, 48, 49 ; bishops present at, 49, 50 ; the whole episcopate not represented, 50, 51 ; presbyters present, 51, 52 ; other elements, 53 ; procedure, 54, 55 ; legates of Rome not present, 55 ; pur- pose of, 57 foil. ; misconcep- tion of, 58 ; repeats Diocletian policy, 60 ; with church as centre of unity, 61 ; uni- formity of discipline, 62 ; subordination of ranks, 63 ; moral and political aims, 65, 66; illustrates legal genius of the West, 90 ; penal elements in ecclesiastical code, 91 foil.; positive law, efiect of, 202 foil. ; Novatian tendencies imputed, 16, 100, 101, 102, 113 ; shares popu- lar belief in magic, 204, 210, 211 ; represses iconoclastic tendencies, 277 foil. ; sub- ordination of worship iu legislation of, 284 foil. ; silence as to ritual, &c., 305, 306 ; substitutes material for spiritual forces, 308, 309. Elvira, Synodical Canons : I. 94, 95, 113, 120, 124, 126, 161. II. 94, 95, 104, 132, 133, 242, 243, 247. III. 94, 95, 96, 104, 126, 242, 243, 247, 251. lY. 96. 101, 113, 126, 242, 219. V. 29,91,96,97,139,140, 141, 163. VT. 91, 95, 133, 204, 205. VIT. 94, 95, 96. VIII. 94, 95, 158. IX. 94, 96, 97, 159, 165. X. 94, 96, 113, 159, 165. Index. 347 Elvira, Synodical Canons {coni.): XI. 96,97,113,159,165. XII. 94,95,148,151,202. XIII. 94,95,96,150,196. XIV. 94, 96, 102, 148. XV. 21, 97, 260. XVI. 28, 96, 260. XVII. 28,94,95,126,151, 263. XVIII. 94, 96, 191. XIX. 82, 97, 138, 178, 189, 215, 216. XX. 21, 44, 82, 95, 96, 177, 189. XXI. 27, 44, 96, 289, 300. XXII. 94-96, 102, 113. XXIII. 192, 216, 217. XXIV. 77. XXV. 21, 75. XXVI. 192, 216. XXVII. 44,82, 196.201,202. XXVIII. 94, 153, 304. XXIX. 213, 222. XXX. 82, 96, 97, 151, 190. XXXI. 94, 96, 102, 149. XXXII. 44, 85, 94, 112. XXXIII. 82, 96, 103, 198, 199 202. XXXIV. 27, 45, 207, 208— 212, 218—222, 341. XXXV. 27, 208, 220. XXXVI. 27, 292 foil., 311, 312. XXXVII. 95, 112, 113, 214, 222. XXXVIII. 86, 87, 111, 112. XXXIX. 21, 87, 112, 113. XL. 94, 96, 126, 265— 268. XLI. 29,30,95,126,253. XLII. 94, 97, 113, 249. XLIII. 97, 216, 307. XLIV. 28, 113, 149. XLV. 30, 87, 113, 298. XLVI. 30,94,96,103,298. XLVII. 94, 95, 97, 102, 156. XLVIII. 153, 302, 303. XLIX. 28, 95, 207, 218, 265. Elvira, Synodical Canons (conf.): L. 27, 94, 96, 259. LI. 79,96. LI I. 97, 296. LIII. 21, 44, 72, 85, 9]., 111. LIV. 27, 96, 152, 259. LV. 94, 96, 104, 126, 242. LVI. 27, 28, 94, 96, 126, 132. LVII. 29, 94, 96, 126, 274, 275. LVIII. 68, 74', 94, 110, 111. LIX. 29, 87, 94, 96, 122, 123, 162. LX. 277. LXI. 27, 30, 94, 96, 97, 152, 164. LXIL 21,94,95,113,133, 175. LXIII. 94, 95, 132. LXIV. 94r— 96, 156. LXV. 82, 94, 96, 157, 191, 198. LXVI. 95, 152. LXVII. 94, 96, 152—154. LXVIII. 96, 113, 132. LXIX. 94, 96, 97, 102, 156, 264. LXX. 94—96, 156. LXXI. 94, 95, 147, 148. LXXII. 94—97, 102, 103, 105, 113, 161. LXXIII. 94-96, 143. LXXIV. 94, 96, 114, 143, 153, 341. LXXV. 94, 95, 14^1, 188. LXXVI. 44, 78, 82, 94, 96, 191, 264. LXXVIL 70, 85, 86, 111. LXXVIII. 70, 94, 96, 102, 156, 264. LXXIX. 26, 94, 96, 185. LXXX. 80, 138. LXXXI. 26, 58, 97, 198. Encratites, 195. Endor, witch of, 8. Energumen, vide Demoniacs. Epidius, 203. 348 Index, Epiphanius, 193, 288, 291. Eremites, 217. Eulalia of Barcelona, 280. Eulalia of Emerita, 53, 279. Eusebius, 32, 33, 45, 70, 208, 211, 235, 286, 287, 288, 290. Eusebius, of Caesarea, 291, 292. Eustaehius, 25, 200. Excommunication, 93 foil. ; va- ries in duration, 96 ; per- manent, 97, 98 ; heretical, 101, 102 ; terms for, 113 ; md^e Communion, Offerings, Bap- tism. Exodus quoted, 180. Exuperius, letters to, mde Innocent. Fasts of the Church, 191 foil. ; Stationes, 192 ; Sabbath, 192, 193, 194, 216; prolonged, save in July and August, 192, 193, 216, 217. Felix, 52, 69, 110. Flamens, 104, 226, 241 foil., 247, 249. Freeman, E. A., quoted, 68. Fructuosus, 162, 193. ** Fructus," meaning of, 264, 266. Frumentarii, 142 ; ride In- formers. Fulke quoted, 219, 311, Funerals in daytime, 221. " Fustes " distinct from " fla- gra," 163. Galerius, 31, 34. Gallierius, 65. Gambling, 27, 169, 170, 181, 182 ; suppressed by secular law, 183; Christian repug- nance to, 183 ; mvsticisra in, 184; idolatry iD,"l84, 185. Gangra, Synod of, 200. Germanus, 246, 276, 280. Gibbon quoted, 175, 238, 256, 308. Gladiators, 248, 281, 282. Gnostics, 186 ; images of, 288. Graetz quoted, 255, 256, 257. Granada, vide Elvira. Gratia n, 175. Gregory Nazianzen, 155, 201, 302. Hannibal, 2. Hatch, Rev. E., quoted ; 287. Heathen, marriage with, 261, 262, 263 ; tenants, 268, 269 ; deities of, 270, 271 ; proces- sions, 273, 274 ; provocation of, 278, 283 ; temples trans- ferred to Church, 286. Heliogabalus, 246. Hercules of Spain, 244 ; Her- cules-Melkart, 244, 281, 282. Heresy, penalties of, 78 ; chil- dren of heretics, 95 ; vide Montanists,Priscillianists,&c. Hermas, Shepherd of, 157. Hieronymus, 54, 111, 155, 160, 190, 199, 202, 216, 219, 220. Hippo, Council of, 72, 113, 175, 176, 177, 263, 272, 299. Hippolytus of Ostia, 198. Hispalis, Synod of, 3. Homicide by magic, 133 ; ia circus, 134 ; by false accusa- tion, 141 — 144; of slave, 140 ; unintentional, 141 ; vide Murder. Hosius, life and work, 39 foil. ; letter to Constantius, 41 ; later life, 40 ; with Constan- tino, 42 ; at Alexandria, 43 ; at Nica3a, 43 ; Athanasius his friend, 43 ; as a statesman, 58 foil. ; as a Synod leader, 44 ; embodies positive law^, 202, 203; at Sardica, 299, 300; 13, 16, 22, 23, 34, 38, 48, 49, 57, 66, 98, 99, 100, 110, 111, 199, 217. Jackson, Eev. W, quoted, 154, 155. lamblicus, 206. Iconoclasm in Spain, 276 ; re- pressed, 277 ; Christian form of suicide, 278, 282, 283; Index. 349 motives to, 278 ; iconoclasts not martyrs, 280, 281. Idatius, 276, 277. Idolatry, offence against Divine unity, 118; punishment of, 120 ; incentives to, 121 ; in local capitol,122, 162 ; motive in act carefully defined, 123 ; special form dealt -vvith at Ancyra,123; of catechumens, 124; indirect sanction of, pu- nished, 126; in trade, 127; failure of edicts to suppress, 128; worship of Emperor, 125, 126 ; of Christian flamens, 241 foil. ; indirect forms of, 249, 250; of landowners, 268, 269 ; of slaves under Chris- tian masters, 270, 271, 272 ; in procession, 272 — 275 ; by images and pictures in church, 288 foll.5 Jerome, vid.e Hieronymus. Jews, intercourse of Christians with, 27, 28, 156, 250, 258, 259; in Spain, 252, 253, 254; numbers of, 255, 256 ; pro- selytising activity, 256 ; anti- pathy towards, 193, 194, 257, 258 ; separative legislation directed against, 258, 259 ; marriage with, 259, 260; adultery with, 264. Jewell quoted, 220, 311, 312. Ignatius, 216. Ilerda, Synod of, 103, 132. Images in churches, 288 foil. ; lead to hero-worship, 290 ; prohibited by Mosaic code, 291, 296; at Elvira, by im- plication, 292 ; discriminated from pictures, 295. Infanticide, 130, 131 ; vide Murder. Informers, 141, 142, 143, 163, 164 ; against clergy, 144 ; vide, Delatores, Frumentarii, Veredarii. Innocent I., 18, 21, 98, 99, 111, 165, 240, 282. Instantius, 111. John, Gospel of, quoted, 302. Josephus, 255. Jost quoted, 178, 190, 256, 257, 259, 265, 266, 267, 268. Jowett, B., quoted, 148. Irenseus, 288. Isidorus, 25, 39, 54, 183, 184, 304. Ithacius, 111. Julian, 196, 282. Justa, 52, 273, 276, 277, 280. Justin Martyr, 187, 210, 211. Justinian, 14. Juvenal, 153,182,205,251, 282, 297. Lactantius quoted, 205, 219, 288. Lampridius, 246. Laodicea, Svnod of, 127, 176, 177, 205, 259, 266, 305. Lecky, quoted, 45, 130, 133, 135, 146, 171, 224, 231, 234, 238, 250, 258, 282. Leo, 111. Lerida, Council of, 202, 205. Letters, of commendation, 73, 74, 75, 76, 111 ; of women, 26, 198. Leviticus quoted, 155. Liberius, 53. Licinius, 42, 239. Livy quoted, 2. Loriuser quoted, 209. Lucan quoted, 39, 205, 211. Lusitanians as diviners, 282. Macon, Council of, 202. Macrobius, 140. Magdeburg centuriators, 15. Majorinus, 283. Maine, Sir H. S., quoted, 90, 91, 105, 107, 137. Maleficium, 205. Manichean heresy, 77, 195. Marcellus, 280. Marcion, 193. Marcus, 203, 217. 350 Index. Marriage legislation, 26, 27, 28 ; of consecrated virgins, 150 ; sins of, 151 foil. ; as reparation, 148, 149, 160, 161 ; with two sisters, 152, 164 ; with step-sister, 152 ; of clergy, 151, 197, 198, 200, 253; of deacons, 199, 200; sects hostile to, 195 ; coarse and selfish conception of, 195 ; with Jews, 259, 260; with heathen, 261, 262; with heathen priest, 263, 264; with slaves, 264 ; second marriage, 165, 166, 217 ; not allowed after separation, 158 ; allowed to husband. 159 ; for- bidden to husband at Aries and elsewhere,165; "bigamy," 165 ; to be discountenanced by clergy, 167 ; conjugal ab- stinence, 199, 200; maiden name kept in Spain, 198, 199. Martial, 164, 165, 183. Martialifr', 52, 111. Martyrs, iconoclasts not count- ed as, 277 foil. ; worship of, 290. Martyrius, 88. Masdeu, 232. Maximian, 14, 31, 33, 34, 41. Mela, Pomponius, 2. Meletian schism, 77. Mensurinus, 279, 283. Merida, Council of, 213. Metellus, Caecilus, 164. Milan, washing of feet at, 303. Milevitanum, Concilium, 165'. Military service. Christians in, 236 foil. ; not discussed at Elvira, 236, 237; early Church and, 237, 238 ; Chris- tians in the army, 238 ; de- crees, at Aries, 238, 239, 281 ; at Nicaea, 239, 240; later opinion in Spain, 240, 241, Milman quoted, 153, 171, 172, 176, 225, 233, 268. Mimes and pantomimes, -uide Theatre. Minucius Felix, 173, 229. Minutoli quoted, 136, 281, 282. Monophysites, 224. Montanists, 102, 103, 105, 195 ; Easter heresy of, 306, 307. Montanus, 306, 307. Morality, penal element in ecclesiastical code of, 92 ; enforced by sacramental penalties, 93 ; disciplinary system, 103 ; conventional standards of, 10 i ; stages in Christian, 115, 116 ; exten- sion of term under religious influence, 116, 117 ; C3ntral principles of Christian, 117, 118, 119 ; idolatry, 119 foil. ; murder, 128 foil. ; unchastity, 144 foil. Morinus, 15. Mosaic code, 140, 180, 291, 296. Movers quoted, 245, 246, 251. Murder, 128 foil. ; deliberate or unpremeditated, punished at Ancyra, 129 ; no distinc- tion between layman and cleric, 129 ; no JEines, 129 ; indirect forms: abortion, 129, 130 ; infanticide, 130, 131, 132 ; punishment of guilty catechumen, 132 ; adultery and murder combined, 132; in the arena, 133 foil. ; of slave, 140; test of intention, 140; by false accusation or evidence, 141 ; human sacrifices, 243 — 247 ; by magic, 133, 204,205. Nahum, 151. Natalis, Alexander, 53. Neander quoted, 108, 169, 185, 186, 187, 227, 228, 229, 238, 296. Nebuchadnezzar, 254. Necromancy, 207 foil. Neocaesarea, Synod of, 23, 70, 151, 157, 164, 166, 167, 199. Nero, 141. Nerva, 173. Nethos, 245. Index, 351 Nicsea, Council of, 12, 13, 18, 22, 23, 24, 43, 44, 54, 59, 64, 72, 77, 78, 79, 84, 85, 102, 112, 113, 165, 177, 178, 199, 201, 202 ; spurious Canons, 259 ; Canons of, common to Elvira, 44. Nicaea, " Second " Council of, 219. Novatian, 96, 112. Novatian heresy, 79, 100, 101, 102, 113, 165; imputed to Synod of Elvira, 100, 102, 103. Novatus, 113. "Nuptia? secundse," 166, 167; vide Marriage. OFPERiNGS,baptisma], 301, 302 ; Eucharistic, 304, 305 ; of de- moniacs, 213. Office, municipal, 231 foil.; decrees of Council of Aries on civil, 235, 236 ; vide De- curio, Flamen, Duumvirate. Orange, Council of, 202, 213, 214. Origen, 169, 237, 292. Ovid quoted, 183, 267, 273. Pavhnutius, 199. Para>neticus, 99. TiapQ^vQivis, 196. Parker, Archbishop, 312. Pascal quoted, 285. Pasquinades, in churches, 296, 297 ; at Kome, 297. Patriotism suppressed in early Christians, 223, 224. Paul of Samosata, 202. Paulinus, 162, 218, 287, 304. Pentateuch on accidental homi- cide, 140. Pentecost, heresies about, 306, 307. Peru, clergy in, 215. Pictures in church, prohibited. 27, 292 foil. ; discriminated from images, 295 ; Protestant controversy over, 311, 312. Philo, 193. Plautus quoted, 158, 183. Pliny, quoted, 2, 3, 175, 220, 226, 245, 216, 250, 267, 294. Plutarch, 158. Polycarp, 257. Pollux, 184. " Pompa diaboli," 273, 271. '' Piceses," 235, 236. Presbyters in episcopal coun- cil, 69 ; in charge of rural churches, 70 ; give commu- nion in need, 85, 88 ; mar- riage of, 151, 197 ; commerce restricted, 189, 190 ; v^de Clergy. Pressensc, Dr. E. de, quoted, 119, 198, 230. Priest, pagan, marriage with, 263, 264. Priscillianist heresv. 111, 201, 217, 282, 307. Processions, heathen, 273, 27-1. Propertius, 184. Prudentius, 35, 37, 38, 217, 219, 280. Reccaeedus, 55. Reformers, English, on Canon XXXIV, 219, 220. Religion of Rome, 230, 231, 269 ; in Spain, 243 foil. Reuan quoted, 68, 126, 134, 168, 210, 226, 227. Rome, Synod at, 240. Rossi, De, quoted, 138. Rufina, 53, 273, 276, 277, 280. Ruskiu, 170, 179. Sarbatii fast, 191, 192, 193, 194, 216, 217. Sabinus, 52, 53, 276. Sacerdotalism, as a result of dualism, 187; in Spain, 188. 352 htdex. Sacraments, ricZe Baptism, Com- munion, Eucharist, &c. Sacrifices, human, 210, 2 13, 245, 246, 2 17 ; divination from, 282 ; private, 271, 272. Salambo, 245, 246. Salvian, 111. Saragossa, Synod of, 99. Sardica, Synod of, 22, 23, 72, 77, 78, 100, 103, 191, 217, 299, 300; Canons similar to Elvira, 44. Satires in churches, 296, 297. Seeley, Professor, quoted, 9. Seneca, 39, 231. Servandus, 246, 276, 277, 280. Severus, Sulpicius, 215. Silius Italicus on suicide in Spain, 282. Sin, "mortal" and "venial," 95, 105 foil. ; results of dis- tinction, 105, 106; "sins" and " torts " confused, 107, 108; punishments of, 108 foil. Siricius, 111, 200. Sismondi, 115, 116, Slavery, policy of the Church regarding, 137, 253; Stoic influence in abolition, 137 ; as a bar to ordination, 79, 80, 138 ; dissolute slaves not to be kept by ■women, 152 foil., 164, 165 ; marriage with slaves, 264; cruelty of women to female slaves, 139, 140, 141, 162 ; idolatrous slaves of Christian master, 270, 271 ; disqualify for diaconate, 272. Socrates, ecclesiastical histo- rian, 210, 211. Sopater, 206. Sorcery, death by, 133, 204, 205; origin and prevalence of be- lief in, 203, 204, 205 ; punished at Elvira and Ancyra, 205 ; development of, 205, 206; Sopater charged with, 206 ; Athanasius charged with, 206; on fields and crops, 207, 218, 267, 268 ; at grave, 207—211, 220—222; divination from human sacrifice, 282. Spain, ecclesiastical organi- sation of, ^^ foil.; intercourse with Egypt, 203, 204, 217, 218 ; wealth of Christian Church in, 153 ; horses of, 175 ; maiden name retained in, 198, 199 ; All Souls' Day in, 209 ; tapers in, 209 ; iconoclastic spirit in, 276, 277; suicidal tendency in, 282, 283 ; cove- tousness of clergy in, 300 — 303 ; worship of Emperor in, 125. " Stationes," 192, 216. Strabb quoted, 2. Sub-deacons, vidue Deacons. " Subintroductse," 200, 201. Suckling, Sir John, quoted, 285, Suetonius, quoted, 175, 220, 274, 282, 297. Suicide, iconoclasm the Chris- tian form of, 278, 279, 282, 283 ; sects devoted to, 283. " Superpositio," 216. Tacitus quoted, 1, 182, 204. Tapers at graves, 207 foil., 218 foil.; interpretation of Canon prohibiting use at grave, 220 —222 ; Reformers on, 219, TertuUian, 59, 123, 127, 154, 164, 165, 169, 174, 180, 189, 192, 193, 194, 204, 211, 220, 223, 225, 228, 229, 234, 238, 247, 248, 250, 262, 266, 270, 274, 292, 305. Theatre, state of, 170 ; mimes and pantomimes, 170, 171 ; immorality of, 172 ; cruelty of, 172, 173; theoretica, 173, 248 ; actors in heathen so- ciety, 173, 174; treatment by Church, 175 foil.; stage players, jockeys, charioteers, specially mentioned, 175 ; abandon calling on couver- Index, 35, sion, 175; exemption procured from State, 175, 17G; pre- cautions against abuse of privilege, 170 ; prohibitiou of theatrical entertainments, 176, 177. Theocritus, 205. Theodosius, 128, 175, 271, 27G, 287 ; Theodosian Code, 221. Thermopylffi, pass of, betrayed by monks, 22-1. Tibullus, 220. Titus, 255. Toledo, I., Synod of, 70, 97, 99, 111, 150, 190, 240. Toledo, II., Synod of, 103, 202. Toledo, III., Synod of, 3, 128, 250, 257, 259, 271, 272. Toledo, IV., Synod of, 210, 250, 257, 260. Traditores, 279. Trajan, 173, 226. Trullo, Synod of, 205. Turonense, Concilium, 193. Turribius, 111. Tyre, Church, at, 287. Valens, 40. Valentia, Synod of, 24. Valerian, 20, 05. Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, 19, 20, 22, 23, 34, 35, 30, 37, 38, 44, 49. Vandals, 224. Vassaeus, 46. Velatio, 190. Veredarii, 142; vide Informers, Vergil, quoted, 39, 116, 207. Vespasian, 1, 255. Viator, 240. Victorinus, 194. Vigilantius, 219, 220. Vincentius, 19, 35, 36. Virgins, unchaste, 149, 150; vows of, 195, 196 ; not sepa- rated from families, 196, 197 ; contrasted with the vestals of Rome, 217. Ulpian, 148, 274. Unchastity, 144 foil. ; Chris- tian law of purity, 145 ; cause of downfall of Eomo, 145 ; specially prominent in Church legislation through failure of civil power to clieck, 146, 147: unnatural vice, 148; procurers punished, 148; prao- nuptial, 148, 149, 152 ; in con- secrated virgins, 149, 150 ; clerical, 3 51, 200, 201; con- nubial, 151 foil., 154 ; punish- ment of, 156 ; connivance at, 156 foil. ; of widows, 160 , after previous idolatry, 248; 249; in sacrifices, 245, 216, 247 ; vide Adultery. Ursacius, 40. 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New Edition. Crown Svo. 'js. 6d. **Mr. Cui'teis has done good service by maintaining in an eloqtient, temperate, and practical manner, that discussion among Christians is really an evil, and that an intelligent basis can be found for at least a proximate union.''^ — Saturday Review, "y^ well-timed, learned, and thoughtful book. " Davies. — Works by the Rev. J. Llewelyn Davies, M.A., Rector of Christ Church, St. Marylebone, etc. : THE GOSPEU AND MODERN LIFE; with a Preface on a Recent Phase of Deism. Second Edition. To which is THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. DAVIES (Rev. J. \A.) -continued. added, Mornlity according to the vSacrament of the Lord's Supper; or, Three Discourses on the Names, Eucharist, vSacrifice, and Com- munion. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6,?. WARNINGS AGAINST SUPERSTITION. In Four Sermons for the Day. Extra fcap. 8vo. 2j. 6d. ^'We have seldom read a wiser little book. The Sei'tnons are short, terse, and full of true spiritual wisdom, expressed with a lucidity and a viode?-ation that must give them weight even with those ivho agree least with their author Of the volu?ne as a ivhole it is hardly possible to speak zvith too cordial an appreciation." — Spectator. THE CHRISTIAN CALLING. Sennons. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6j-. Donaldson — THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS: a Critical Account of their Genuine Writings and of their Doctrines. By James Donaldson, LL.D, Crown Svo, p. 6d. Eadie. — Works by John Eadie, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, United Presbyterian Church : THE ENGLISH BIBLE. An External and Critical History of the various English Translations of Scripture, with Remarks on the Need of Revising the English New Testament. Two vols. Svo. 28^. ^* Accurate, scholai'ly, full of completest sympathy with the traitslators and their work, and marvellously interesting." — Literary Churchman. " The zuork is a very vahiable one. It is the result of vast labour^ sound scholarship, and large erudition. " — British Quarterly Review. ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. , A Commentary on the Greek Text. Edited by the Rev. W. Young, M.A., with a Preface by the Rev. Professor Cairns, D.D. 8vo. \2s. Ecce Homo. A Survey of the Life and Work of Jesus Christ. Sixteenth Edition. Crown 8vo. ds. "A very original and remarkable book, full of striking thought and delicate perception ; a book which has realised with ivonderful vigour and freshness the historical i7iagnitude of Christ's tuork, and which here and there gives us readings of the finest ki)id of the probable motive of His indi- vidual words and actions." — Spectator. " 7he best atid tnost established believer will find it adding some fresh buttresses to his faith." — Literary THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Churchman. "7/" ive have not viisunderstoad hwi, 7ve have before us a writer who has a right to claim deference from those who think deepest and know most. " — Guardian. Ecclesiastes. A Treatise on the Authorship of ECCLESIASTES. To which is added a Dissertation on that which was spoken through Jeremiah the Prophet, as quoted in Matthew XXVII. 9, lo. Crown 8vo. 14^-. Faber.— SERMONS AT A NEW SCHOOL. By the Rev. Arthur Faber, M.A., Head Master of Malvern College. Crown 8vo. (>s. Farrar.— Works by the Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D., F.R.S., Canon of Westminster, late Head Master of Marlborough College: THE FALL OF MAN, AND OTHER SERMONS. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. ds. *^ Ability, eloquence, scholarship, and practical 7isefu-lness, are in these Sermoyis combined in a vejy timistial degree. " — British Quarterly. THE WITNESS OF HISTORY TO CHRIST. Being the Hulsean Lectures for 1870. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 5^. The following are the subjects of the Five Lectures : — /. " The Ante- cedent Credibility of the Miraculous.'''' II. " The Adequacy of the Gospel Records.'" III. ^^ The Victoi'ies of Christianity." IV. '■^Christianity and the Individual.'''' V. ^^Christianity and the Race." The subjects of the four Appendices are: — A. " The Dive^'sity of Christian Evidetues." B. ''''Confucius." C. *' Buddha." D. ''' Comte." SEEKERS AFTER GOD. The Lives of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, Eighth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6^-. *^ A very interesting and valuable book." — Saturday Review. THE SILENCE AND VOICES OF GOD : University and other Sermons. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. ds. '''We can most cordially reconwiend Dr. Farrar'' s siitgidarly beautiful volume of Sermons For beauty of diction, felicity of style, aptness of illustration and earnest loving exhortatiott, the vohime is without its parallel."- — John Bull. " They are marked by great ability, by an honesty which does not hesitate to acknozvledge difficulties and by an earnestness which commands respect." — Pall Mall Gazette. "IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH," Sermons on Prac- ticg-l Subjects, preached at Marlborough College from 1871 — 76. New Edition. Crown 8vo. qj-. *'All Dr. Farrar'' s peculiar charm of style is apparent here, all that eare and subtleness of analysis, and an even-added distinctness and clear- THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. ii FARRAR (Rev. F. V^.)~-coHtiinied. ness of moral teaching, ivhich is what every kind of sermon 7C>a/its, and especially a sermon to boys.'''' — Literary Churchman. ETERNAL HOPE. Five Sermons preached in Westminster Abbey, in 1876. With Preface, Notes, etc. Contents : What Heaven is. — Is Life Wt)rth Living? — 'Hell,' What it is not. — Are there few that be saved ? — Earthly and Future Consequences of Sin. Twentieth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 6j. SAINTLY WORKERS. Lenten Lectures delivered in St. Andrew's, Holborn, March and April, 1878. Third Edition, Crown 8vo. ds. EPH P HATHA ; or the Amehoration of the World. Sermons preached at Westminster Abbey, With Two Sermons at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on the Opening of Parliament. Crown 8vo. 6j-. MERCY AND JUDGMENT. A Few Last Words on Chris- tian Eschatology, with reference to Dr. Pusey's "What is of Faith ? " Crown 8vo. \os. 6d. This volume contains a further developinent of the doctrines propounded in Canon Fai'rai''' s foi'ffier work on ''Eternal Hope,'' dealing in full with the objections that have been raised to the validity of those doctrines. It is, therefore, an indispensable companion to the previous volume. Fellowship : Letters Addressed to my Sister Mourners. Fcap. 8vo, cloth gilt. 3^-. (id. Ferrar.— A COLLATION OF FOUR IMPORTANT MSS. OF THE GOSPELS, viz., 13, 69, 124, 346, with a view to prove their common origin, and to restore the Text of their Archetype. By the late W. H. Ferrar, M.A., Professor of Latin in the University of Dublin. Edited by T. K. Abbott, M.A., Professor of Bibhcal Greek, Dublin. 4to, half morocco. \os. ()d. Forbes. — Works by Granville H. Forbes, Rector of Broughton : THE VOICE OF GOD IN THE PSALMS. Cr. 8vo. 6j-. 6^. VILLAGE SERMONS. By a Northamptonshire Rector. Crown 8vo. 6j. " There will be plenty of critics to accuse this volume of inadcqucuy of doctrine because it says no more than Scripture about vicarions stiff ering and external retribution. For ourselves we welcome it most cordially as expressing adequately what we believe to be the true burden of the Gospel in a manner tuhich may take hold either of the least or tht most cultivated intellect.'''' — Spectator. 12 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Gaskoin.— CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF BIBLE STORIES. By Mrs. Herman Gaskoin, Edited, with Preface, by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. Part I.— Old Testament. i8mo. i^. Part II. — New Testament. i8mo. i^. Part HI. — The Apostles. i8mo. \s. ** This very careful and ivell-written work is as good an introduction to Biblical History as we remetnber to have come across.'''' — Educational Times. Hamilton.— ABOVE AND AROUND : Thoughts on God and Man. By John Hamilton, Author of "Thoughts on Truth and Error." i2mo. 2s. 6d. Hard wick. — Works by the Ven. Archdeacon Hardwick : CHRIST AND OTHER MASTERS. A Historical Inquiry into some of the Chief Parallelisms and Contrasts between Christ- ianity and the Religious Systems of the Ancient World. New Edition, revised, and a Prefatory Memoir by the Rev, Francis Procter, M.A. New Edition. Crown Svo. los. 6d. A HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Middle Age, From Gregory the Great to the Excommunication of Luther. Edited by William Stubbs, M.A., Regius Professor of Modem History in the University of Oxford. With Four Maps constructed for this work by A. Keith Johnston. New Edition. Crown Svo. los. 6d. "As a Manual for the student of ecclesiastical history in the Middle Ages, 7ve know no English work which can be compared to Mr. Hardwick^ t book. " — Guardian. A HISTORY of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH DURING THE REFORMATION. New Edition, revised by Professor Stubbs. Crown Svo. los. 6d. This vohtme is intended as a sequel and companion to the ^History of the Christian Church during the Middle Age.'' Hare. — Works by the late Archdeacon Hare : THE VICTORY OF FAITH. By JuLius Charles Hare, M.A., Archdeacon of Lewes. Edited by Prof Plumptre. With Introductory Notices by the late Prof. Maurice and Dean Stanley. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 6d. THE MISSION OF THE COMFORTER. With Notes. New Edition, edited by Prof. E. H. Plumptre. Cm. Svo. ^s. 6d. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 13 Harper.— THE METAPHYSICS OF THE SCHOOL. By Thomas Harper, SJ. In 5 vols. Vols. I. and H., 8vo. i8j. each. *' If the Clergy of either commit men in this comttry could be brought to study Father Harper's book, we should augur well for a sounder the- ology even in the next generation.''' — Church Quarterly Review. Harris.— SERMONS. By the late George Collver Harris, Prebendary of Exeter, and Vicar of St. Luke's, Torquay. With Memoir by Charlotte M. Yonge, and Portrait. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6^-. Hervey.— THE GENEALOGIES OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, as contained in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, reconciled with each other, and shown to be in harmony with the true Chronology of the Times. By Lord Arthur Hervey, Bishop of Bath and Wells. 8vo. los. bd. Hort.— TWO DISSERTATIONS. I. On monofenh^ 0EO2 in Scripture and Tradition. XL On the " Constantinopolitan" Creed and other Eastern Creeds of the Fourth Century. By F. J. A. Hort, D.D., Fellow and Divinity Lecturer of Emmanuel Col- lege, Cambridge. 8vo. 7^-. 6d. Howson (Dean) — Works by : BEFORE THE TABLE. An Inquiry, Historical and Theo- logical, into the True Meaning of the Consecration Rubric in the Communion Service of the Church of England. By the Very Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D., Dean of Chester. With an Appendix and Supplement containing Papers by the Right Rev. the Bishop of St. Andrew's and the Rev. R. W. Kennion, M.A. 8vo. y. 6d. THE POSITION OF THE PRIEST DURING CON- SECRATION IN THE English Communion Service. A Supplement and a Reply. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. Hughes.— THE MANLINESS of CHRIST. By Thomas Hughes, Author of 'Tom Brown's School Days.' Cr. 8vo. /^.6d. "'He has given to the world a volume, tvhich so truly, and in some places so picturesquely and strikingly, represents the life of our Lord, that 7ue can only express the hope that it may fnd its %vay into the hands of thousands of English working men^ — Spectator. Hutton.— ESSAYS: THEOLOGICAL and LITERARY. By Richard Hutton, M.A. New and cheaper i.^sue. 2 vols. 8vo. iSj. Hymni Ecclesiae. — Fcap. 8vo. ^s.^d. This collection was edited by Dr. Newman while he lived at Oxford. 14 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Hyacinthe.— CATHOLIC REFORM. By Father Hyacinthe. Letters, Fragments, Discourses. Translated by Madame Hyacinthe-Loyson. With a Preface by the Very Rev. A. P. Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster, Cr. 8vo. 'js. 6d. "A valuable contributiojt to the religiuus literature of the day." — Daily Telegraph. lllingworth.— SERMONS preached in a College Chapel. With an Appendix. By J. R. lllingworth, M.A., Fellow of Jesus College, and Tutor of Keble College, Oxford. Crown 8vo. 5j. " These sermons have a rare intensity andj-eality of tone. . . . It is full of strength^ and zee should be glad to induce ajzy one to read it.'''' — Spectator. Imitation of Christ. — Four Books. Translated from the Latin, with Preface by the Rev. W. Benham, B.D., Vicar of Margate. Printed with Borders in the Ancient Style after Holbein, Diirer, and other Old Masters. Containing Dances of Death, Acts of Mercy, Emblems, and a variety of curious ornamentation. Cr. 8vo, gilt edges, 7^. 6d. Also in Latin, uniform with the above. New Edition, 'js.6d. Jacob.— BUILDING IN SILENCE, and other Ser- mons, By J. A. Jacob, M.A., Minister of St. Thomas's, Pad- dington. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. Jellett,— THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER: being the Don- nellan Lectures for 1877. By J, H, Jellett, B.D., Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, formerly President of the Royal Irish Academy. Second Edition. 8vo, 5^-, Jennings and Lowe.— THE PSALMS, with Introduc- tions and Critical Notes. By A. C. Jennings, B, A,, Jesus Col- lege, Cambridge, Tyrwhitt Scholar, Crosse Scholar, Hebrew University Scholar, and Fry Scholar of St. John's College ; helped in parts by W. H. Lowe, M.A., Hebrew Lecturer and late Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Tyrwhitt Scholar. Complete in two vols, crown 8vo, los. 6d. each. Vol. i, Psalms i. — Ixxii., with Prolegomena ; Vol. 2, Psalms Ixxiii. — cl. Killen.— THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF IRE- LAND from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. By W. D. Killen, D.D., President of Assembly's College, Belfast, and Professor of Ecclesiastical History. Two vols. 8vo. 25^-. * ' Those who have the leisure will do well to 7'ead these two vohimes. They are full of interest, and are the result of great r^jmrc/^."— Speo- tator. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 15 Kingsley.— Works by the late Rev. Charles Kingsley, M.A., Rector of Eversley, and Canon of Westminster : THE WATER OF LIFE, and Other Sermons. New Edition. Crown 8vo, 6j. THE GOSPEL OF THE PENTATEUCH ; and Uavid. New Edition. Crown. 8vo. ds. GOOD NEWS OF GOD. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6^. SERMONS FOR THE TIMES. New Edition. Crown Svo. 6i-. VILLAGE AND TOWN AND COUNTRY SERMONS. New Edition. Crown Svo. ds. SERMONS on NATIONAL SUBJECTS, THE KING OF THE EARTH, and other Sermons. New Edition. Cm. Svo. (a. DISCIPLINE, AND OTHER Sermons. New Edition. Crown Svo. 6 J. WESTMINSTER SERMONS. With Preface. New Edition. Crown Svo. 6s, OUT OF THE DEEP. Words for the Sorrowful. From the Writings of Charles Kingsley. Extra fcap. Svo. y. 6d. Kynaston.— SERMONS PREACHED IN THE COL- LEGE CHAPEL, CHELTENHAM, during the First Year of his Office. By the Rev. Herbert Kynaston, M.A., Princi- pal of Cheltenham College. Crown Svo. 6^. Lightfoot. — Works by J. B. LiGHTFOOT, D.D., Bishop of Durham : ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. A Re- vised Text, with Introduction, Notes, and Dissertations. Seventh Edition, revised. Svo, cloth. I2s. While the Author's object has been to make this cojtwientary f^etieral/y complete, he has paid special attention to ez'erything relating to St. Paul's personal history and his intercourse tvith the Apostles and Church of tJu Circumcision, as it is this feature in the Epistle to the Galatians which has given it an ove^^tu helming interest in recent theological cont7\n>ersy. The Spectator says — " There is no comvientator at once of sounder J udg^ ment and more liberal than Dr. Lightfoot, " ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. A Revised Text, wnth Introduction, Notes, and Dissertations. Sixth Edition, revised. Svo. \2s. i6 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. LIGHTFOOT {V>Y.)~contimied. ^'■No commentary in the English language can be compared tvith it in regard to fulness of information, exact scholarship, and laboured attempts to settle everything about the epistle on a solid foundation. " — Athenaeum. ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES TO THE COLOSSIANS AND TO PHILEMON. A Revised Text with Introduction, Notes, etc. Fifth Edition, revised. 8vo. \is. " // bears marks of continued and extended reading and research, and of ampler materials at command. Indeed, it leaves nothing to be desired by those who seek to study thoroughly the epistles contained in it, and to do so with all known advantages presented in sufficient detail and in conve- nient form. " — Guardian. ST. CLEMENT OF ROME. An Appendix containing the newly discovered portions of the two Epistles to the Corinthians, with Introductions and Notes, and a Translation of the whole. 8vo. 8^. bd. ON A FRESH REVISION OF THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. The Author shrMS in detail the necessity for a fresh revision of the authorized version on the following grounds : — i. False Readings. 2. Artificial distinctions created. 3. Real distinctions obliterated. 4. Faults of Granunar. 5. Faults of Lexicography. 6. Treatment of Trop>er JVames, official titles, etc. 7. Archaisms, defects in the English, errors of the press, etc. " The book is marked by careful scholarship, familiarity with the subject, sobriety, and circumspection.'''' — Athenaeum. Maclaren.— SERMONS PREACHED at MANCHESTER. By Alexander Maclaren. Sixth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4J-. 6d. These Sermons represent no special school, but deal zvith the broad prin- ciples of Christian truth, especially in their bearing on practical, every-day life. A feiu of the titles are: — '■^ The Stone of Stumbling," ^^ Love atui Forgiveness," ^^ The Living Dead," '■'■Memory in Another World,''* ''Faith in Christ," "Love and Fear," " The Choice of Wisdom," " The Food of the World." A SECOND SERIES OF SERMONS. Fourth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6d. The Spectator characterises them as "vigorous in style, full of thought, rich in illustratioti, and in an unu.ual degree interesting." A THIRD SERIES OF SERMONS. Fifth Edition, Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. jy MACLAREN {P^.)— continued. *' Sermons more sober and yet 77iore forcible, and ivith a certain 7vise and practical spirituality about them it ivould not be easy to find. ^'' — Spectator. WEEK-DAY EVENING ADDRESSES. Delivered in Manchester. Extra Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Maclear. — Works by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D., Warden of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, late Head Master of King's College School : A CLASS-BOOK OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. With Four Maps. New Edition. i8mo. 4^-. 6d. '' The present vohune,''' says the Preface, "-forms a Class- Book oj Old Testament History fi'om the Earliest Times to those of Ezra and Nehe- miah. In its preparation the most recent authorities have been consulted and wherever it has appeared useful, Notes have been subjoined illustra- tive of the Text, and, for the sake of more advanced students, references added to larger laorks. The Index has been so arranged as to form a concise Dictionary of the Persons and Places mentioned in the coiirse of the Narrative. " The Maps, prepared by Stanfoi'd, materially add to the value and usefulness of the book. The British Quarterly Review r^//j it "A careful and elaborate, though bi'ief conpoidium of all that modern research has done for the illustration of the Old Testament. We know of no work which contains so much inportant information in so small a compass.'''' A CLASS-BOOK OF NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY. Including the Connexion of the Old and New Testament. New Edition. i8mo. 5 J. 6d. The present vohcme forms a sequel to the Author'' s Class- Book of Old Testament History, and continues the narrative to the close of St. Pauls second imprisonment at Ro?ne. The zvork is divided into three Books — /. The Connexion betiveen the Old and Nezo Testament. II. The Gospel History. HI. The Apostolic History. In the Appendix are given Chronological Tables. The Clerical Journal j-^tj/j, ^^ It is -not often that such an amount of useful and interesting matter on biblical subjects is found in so convenient and small a compass as in this well-arranged volume. " A CLASS-BOOK OF THE CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. New and Cheaper Edition. i8mo. i^. (id The present work is intended as a sequel to the two preceding books. ' ' Like them, it is ju7'nished with notes and refei-ences to larger works^ tend it is hoped that it may be found, especially in the higher forms of our i8 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. MACLEAR (Dr. G. Y .)— continued. Public Schools, to supply a suitable mattual of instruction in the chief doctrines of our Church, and a useful help in the preparatioJi of Can- didates for Confrjrmtion." 77^^ Literary Churchman j-^jj, *^ It is indeed the work of a scholar and divine, and as such, though extremely simple, it is also extremely instructive. There are fnv clergy who zvould not find it useful in preparing Candidates for Confir??iation ; and there are not a few who would find it ttseful to themselves as %vell. " A FIRST CLASS-BOOK OF THE CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, with Scripture Proofs for Junior Classes and Schools. New Edition, i8mo. dd. This is an epitome of the larger Class-book, meant for junior students and elementarv classes. The book has been carefully condensed, so as to cofitain clearly and fully the most important part of the contents of the larger book. A SHILLING-BOOK of OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. New Edition. i8mo. This Manual bears the same relation to the larger Old Testament His- tory, that the book just mentioned does to the larger work on the Catechism, It consists of Ten Books, divided into short chapters, and subdivided into sections, each section treating of a single episode in the history, the title of which is given in bold type. A SHILLING-BOOK of NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY. New Edition. i8mo. A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR CONFIRMA- TION AND FIRST COMMUNION, with Prayers and Devo- tions. 32mo. 2s. This is an enlarged and improzjed edition of ' The Order of Confirma- tion.^ To it have been added the Communion Office, with Notes and Explanations, together with a brief form of Self Examination and De- votions selected from the works of Cosin, Ken, Wilson, and others. THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION, with Prayers and Devotions. 32mo, dd. THE FIRST COMMUNION, with Prayers and Devotions for the Newly Confirmed. 32mo. (id. THE HOUR OF SORROW ; or, The Order for the Burial of the Dead. With Prayers and Hymns. 32mo. 2s. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 19 MACLEAR (Dr. G. Y .)— continued. APOSTLES OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE. Cr. 8vo. ^.(,d. ''^ Air. Maclear will have done a great %vork if his admirable little volujue shall help to break up the dense ignorance which is still prtruailing among people at large^ — Literary Churchman. Macmillan.— Works by the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, LL.D., F, R. 8. E. (For other Works by the same Author, see Catalogue OF Travels and Scientific Catalogue), TWO WORLDS ARE OURS. Globe 8vo. (ys. THE TRUE VINE; or, the Analogies of our Lord's Allegory. Fourth Edition. Globe 8vo. 6j-. The Nonconformist says — "// abounds in exquisite bits of description^ and in striking facts clearly stated. " The British Quarterly says — ' ' Readers and preachers who are unscientific luill fnd many of his illustrations as valuable as they are beautiful. " BIBLE TEACHINGS IN NATURE. Twelfth Edition. Globe Svo. 6j-. In this volume the author has endeavoured to shriu that the teaching of Natu7-e and the teaching of the Bible are directed to the same great end; that the Bible contains the spiritual truths which are necessary to make us wise unto salvation, and the objects and scenes of Nature are the pictures by which these truths are illustrated. "He has made the world more beautiful to tcs, and unsealed our ears to voices of praise and messages of love that might othe!i.i'ise have been tinheay'd." — British Quarterly Review. ^''Dr. Macmillan has produced a book which may be fitly described as one of the happiest efforts for enlisting physical science in the direct serz'ice 0/ religion. " — Guardian, THE SABBATH OF THE FIELDS, A Sequel to 'Bible Teachings in Nature.' Third Edition. Globe Svo. 6s. " This volume, like all Dr. Alacjnillan' s productions, is very delight- ful reading, and of a special kind. Imagination, natural scieiue, and religious instruction are blended togetJier in a very charming way.'''' — Bi-itish Quarterly Review. THE MINISTRY OF NATURE, Fourth Edition, Globe Svo, ds. *' Whether the reader agree or not with his conclusions, he will ac- knowledge he is in the presence of an original and thoughtful writer.'' — Pall Mall Gazette, " There is no class of educated men and women that will not profit by these essays.'" — Standard, OUR LORD'S THREE RAISINGS FROM THE DEAD. Globe Svo, 6j-. 20 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Materialism : Ancient and Modern. By a late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Crown 8vo. is. Maurice. — Works by the late Rev. F. Denison Maurice, M.A., Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Cam- bridge : The Spectator says — ^^Fenj of those of oiw own generation whose names will live in English history or literature have exerted so profound and so permanent an influence as Mr. Maurice." THE PATRIARCHS AND LAWGIVERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Third and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 5j. The Nineteen Discourses contained in this volume were preached in the chapel of Lincoln^ s Inn during the year 1 85 1. THE PROPHETS AND KINGS OF THE OLD TES- TAMENT. New Edition. Crown Svo. \os. 6d. Mr. Maurice, in the spirit which animated the compilers of the Church Lessons, has in these Sermons regarded the Prophets more as preachers of righteo7isness than as mere predictors — an aspect of their lives which, he thinks, has been g?'eatly overlooked in our day, and than zuhich there is none we have more need to contemplate. He has found that the Old Testatnent Prophets, taken in their simple natural sense, clear tp jnany ef the difficidties which beset us in the daily zvork of lije ; make the past intelligible, the presejtt endurable, and the future real aiui hopeful. THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. A Series of Lectures on the Gospel of St, Luke. New Edition. Crown Svo. ^s. Mr. Maurice, in his Preface to these Twenty-eight Lectures, says — "/« these Lectures I have endeavoured to ascertain zvhat is told us respect- ing the life of Jesus by one of those Evangelists zuho proclaim Him to be the Christ, who says that He did coi?iefro?n a Father, that He did baptize with the Hoiv Spirit, that He did risefroj?i the dead. I have chosen the one who is most directly connected with the later history of the Church, who was not an Apostle, who professedly wrote for the use of a man already instructed in the faith of the Apostles. I have followed the course of the writer''s narrative, not changing it under any pretext. I have adhered to his phraseology, striving to avoid the substitution of any other for his.'' THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. A Series of Discourses. New Edition. Crown Svo. ds. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 21 MAURICE (Rev. F. Vi.)— continued. The Literary Churchman thus speaks of this volutne: '■'' Thorou.)— continued. THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. IOJ-. dd, *' The book,^'' says Mr. Maurice, '■^expresses thoughts which have heen working in my ??iind for years ; the method of it has not been adopted carelessly ; even the composition has undergone frequent revision.''^ THE DOCTRINE OF SACRIFICE DEDUCED FROM THE SCRIPTURES. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 'js. 6d. THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD, AND THEIR RELATIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. Fiftli Edition. Crown 8vo. 5J-. ON THE SABBATH DAY ; the Character of the Warrior, and on the Interpretation of History. Fcap. Svo. 2s. 6d. THE LORD'S PRAYER, THE CREED, AND THE COMMANDMENTS. A Manual for Parents and Schoohnasters. To which is added the Order of the Scriptures. iSmo, cloth limp. is. DIALOGUES ON FAMILY WORSHIP. Crown Svo. 6s. SOCIAL MORALITY. Twenty-one Lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge. New and Cheaper Edition. Cr. Svo. los. 6d. *' Whilst reading it %ve are charmed by the freedom frotn exclusiveness and prejudice, the large charity, the loftiness of thought, the eagerness to recognise and appreciate whaiever there is of real worth extant in the world, which animates it from one end to the other. We gain new thoughts and nezv ways of mewing things, even more, perhaps, from being brought for a time under the influence of so noble and spirittial a 7/wtd." — Athenaeum. THE CONSCIENCE : Lectures on Casuistry, delivered in the University of Cambridge. Second and Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo. 5^-. The Saturday Review says — " We rise from the pei'usal of these lec- tures with a detestation of all that is selfish and mean, and with a living impression that thei'e is sttch a thing as goodness after all." LECTURES ON THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST AND SECOND CENTURIES. Svo. los. ed. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 23 MAURICE (Rev. F. T>.)— continued. LEARNING AND WORKING. Six Lectures delivered in Willis's Rooms, London, in June and July, 1854. — THE RELIGION OF ROME, and its Influence on Modern Civilisa- tion. Four Lectures delivered in the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh, in December, 1854. Crown 8vo. 5^. SERMONS PREACHED IN COUNTRY CHURCHES. New Edition. Crown 8vo. los. 6d. ^^ Earnest, practical, and extremely si/nple." — Literary Churchman. * * Good specimens of his si?nple and earnest eloquence. The Gospel inci- dents are realized with a vividness which %ve can well believe made the common people hear him gladly. Moreover, they are sermons which tnust have done the hearers good.''^ — ^John Bull. Milligan.— THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD. The Croall Lecture for 1879—80. By the Rev. Professor MiLLl- GAN, D.D., Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism in the University of Aberdeen. 8vo. 9J. Moorhouse. — Works by James Moorhouse, M.A., Bishop of Melbourne : SOME MODERN DIFFICULTIES RESPECTING the FACTS OF NATURE AND REVELATION. Fcap. 8vo. 2J. dd. JACOB. Three Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge in Lent, 1870. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3 J. dd. O'Brien. — PRAYER. Five Sermons preached in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin. By James Thomas O'Brien, D.D., Bishop of Ossory and Ferns. 8vo. (>s. Onesimus.— MEMOIRS OF A DISCIPLE OF ST. PAUL. By the Author of " Philochristus." Demy 8vo. \os. 6d. Palgrave. — HYMNS. By Francis Turner Palgrave. Third Edition, enlarged. i8nio. is. 6d. This is a collection of twenty original Hymns, which the Literaiy Churchman speaks of as ''so choice, so perfect, and so refined, — so tender in feeling, and so scholarly in expression.''^ Paul of Tarsus. An Inquiry into the Times and the Gospel of the Apostle of the Gentiles. By a Graduate. 8vo. lo-f. 6^/. ' ' No thoughtful reader will rise from its perusal without a real and lasting profit to himself, and a sense of permanent addition to the cause of truth. "—Standard. 24 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Philochristus.— MEMOIRS OF A DISCIPLE OF THE LORD. Second Edition. 8vo. \2s. ' ' The winning beauty of this book afid the fascinating power with which the subject of it appeals to all English minds will secure for it many readej's." — Contemporary Review. Philpott.— A POCKET OF PEBBLES WITH A FEW SHELLS. Being Fragments of Reflection, now and then with Cadence, made up mostly by the Sea Shore. By the Rev. William B. Philpott. Second Edition. Picked, Sorted, Pohshed anew. With Two IHustrations by George Smith. Fcap. 8vo. 5^. Picton.— THE MYSTERY of MATTER ; and other Essays. By J. Allanson Picton, Author of ' New Theories and the Old Faith.' Cheaper Edition. With New Preface. CrownSvo. 6^. Plumptre — MOVEMENTS in RELIGIOUS THOUCxHT. Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge, Lent Tenn, 1879. By E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Professor of Divinity, King's College, London, Prebendary of St. Paul's, etc. Fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6d. Prescott — THE THREEFOLD CORD. Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge. By J. E. Prescott, B.D. Fcap. 8vo. 3J-. 6d. Procter.— A HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER : With a Rationale of its Offices. By Francis Procter, M.A. Sixteenth Edition, revised and enlarged. Cr. 8vo. 10^.6^. The Athenaeum says — " The 07'igin of roery part of the Prayer-book has been diligently investigated, — and there are few questions or facts con- nected with it which ai'e not either suficiently explained, or so referred to that persojts interested may tvork out the truth for the?nselves.''^ Procter and Maclean— AN ELEMENTARY INTRO- DUCTION TO THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Re-arranged and Supplemented by an Explanation of the Morning and Evening Prayer and the Litany. By F. Procter, M.A., and G. F. Maclear, D.D. New Edition. Enlarged by the addition of the Communion Service and the Baptismal and Confirmation Offices. i8mo. 2s. 6d. The Literary Churchman characterises it as ^^ by far the completest and most satisfactory book of its kind we knozu. We wish it were in the hands of every schoolboy and every schoolmaster in the kingdom. " Psalms of David CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. An Amended Version, with Historical Introductions and Ex- planatory Notes. By Four Friends. Second and Cheaper Crown 8vo. 8j. dd. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 25 One of the cJiief designs of the Editors^ in pirparitig this Toltime, 7vas to restoi-e the Psalter as far as possible to the order in lohich the Psalms were written. They give the division of each Psalm into strophes, and of each strophe into the lines which composed it, and amend the errors of translation. The Spectator calls it '^one of the most instructive ami valuable books that have been published for many years.'''* Psalter (Golden Treasury). — The Student's Edition. Being an Edition of tlie above with briefer Notes. i8mo, y. 6d. The aim of this edition is simply to put the reader as far as possible in possession of the plain meaning of the writer. '■^ It is a gem" the Non- conformist says. Pulsford.— SERMONS PREACHED IN TRINITY CHURCH, GLASGOW. By William Pulsford, U.D. Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. j\s. 6d. Ramsay.— THE CATECHISER'S MANUAL; or, the Church Catechism Illustrated and Explained, for the Use of Clergymen, Schoolmasters, and Teachers. By Arthur Ramsay, M.A. Second Edition. i8mo. is. 6d. Rays of Sunlight for Dark Days. A Book of Selec- tions for the Suffering. With a Preface by C. J. Vauohan, D.D. iSmo. Ninth Edition. 3^-. 6d. Also in morocco, old style. Dr. Vaughan says in the Preface, aftei' speaking of the general rtin of Books of Comfort for Mourners — "// is because I think that the little volume nozv offered to the Christian sufferer is one of g)-eater wisdotn and of deeper experience, that I have readily consented to the request that I would introduce it by a few words of Preface.''^ The book consists of a series of very b?-ief exti-acts from a great variety of authors, in prose and poetjy, suited to the many moods of a mourning or suffering mind. '■'■Mostly gons of the first water.'''' — Clerical Journal. Reynolds.— NOTES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. A Selection of Sermons by Henry Robert Reynolds, B.A., President of Cheshunt College, and Fellow of University College, London, Crown Svo. 7^. dd. Roberts.— DISCUSSIONS ON THE GOSPELS. By the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. Svo. i6j-. Robinson.— MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD ; and other Sermons preached in the Chapel of the Magdalen, Streatham, 1874—76. By H. G. Robinson, M.A., Prebendary of York. Crown Svo. ^s, 6d. 26 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Romanes.— CHRISTIAN PRAYER AND GENERAL LAWS, being the Burney Prize Essay for 1873. With an Ap- pendix, examining the views of Messrs. Knight, Robertson, Brooke, Tyndall, and Galton. By George J. Romanes, M.A. Crown 8vo. 5J-. Rushbrooke.— SYNOPTICON : An Exposition of the Common Matter of the Synoptic Gospels. By W. G. Rushbrooke, M.L., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Printed in colours. In Six Parts and Appendices. 4to, Part L 3^. 6c/. Parts XL and III. 7j. Parts IV. V. and VI. With Indices. \os. 6d. Ap- pendices, IOJ-. 6d., or the complete work, in one vol. cloth, 35J-. Salmon.— NON-MIRACULOUS CHRISTIANITY, and other Sermons, preached in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin. By George Salmon, D.D., Chancellor of St. Patrick's Cathe- dral, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Dublin. Crown Svo. 6s. Scotch Sermons, 1880.— By Principal CairD; Rev. J. Cunningham, D.D. ; Rev. D. J. Ferguson, B.D. ; Professor Wm. Knight, LL.D. ; Rev. W, Mackintosh, D.D,; Rev. W. L. M'Farlan; Rev. Allan Menzies, B.D. ; Rev. T. NicoLL; Rev. T. Rain, M.A. ; Rev. A. Semple, B.D. ; Rev. J. Stevenson ; Rev. Patrick Stevenson ; Rev. R. H. Story, D.D. Svo. Third Edition. loj-. 6./. The Pall Mall Gazette says — " The publication of a volume of Scotch Sermons, contributed by members of the Established Church, seems likely to cause as much commotion in that body as ' Essays and Reviews ' did in the Church of England.'''' Selborne.— THE BOOK OF PRAISE : Froni the Best English Hymn Writers. Selected and arranged by Lord Selborne. With Vignette by T. Woolner, R.A, i8mo. 4^-. dd. It has been the Editor'' s desire and aim to adhere strictly, in all cases in which it could be ascertained, to the genuine uncorrupted text of the authors themselves. The names of the authors and date of composition of the hymns, ivhen knoivn, are affixed, while notes are added to the volume, giving further details. The Hyjiins are arranged according to subjects. ' ' There is not room for two opinions as to the value of the 'Book of Praise. ' " — Guardian. ^^ Approaches as neai'ly as one can conceive to perfection.''^ — Nonconformist. BOOK OF PRAISE HYMNAL. See end of this Catalogue. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 27 Sermons out of Church. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." New Edition. Crown Svo. 6j. Speaking of this volume the Reviezvers remark: " IVe have read this book with no sjnall pleasure. The author is rvell entitled to speak on many of the questions she has raised here. In many ivays her book is timely.'''' — British Quarterly Review. " We may fairly advise young housekeepers especially diligently to study the pages dez'otcd to the Sei-i'ant question — but called ^ My Brother'' s Keeper''— a simple, practical, lijise treatise on a difficult subject.'^ — Spectator. Service. — SALVATION HERE AND HEREAFTER. Sermons and Essays. By the Rev. John Service, D.D., Minister of Inch. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. '^We have enjoyed to-day a rare pleasure, having J7ist closed a volume of sermons which rings true metal from title page to finis, and pro7'es that another and very poiuerful recruit has been added to that snutll band of ministers of the Gospel who are not only abreast of the religious thought of their time, but have faith enough and courage enouqh to ha>idle the questions which are the most critical, and stir men^s minds most deeply., with frankness and thoroughness.''^ — Spectator. Shipley. — A THEORY ABOUT SIN, in relation to some Facts of Daily Life. Lent Lectures on the Seven Deadly Sins. By the Rev. Orby Shipley, M.A. Crown Svo. "js. 6d. Smith.— PROPHECY A PREPARATION FOR CHRIST. Eight Lectures preached before the University of Oxford, being the Bampton Lectures for 1S69. By R. Payne Smith, D.D., Dean of Canterbuiy. Second and Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. The aicthor^s object in these Lectures is to she%u that there exists in the Old Testament an element, 7vhich no criticism on naturalistic principles can either account for or explain aivay: that element is Prophecy. The author endeavours to proz>e that its force does not consist merely in its predictions. ^^ These Lectjires overflo7v with solid learning. " — Record. Smith.— CHRISTIAN FAITH. Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge. By \V. Saumarez Smith, M.A., Principal of St. Aidan's College, Birkenhead. Fcap. Svo. 3-f. 61. Stanley. — Works by the late Very Rev. A. P. Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster : THE ATHANASIAN CREED, with a Preface on the General Recommendations of the Ritual Commission. Cr. Svo. 2S, 28 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. STANLEY {J^^zxi)— continued. ''^Dr. Stanley puts ivith admirable force the objections which maybe made to the Creed ; equally admirable^ ive think, is his statement of its advaittages. " — Spectator. THE NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. Sermons preached in Westminster Abbey. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 2s. dd. ADDRESSES AND SERMONS AT ST. ANDREW'S in 1872, 1875 and 1876. Crown 8vo. 5^-. Stewart and Tait.— THE UNSEEN UNIVERSE ; or, Physical Speculations on a Future State. By Professors Balfour Stewart and P. G. Tait. Tenth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo. 6^-. '^A most remarkable and most interesting volume, which, probably ■more than any that has appeared in modern titnes, will affect religious thought on many mo?7ientous questions — insensibly it may be, but very largely and very beneficially.^^ — Church Quarterly. " This book is one which well deserves the attention of tJiozightfid and religious readers It is a perfectly safe enqtiiry, on scientific grounds, into the possibilities of a futtire existence.''^ — Guardian. Stubbs. — Works by Rev. CHARLES WiLLlAM Stubbs, M.A., Vicar of Granborough, Bucks. : VILLAGE POLITICS. Addresses and Sermons on the Labour Question. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6d. *' The sermons in this book are all worth reading. .... They are full of warm sympathy for the labourers and sound pi'actical advice to all classes concerned in the struggle. ", — Guardian, ' ' // is a most encouraging sign of the times, that a clergyman of the Chiirch of England can be found to deliver such discourses as these.'''' — Westminster Review, THE MYTHE OF LIFE, and other Sermons, with an Introduction on the Social Mission of the Church. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3^-. dd. Taylor.— THE RESTORATION OF BELIEF. New and Revised Edition. By Isaac Taylor, Esq. Crown 8vo, %s. 6d. Temple.— SERMONS PREACHED IN THE CHAPEL of RUGBY SCHOOL, ByF, Temple, D.D,, Bishop of Exeter. New and Cheaper Edition, Extra fcap. 8vo, /\s. 6d. This volume contains Thirty-five Ser^nons on topics more or less inti- mately connected 7vith every -day life. The following are a few of the subjects discoursed upon: — '''■ Love and Duty-" ^^Coming to Christ;'^ THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 29 TE M PLE (Dr. )—contimied. ''Great Men f' ''Faith f' "Doubts ;'' "Scruples;'' "Original Sin ;" "Friendship;'' "Helping Others;" "The Discipline of Temptation;" "Strength a Duty;" " Worldliness ;" "III Temper;" "The Burial of the Past." A SECOND SERIES OF SERMONS PREACHED IN THE CHAPEL OP^ RUGBY SCHOOL. Second Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6^. This Second Series of Forty-two brief pointed, practical Sermons, on topics intimately connected with the every-day life of young and old, will he acceptable to all zoho are acquainted zvith the First Series. The follcnmng are a fe^v of the subfxts treated of: — "Disobedience," "Almsgiving," "The U)iknown Guidance of God," "Apathy otie of our Trials," "High Aims in Leaders," "Doing our Best," " Ihe Use of Kno^vledge," "Use of Obserz'ances," "Martha and Mary," "John the Baptist," "Severity before Mercy," "Even Mistakes Punished," "Morality and Religion," "Children," "Action the Test of Spiritual Life," "Self -Respect," "Too Late," " The Tercentenary." A THIRD SERIES OF SERMONS PREACHED IN RUGBY SCHOOL CHAPEL in 1867— 1869. Extra fcap. 8 vo. 6j. This Third Series of Bishop Temple's Rugby Sermo9is, contains thirty-six brief discourses, including the " Good-bye" sermon preached on his leaving Rugby to enter on the office he now holds. Thornely.— THE ETHICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECT OF HABITUAL CONFESSION TO A PRIEST. By Thomas Thornely, B.A., LL.M., Lightfoot and Whewell Scholar in the University of Cambridge, Law Student at Trinity Hall and Inns of Court, Student in Jurisprudence and Roman Law. Crown 8vo. 4-5-. dd. " The calm and judicial spirit in tvhich the inqjiiry is conducted is in keeping with the aim of the zuriter, and we are heartily in sympathy/ with him in his conclusions as far as he goes."— Lomlon Quarterly. " // is marked by an evident desire to avoid over-statement, and to be strictly impartial. " — Cambridge Review. Thring.— THOUGHTS ON LIFE-SCIENCE. By Rev. EnwARD Thring, jNI.A. New Edition, enlarged and revised. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. Thrupp.— AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY AND USE OF THE PSALMS. By the Rev. J. F. Thruit, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. New Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 2$s. 30 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Trench.— Works by R, Chenevix Trench, D.D,, Arch- bishop of Dubhn : NOTES ON THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD. Fourteenth Edition. 8vo. i^s. This work has taken its place as a standai'd exposition and interpreta- tion of Chi-isf s Parables. The book is prefaced by an Introductory Essay in four chapters : — /. On the definition of the Parable. II. On Teach- ing by Parables. Ill On the Interpretation of the Parables. IV. On other Parables besides those in the Scriptures. The author then proceeds to take up the Parables one by one, and by the aid of philology, history, antiquities, and the researches of travellers, shews foi-th the significance, beauty, and applicability of each, concluding with what he deems its true moral interpretation. In the numerous Azotes are many valuable references, illustrative quotations, ci'itical and philological annotations, etc., and ap- pended to the volume is a classified list of fifty-six works on the Parables. NOTES ON THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. Eleventh Edition, revised. 8vo. I2J. In the ^Preliminary Essay'' to this work, all the momentous and in- teresting questions that have been raised ht connection with Aliracles, are discussed with considerable fulness. The Essay consists of six chapters : — /. On the Names of Miracles, i.e. the Greek words by which they are designated in the Nezv Testament. II. The Miracles and Nature — What is the difference betzueen a Miracle and any event in the ordinary course of Nature ? Ill The Authority of Miracles— Is the Miracle to conwiand absolute obedience? IV. The Evangelical, compared zaith the other cycles of Miracles. V. The Assaults oti the Miracles — i. Thejezvish. 2. The Heathen (Celsus, etc.). 3. The Pantheistic (Spinosa, etc.). 4. The Sceptical (Hume). 5. The Miracles only relatively miraculous ( Schleier- mac her). 6. The Rationalistic (Paulus). 7. The Historico- Critical ( Woolston, Strauss). VI. The Apologetic Worth of the Miracles. The author then treats the separate Miracles as he does the Parables. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ninth Edition, enlarged. 8vo. I2J. This Edition has been carefully revised, and a considerable numbei- oj new Synonyms added. Appended is an Index to the Synonyms, and an Index to many other zvords alluded to or explained throughout the zvork. ^He is," the Athen^um says, " « gtiide in this department of knozvledgt to whom his readers may intrust themselves zoith confidence. His sober judgment and sotind sense are barriers against the misleading influence of arbitrary hypotheses. " ON THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Second Edition. 8vo. 7^. After some Introductory Rejnarks, in which the propriety of a rrdsion is briefly discussed, the zuhole question of the malts of the present version THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 31 TRENCH (Archbishop)— r^w/mw^^. is gone into in detail, in elez'en chapters. Appended is a chronological list of works bearing on the subject, an Index of the principal Texts con- sidered, an Index of Greek Words, and an Index of other Words re- ferred to throughout the book. STUDIES IN THE GOSPELS. Fourth Edition, revised. 8vo. lOj. ()d. This book is published under the conviction that the assertion often made is untrue, — viz. that the Gospels are in the main plain and easy, and that all the chief difficulties of the Neio Testament are to be found in the Epistles. These ''Studies,'' sixteen in number, are the fruit of a much largei- scheme, and each Study deals with some important episode mentioned in the Gospels, in a critical, philosophical, and practical man- ner. Many references and ipiotations are added to the Notes. Ajnong the subjects treated are: — The Temptation ; Christ and the Satnantan Woman; The Three Aspirants; The Transfigwatioi ; Zacchicus ; The True Vine; The Penitent Malefactor; Christ and the Tuo Disciples on the way to Emmaus. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLES to the SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA. Third Edition, revised. 8vo. 8j. dd. The present work consists of an Introduction, being a commentary on Rev. i. 4 — 20, a detailed examination oj each of the Sez'en Epistles, in all its bearings, and an Excursus on the Historico- Prophetical Interpreta- tion of the Epistles. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. An Exposition drawn from the writings of St. Augustine, with an Essay on his merits as an Interpreter of Holy Scripture. Fourth Edition, en- larged. 8vo. los. 6d. The first half of the present wo7-k consists of a dissertation in eight chapters on ^Augustine as an Interpreter of Scripture,'' the titles of the several chapters bei)ig as folloi.o : — /. Augtistine's General Vieivs of Scrip- ture and its Interpretation. II. The External Helps for the Interpreta- tion of Scripture possessed by Augustine. III. Augustine's P?'inciples and Canons of Inteipretation. IV. Augustine's Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture. V. Illustrations of Atigustine's Skill as an Interpreter oj Scripture. VI. Augustine on John the Baptist and on St. Stephen. VII. Atigustine on the Epistle to the Pomans. VIII. Miscellaneous Examples of Augustine' s Interpretation of Scripture. The latter half of the work consists of Augustine's Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, not hozoever a mere series of quotations from Augustine, but a connected cucomtt of his sentiments on the various passages of that Sernuvi, inter- spersed zuith criticisms by Archbishop Trench. SHIPWRECKS OF FAITH. Three Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge in May, 1867. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 32 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. TRENCH [Axchhisho^]— continued. These Sermons are especially addressed to young men. The subjects are ^^ Balaam," ^^Saul," and '•'•Judas Iscariot," These lives are set forth as beacon-lights, ''''to warn us off from perilous reefs and quick- sands, which have been the destruction of j)iany, and which might only too easily be ows.^' The]o\\n Bull says — ^' they are, like all he writes, af- fectionate and earnest discourses. " SERMONS Preached for the most part in Ireland. 8vo. IOJ-. (id. This volume consists of Thirty-two Sermons, the greater part of which were preached in Ireland ; the subjects are as follow : — Jacob, a Prince with God and zvith Men — Agrippa — The Woman that was a Sinnei' — Secret Faults — The Seven Worse Spirits — Freedom in the Truth — Joseph and his Brethren — Bearing one another'' s Burdens — Chrisfs Challenge to the World — The Love of Money — The Salt of the Fa7-th — The Armour of God — Light in the Lord — The Jailer of Philippi — The Thorn in the Flesh — Isaiah's Vision — Selfishness — Abraham interceding for Sodom — Vain Thoughts — Pontius Pilate — The Brazen Serpent — The Death and Burial of Aloses — A Word from the Cross — The Church's Worship in the Beauty of Holiness — Every Good Gift fro7n Above — On the Hearing of Prayer — The Kingdom which cometh not with Observation — Pressing tozvards the Mark — Saul — The Good Shepherd — The Valley of Dry Bones — All Saints. LECTURES ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY. Being the Substance of Lectures delivered in Queen's College, London. Second Edition, revised. 8vo. \2s. Contents : — The Middle Ages Beginning — 77?^ Conversion of Eng- land — Islam — The Conversion of Ger?nany — The Iconoclasts — The Crusades — The Papacy at its Height— The Sects of the Middle Ages — The Mendicant Orders — The Waldenses — The Revival of Learning — Christian Art in the Middle Ages, ds^c. &^c. THE HULSEAN LECTURES, 1845-1846. Fifth Edition, revised. 8vo. 7^. 6d. This volume consists of Sixteeit Sermons, eight being on ' The Fitness of Holy Scripture for tmfolding the Spiritual life of Men,' the others on * Christ, the Desire of all Nations ; or, the unconscious Prophecies of Heathendotn. ' Tulloch.— THE CHRIST OF THE GOSPELS AND THE CHRIST OF MODERN CRITICISM. Lectures on M. Renan's 'Vie de Jesus.' By John Tulloch, D.D., Principal of the College of St. Mary, in the University of St. Andrew's. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4J. dd. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 33 Vaughan — Works by thevery Rev. Charles John Vaugh an, D.D., Dean of Llandafif and Master of the Temple : CHRIST SATISFYING THE INSTINCTS OF HU- MANITY. Eight Lectures delivered in the Temple Church. Second Edition, Extra fcap. 8vo. y. 6d. *' We are convinced that there are congregations, in number unmistakably increasing, to whom sjich Essays as these, full of thought and learnings are infinitely more beneficial, for they are more acceptable^ than the recog- nised type of sermons.''^ — John Bull. THE BOOK AND THE LIFE, and other Sermons, preached before the University of Cambridge. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4J. dd. TWELVE DISCOURSES on SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE LITURGY and WORSHIP of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Fourth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 6^. LESSONS OF LIFE AND GODLINESS. A Selection of Sermons preached in the Parish Church of Doncaster. Fourth and Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3J. dd. This -volume consists of Nineteen Sermons, 7nostly on subjects connected with the every-day 7valk and conversation of Christians. The Spectator styles them ^^ earnest and human. They are adapted to ez'ery class and order in the social system, and will be read with wakeful interest by all who seek to amend whatez'er may be amiss in their natural disposition or in their acquired habits. " WORDS FROM THE GOSPELS. A Second Selection of Sermons preached in the Parish Church of Doncaster. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4^-. bd. The Nonconformist characterises these Sermons as ' * of practical earnest- ness, of a thoughtftdness that penetrates the common conditions and ex- periences of life, and brings the truths and examples of Scripture to bear on them with singular force, and of a style that owes its real elegance to the simplicity and directness which have fine culture for their roots. " LIFE'S WORK AND GOD'S DISCIPLINE. Three Sermons. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. THE WHOLESOME WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST. Four Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge in November, 1866. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3J-. 6d. Dr. Vaughan uses the word '•^ Wholesome''^ here in its literal and original sense, the sense in which St. Paul uses it, as meaning healthy, sound, conducing to right living ; and in these Sermons he points out and illustrates sezieral of the ^^ wholesome" charactenstics oj the Gospel, — the Words of Christ. The John Bull says this volume is " replete 7vith all the author's well-known vigour of thought and richness of expressions'^ 34 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. VAUGHAN (Dr. C. I.)— continued. FOES OF FAITH. Sermons preached before the Uni- versity of Cambridge in November, 1868. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. y. 6d. The ''^ Foes of Faith'''' preached against in these Four Sermons are: — /. '^'' Unreality y II. '•''Indolence.^'' III. '"^Irreverence." IV. ^'■Iticon- sistency. " LECTURES ON THE EPISTLE to the PHILIPPIANS. Fourth and Cheaper Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5^. Each Lecture is prefaced by a literal translation from the Greek of the paragraph which forms its subject, coiitains first a minute explanation of the passage on which it is based, and then a practical application of the verse or clause selected as its text. LECTURES ON THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. Fourth Edition. Two Vols. Extra fcap, 8vo. 9J, In this Edition of these lectures, the literal translations of the passages expounded will be found interwoven in the body of the lectures themselves. *^ D)'. Vaughan's Sermons,''^ the Spectator says, ^'■are the most prac- tical discourses on the Apocalypse with tvhich %ve are acquainted. " Pre- fixed is a Synopsis of the Book of Revelation, and appended is an Index of passages illustrating the language of the Book. EPIPHANY, LENT, AND EASTER. A Selection of Expository Sermons. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. \os. 6d. THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. For English Readers. Part I., containing the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. Second Edition. Svo. is. 6d. It is the object of this work to enable English readers, unacquainted with Greek, to enter with intelligence into the m,eaning, connexion, and phraseology of the writings of the great Apostle. ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. The Greek Text, with English Notes. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. yj. dd. 77^^' Guardian says of the work — '"''For educated young ?nen his com- mtntary seems to fill a gap hitherto unfilled. . . . As a whole. Dr. Vaughan appears to us to have given to the world a valuable book of o7iginal and careful and earfiest thought bestoived on the accomplishment of a work which ivill be of 7mich service and which is much needed.''^ THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST DAYS. Series I. The Church of Jeiiisalem. Third Edition. „ IL The Church of the Gentiles. Third Edition, „ III. The Church of the World. Third Edition. Fcap. Svo. 4^'. 6(^/. each. The British Quarterly says — ** These Sermons are worthy of all praise, and are models of pdpit teaching. " THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 35 VAUGHAN (Dr. C. I.)— continued. COUNSELS for YOUNG STUDENTS. Three Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge at the Opening of the Academical Year 1870-71. Fcap. 8vo. 2J. dd. NOTES FOR LECTURES ON CONFIRMATION, with suitable Prayers. Eleventh Edition. Fcap. Svo. \s. dd. THE TWO GREAT TEMPTATIONS. The Tempta- tion of Man, and the Temptation of Christ. Lectures delivered in the Temple Church, Lent 1872. Second Edition. Extra fcap. Svo. y. 6d. WORDS FROM THE CROSS : Lent Lectures, 1875 ; and Thoughts foi- these Times : University Sermons, 1874. Extra fcap. Svo. 45-. 6d. ADDRESSES TO YOUNG CLERGYMEN, delivered at Salisbury in September and October, 1875. Extra fcap. Svo. 45-. 6d. HEROES OF FAITH : Lectures on Hebrews xi. Extra fcap. Svo. 6s. THE YOUNG LIFE EQUIPPING ITSELF FOR GOD'S SERVICE : Sermons before the University of Cambridge. Sixth Edition. Extra fcap. Svo. 3^^. 6d. THE SOLIDITY OF TRUE RELIGION ; and other Sermons. Second Edition. Extra fcap. Svo. 3^". 6d. MEMORIALS OF HARROW SUNDAYS. A Selection of Sermons preached in the Chapel of Harrow School. Fifth Edition, down Svo. lo^. dd. SERMONS IN HARROW SCHOOL CHAPEL (1847). Svo. los. dd. NINE SERMONS IN HARROW SCHOOL CHAPEL (1S49). Fcap. Svo. 5J-. "MY SON, GIVE ME THINE HEART;" Sermons preached before the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 1S76 —78. Fcap. Svo. 5J-. THE LORD'S PRAYER. Second Edition. Extra fcap. Svo. 3J-. 6d. REST AWHILE : Addresses to Toilers in the Ministry. Extra fcap. Svo. 5^. TEMPLE SERMONS. Crown Svo. 10^. 6d. This volume contains a selection of the Sei'tnons preached by Dr. Vaughan in the Temple Church during the txoelve years that he has held the dignity of Master, 36 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. Vaughan (E. T.)— SOME REASONS OF OUR CHRIST- IAN HOPE. Hulsean Lectures for 1875. By E. T. Vaughan, M.A., Rector of Harpenden. Crown 8vo. ds. 6d. Vaughan (D.J.) — Works by Canon Vaughan, of Leicester: SERMONS PREACHED IN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, LEICESTER, during the Years 1855 and 1856. Cr. 8vo. 5^. 6d. CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES AND THE BIBLE. New Edition, revised and enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 5^-. 6d. THE PRESENT TRIAL OF FAITH. Sermons preached in St. Martin's Church, Leicester. Crown 8vo. ^s. Venn.— ON SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BELIEF, Scientific and Religious. Being the Hulsean Lectures for 1869. By the Rev. J. Venn, M.A. 8vo. 6s. 6d. These discourses are intended to illustrate, explain, and work out into some of their consequences, certain characteristics by which the attainment of religious belief is prominently distinguished from the attainment of belief upon most other subjects. Vita.— LINKS AND CLUES. By Vita. Crown Svo. " It is a long ti?ne since we have read a book so full of the life of a true spi7-itual mind. . . . Indeed, it is not so inuch a book to read through, as to read and return to as you do to the Bible itself, from which its whole significance is derived, in passages suited to the chief interest and dijficulties of the moment. .... We cannot too cordially reco7nmend a book which awakens the spirit, as hardly any book of the last few years has awakened it, to the real tneaning of the Christian life.'" — The Spectator. Warington.— THE WEEK OF CREATION ; or. The Cosmogony of Genesis considered in its Relation to Modem Sci- ence. By George Warington, Author of 'The Historic Character of the Pentateuch vindicated.' Crown 8vo. /[s. 6d. WestCOtt. — Works by BROOKE FOSS Westcott, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge ; Canon of Peterborough : The London Quarterly, speaking of Dr. Westcott, says — ** To a learn- ing and accuracy which com?nand respect and confidence, he unites what are not always to be found in union with these qualities, the no less valuable faculties of lucid arrangement and graceful and facile expression." AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE GOSPELS. Sixth Edition. Crown Svo. 10^.60^. The author's chief object in this work has been to shew that there is a true mean betzveen the idea of a formal harmonization of the Gospels and the abandonment of their absolute truth. AJter an Introduction en THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 37 WESTCOTT {T>x.)—conHnued. the General Effects of the course of Modern Philosophy on the popular vinvs of Christianity^ he p'oceeds to determine in zvhat way the principles therein indicated may be applied to the study of the Gospels. A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE HISTORY OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT during the First Four Centuries. Fifth Edition, revised, with a Preface on ' Super- natural Religion.' Crown 8vo. los. 6d. The object of this treatise is to deal with the Nra.) Testament as a 7vhole^ and that on purely historical grounds. 77ie separate books of which it is composed are considaed not ituli^jidually, bid as claiming to be parts of the apostolic heritage of Christians. ' ' The treatise, " says the British Quarterly, *'w a scholarly performance^ learned, dispassionate, discriminating, worthy of his subject and of the present state of Christian literature in relation to it." THE BIBLE IN THE CHURCH. A Popular Account of the Collection and Reception of the Holy Scriptures in the Christian Churches. Seventh Edition. i8mo. 4^. 6d. A GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. Second Edition, Crown 8vo. ioj. 6d. The Pall Mall Gazette calls the work "A brief, scholarly, and, to a great extent, an original contribution to theological literature." THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, MANIFOLD AND ONE. Six Sermons preached in Peterborough Cathedral. Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. THE GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTION. Thoughts on its Relation to Reason and History. Fourth Edition, revised. Crown Svo. 6s. The present Essay is an endeavour to considn sotne of the elementary truths of Christianity, as a miraculous Revelation, from the side of History and Reason. The author endeavours to shezo that a devout belief in the Life of Christ is qtnte compatible uiih a broad view of the course of human progress and a frank trust in the laxvs of our o2vn minds. In the third edition the author has carefully reconsidered the whole argument, and by the help of several kind critics has been enabled to correct some faults and to remove some ambiguities, which had been overlooked before. ON THE RELIGIOUS OFFICE OF THE UNIVER- SITIES. Crown Svo. 4^. 6d. " Thn-e is wisdom, and truth, and thought enough, and a harmony and mutual connection running through them all, which makes the collection of more real value than many an ambitious treatise." — Literary Churchman. 38 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. WESTCOTT (J^x.)— continued. THE REVELATION OF THE RISEN LORD. Crown 8vo. 6 J-. Westcott— Hort.— THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE ORIGINAL GREEK. The Text Revised by B. F. Westcott, D, D., Regius Professor of Divinity, Canon of Peterborough, and F. J. A. Hort, D.U., Hulsean Professor of Divinity, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge : late Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. \os. 6d. each. Vol. I. Text. Vol. II. Introduction and Appendix. " The Greek Testament as printed by the ttvo Professors must in future rank as one oj the highest critical authorities amongst English scholars. " — Guardian. ^'^ It is probably the most important conti'ibution to Biblical learning in our generation.^'' — Saturday Review. " The object in viexv is to present the original words of the New Testa- ment as nearly as they can be determined at the present time, to arrive at the texts of the autographs themselves so far as it is possible to obtain it by the help of existing materials We attach much excellence to this manual edition of the Greek Testament, because it is the best contribution which England has made in modern times toivards the p7'oduction of a pure text. . . . It bears on its face evidences of calm judgment and com- mendable candour. The student f?iay avail himself of its aid with much confidence. The Introduction and Appendix specially dese)~ve tninute attention.''^ — The Athenseum. Wilkins.— THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. An Essay, by A,S. Wilkins, M.A., Professor of Latin in Owens College, Manchester. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 3^. dd. *'^ It would be difficult to praise too highly the spirit, the burden, the conclusions, or the scholarly finish of this beautiful Essay." — British Quar- terly Review. Wilson.— THE BIBLE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO THE MORE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING of the ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, by Reference to the Original Hebrew. By William Wilson, D.D., Canon of Winchester. Second Edition, carefully revised. 4to. 2^s. The author believes that the pj'esent work is the fiea?-est approach to a complete Concordance of every word in the original that has yet been made; and as a Concordance it may be found of g)' eat use to the Bibte student, while at the same time it serves the important object of furnishing the means of comparing synonymous words and of eliciting their precise and distinctive meanijig. The knowledge of the Hebrew language is not absolutely necessary to the profitable use of the work. THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. 39 Worship (The) of God and Fellowship among Men. Sermons on rublic Worship. By Professor Maurice, and others. Fcap. 8vo. 3j-. dd. Yonge (Charlotte M.)— Works by Charlotte IM.Yonc.e, Author of ' The Heir of Redely ffe ': SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR SCHOOLS AND FA- MILIES. 5 vols. Globe 8vo. \s.^d. With Comments, 3J. 6^'. each. First Series. Genesis to Deuteronomy. Second Series. From Joshua to Solomon. Third Series. The Kings and Prophets. Fourth Series. The Gospel Times. Fifth Series. Apostolic Times. Actual need has led the author to eiideavotir to prepare a reading hook convenient for study with childi-en, containing the very words of the Bible, with only a few expedient omissiofts, and arranged in Lessons of such length as by expeiience she has found to suit liith children's ordinal v power of accurate attentive interest. The verse form has been retained be- cause of its convenience for children reading in class, and as mo7'e re- sembling their Bibles ; but the poetical poriioris have been given in their lines. Professor Huxley at a meeting of the London School-boaj'd, par- ticularly mentioned the Selection made by Miss Yonge, as an example of how selections might be made for School reading. '•'■ Her Comments are models of their kind.'''' — Literary Churchman. THE PUPILS OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6j. " Young and old will be equally refreshed and taught by these pages, in which nothing is dull, afid nothing is far-fetched.''^ — Churchman. PIONEERS AND FOUNDERS ; or, Recent Workers in the Mission Field. With Frontispiece and Vignette Portrait of Bishop Heber. Crown 8vo. 6s. The missionaries whose biographies are here given, are — John Eliot, the Apostle of the Red Indians; David Brainerd, the Enthusiast ; Christ- tan E. Schwai'tz, the Councillor of Tanfore; Henry Alartyn, the Scholar- Missionary ; William Carey and Joshua J\/arsh??ian, the Serampore Mis- sionaries ; the Judson Lamily ; the Bishops of Calcutta — 7homas Middleton, Reginald Heber, Dajiiel Wilson; Samuel Marsden, the Aus- tralian Chaplain and Eiiend of the Maori; John Williams, the Martyr of Erromango ; Allen Gardener, the Sailor Martyr; Charles Lreaeiick Mackenzie, the Martyr of Zambesi. THE "BOOK OF PRAISE" HYMNAL, COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY LORD SELBORNK In the follcnmng four forms : — A. Beautifully printed in Royal 32xno., limp clotli, price 6d. B. ,, ,, SmalllSmo., larger t3rpe, cloth. limp, Is. C. Same edition on fine paper, cloth. Is. 6d. Also an edition -with Music, selected, harmonized, and composed by JOHN HXJLLAH, in square 18mo., cloth, 3s. 6d. The large acceptance which has been given to *' The Book of F7'aise" by all classes of Christian people encourages the Publishers in entertaining the hope that this Hymnal, zvhich is mainly selected from it, may be ex- tensively used in Congregatiotis, and in some degree at least jneet the desires of those who seek uniformity in common xwrship as a means towards that unity which pious souls yearn after, and whicJi our Lord prayed for in behalf of his Chuj-ch. ^^ The office of a hymn is not to teach controversial Theology, but to give the voice of song to practical religion. No doubt, to do this, it nnist embody sound doctrine ; but it ought to do so, not after the manner of the schools, but with the breadth, freedom, and simplicity of the Fomitain-head." On this principle has Sir R. Palmer proceeded in the preparation of this book. The arrangement adopted is the following : — Part I. consists of Hymns arranged according to the subfects of the Creed— ''God the Creator,'' ''Christ Incarnate/' "Christ Crucified," "Cfirist Risen," "Christ Ascended," "Christ's Kingdom and Judg- ment," etc. Part II. comprises Hymns arranged according to the subfects of the Lords Prayer. Part III. Hymns for natural and sacred seasons. Thei'e are 320 Hymns in all. CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. PALMER. ^ V BW1042.D13 The synod of Elvira and Christian life Princeton Theological Semlnary-Speer Library 1 1012 00077 3517