■pj BL 82 .S34 1884 Schmucker, Samuel M. 1823- ' 1863. I History of all religions i CHINESE IMAGE OF BUDDHA. HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS; CONTAINING A STATEMENT OB" THE ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT, DOCTRINES, FORMS OF WORSHIP AND GOVERNMENT OF Alili THE Religious Denominations in the World BY SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKER, LL.D. NEW YORK: JOHN B. ALDEN, PUBLISHER. Copyright, 1881, by Hubbard Bboh. '->-> !■— ^— -A NOV 1035 /•..c. ' PREFACE. The design of the following work is essentially different from that of other publications on the same subject, which already exist. The larger and more extensive of these are composed of articles on the Religious Sects in the United States, which were written by members of the several de- nominations described, and are often expanded into immense length by reiterated and familiar arguments intended to demonstrate the truthfulness and Scriptural authority of the Sects to which the respective writers belonged. This method of treatment is much better suited to works on Polemic Theology than to those which profess merely to contain a statement of opinions and a narrative of events. On the other hand, the smaller works which have appeared on this subject are superficial and incomplete, being generally made up of very short articles, of clippings from Encyclopaedias and Biographical Dictionaries, and are utterly unfit to con- vey even to the general reader a satisfactory idea of the vari- ous subjects which come under consideration. The Old and New School Presbyterian bodies have been consolidated into one organization since the articles con- cerning them were written, so that the distinctions main- tained in this work are not strictly correct ; but in view of the fact that many will regard the causes of separation with great interest, and will desire to refer to some trustworthy account of the differences, the subject is allowed to remain (iii) iv PREFACE. unchanged, believing that the book will be more valuable o^ this account. The great changes in our relations and communications with the Chinese and Japanese have increased the interest in these peculiar peoples. A full account of their religious creeds and ceremonies seemed to be demanded, and it has accordingly been prepared with great care from the best sources, expressly for this work, and will be found exceed- ingly interesting. That the work will long continue a stand- ard authority and a be blessing to mankind, is our wish. CONTENTS. Page Abelians, or Abelites .... 112 Abyssinian Church . ... 112 Adventists 284 Anabaptists, or "Munster Baptists" 37 Antinomians 1^2 Arians . • ' 1°" Arminians 65 Associate Ketbrnied .... 108 Athanasians 181 Atheism . , 344 Baptists 38 Baxterians 106 Bcreans 136 Brahmins 36 Brownists 37 Buddhists 36 Calixtins 193 Calvanists 193 Campbellites 250 Catholics, Koman 7 Chinese . 259 Christian Connection .... 320 Church of God 306 Church Government 347 Cocceians 198 Copts 318 Come-Outers . _ 236 Congregationalists 54 Covenanters 302 Creeds of the World 349 Cumberland Presbyterians . . 277 Deism 344 Disciples 250 Druses 134 Dunkers 143 Dutch Eeformed 88 Episcopal, Eeformed. . Episcopal, Protestant . Evangelical Alliance . Evangelical Association Page .323 . 124 . 135 . 136 Flagellants 254 Fratres Albati 254 French Prophets 255 Free- Will Baptists. . . . . .114 Free Communion Baptists . . 112 Friends, Orthodox 58 German Seventh-Day Baptists.308 German Reformed 31 Gnostics 199 Greek Church 137 Hicksite Quakers 51 Hopkinsians 230' Huguenots 94 Humanitarians 119 Hutchinsonians 240 Jansenists Japanese . Jesuits . . Jews. . . 213 264 214 145 Labbadists 257 Lamaism 36 Latitudinarians 258 Libertines 258 Lutherans, Evangelical ... 19 Mahommedans I''"! Manicheists 249 Maronites 133 Materialists 285 (V) VI CONTENTS. Page Mennonites 142 Methodists, Episcopal .... 72 Methodists, Protestant ... 282 Millerites 284 Millenarians 116, 265 Monophysites 35 Monotlielites 35 Montanists 35 Mormons 98 Moravians 67 Mystics 139 Necessarians 105,207 Nestorians 241 New Jerusalem Church ... 45 Origenists 244 Paganism 340 Pantheism 342 Pelagians 243 Pre-Existents 271 Presbyterian Reunion .... 165 Presbyterians, Cumberland , . 277 Presbyterians, New Scliool . . 81 Presbyterians, Old School . . 155 Presbyterians, Reformed . . . 302 Progressive Friends 311 Protestants 343 Puritans 343 Puseyites 290 Quakers 51, 58, 311 Quietists 247 Page Reformed, German 31 Reformed, Dutch 88 Reformed, Associate 108 Reformed, Presbyterian ... 302 Religions of the 'World . . .349 Religious Denominations in U. S 348 Seceders 108 Servetians 206 Seventh-Day Baptists . . 150, 308 Shakers 216 Six Principle Baptists. . . . 142 Socinians : • 204 Spiritualism 338 St. Simonians 79 Swedenborgians 45 Theophilanthropists 94 Tractarians 290 Unitarians 167 United Brethren 67 United Brethren in Christ . . 132 Universalists 169 Wesleyan Methodists • . . .281 Wilkinsonians 138 Winebrennerians 306 Whippers . . • 115 Yesidees ; or, Worshippers of the Devil 344 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece. Page St. Peter's, at Kome 6 Cathedral at New Orleans 16 Gautama, the Buddha 36 Group of Idols from Ongole, India 44 Harvard College 56 Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake City 104 Mosque of St. Sophia 172 Mohammedans Praying 178 Group of Chinese Idols 260 Ceremonies in a Chinese Temple 262 Shinto Shrine at Yokohama, Japan 264 Jimmu Teimo, a Japanese God 265 Group of Pagan Altars 340 Juggernaut and his Companion Idols 342 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The career of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States commenced in the winter of 1633, when Lord Baltimore landed with a number of immigrants near the mouth of the river Potomac in Maryland. He had obtained the charter of the colony of Maryland from Charles I., with the avowed intention of colonizmg a new province, of which his brother. Lord Calvert, was to be the Governor. The great majority of the immigrants who accompanied these noblemen were Roman Catholics. The first act of the Governor after landing was to erect a cross upon the shore. He himself was a Catholic ; the whole administration of the colony was in the hands of the Catholics; the laws which subsequently controlled the community were enacted and administered by Catholics ; and, therefore, it is with great truth asserted that the State of Maryland was first established by members of the Cath- olic Church. Contemporary with the founding of the col- ony were also the introduction and establishment of the Catholic Church and religion. The colony of Maryland was governed by laws of the most liberal description. Lord Calvert enacted that, in the civil government of the colony, there should be an absol ite equality of rights extended to all religious per- & HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIOJiS. suasions, and that religious liberty and toleration should be one of the fundamental principles upon which that com- munitj should ever afterward exist, and be conducted. The Assembly of the Province, composed for the most part of Roman Catholics, passed an "Act Concerning Reli^ gion," by which it was ordained that no person within the limits of the colony should be compelled in any way to the belief or observance of any particular form of reli- gion ; and that, provided they did not conspire against the civil authority, no one should be interfered with in any way, in the enjoyment of the most absolute religious lib- erty. This policy is in strange contrast with the usu- al course pursued by this church, which in general is very jealous of other denominations, and it is^in direct conflict with the decrees of the council of Lateran, Tvhich goes so far to enjoin as a duty the extermina- tion of heretics. The religious services of the Catholic Church in Mary- land began on the 23d of March, 1634, when the first mass was celebrated on the Island of St. Clement, in the river Potomac. The priests who accompanied the Maryland colonists were Jesuits; and from that hour till theprci-cnt time, the Catholic community in Maryland has continued to be numerous and influential ; although in the progress of time the influx of residents and settlers from various other States and from Europe, who were Pratestants, gradually and without resistance withdrew from them tho authority of the State, constituted a majority of voters, and divorced the administration of the colony from the possession and supremacy of its original holders. This state of things existed at the commencement of the Amer- ican Revolution. While the Roman Catholic Church was thus taking firm root in Maryland, her doctrines and worship were being gradually introduced in various places throughout the orig- inal thirteen States, and elsewhere on the American con- tia^^nt. From 1634 till 1687, Catholic missionary pri^^ts HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 9 chiefly Jesuits, were traversing the immense region which exists between Canada and the present site of New Orleans. A Jesuit, Claude Allouez, explored the then unknown southern shores of Lake Superior. Another Jesuit, Mar- quette, discovered the mouth of the Missouri^ River. A third, Menan, preached among the Mohawk Indians. Other members of the same order missionated among the Onon- dagas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, and the Miamis. During a hundred years this quiet and gradual process continued. Meanwhile, Catholics were emigrating into the various States from all the countries of Europe ; and Catholic churches, generally small in the beginning, were erected, which were supplied and visited by missionary priests as often as they were able, who thus administered the rites, and kept up the celebration of the services of the Church. '' Father Formei " was one of the first and most celebrated Catholic missionaries in Pennsylvania. " Father Rasle" was equally distinguished for his apostolic zeal in Maine Cardinal Cheverus was renowned for his sanctity and use- fulness in Massachusetts. Bishop England, at a later day, was renowned throughout the Southern States, especially in South Carolina, for similar qualities and similar achieve ments. Archbishop Carrol was a worthy patron and ad vocate of the Church of Maryland. The first Episcopal See established in this country was that of Baltimore ; and the Rev. John Carrol was elected and consecrated as its first prelate. This event took place on August 15th, 1790, after the Catholic priests of the province, amount- ing at that period to twenty-four, had convened, and after due deliberation had chosen Dr. Carrol as the most suita- ble person to wear the Episcopal mitre, and therefore had commended him to the Pope for consecration. Dr. Car- rol received twenty-two votes out of the whole number. Subsequent to this period the Sees of New York, Phila- delphia, Boston, and Bardstown, were successively estab- lished, as the growth of the Church seemed to require. Several very eminent men have figured, and still flourish in the more recent history of the Church. The late 10 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. Archbishop Hughes, of ITew York, who was formerl}' pastor of St. John's Church, in this city, was justly esteemed as one of the most able, sagacious, and eloquent churchmen of the present time ; and whose rise from poverty and obscurity to distinction and influence, by the sheer force of his superior talents and personal merits, constitutes one of the most interesting and remarkable episodes in American history. Another very able Catho- lic prelate. Archbishop Kenrick, of Baltimore, formerly Bishop of this diocese, was a man of more profound and extensive erudition than Dr. Hughes, and occupies an equally elevated position in the Church ; but was his inferior in popular eloquence, in dexterity and craft, and in the efficiency with which he promotes the interests and extension of the Church. The Roman Catholic religion is pre-eminently a ritual one. Forms and ceremonies occupy a prominent place in her public worship and her private religious usages. Earnest and enthusiastic Protestants call the Church of Rome the great drag-net of Christianity, by which they mean that, as that Church descended the stream of time until the Reformation, she collected and preserved, as she went along, all sorts of rites, observances, superstitious conceits, doctrinal imaginings, and perversions, which the peculiar circumstances of each successive age and country may have originated and introduced ; and that she has preserved them all, by incorporating the whole of them, without selection or rejection, into her present established and now unalterable form of worsliip, belief, and govern- ment. We will leave our readers to judge for themselves of the truth or the falsehood of this compliment. Since the period of the Council of Trent, however, which com- menced its sittings in the year 1545, no change whatever, either in doctrine, or in government, or in ritual, has been introduced. The Decreta of that memorable assemblage fossilized the church, so that no change will ever again occur in anything that concerns her, except it be in violation of her wishes, and by persons hostile to her real genius. The HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 11 only alteration which has been made during three centu- ries in the doctrinal system, or credenda of the Churchy has been the acknowledgment and proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which has recently been promulgated at Rome as one of *he established principles of the true faith. What, then, are the chief doctrines which are taught <»y the Roman Catholic Chm^ch, and which are implicitly •nd universally believed by the ''faithful" everywhere ? In every system of religious belief the doctrine con- cerning G-od, the Supreme Being, lies at the foundation of 5X1 the rest. The existence of God, then his attributes, tnen his works, and then his providence, are the first and mndamental points which are discussed, determined, and adopted. Thus it is in regard to the doctrinal system of the Romish Church. The first point is that concerning God, {Be Deo,) and on this subject she teaches what Pro- testants term the Orthodox view of the Divine nature and being- She believes that God is self-existent, eternal, supreme, infinite in wisdom, goodness, justice, immutable, omnipresent, and omnipotent. At the same time she teaches that while there is but one true God, that single being is composed of three separate and divine persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — who exist to- gether in a mysterious and inexplicable manner, constitu- ting one single essence, yet composed of three divine and separate persons, who perform difierent and distinct func- tions. She teaches that the second person in the Trinity, the Son, proceeds by an eternal procession from the Father ; and that the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, proceeds by an equally eternal procession from both Father and Son. She teaches that the Son descended from Heaven to earth, assumed human nature, in conjunc- tion with the nature of the Infinite ; that he taught, suf- fered on the cross, and died for human guilt in order to avert the vengeance of God incurred )ij the fall of Adam, by man's inherited and original sin, and by his actual and habitual rebellion against the Divine law The Catholic 12 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. Cliurcli teaches that the Holy Spirit is the " Comforter*' promised by Christ to his disciples ; and that this Spirit is sent by the Father into the hearts of the faithful. This Spirit, thus sent by the Father, is coequal in every respect with the Father. It is, in truth, the Infinite, Omni- present Jehovah, who, on one occasion, took the form of a dove, and descended visibly on Christ. At another time the Infinite Jehovah assumed the appearance of flames of fire, as at Pentecost, and thus sat visibly on the heads of the disciples. Next in dignity to the Godhead, in the Catholic system, is the Virgin Mary. Innumerable prayers and petitions ire offered to her, and she is invoked in all parts of the world at the same time. Hence we may infer that she is supposed to possess the attribute of Omnipresence ; else it were vain to pray to her in more places than one at the same time. But Omnipresence is an attribute w^hich be- longs to God alone ; and, therefore, the ascription of it to the Virgin Mary seems like the ascription to her of a portion of the Divinity. She is called, moreover, the " Mother of God ;" and those who make objection to this title are answered thus : " Mary was the mother of Christ, was she not ?" " Yes." " Christ was God, was he not ?*' "Yes." "Then, surely Mary is the mother of God." But the obvious reply to this reasoning is, that Mary was the mother only of Christ's human nature ; and, there- fore, even though Christ were God, the union of a human and divine nature in Christ did not extend the maternity of Mary to both natures. It Avould be utterly impossible, for many reasons, for Mary to have been the mother of Christ's divine nature ; because no finite human being can give existence to an infinite being, any more than a pint measure can possibly hold a quart. Moreover, the Catho- lic Church teaches that Christ, as God, created all things : hence he created Mary ; and if Mary was the motlier of his divine nature, she actually gave birth to the sama Omnipotent Being who created her ; — and therefore Mary HISTORY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 12 is not, and cannot be, the mother of God. She was simply the mother of the man, Christ Jesus. Recently the Catholic Church, by her highest authori- ties, has decreed the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary ; and this doctrine is now, as we have said, a portion of the belief of the Church. A large portion of the ritual is devoted to prayers offered to her ; and in one place the same expressions, addressed to her with slight variations, are repeated forty times. In truth, the invocation of saints occupies no insignificant position in the worship of Catholics ; and doubtless many are encouraged and com- forted by the idea, that their interests are promoted by the interposition and the prayers of the good and wise, who have gone before them to the land of spirits, and have al • ready explored its solemn mysteries. The inspired authority of the Scriptures is one of the leading tenets of the Catholic Church : yet she contends that, though inspired, the Scriptures are in themselves in- sufficient, incomplete, and defective ; and that the aid of Tra- dition is necessary in order to constitute the whole sum of Christian truth and doctrine. By Tradition is meant the oral teachings and sayings of the Apostles, which, though not committed to writing by themselves or by their imme- diate successors, were repeated from one person to another, and by this means communicated to the whole Church. Thus Paul says to Timothy : " The things which thou hast heard from me, before many witnesses, the same com- mit to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." 2 Tim. ii. 2. The chief argument used by Catholics in favor of Tradition is, that, by the use of Scripture, all the various sects may prove and establish their various and contradictory opinions ; whereas. Tradition is uniform and harmonious in defending only those doctrines which are held and taught by the Catholic Church. Protestants, on the other hand, retort to this assertion, that Tradition is more variable, contradictory, and diversified in its teach- mgs, than even the Scriptures ; and if this argument ha^ 14 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. any weight against the authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures, it has much more weight against Tradition. The doctrine of the Catholic Church, in reference to the Church herself, is peculiar. She believes greatly in the external organization, the visible form, the outward crust of religion, which is termed the Church ; and holds that immense authority, prerogative, and sanctity, have been conferred upon her, as a separate and distinct entity, by Christ himself. Roman Catholics believe that the Church is entitled to absolute obedience from her members , and of course, in this connection, obedience to the Church means obedience to the priesthood — for who ever heard of the priesthood obeying the laity ? And this doctrine is based on the words of Christ addressed to the Apostles : " Whosoever's sins ye remit, they are remitted." But the question naturally arises, whether this authority to for- give sins, like that of working miracles, was not confined to the Apostles only. The Catholic believes in the Unity and Universality of his Church. All theological writers, in treating of the attributes of the Christian Church, in- variably enumerate these two qualities as being fundamen- tally essential to the existence of the true Church ; where- as, every one who knows anything of the history of Chris- tianity during all past ages, knows perfectly well that there never was a time when any church or denomination pos- sessed either perfect Unity or Universality. Even previous to the Reformation, the Catholic Church could not boast of Unity ; for in every age there were diver- sities of opinion and differences of doctrine. Even exter- nal Unity, the dryest, deadest, and most worthless of all, was never completely possessed ; and sometimes the ex- ternal divisions of the Catholic Church were carried even to the popedom, the supreme head of the Church, the in- fallible source of all authority ; and as many as three rival and hostile Popes existed at one and the same time, who fulminated, fumed, and cursed away against each other. As to Universality, it would be difficult, we think, to prove HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. It that any religious sect possesses it at the present time, or ever possessed it. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that she is infalli- ble, and cannot err, in matters of faith. This opinion is defended by the following arguments : that Christ pro- mised to his disciples that the Spirit of all truth should remain with them — she infers that this promise was in- tended to apply not only to the apostles, but also to their successors ; that Christ appointed Peter as the foundation of the Church, and that therefore if the gates of hell are not to prevail against her, she must have some infallible protection against falling into error. This infallibility centres in the Pope as the head of the Church on earth ; though unfortunately the Popes have at different times decreed dii^ectly contradictory decisions. To obviate this difficulty, a large proportion of eminent theologians in the Catholic Church have contended that this infallibility did not belong to the Pope alone, but to the Pope in conjunc- tion with a general or oecumenical Council. But suppose the Pope and the Council differ, as has repeatedly been the case, how then ? The Protestant answers, in fact, that the history of the Church proves that there has been as much disunion and difference of belief among Catholics as among other religionists ; and that this results from the fundamental laws of the human mind, which lead to difier- ences of opinion in spite of all authority. The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments, while nearly all other sects have only two. The seven Roman Catholic sacraments are. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Order, and Matrimony. The most important of these sacraments in the estimation of the laity, is the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, Catholics believe that the bread or wafer, after being consecrated by the officiating priest, is the body, blood, and divinity of Christ, and that, as there are at one single period of time myriads of consecrated wafers distributed over various countries of the earth, the body of Christ is necessarily divided and subdivided into an infinite iO HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. /lumber of portions, and received by the faithful every where,_ while at the same time that body remains unmuti lated m^ heaven. In other words, the doctrine of tran- substantiation, as held by Roman Catholics, is a mystery— a thing, the mode of which cannot be explained and de- fended to the satisfaction of common sense : which is indeed revoltmg to every dictate of common sense; but which must be received, if received at all, by the exercise of a submissive and obedient faith. We must believe that It is so, because the Church teaches that it is so ; and to many smcere minds this is sufficient and satisfactory authority The chief text of Scripture on which this doc- ti-me is based, is that in Matthew xxvi. 26-28, where Christ says : " Take, eat, this is my body," and giving the cup, said: "This IS my blood of the New Testament, which IS shed for the remission of sins." A consecrated wafer is constantly kept on the altars of the churches, and hence it is that Catholics suppose that they are in the im- mediate presence of God while they are in church; and therefore they kneel to the wafer on the altar frequently when entering and leaving the church, or when passing from one side of the sanctuary to the other. If indeed it be true that the great Creator and Sovereign of the uni- verse, or even a small fraction of him, is reposing on the altar, it is certainly proper enough to kneel to him, when m his direct presence. And it cannot be denied that this view of the thing leads to a much greater appearance ot deyoutness and solemnity in Roman Catholic Churches than IS to be seen in the churches of any other denomina^ tion of Christians. The sacrament of Penance is connected with the duty of Auricular Confession. It is the popular notion that tathohc priests claim the power absolutely to fordve sins • but though the laity may entertain this opinion, the Church herself does not teach it. Her doctrine really is, tHat alter a sm has been sincerely repented of and entirely orsaken, and after it has been fully and freely confessed to the priest, -^hen the latter is empowered to forgive it HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIOi'^B Xl and remit tlie penalty wMcli might otherwise have followod it. St. James says : " Confess your sins to one another ;** and on the authority of this passage the Confessional is based. But the Protestant here objects that these words plainly enjoin a mutual confession of each other's faults, whereas no priest ever confessed to a layman. Confession is always required in the Catholic Church before going to jhe Lord's Supper. A portion of Penance consists in satisfaction — satisfaction to God, and satisfaction to the Chuf ch, whom the penitent has offended. Sometimes the }/riost sees fit to relax the rigor of the Church, and remit a portion of the penance or satisfaction which would other- wise be enjoined. This is called an {7idulgence. Old Tetzel once did a thriving business in selling these indul- gences for money, until Luther arrested his course, and " made a big hole in his drum," which silenced it forever. The abuses which existed in the sixteenth century, in reference to these indulgences, led to the first outbreak of the Reformation, and to the down-break of the Papal DOwer throughout a large portion of Christendom. Roman Catholics administer Extreme Unction to those about to die, as a sacrament — a rite which is based on the words of St. James : "Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord." The Church also regards Marriage as a sacrament ; mean- mg thereby that, when the ceremony is performed by a Catholic priest, a vow is thereby made to God, which can- not be dissolved. Hence the Church does not permit full divorces for any cause, even for those specified and allowed by the law of the land. Yet the Popes have frequently granted dispensations for divorces, whenever the interests of the Church were promoted by them, thus apparently making a fundamental law and principle subservient to interest. But the church permits limited divorces, or separations a mensa ei thoro. The Invocation of Saints occupies a very prominent place in the worship and religious exercises of the Catholic 18 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGION'S. Cliurcli ; for the reason that, if pious friends and relations when on earth pray for those whom they love, it is a rea- sonable inference that they would continue so to do, here- after, in Heaven. Of the truth and propriety of this view, there can be no doubt ; yet whether this considera- tion justifies us in offering them our prayers, when in another world, is a question on which men will be disposed to differ. Of Purgatory^ or the intermediate state between death and judgment, the Catholic Church teaches, that the jus- tice of God will not punish those whose sins are of a trivial nature, to the same severe extent as those who are guilty of the most enormous crimes. Hence, as Hell is believed to be composed entirely of the elements of brim- stone and teeth-gnashing, without any grades of misery or diversity of torment, another place named Purgatory has very opportunely been discovered, where minor trans- gressions are disciplined by a lighter and more equitable punishment ; so that when their venial sins have been suffi- ciently suffered for, the purified spirits will be admitted to Heaven. A portion (»f the public services of the Catholic Church is celebrated in Latin. The reason of this is because the liturgy of the Church was anciently composed in that lan- guage, and a just reverence for antiquity induces^ her to retain the form in which her prayers were originally uttered. In this country all the prayers are translateU into English and printed, in the people's editions, together with the Latin. The Mass is a series of Latin prayers, during the utterance of which the consecrated host is of- fered to God by the officiating priest. The term Mass itself is derived from the concluding words of this solemn and imposing rite, which are '^Ite^ missa est" In the great cathedral churches of Europe the ceremonies con- nected with this portion of Catholic worship are solemn, imposing, and sublime in a pre-eminent degree, and the spectacle has often led the most thoughtless and irreverent minds to pious and penitent emotions. HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 19 Notwithstanding the prevalence of Protestant sects and churches, the Roman Catholic Church is still more numer- ous than any other single denomination. Her members may be said, at a rough guess, to amount to a hundred millions. In the United States they have increased with a steady and rapid pace during the last fifty years, till at the present time they are one of the leading denomina- tions. The spirit of this ancient and venerable church is aggressive, and her aspirations for extension never cease. But we believe that all those fears which some timid Pro- testants profess to entertain, of future danger to Ameri- can liberty from the encroachments of the Church of Rome, are most preposterous and absurd ; for that Church has enough to do to protect and preserve her own inte- rests and security, without having any means, even if she possessed the will, to interfere with the rights and inte- rests of others. EYANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. One of the oldest of the Protestant churches, and in Europe one of the most distinguished, is the Evangelical Lutheran. There are probably more historical incidents of interest and importance connected with the early career of this sect, than belongs to any other. The name or title by which they are designated — the term Lutheran — was first applied to them by their opponents, the Roman Catholics. When Luther met Dr. John Eck, the Romish theologian, in his celebrated debate at Leipsic, 1519, the latter endeavored to stigmatize the friends of the Reformer, and to turn both him and them into ridicule, by calling them Lutherans, in opposition to Catholics and Christians. The term thus used in the first instance as one of reproach, became universally prevalent among the enemies and friends of the new sect ; and it has since become renowned and esteemed for the honorable and memorable associa- tions connected with it. The other title which Lutherans »pply to themselves — that of Evangelical — is the one 20 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS which Luther and his followers originally claimed, when they abandoned and renounced what they held to be the errors and abominations of the Romish Church. The birth of the Lutheran denomination may with some dtness be dated from the year 1507, in which Luther then a monk, and twenty-four years of age, first discovered a Latin Bible among the rubbish of his convent library, from the perusal of which he derived his novel and then almost unknown ideas in reference to the doctrinal system of Protestant theology. During ten years he continued to investigate and study the Scriptures, at the end of which period, in 1517, he made his first public foray into the territories of Rome, by attacking the sale of Indul- gences, which at that time was carried on by Tetzel, in the vicinity of Luther's residence. Luther refused abso- lution, as a priest, to those who had bought forgiveness of their sins with money from Tetzel. A violent controversy ensued between Luther and Tetzel, in reference to this business, in which the former gained an overwhelming advantage. His violent conduct, however, excited the in- dignation of the authorities of the Catholic Church, and the Papal Court decreed that his writings should be pub- licly burnt. In return for this compliment, Luther col- lected together some of the standard works of the Romish Church and burnt them, together with the condemnatory bull of the Pope, in the view of the inhabitants of the city of Wittenberg. To punish this audacity, the Pope fulmi- nated another bull or decree, excommunicating the refrac- tory and contumacious priest. Thus the breach was made irreparable, and the career and independence of the new sect were formally and publicly begun. The first churches, or religious organizations connected with this new sect, were established in Saxony. The monarch of that State, the Elector Frederic, became a patron of Luther at the commencement of his career : and as the Reformer was one of his subjects, being professor At Wittenberg, his favorite University, his protection was of immense value. Soon Reformed and independent HISTORY Of ALL RELIGHONS. 2l churches were established in every city and town of Saxony ; from Saxony the new faith spread rapidly into Hanover, Wurtembm^g, Prussia, and many of the minoi principalities which constituted the then Germanic Empire. The views of Luther even extended into France and Eng- land, into Denmark and Sweden ; and it may with truth be asserted that the most potent and efficient enemy which the Roman Catholic Church has ever met with, during the progress and vicissitudes of many centuries, was "Brother Martin," the Monk of Eisleben, the illustrious founder of Lutheranism. The history of the Lutheran Church in Europe presents two very marked and prominent features. Her conflicta have been divided between those which she waged with the Church of Rome, and those which were carried on within her own bosom by the disputes and everlasting differences of her own members. Debate and disturbances seem indeed to have been the natural and normal state of this sect during their whole past history. Even before the death of Luther, the opinions of Melanchthon, his most intimate and trusted friend, became so widely dissimilar from his own, that a coldness of feeling ensued between them. The various diversities of sentiment, among the Lutherans, were somewhat harmonized by the memorable Diet at Augsburg, at which the Confession or creed known by that name was set forth, as the system of doctrine which the Lutheran Churches then entertained. At a subsequent period efforts were made to terminate the dis- putes which raged between the Lutherans and the Catholic Church ; and the Reformers prepared a revised edition of the Augsburg Confession, called the Smalcald Articles^ in which some concessions were made toward the Romish system. These purposes of conciliation ended in nothing. Luther died in 1546, in the sixty-second year of his age, and he left his followers an inheritance of great peril ; for they soon became involved in the horrors of war with ihe Emperor Charles Y., who was then champion of the Romish Church and of its supremacy. The Elector of 22 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse were the political and military heads of the Protestant party. The Emperor, Buddenly surrounded by the armies of the Protestants at Innspruck, in 1552, was compelled to make some impor- tant concessions to the Protestant leaders, which are known by the epithet of the Treaty of Passau. The Pro- testants eventually wrested from the Emperor an edict, by which he finally decreed and allowed that all those who had adopted the Confession of Augsburg should thence- forth be free from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, and were at perfect liberty to ordain laws for themselves in reference to all matters pertaining to their religious belief, discipline, and worship ; and all the inhabitants of the German Empire should be permitted to judge for themselves in religious matters ; and that who- ever should injure or persecute them, or any of them, on account of their opinions, should be treated as enemies of the Empire, and disturbers of its peace. At a subsequent period in the history of the Lutheran Church, another creed was added to their standards, in addition to those which we have already named, in order to aid in healing disputes and controversies which had arisen among her members and her theologians. This was called the Formula of Concord^ which differs in some re- spects from the Augsburg Confession. The two catechisms of Luther, the Larger and the Smaller, also hold the rank of authority with the members of this sect ; so that the symbolical books which contain their creed, when taken altogether, are of enormous size and volubility. The con- sequence is that the utmost diversity of opinions exists among the Lutherans in the various countries of Europe wliere they prevail. Every possible shade of sentiment and belief can be found among them, from the semi-Romish " old Lutheran," who, like Luther, adheres to the doc trine of consubstantiation, to thb semi-Infidel, who, like Strauss, Paulus, Rohr, and the other modern rationalistic theologians of Germany, deny the inspiration and mira- cles of the Scriptures. In this country the same tendency HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 23 to diversity of sentiment exists among the Lutherans, though it is not carried out to the same extremes ; and a certain degree of uniformity, together with considerable liberty, prevails among them here. From the period of Luther's labors the church which he represented gradually spread over a large part of north- ern Europe. Li 1525, it became the established Church of Saxony. Li 1527 the Lutheran doctrines were intro- duced into Sweden, with the sanction of the monarch, Gustavus Vasa Ericson. Lutheranism was introduced into Denmark in 1527, under the reign of Frederic I., whence it was carried into Norway, Lapland, and other countries of the extreme North. During the progress of half a century after Luther's death, his doctrines were proclaimed by able and learned advocates in the Netherlands, in Poland, in France, besides in all those German States and communities vhich we have already named. In Europe the Luther?in Church is at the present time the most numerous of all the Protestant sects. Her mem- bers number eight millions in Prussia, two millions in Austria, two millions in Saxony, one million in Wurtem- berg, one million in Hanover, two millions in the smaller German States, two millions in Denmark, four millions in Norway and Sweden, two millions and a half in Kussia, half a million in Poland, and a hundred and twenty thou- sand in the Netherlands. Lutheranism is the established religion in more separate States and kingdoms than is any other Protestant Church. There are more universities connected with this denomination than any other Protes- tant sect can boast of ; for nearly all the great seats of learning in Germany exist in connection with that sect, and are served by professors, who, for the most part, are Lutherans. Yet it must not be inferred from this fact that there is any unity of opinion among these numerous asso- ciations of learned and scientific men ; for their belief ex- hibits thfe utmost possible differences. It no more implies imity or harmony of belief between people, to say of them 24 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. in Europe that they are all Lutherans, than it would hnply similarity of appearance and of character, to sat of certain other people that they were all Swiss or all Frenchmen. The Lutheran Church in Germany has produced, during the several centuries of its past existence, a greater num- of learned and illustrious scholars than any other sect, either Romish or Protestant. It would be absurd to begin imj enumeration of even a portion of these ; for they would form a catalogue of many hundreds. Her clergy in Europe are the most learned, as a body, in theological science, of any sect in the world. At a time when candi- dates for the priestly office in England and Scotland were admitted, without their being able to understand a single word of the Hebrew, in w^hich the original of the Old Testament is written — and the knowledge and interpreta- tion of which are indispensable to every well-read theolo- gian, or even intelligent preacher — at that time the Lutheran churches in Germany required, and still requu-e, in all their candidates for the sacred office, a perfect ac- quaintance with the original languages of the Scriptures, and an equally accurate knowledge of every other depart- ment of theological science. It must be admitted that the three most influential and powerful sects in Europe at the present time, and since the Reformation, have been the Church of Rome, the Reformed Church of England, and the Lutheran Church in Germany. We will now proceed to sketch the history of this last in the United States, and set forth the doctrines and usages which now predominate among her members and preachers. The first religious assemblage of Lutherans which ever existed in the United States was composed of a few immi- grants from Holland, who came to New York about 1630, a few years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, and while the colony of New York still remained under the jurisdiction of the Dutch. They belonged originally to the small community of Lutherans who lived HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 25 In Holland, and who fled to this country probably to es- cape the horrors of the Thh'ty Years' War, vrhich at that disastrous period threatened to exterminate Protestantism from Germany and the Netherlands, Their first minister "was named Fabricius, Avho arrived in 1669, and who preached for them during eight years. Their first church was a log building erected in New York in 1671, for which a stone edifice was afterwards substituted. The next settlement of Lutherans in this country was that of the Swedes on the Delaware, at Philadelphia, in 1636. They continued to hold their religious services in their native language for many years ; after this the pre- valence of the English around them, the difficulty of ob- taining native preachers from Sweden, and the fact that the other then existing Lutherans of this city held all their public exercises in the G-erman language, induced the Swedish Lutherans to apply to the Protestant Episcop«