YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE

FOUNDING OF A NEW WORLD

ST. SOPHIA.

The Founding of a New
World

GEORGE H. DRYER, D.D.

NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: CURTS & JENNINGS

COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY
CURTS a JENNINGS

PREFACE.

Twenty years ago the author became convinced
that an urgent need of English-speaking Protestant
ism was a popular history of the Christian Church.
Each year since has deepened his conviction of its
necessity for the American Churches and the Ameri
can people. No Church and no people can afford to
be ignorant of its past. The society and civilization
into which we are born is our heritage. These are
mainly determined by the history of our country and
of the Christian religion. The distinguishing feature
of our civilization is that it is Christian. The Man of
Galilee uttered words and lived a life by which public
opinion judges men and nations. Our developing
civilization feels the influence of the centuries of
Christian history. Every intelligent man should
know, at least in outline, the history of his own land
and of the Christian Church. The forces molding
the life of our times are the forces active in the one
as in the other. Every Christian must rejoice in the
knowledge of the providential guidance of the Church
of God, and the development and conquests of the
Christian religion. Our own life finds help in it, as
did that of the psalmist and prophets of the Old, and
the apostles of the New Covenant, in the history of
Israel. Our hearts can not fail to glow as we see

2 Preface.
Christian history lengthening out the muster-roll of
the heroes of the faith found in the eleventh chapter
of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
The gravity of the situation can hardly be over
stated. Our schools teach everywhere the unity of
nature, the unity of human history. Our Roman
Catholic friends have their theory of the unity of
Church history, which, however deficient in proof,
does not fail in completeness. How, then, do we
teach human history — the history of the Christian re
ligion? Our American youth can study in our schools
and colleges the history of Greece, of Rome, of
Egypt, and of the Oriental nations of antiquity ; they
can learn the course of the history of the Middle
Ages, and the rise of the modern nations ; they can,
in modern history, find instruction in the history of
the United States, England, France, Germany, and
other European and Asiatic nations; th^ can find
guidance in universal history, in the history of civili
zation, the history of literature, of philosophy, of
economics, of the special sciences; but where, outside
of the theological seminaries, can they study the his
tory of the Christian Church ? What Christian col
lege has such a professorship? What Church in
structs its own adherents? What reading-course
supplies this lack ? Can we afford to ignore Christian
history? Are the divisions of Protestantism so fun
damental that Protestants can not teach it? Have
not even the errors and failures of Church history
lessons we should heed ?
It is believed there is room for a popular history
of the Christian Church, which shall be accurate and
impartial in its presentation of the facts; which shall

Preface. 3
give the life and movement of the times ; which shall
show the development and effect of the controlling
forces of the Christian life and factors of Christian
history; and which shall give its readers some ac
quaintance with the greatest names in the recorded
life of the Church, such as they have with Washing
ton or Cromwell, with Napoleon or Bismarck. Such
a history should be upon the shelves of the Church
and Sunday-school libraries, welcomed by Young
People's Societies and Reading Courses, and read
and enjoyed in the family circle.
This book has been written for popular use. It is
hoped it will have interest for those who only hear it
read aloud. Yet care has been taken and accuracy
sought that its arrangement and presentation of facts
may afford material for careful study and independ
ent judgment. While the author's opinions have not
been concealed, he has endeavored to distinguish
them from the statement of facts. It is believed it
will not fail in inspiration and suggestion.
These considerations have determined the method
employed in its composition. The aim has been to
place the reader in the midst of the Christian life of
the time. For this purpose the life of the state and
the conditions of society have been presented in de
tail. These were as real to the Christians of those
times as are to us our politics, economic and social
conditions; indeed, they were much more directly
affected by them. The history of the Church is more
than the record of doctrines and usages which it
rejected or retained ; it is the record of life ; and the
Church which conquered the Roman Empire and its
Teutonic invaders was very much alive. Because of

4 Preface.
the differences of opinion as to the teaching and
tendencies of the early Church, these have been
presented largely in the language of the writers of
the time. Those who read this history are entitled
to the testimony of the best authorities. It would
have been a pleasure to give foot-notes and ref
erences ; but for its purpose, the arrangement of
the literature at the head of the chapters has been
thought more serviceable. On controverted questions
space forbids the statement of different views ; the
materials for judgment, so far as possible, have been
given, and the conclusion in the words of men emi
nent for their ability, learning, and impartiality.
Such are Bishop Lightfoot, on the Christian Ministry ;
Canon Gore, on the Papal Supremacy ; Professor
Ramsay, on Apostolic Succession; and Dr. C. W.
Bennett, on Baptism. In one passage, Mr. Lecky's
summary of Eusebius, and in another Mr. Hodgson's
of Procopius, have been given because a study of the
original authors made clear that it would be difficult
to improve them in faithfulness and effectiveness.
An attempt has been made to show the relation of
this history to forms of Church-life with which we
are familiar, and for this purpose sometimes the
bounds of the period have not been strictly observed.
I wish to acknowledge the courtesy and kindness re
ceived for six years from the librarian and assistant
of the Rochester Theological Seminary, and aid given
by the Royal Library of Berlin. In addition to the
reading of the works of Professor Harnack, I am
glad to acknowledge the increased obligation from
hearing two courses of his lectures on this period. I
am most indebted to him in the treatment of Gnos-

Preface. 5
ticism, Manichseism, the Christological Controversies,
and Augustine.
The preparation of this volume has been the de
light, as well as the toil of years. The inspiration of
such noble company and triumphant faith has blessed
my life. I owe the deepest personal obligation for
help ministered to practical Christian living by men
as far removed from each other, and as little attract
ive to my choice, as John Calvin and St. Anthony.
Every genuine Christian life has help in it. It is
hoped that this work may aid in making evident the
unity of all Christians in the personal abiding of the
risen Lord and the ministration of the Holy Ghost —
a unity which compasses all divisions and generations
of the race, and unites the Church in earth and
heaven. May this presentation of the unity of Christian
history, and the power and supremacy of the spirit
ual and moral forces of the Christian religion, aid in
the advancement of the kingdom of God among men,
and reveal the glory of the reigning Christ on whom
the ages wait !

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Part Jtraf.
THE CONQUEST. I.
The Empire op Rome.
The Lands of Rome — The Rule of Rome and Great Britain —
The Rulers of this Empire — The Military Emperors— The
Magistrates — The Municipalities — The City Magistracy—
The Decurionate — Augustales — The Provincial Adminis
tration — Roman Taxation — Collection of Taxes — Roman
Society — Economic Condition of the Empire — Com
merce — Manufactures — Agriculture — Causes of Decline —
Religion,  27
II.
The Christian Church.
Its Origin — The Doctrines — God, Forgive„ess, Love, Immor
tality—The Society— Birth and Growth of the Church—
The Apostolic Church — Paul — Peter — James — John — The
Jews — The Greeks — Syria — In the West,  49
III.
The Persecutions.
Progress of the Conflict — Martyrs of Lyons — TertuUiau's
Witness — Martyrs at Carthage — The Apologists — Perse
cution of Diocletian — Summary — Motives of Christian
Martyrdom — Christian and Other Martyrs— Our Debt to
the Martyrs — Issue of the Conflict— Magnitude of the
Conquest,  64
IV.
The Christian Empire of Rome.
West and East — Effect of Taxation — The Roman Empire in
the East — Effect of Barbarian Invasions — Two Control
ling Powers surviving the Downfall of Rome — The Em-
7

8 Table of Contents.
pire— Influence of the Greek Church — Eastern Emperors —
Justinian— The Ruin of the Old World— Saxon Invaders —
Fate of Italy — Downfall of Rome,  78
V.
The Barbarians.
The Goths — Vandals — Lombards — Conversion of the Barba
rians — Clovis — Influence of the Church on the Barba
rians — Work of Christian Missions among the Barbarians —
Work of Captives— St. Patrick — Work of Hermits— St.
Severinus — Work of Monks — St. Martin of Tours — St.
Columba — Iona — Work of Bishops — Remigius and Clovis —
Augustine of Canterbury — Contrasts of these Ages — The
Element of Continuity — Failure of Materialistic Civiliza
tion — Divine Order Evident — Lessons of the Conquest, . 90
JSarf ^EEortb.
THE TRUTHS THAT WON.
I.
Teaching of the Early Church— Apostles' Creed.
Religion and Theology — Misr,'on of Preaching in the Apos
tolic Age — Turning-poin,. -Common Faith of the Earlv
Christians — The Apostolic Fathers — Ebionites — Gnosti
cism — Gnostic Doctrines — Manichseism — Defense of the
Faith — New Testament Canon — The Episcopate, . . 109
II.
Founding of Christian Theology— Origen.
Montanism — Irenseus — Hippolytus — Tertullian— Clement of
Alexandria — Origen — Concerning God — The Interces
sion of Angels— The Future State — Resurrection-germ
Theory — Our Relation to the Scheme of Things — Defects
of Origen — Biblical Scholar— Theologian— Character, . 124
III.
Doctrine of the Trinity— Creed of Nic^a.
Monarchianism — Dynamistic Monarchianism — Modalistic
Monarchianism— Subordmationism— Arius and his Doc-

Table of Contents. 9
trine— Athanasius— His Teaching— His Life — His Charac
ter — Oecumenical Councils — Nicsea — Its Creed — The Three
Cappadociaus — Creed of Constantinople  142
IV.
Doctrine of the Person of Christ— Creed of Chal-
cedon.
The Men of the Period — Nestorius — Cyril of Alexandria—
Eutyches — Council of Chalcedon — Creed of Chalcedon — ¦
Results of the Council,  157
V.
Pelagian Controversy — Doctrine of Human Sin and
Redemption.
St. Augustine — The Pelagian Controversy — Semi-Pelagian-
ism — Course of the Controversy — Augustine's Teaching —
The Fall— Original Sin— The Mass of the Non-elect—
Election and Preservation — Peculiar Doctrines — Charac
ter of his Thinking, (1) The Church, (2) Predestination,
(3) The Evangelical Faith — Augustine's Meditations, . 166
Part thirl).
THE NEW RULERS OF THE NEW WORLD.
I.
The Organization of The Early Church.
The Apostolic Church — Apostles — Prophets — Teachers —
Church Officers — Deacons — Presbyters — Bishops — Apos
tolic Succession,  181
II.
The Development of the Episcopate.
Bishops and Presbyters — Defense against Heresy and the
Apostolic Succession — Cyprian — Cyprian on the Episco
pate — Influence of Augustine — Ambrose — Bishops in
Gaul in the Teutonic Conquest  190
III.
Provincial Synods — Metropolitans and Patriarchs.
Synods and Metropolitans — Their Election — Patriarchs, . 201

10 Table pp Contents.
iv.
The Primacy of Rome.
Source of the Importance of the See of Rome — First Center
of the Church at Jerusalem — Rome takes the Place of
Jerusalem — Effect of the Controversies with Heretics on
the Position of Rome — Effect of the Organization of
Synods — Rome the Only Apostolic Seat in the West — The
Removal of the Capital from Rome to Constantinople —
Effect of the Barbarian Conquest — Influence of Theolog
ical Controversies — Effect of the Metropolitan Constitu
tion — Early Bishops of Rome — Innocent I — Leo I — State
ment of Leo's Claims — Leo's Practice — Leo and the
Council of Chalcedon — Character of Leo — From Leo to
Gregory I — Gregory the First — Work of Gregory, (a)
Choice of Bishops, (b) His Administration in Reference
to the Bishops, (c) The Clergy, (d) Monks, (e) Care of the
Patrimony, (/) Charities — Last Days of Gregory — Greg
ory's Appearance — The Pallium — Conquests of the Sara
cens — Forged Decretals — Causes of the Development of
the Papacy,  205
V.
The Clergy.
Growth of the Sacerdotal Ideal — Church Organization and
Discipline — Celibacy of the Clergy — Exclusion from Ordi
nation — Minor Orders— Effect of the Union of Church
and State — Exemptions — Ideal of the Christian Ministry, 226
}0arf Jourffj.
WORSHIP AND DISCIPLINE.
I.
Worship of the Early Church.
Influence of Worship in the Development of the Church —
Worship of the Jewish Christians in the Apostolic Age —
Worship of the Gentile Christians — The Love-feast — The
Lord's Supper — Worship of the Post-apostolic Age —
Letter of Pliny — Testimony of "The Teaching of the
Twelve" — Justin Martyr — Order of Worship, . . . . 239

Table of Contents. ii
ii.
Worship of the Old Catholic Church.
Two Principles of Worship— Testimony of Tertullian— Cyp
rian — Fasting— Order of Worship,  253
III.
Greek Catholic Worship.
Description of Cyril of Jerusalem^The Greek Catholic Con
ception of Worship — Description of the Worship— Order
of the Greek Liturgy,  259
IV.
Roman Catholic Worship.
The Roman Catholic Conception of Worship — Comparison of
the Greek and Roman Catholic Service — The Great Lit
urgies — The Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper — Time and Method of Celebration — Baptism —
Preaching — The Church-year — The Week — Hours of
Prayer,  266
V.
The Discipline of the Church.
Discipline in the Early Church — The Effect of Montanism —
Penitence after 250 A. D. — Tertullian on Penitence — Cyp
rian — The Penitential System, (a) The Mourners, [6) The
Hearers, (c) The Kneelers, (d) The Bystanders — Effect of
the Discipline of Penitence— Corrruptions of these Ages —
Effect of Elaborate Ritual — Worship of Martyrs — Wor
ship of Saints — Worship of the Virgin Mary — Heathen
Elements in Christian Worship — Chrysostom — His' Work
at Antioch — At Constantinople — The Council of the Oak —
His Banishment and Death — His Character — Personal Ap
pearance — Source of his Power as a Preacher, .... 279

12 Table of Contents.
Part Jtffh.
THE NEW SOCIETY.
I.
The Old Social Order in Rome.
Distinctive Difference between a Heathen and a Christian
Civilization — Society in Heathen Rome — The Court —
Messalina — Agrippina — Nero — Women — Divorce — Disso
luteness — Causes — Arria — Children— Progressive Corrup
tion—Slaves — Sources of Supply — Classes of Slaves — -Num
ber of Slaves — Slave without Rights — Causes of Amelior
ation — Literature — Influence of Poetry on Education
and Life — Philosophy — Ionic School— Pythagoras — Eleatic
School — Socrates — Socratic Schools — Plato — His Doc
trines—God—The World— Man — Ethics— Aristotle— His
Doctrines — God — Man — Results of Greek Thinking —
Stoicism — Ethics — Epicureanism — Skepticism — Roman
Philosophy — Seneca — Epictetus — Philosophy in Educa
tion — Neo-Platonism — Religion — Idolatry and the Course
of Human Life— The Goddess of Women— The Child
and the Divinities who protect it — The After Life and its
Divinities — The Amusements — The Theater — The Cir
cus — Games of the Amphitheater — Combats of Gladia
tors — Sources of Supply aud Training of the Gladiators —
Battles in the Amphitheater — Naval Battles — Combats
with Wild Beasts — Extent of the Prevalence of Gladiato
rial Games — Time given to the Games in Rome — The Ex
pense of the Games — The Coliseum — The Games in the
Coliseum — The Abolition of these Games — Extent and
Influence of these Games — Corruption of Roman Soci
ety — The Witness of Pompeii,  301
II.
Christian Life and Society.
The Effect of Christianity upon the Individual — The Influ
ence of Old Associations — Social Reform — The Christian
Home — Marriage — Children — Religious Life in the
Home — Slaves — Christian and Heathen Society — Trades
and Professions — Public Life — Christian Fellowship —

Table of Contents. 13
Communion with God — Instruction — Worship — Disci
pline — Christianity in Business Relations — Tenants— Re
sistance to the Oppression of the Powerful — Christian
Charity — The Necessity and Dignity of Labor — The Serv
ice of Wealth — Hospitality — Care of the Poor and Dis
tressed — The Congregational Charity becomes that of the
Bishop for the Community — The Care of the Poor by the
Church becomes Institutional— The Motive for bestowing
Alms — Charitable Institutions — Hospitals — Caring for the
Dead — The Release of Captives — The Catacombs, . . 339
III.
The Monastic Life.
The Monastic Life not found in the New Testament — The
Monastic Ideal — The Reverse Side of the Monastic Life —
No Monasticism in the Early Church — Causes of the
Origin and Spread of Monasticism — Two Chief Causes —
The Secularization of the Church — Physical and Social
Condition of Egypt — Hermits and Anchorites — St. An
thony — Life of Anthony— His Temptations — Retirement
and Counsel — His Visits to Alexandria — Wisdom of An
thony — His Serenity — The Founder of Monasticism —
Rule of Basil — Santa Laura — Western Monasticism — St.
Jerome — Marcella — Melania — Melania the Younger —
Furia — Fabiola — Paula — Eustochium — Toxatius — Paula
the Younger — Paulinus of Nola — Benedict of Nursia —
Rule of Benedict — The Value of the Monasteries — The
Curse of the Monastic Life,  360
IV.
Turning-points and Results.
Reign of Constantine — Eusebius of Csesarea — Christian Art —
Frescoes — Mosaics — Sculptures — Architecture — Basil
icas — Circular Churches — Santa Sophia — Interior of a
Basilica — The Fall of Rome — Loss to the Churches
through Barbarism — Gain to Civilization through the
Church — The Noble Company of Men and Women who
founded the New World — Darker Shades — Conclusion —
Finis,  388

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

OPPOSITE PAGE
St. Sophia,  Frontispiece.
Map of the Roman Empire,  26
St. Paul,  .56
Christian Martyrs,  76
Temple of Jupiter  102
Roman Forum,  208
Temple of Juno,  326
14

LITERATURE.

Many books are, doubtless, omitted which might Well
have had a place here. The list is sufficiently complete,
however, for the use of the average student.
On the Whole Period.
For the writings of the fathers in the original tongues,
" Migne's Cursus Patrologias,'' found in all the larger libra
ries, is full and complete. It has been used
for this volume except for the apostolic fa
thers, where Harnack and Gebhardt and Zahn's "Patrum
Apostolicorum Opera," and Bishop Lightfoot's "Apostolic
Fathers," 4 vols., have been preferred; Vallarsi's edition
of "Jerome" has been used; the " Monumenta Germa
nise" of Pertz and his successors have been consulted;
also, Bouquet's " Recueil des Historiens des Gaules," and
the "Acta Sanctorum " of the Bollandists. The source for
the English reader is the " Ante-Nicene Library of the Fa
thers." I would gladly have conformed my quotations to
this text, but for the fact that my own copy was beyond
the sea. The volume containing the works of Eusebius,
ably and helpfully edited by Dr. McGiffert, is sold by
itself. Neander and Gieseler are unsurpassed in their use of
the sources, but their style and plan commends them only
to the serious student. The text-books of Histories of
Hase and Kurtz are well known and valuable, the church.
Moeller's is the last and best of the works of German
scholars translated into English. The work of Karl
Miiller is concise and much more readable, but is not
yet translated. The reader should be warned against
15

1 6 Literature.
wasting his time upon translations of Mosheim's history.
Milman's " History of Christianity " is well written, and
should be read with Gibbon. Milman's " History of Latin
Christianity" is a much better work; Vol. I treats of this
period. Schaff's "Church History" is good, the work of
a scholar, but diffuse. Professor Sheldon's " Church His
tory " is equally scholarly, but more concise. It is an
able, but not a specially popular book ; the history of doc
trines is treated in a separate work. There are no better
Church histories written in one volume than those of
Dr. George P. Fisher and Bishop J. F. Hurst. The former
excels in his treatment of the theological development,
while the latter is particularly valuable on the modern
history of the Church. The limitations imposed upon an
author who writes a history of the Church in one volume,
is shown in the fact that the history of the first six cen
turies covers, in Dr. Fisher's work, 146, and 100 pages in
that of Bishop Hurst. The Church histories of Alzog and
Hergenrother present the Roman Catholic view. The
former is translated, and is the more impartial on this
period. Neander, or Schaff with Gibbon and Milman, will
give a good view of the course of events in Church and
State. De Pressense's series of volumes on this time is
readable and interesting. Of great value are special arti
cles in Herzogs " Real Encyclopaedia," -McClintock and
Strong's " Enc3'clopa;dia," Smith and Wace's " Dictionary
of Christian Biography," and Smith and Cheetham's " Dic
tionary of Christian Antiquities."
Part I.— Chapter I.— The Empire of Rome.
Authorities. The best work on this period in English is Meri-
vale's " Empire under the Romans," 7 vols. Valuable
are Gibbon's " Decline and Fall," Vols. I and II, and
Mommsen's "History of Rome," Vol. V. Smaller
works are Merivale's or Pelham's " History of Rome,"

Literature. 17
in one volume. Fisher's "Beginnings of Christian
ity," and Inge's " Society in Rome Under the Csesars, '
are interesting and helpful.
German authorities are: Mommsen and Mar-
quardt's " Rornische Alterthiimer," 6 vols.; Schiller-
Voigt's "Rbmische Alterthiimer. Hermann Schiller's
" Rbmische Kaiserzeit," 3 vols., is an excellent work.
Chapter II. — The Christian Church.
Authorities. Schurer's " History of the Jews in the Time of
Christ" is the best single work. Stapfer's "Pales
tine in the Time of Christ " is interesting and in one
volume. Weiss's is the best " Life of Christ;" Cony
beare and Howson not surpassed on "St. Paul."
Westcott's " Introduction to the Study of the Gos
pels" and "History of the Canon of the New Testa
ment " are excellent. Reuss's " History of the Canon
of the Holy Scriptures " shows the growth of the
Canon. "The Introduction to the New Testament,"
of Dr. Bernhard Weiss, and Dr. Sanday's Bampton
Lecture on " Inspiration," are the best helps accessible
to the English student. Bishop Lightfoot's " Essays
on Supernatural Religion" are invaluable as discus
sions of the value of the evidence on which a judgment
must be based. Neander's "Planting and Training
of the Christian Church " is well worth reading, but
the later authorities should be read first. The sec
tions on the beginnings of Christianity in the Church
Histories and Histories of Doctrines should be con
sulted.
Part I. — Chapter III. — The Persecutions.
Sources. The Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen,
and Lactantius, — nothing can take the place of these.
They are found with ''The Martyrs of Lyons," and

1 8 Literature.
the "Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas," in the
" Ante-Nicene Library of the Fathers." With them
should be read the "Ecclesiastical History" of Euse
bius.
Special Works.
Schultze's " Untergang des Griechischen und Romi-
schen Heidenthums," 2 vols., is the best work on the
subject. Excellent and interesting is Ulhorn's " Con
flict of Christianity with Heathenism." The treat
ment of the subject in Lecky's " History of European
Morals " deserves attention. See also Donaldson's
article, " Celsus," in the Ency. Brit. There is no better
work in one volume than Ramsay's " Church and Ro
man Empire."
Part I  Chapter IV. — The Christian Empire of Rome.
Sources. Gregory of Tours " Historia Francorum ;" Salvian's
"De Gubernatione Dei;" Sulpicius Severus's "Chron
ica;" Apollinaris Sidonius's " Epistolae ;" Procopius's
" De Bello Gothico."
The best authorities are : Gibbon's " Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire," Findlay's "History of
Greece," Vol. I, Hodgkin's " Italy and Her Invaders,"
6 vols. In German, the section in Hauck's " Kirchen-
geschichte in Deutschland " is excellent. Specially
commended are Oznam's " Byzantine Empire," in the
"Story of the Nations" series, and Bryce's article,
"Justinian," in Ency. Brit.
Part I.— Chapter V.— The Barbarians.
Authorities. Gregory of Tours, Procopius, as in the last chapter ;
Tacitus's "Gennania," with the references in Caesar's
"De Bello Gallico;" Gregory I's "Epistolae;' the lives
of Saints Patrick, Columba, Severinus, and Colum-

Literature. ig
ban (compare Gibbon and Hodgkin); Guizot's
"History of Civilization." Dahn's Weitersheim's
" Vblkerwauderung " is a German authority. Brad
ley's " History of the Goths," in the " Story of the
Nations " series, is an admirable treatment of the sub
ject. Maclear's " Apostles of Mediaeval Europe," and
Smith's " Mediaeval Missions," are good books.
Part II. — Chapter I.— Teaching of the Early
Church.
Authorities. Hagenbach's, Shedd's, Sheldon's, and Harnack's
"History of Doctrines." Shedd is written in good
style and strongly Calvinistic; Sheldon is accurate
and excellent ; Harnack's is the latest and best of the
German works; the German edition is used here.
The sources are the New Testament and the " Apos
tolic Fathers;" the latter are found in the "Ante-
Nicene Library."
Special Works.
Weiss's " Biblical Theology of the New Testament;"
Wendt's "Teaching of Jesus." Schmidt's "Biblical
Theology of the New Testament," is old but still use
ful. Bishop Lightfoot's excursus in his Commentary
on the Galatians, and published separately in his
" Dissertations " on " St. Paul and the Three," will
always be worthy of thoughtful attention.
Part II. — Chapter II. — The Founding of Christian
Theology. — Origen.
Sources. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement, and Origen
in the "Ante-Nicene Library." The source for the Life
of Origen is Eusebius's " Ecclesiastical History."
Special Works.
Bigg's " Christian Platonists of Alexandria ;'' Hatch's
"The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the

20 Literature.
Christian Church;" Farrar's "History of Interpreta
tion." Westcott's " Origen," in his " Christian
Thought in the West," is an admirable study. Pat
rick's "Apology of Origen against Celsus" is an ex
cellent edition for the English reader.
Part II. — Chapter III. — Doctrine of the Trinity. —
Creed of Nicsea.
Sources. Works of Athanasius, "Ante-Nicene Library;" works
of Gregory of Nyssa, " Post-Nicene Library.,'
Special Works.
Dorner's " Doctrine of the Person of Christ;" Gwat-
kin's " Studies in Arianism ;" Bright's " Introductions "
to his editions of " Athanasius."
Hefele's " History of the Councils " is learned and
fair; the first two volumes, covering this period, are
translated into English. Schaff's " Creeds of Chris
tendom " gives the creeds in the original and transla
tion. The 21st chapter of Bishop Hurst's "Church
History'7 gives an admirable summary. Liddon's
"The Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ "
is strongly commended.
Part II. — Chapter IV. — The Doctrine of the Person
of Christ.
Authorities. Dorner and Hefele, as in the preceding chapter.
Harnack's treatment of this period, in his " History of
Doctrines," is very full and suggestive. Gore's "Life
of Leo the Great."
Part II. — Chapter V. -Pelagian Controversy.
Sources. Works of Augustine in " The Post-Nicene Library."
See all the Histories of Doctrine.

Literature. 21
Special Works.
Reuter's " Augustinische Studien;" Allen's "Conti
nuity of Christian Thought," strongly commended ;
Dorner's article, " Augustinus," in Herzog's Real Ency.
Part III.— The New Rulers of the New World.
Sources. Works of Cyprian in " Ante-Nicene Library;" Augus
tine in " Post-Nicene Library ;" Ambrose, Leo, Greg
ory, in Migne "Patrologia;" Bright's "Sermons of
Leo I."
Special Works.
Hatch's " Organization of the Early Christian
Churches." Hatch's "Origin of Church Institutions"
treats of a later period but is very valuable. Hatch's
article, "Priest," in the "Dictionary of Christian An
tiquities." Articles in the "Expositor," 1887, give
the different views of the origin of episcopacy.
Ramsay's " The Church and the Roman Empire."
Greenwood's "Cathedra Petri" is full and accurate,
the first two volumes are on this period. Geffken's
"Church and State," 2 volumes. Article "Popedom"
in Ency. Brit. H. C. Lea's "History of Sacerdotal
Celibacy " is a most impartial and important work,
and should be read by every student. See also lives
of Ambrose ; Augustine ; Leo I, by Canon Gore ;
Gregory I, by Bramley.
Part IV. — Worship and Discipline.
Sources. "Letters of Pliny," "Teaching of the Twelve," "Jus
tin Martyr," "Apostolic Constitutions," and "Ancient
Liturgies," in the Ante-Nicene Library. Swainson's
"Early Greek Liturgies," and Daniel's "Thesaurus
Liturgicus," are authorities. The guide for this sec
tion has been Kostlin's "Geschichte des Gottes-

22 Literature.
dienst." Dr. Bennett's "Christian Archaeology" is
scholarly and valuable. Swainson's article, " Liturgy "
in the " Dictionary of Christian Antiquities."
discipline.
Sources. See Cyprian, Tertullian, "Apostolic Constitutions;"
"Apostolic Canons," in "Ante-Nicene Library;"
Hefele as above on the Canons of the Councils ;
Bright's " Canons of the First Four General Councils ;"
Mead's article, "Penitence," in the "Dictionary of
Christian Antiquities." Of the several lives of
" Chrysostom," Stephens's is the best.
Part V. — Chapter I. — The Old Social Order in Rome.
Authorities. Friedlander's "Darstellung aus der Sittengeschichte
Roms " is learned, interesting, and graphic in its
portrayal. Dollinger's " Heidenthum und Judenthum,"
English translation, " Jew and Gentile in the Court of
the Temple of Christ," is the work of an able scholar,
and with all corrections of later writers an invaluable
aid to the student. Of great help are Mommsen-Mar-
quardt's, and Schiller- Voigt's "Rbmische Alterthiimer."
Teuffel's "Geschichte Rbmische Literatur." Zeller's
"History of Ancient Philosophy " is the fullest and
best. Erdmann and Uberweg on Ancient Philosophy
in their Histories of Philosophy are good, Erdmann to
be preferred. It is also treated in Schwegler's "His
tory of Philosophy," in one volume.
There are good English translations of Plato and
Aristotle. Jowett's Plato and Grant's Aristotle are
the best; found also in Bohn's library. Lecky's
" History of European Morals " has an appreciative
sketch of Stoicism. The subject is treated in all the
Church histories.

Literature. 23
Part V. — Chapter II. — Christian Life and Society.
Sources. The New Testament, The Apostolic Fathers, The
Apologists, Clement, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen,
in the" Ante-Nicene Library ;" Brace's " Gesta Christi ;"
Storrs's " Historic Evidences of Christianity;" Ulhorn's
"Charity in the Christian Church;" Withrow's "Cat
acombs." Bishop Hurst's Chapter 26 in his " Church
History," on the " Church in the Catacombs," is con
cise, accurate, and instructive.
Part V. — Chapter III. — The Monastic Life.
Sources. Athanasius's "Life of Antony," Jerome's "Letters,"
Letters of Chrysostom and Augustine, all in the
"Post-Nicene Fathers;" Harnack's " Pseudo-Clemen-
tinische Brief;" Harnack's "Das Monchthum;" Mon-
talembert's " Monks of the West;" Littledale's article,
"Monachism," in Ency. Brit.; Weingarten's article,
"Monchthum," in Herzog's Real Ency.; Venable's
article, "Monastery," in " Dictionary of Christian An
tiquities."
Part V. — Chapter IV.
Sources. Eusebius's "Ecclesiastical History," Sozomen's "Ec
clesiastical History," in the "Post-Nicene Library;"
Bishop Lightfoot's article, " Eusebius," in the " Dic
tionary of Christian Biography;" Fergusson's " His
tory of Architecture," 2 vols. Camicci "Storia della
arte Christiana nei primi olto secoli della Chiesa e
Correda ta della Collegione di tutti i Monumenti di
Pittura e Scultura," 1872-1880, 6 vols.; from this
work, more than from any other source, I have de
rived my impressions concerning the catacombs.
Hiibsch "Architecture Chretienne" from Constantine

24 Literature.
to Charlemagne, one volume, great folio ; Texier and
Pullan on Byzantine architecture, one volume, great
folio; Dehio and Bezold's "Die Kirchliche Baukunst
des Abendlandes," 3 vols., folio, plates, have been the
authorities used on architecture. Bennett's " Chris
tian Archaeology " is valuable, as is also Nesbitt's
article, "Church," in the Dictionary of Christian An
tiquities.

fart First.
THE CONQUEST.

JVE-A.jp OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE.

Chapter I.
THE EMPIRE OF ROME.
In the last four hundred years the wealth and
power of the race and the seats of civilization have
passed from the shores of the Mediterranean to the
banks of the Thames and the Spree, the Neva and
the Seine. The transfer across the Atlantic would
not be more momentous than this change of the cen
ter of all lamds from the southern to the northern
side of the Alps. The transition is from the leader
ship and dominion of Europe to that of the globe ;
from following in the wake of a mighty past to the
new era, in which the conquests of the Christian faith
and civilization are bound by no lands and shut in by
no seas, but constitute the true dominion of the
world. This shifting of the center of civilization and au
thority renders the restoration of the Papal dominion,
whether temporal in Italy or spiritual in Christen
dom, as vain as the restoration of the Roman Empire.
Rome can never again rule the world. The land
locked Mediterranean can never again be the great
highway of commerce and seat of government. The
navies of the world and the argosies of its commerce
must ride on deeper waters and connect more widely-
sundered lands. For the first time in two thousand
years, Rome no longer holds the leadership of the
world. 27

28 The Conquest.
If now we live in a Rome-less world, we need to
know, at least in outline, the world in which Rome
bore rule ; what Rome was ; the work she wrought ;
the presence and influence which filled and pervaded
the ages. This is essential to any true understanding
of the early Christian centuries. Freeman did not
exaggerate when he said : " That Christianity should
become the religion of the Roman Empire, is the
miracle of history ; but that it did so become, is the
leading fact of all history, from that day onwards."
To bring a dead world and society to life again, is
no easy task ; but it is the only way to make history
of value ; and when the art of the historian accom
plishes this, there is a delight such as no creations of
the novelist can give, since there is an equal exercise
of the imagination, while the great men and events of
the past become our teachers, and we trace the action
of forces which underlie all history, and therefore the
times in which we live.
To understand the Empire of Rome, we shall need
a comprehensive view of the lands in which she ruled;
a clear conception of her power and government
through a comparison with the Empire of Britain ; to
trace, in a few strokes, the character and career of her
rulers ; to see the forms of her Government, the
structure of her society, and glance at those economic
conditions of trade, manufactures, and agriculture
which determine the national well-being of a people.
While making Roman society and rule live again, we
are to remember that Rome was the mightiest antag
onist and most relentless persecutor the Christian
faith ever had. The sternest conflict was waged for
centuries, and the victory decided for all time the fate

The Empire of Rome. 29
of the contest between Christianity and every form of
heathenism. The time will not be lost in which we
seek to live in that Roman- world in which our Lord
was born, the apostles labored, and the Christian
Church was founded and came to victory.
No fairer lands were ever united under a single
rule than those of Rome. They descend toward and
surround the Mediterranean Sea. This sea The Lands
lies for two thousand miles between Africa of R°me-
and Europe. The distance from Gibraltar to Syria is
as great as from New York to Denver. It is ten
times the size of all the great lakes which The Medi-
flow into the St. Eawrence. It was. the terranean.
maritime highway of the Roman world. Grouped
upon its shores arose the seats of ancient civilization
and modern power. Around its eastern end lay
Egypt, the land of the earliest historic civilization;
Phoenicia, through whose hands Assyrian and Baby
lonian culture reached the West, and from whose cit
ies of Sidon and Tyre sprang the letters and com
merce of the ancient world ; Greece, the mistress of
literature and art; and Palestine, from whose tribes
came forth the religion which has ruled all the ages
since. On the southern shore stood Carthage, daugh
ter of Tyre and rival of Rome. The peninsula of
Spain shuts in its western end. On its soil arose the
power which freed the land from the Moslem, con
quered and possessed for three hundred years the
"Western Continent, and during the sixteenth century
ruled as the mightiest power in Europe. France,
once a powerful monarchy, and now a great republic,
forms part of its northern coast. Genoa, Pisa, Flor
ence, and above all Venice, controlled its commerce

30 The Conquest.
and grew opulent through its trade. At the eastern
end is the great Balkan peninsula. From its metrop
olis, Constantinople, the Moslem power ruled for four
hundred years the nations east of the Adriatic. The
power which commanded the Mediterranean ruled
the Western world and Western civilization, and de
termined the destiny of those European races which,
through conquest and dominion, were to people and
possess other continents.
Italy is the central and fairest of the three north
ern peninsulas ; it extends for seven hundred miles
into the great Mediterranean — twice the length of
the peninsula of Florida. Half-way down on its
western side the yellow Tiber finds- its way to the
sea. Fourteen miles from its mouth, on seven small
hills which clustered about its banks, was founded
the city of Rome. Her situation, as well as the mar
tial virtues of her citizens, made her the center of
trade and source of authority in all the lands from
the Alps to the Atlas, and from the Straits of Gib
raltar to the River Euphrates. Although the arms
of her legions carried the rule of Rome to the shores
of the Atlantic and German Oceans, the Black, Cas
pian, and Red Seas, to the banks of the Rhine and
Danube, yet Rome was essentially, in all ages, a Med
iterranean power. The mighty power which filled
and ruled this scene finds its most instructive par-
The Rule of allel in trie rule OI" modern Britain. As
Rome com- the island of Great Britain is but the base
that'll Great of operations and home of the great cap-
Britain, tains of her civilization, of the governors
ol provinces which are empires, the commanders of
the trade and commerce of the world, so Italy was

The Empire of Rome. 31
but the base of the Roman power and the home of
the governing race. Britain, like Rome, is the great
est colonizing and civilizing power of the world.
Her commerce and her colonies are followed by her
conquests and dominion. Britain is as eager as Rome
for commercial and naval supremacy. A glance at
the map will show how she commands the strategic
points of maritime intercourse. The control of the
ocean routes by Bermuda, Jamaica, St. Helena, Cape
Town, Aden, Bombay, Ceylon, Singapore, and Hong
Kong make this evident. So, in the Mediterranean,
she holds Gibraltar, Cyprus, and Egypt. Whatever
powers rule its shores, upon its waters Britain reigns>
supreme. Rome was seven hundred years in accom
plishing this result ; but so thoroughly was the work
of conquest done, that she wielded the scepter of its
sway for five hundred years from the Tiber, and for
more than a thousand years from Constantinople.
As the drum-beat of Britain is heard around the
world, so the supremacy of Rome rested on the valor
of her legions. Britain enlists and drills natives of
all lands — Sepoys, Sikhs, Goorkas, and Arabs — in
her armies of conquest and possession. So Rome
recruited and re-enforced her proudest legions from
the allies and mercenaries of Gaul and Britain, from
the Germans and Goths.
As wealth and trade, government and civilization,
in the British Empire, center on the banks of the
Thames, so far more intensely did that of the great
Empire of Rome center in its capital by the Tiber.
As the British Parliament is the supreme source of
authority and court of appeal from America, Africa,
and Australia, and to subject princes and nations in

32 The Conquest.
India, so were the Roman Senate and the Roman
emperors to the subject-lands of Rome. The power
which conquers plains and oceans allows, and neces
sarily reserves, a greater freedom of government and
administration than was ever known to the provinces
of Rome. Widely different from any pagan culture and
rule is the rule of the British Empire through the ac
ceptance, as corner-stones of its dominion, of the Chris
tian religion, constitutional government, and personal
liberty, civil and religious. Still, some startling re
semblances confront us. In colonies, conquests, and
government, Rome was easily chief in the ancient, as
Britain is in the modern world. Her rule brought or
der, prosperity, and the arts and achievements of civ
ilization. Law, equitable administration, improved
social usages, and the best roads in the world fol
lowed in the train of the armies of Rome, as they do
to-day the conquests of Britain. Into the sphere of
this dominion came the religion of Christ.
Our Eord was born in the age of Augustus — the
great age of Roman rule. The first Roman emperor
The Rulers of had reigned twenty -seven years "when
this Empire jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in
the days of Herod the king." Thus the beginning
of the Roman Empire and the Christian religion were
in the same generation.
If Julius laid the foundation for the fortune and
throne of the Caesars, Augustus consolidated their
„,_ power and established the empire. His
The Csesars. r
successors in the direct line ended with the
brutal and cruel Nero. Tiberius had been a worn-
out debauchee and misanthrope ; Caligula a mad
man; Claudius little better than an imbecile; while

The Empire of Rome. 33
the last of the Julian house was the murderer of
his brother, Britannicus, and his mother, Agrippina.
After the short revolutionary reigns Revoiu-
of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, Vespasian Emperors.
founded the Flavian line of emperors.
The Flavian house, with the exception of the
crafty and bloodthirsty Domitian, formed a succession
of the best rulers among the emperors of Fiavlan
Rome. Vespasian, Titus, and Trajan were Emperors.
generals worthy of Rome's noblest time. 69",!>2
Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius were
cultivated men and enlightened rulers. They secured
the best results possible from imperial despotism ;
they postponed the fall, but could not maintain the
prosperity of the Roman State. Gibbon placed in
their reign the greatest average happiness of man
kind. Strange that he should think the largest hap
piness of the race to be joined to a decaying nation
and a declining state !
Commodus, the last of the Flavian emperors, was
succeeded for nearly half a century by the house of
Septimus Severus (193-235), and a series TheMllitary
of military chieftains, all of whom reigned Emperors
by the choice or consent of the legions. I92"2 4"
Of the twenty-six emperors who came to the throne
in this period, twenty-two were put to death by their
soldiers or by victorious rivals. Of the four others,
Decius died in battle, Valerian in captivity, Claudius
by pestilence ; and only Septimus Severus was ex
cepted from an evil fate.
Diocletian, in order to end this era of military des
potism and anarchy, divided the imperial rule among
four leading generals, and crowned his system by his
3

34 The Conquest.
own abdication. Though other claimants disputed
the imperial authority with Constantine, and though
the apostate Julian reigned for two years as the last
of the house of the first Christian emperor, yet, in
any real sense, Diocletian, one of the greatest, was
also the last pagan emperor of Rome.
To trace the reign and fortunes of these emperors
in detail may seem more interesting than to cause to
live about us the society and institutions in which
they moved. The latter may require a stronger ef
fort of the imagination and a larger fund of informa
tion. Yet the reward is greater; we then have the
background and setting for the lives and deeds of
those men who made glorious the page of Christian
history, and can measure, to some extent, the influ
ence of those uncounted thousands who founded and
gave victory to the Christian Church. The life of
the greatest man has a narrow limit; institutions sum
up and crystallize the most serviceable endeavors of
the ablest men, and of society, and transmit them
from generation to generation. Some knowledge of
Roman institutions will not only give form and shape
to the life and society of the time, but will help us
to understand the Christian institutions as well.
ROMAN GOVERNMENT.
The Roman Republic and Empire was, first of all,
a city state Rome, the city, ruled until the extent
of her conquests made impossible the exercise of
The imperial power through a city magistracy
Magistrates cii0sen \yy a portion of her inhabitants.
Even then the old forms of a city government sur
vived in the State under the empire, while Roman

The Empire of Rome. 35
society and civilization found its centers in the city
communities of the provinces, which were formed and
administered after the model of the capital.
The Government of Rome for five hundred years
combined rotation in office with skill, experience, and
stability never equaled. The officers were, as a rule,
annually elected ; but the governing body was an offi
cial aristocracy, holding offices for life, yet annually
recruited from the body of the citizens.
We may have a better understanding of this or
ganization if we suppose its principles applied to the
government of an American State. Then, if its offi
cers were annually elected, and not eligible to suc
cessive re-election, the governor and lieutenant-gov
ernor would represent the consuls ; the judges of the
State, the praetors ; the Board of Public Works, the
aediles ; the comptroller and treasurer, the quaestors ;
the State assessors, if chosen once in five years, the
censors; the attorney-general, chosen to defend the
rights of the people, the tribunes. To its College of
Pontiffs, with pontifex maximus at its head, caring
for the interests of religion and holding offices for
life, we, of course, have no official representatives.
If, then, these officials had to begin their course with
the office considered lowest in the list — that of treas
urer — and advance, though by popular election, yet
in graded succession, and after serving their term of
office, they became the life-members of the State
Legislature, the only law-making and governing
body ; if they should choose, by their own election,
the members of their body who should keep their
number up to the legal limit of 300, and later 600
members; and if the propert}' qualification of the

36 The Conquest.
members was $1,600, and later $40,000, we would
have a fair picture of the magistracy and Senate of
Rome. If the President of the United States should
become an absolute ruler, and himself appoint those
officers whom he chose to remain, assuming to him
self the tribunate, the censorships, and the office of
pontifex maximus, and then should fill all the vacan
cies in the number of the senators, generally with
their consent, but sometimes without, we would have
the image of that administration under the imperial
rule. Under the empire, the Senate formed an aristo
cratic body of men chosen for life, whose duty was
rather to consult with the emperor than to legislate,
like the Senate of the Napoleonic regime iii France.
It exercised authority in conjunction with the emperor
for the first two centuries of our era, was oppressed
by the military emperors of the third century, and be
came merely the Municipal Council of Constantinople
under Constantine.
Of much greater import than the waning influence
of the Senate and Roman magistracy, which more
and more merged into the imperial authority, were
the cities and municipalities of the empire, which
were formed and ruled by the spirit and power of the
earlier time. Rome was a city state ; its civilization
was a civilization begun, developed, ruled, and almost
confined to cities. When, at the founding of the em
pire, the rule of Rome ceased to be the rule of one
The Munici- city, it became the rule of the cities and
panties, municipalities of her provinces. What
ever of talent or genius for government remained in
the empire, came from these communities to the cap-

The Empire of Rome. 37
ital and to the chief offices of the State; for in these
municipalities, in their administration and govern
ment, was preserved all of liberty, of in- Their Gov-
dependent civil and political life, left in eminent.
this great despotism. In Italy they were formed as
the conquests of the Republic advanced. In France
and Spain, they were established at all the centers of
trade, government, and population. So, in the con
quered lands to the north and east of Italy, and in
Britain, they formed the centers and support of Ro
man power, society, and civilization. In the East, in
a land of cities, Rome sometimes entered into an al
liance with them, whereby they preserved the free
dom of their administration by the payment of the
taxes in a stated sum; sometimes they obtained or
accepted the privileges accorded by their conquerors
to the civic communities of the West. In any event,
their government conformed more and more, though
with the retention of the old names for their officers,
to the city organizations of the West.
The administration of a Roman provincial city
was committed to two men chosen annually by, and
from among, those of the population who The city
had the right of citizenship, for the exer- Magistracy.
cise of the judicial and religious authority of the city.
They were called Duumviri jure dicundo ; that is, two
men who give the law. With these were chosen two
men who had charge of the police, the public build
ings, streets, roads, and city property; they were called
^Ediles. These officials are assisted by two treasurers
or quaestors. The Duumviri represented the consuls,
prsetors, and pontifex maximus of Rome, discharging
duties like theirs. They appointed censors, who were

38 The Conquest.
a part of the city magistracy, held their office for five
years, and who drew up the list of all the assessable
property in the city and its territory upon which was
based the imperial taxation, for administrative and
judicial districts were grouped around the cities.
The city officers passed in succession through the
grades of its magistracy, and possessed a considerable
property qualification. When they had served their
term of office, they became life-members of the Sen
ate of the city — more often called Decurionate, and
The its members decurions. This City Council
Decurionate. ha(j in the municipality, in domestic mat
ters, all the authority of the Roman Senate. Its
number was fixed by the act of the Senate at Rome,
which was the charter of the city ; but it could not
exceed one hundred. It was composed of the city
officers who had served their terms, and oi certain
prominent men, enough to make up the legal num
ber, who were chosen by the Council on account of
especial merit or worth. For the first century of our
era, these city offices, which led to lifelong Decurionate
and its honors, were eagerly sought by rich men, who,
upon their entry into a city magistracy, gave expen
sive games or erected some public building to signal
ize their term of office. As this Council of Decurions
were responsible personalty for all the taxes of the
city and its allotted surrounding territory, so that, if
they failed to collect the amount from the property of
the inhabitants, they had to pay it out of their own
pockets, the office, in the increasing expense of the
Imperial Government and poverty of the population,
came to be a burden instead of a privilege. After
200, the Council of Decurions was only a corpora-

The Empire of Rome.

39

tion for the collection of taxes. The emperor had
the right to confirm the city magistrates. If suitable
(wealthy) ones did not present themselves, he could
nominate through the senior Duumviri, which was an
election not to be declined. So he could, and by his
officers did, fill up the number of vacant places in the
decurionate. Thus no wealthy man escaped the ob
ligations of making good the taxes. Hence the city
aristocracy was one of wealth ; for the wealthy classes
controlled all official positions.
This tendency was increased by the institution of
the Augustales. These were six men, partly free and
partly rich freedmen, chosen to have charge Augustales.
of the worship of the emperors. They
were elected by the decurions on account of their
wealth. On their election, they gave great games
and paid a large sum into the city treasury as quali
fication for office. With the worship of living em
perors in many ways was connected the existing rites
or worship of Mercury, Hercules, Castor and Pollux.
The native and local worships were almost unlimited.
The Duumviri of each city chose the pontifices and
augurs. Religion was bound up with every official
action of the community. Its prosperity was insep
arably connected with the strict observance of relig
ious rites.
The emperor exercised his rule through the gov
ernors of provinces. They were called proconsuls,
propraetors, or procurators, and had the rank and
dignity and governed as imperial viceroys. Their
importance depended upon the wealth and resources
of the province they ruled. Paul appeared before
them at Cyprus, at Corinth, and at Caesarea. They

40 The Conquest.
presided often at the persecutions and martyrdom of
Christians. They secured the public peace, the ad-
_,. „ . ministration of the law, and the collection
The Provin
cial Admin- of the revenue. They made real the rule
istration. of Rome Under them were the officials,
civil and military, necessary to carry on the Imperial
Government as now in India. In fact, the British gov
ernors of India and her provinces afford the nearest
parallel. Praefects were officers sent out annually as
representatives of the Roman praetor, to administer
justice in the colonies and municipalities. Sent by
the emperor, they represented the Imperial Govern
ment and its administration. The name and no small
part of the functions of the office survive in the
French prefect.
Thus we have passed in review the governmental
institutions of the Roman State and of her cities.
With these the early Christians had daily to do ; they
formed the framework and substance sometimes, as
with Paul, of their defense, and sometimes, as in his
case, of their condemnation and martyrdom; for in
this survey we must not forget the position and per
son of the emperor, who ruled with absolute sover
eignty over a larger population than any European
sovereign since, unless we except Queen Victoria since
the English crown undertook the government of In
dia in 1857. To a rule always liable to the caprices
of despotism, and sometimes base and horrible beyond
description, was added the most prevalent of all re
ligious and official rites — the worship of the living
emperors of Rome. However dry these matters of
administration and government are to us, to the early
Christians they were of the most intense interest,

The Empire of Rome. 41
because upon the disposition of the Roman governor,
or the magistrates of a Roman city, might depend
the life or death of the Christian missionary, or of
those converted through his preaching.
If persecution and martyrdom depended upon the
disposition of Roman governors and magistrates,
there was no intermission of the pressure of Roman
taxation. The slave portion of the Christian popula
tion alone escaped it, and its effects were felt long
after the empire ceased to be pagan. Therefore, a
glance at it will help us to understand the life of that
time. Upon conquest — and all the lands of Rome
were conquered territory — the real estate Roman
of a province became the property of the Taxation.
Roman people, or of the State. The inhabitants
were left in possession upon the payment of a
tributum, or annual tax, which was the rent. This
was usually one-tenth of the produce of the land;
often one-fifth; seldom as little as one-twentieth.
The cities had to care for the assessment — the raising
and payment of the taxes. They were bound to
gether into provinces, or dioceses, in which the gov
ernor held a Provincial Assembly each year, composed
of the deputies of these cities and communes. This
Provincial Union was bound together by the worship
of the emperors. The high priest was a very emi
nent man ; he had charge of the financial administra
tion of the Union, presided at the Provincial Assem
bly, and at the public games. These Assemblies
cared for the financial administration ; the erection of
commemorative monuments; they chose the high
priest, and made complaints against the governor, and
sent them, through their ambassador, to the emperor

42 The Conquest.
or the Senate. We easily see how the Roman Admin
istration and State represented to the Christians that
idolatry which they loathed, and which brought them
to prison and to death.
While the Roman system of taxes in their assess.
ment had commendable features of definiteness for a
fixed period, and local adjustment, yet their collection
was as merciless, impolitic, and destructive as can
well be conceived. In the first place, all the direct
taxes — that is, all but the fixed tribute — were sold to
the highest bidder. The collection of these was un
dertaken by great stock companies of publicani,
hence publicans, who had to deposit a large sum as
collection of security with the State. They must collect
the Taxes. tne taxes or be financially ruined. Their
profit was the sum raised in excess of the wants of
the State, and they had every motive to oppress and
drain dry the tax-payer. Not less certain of economic
ruin was the system of collection of the direct taxes.
The collective property of the wealth}' citizens who
formed the Decurionate, or City Council, was the
guarantee for the annual taxes of the city and adja
cent districts. In this way the State was sure of a
fixed revenue at the beginning of the financial year.
But the results were disastrous. If through bad har
vests, epidemics, or tempests, or from slower and more
certain causes, the city or district decreased in popula
tion or wealth, we may be certain that the strongest
members of the community — its wealthy aristocracy —
would use every means to collect the taxes before im
poverishing themselves. The laws were harsh and
severe. The freeman who could not pay the poll or
property tax was sold into slavery, and his family

The Empire of Rome. 43
also, if necessary to make up the required amount.
Thus, if a city or district began to decline, its ruin
was progressively accelerated. The possessor of lit
tle property either left for more favored regions, or
sunk into helpless slavery. The land went out of
cultivation, so that slaves became a burden rather
than a source of profit. This rigid and inhuman sys
tem of taxation was one great cause of the increasing
poverty and economic ruin of the Roman Empire.
Financial administration and taxation, in all ages and
in all communities, have a most intimate relation to
the welfare of the State.
The early Christians saw before their eyes the
power and splendor of the Roman Empire — the great
kingdom of "this world" — and felt the pressure of
its taxation ; but they had to do directly with its so
ciety, of which they formed first a hated, and then an
antagonistic part. If their life and work is to have
meaning for us, we must know something of its
structure. In all Roman communities, as in the cap
ital, the Senate, or city official aristocracy, stood at
the head. From the Senate, even in imperial times,
were chosen the great officers of the court and of the
State, the governors of provinces, the commanders of
legions, and the higher administrative posts. Below
them, at Rome, ranked the knights, a Roman
moneyed aristocracy whose ruinous com- Society.
petition and usurious gains impoverished the prov
inces. Below them were the freedmen — men born in
slavery, who became the trusted confidants of their
masters, or of great native capacity, who, procuring
their freedom, often amassed immense fortunes, and
came to the highest posts of influence with the aris-

44 The Conquest.
tocracy and in the court, but could never wipe off the
stain of their servile origin. In the capital, the mid
dle class died out, and there remained only the citi
zens who were fed by the State, and the slaves. In
the provincial cities, next to the aristocracy of the
decurions were the Augustales. Then came the body
of the citizens, never large in number in proportion
to the inhabitants who could vote for the officers of
the municipality. They were artists, handworkers of
all kinds, small traders, teachers, and lower govern
ment officials, often living from hand to mouth ; then
the non-voting citizens, mostly foreigners and their
descendants, who followed small handicrafts and
trades, like the Jews in the Greek cities under Roman
rule of St. Paul's time, and to whom he first preached.
These became a constantly-diminishing class in the
West, as business came more and more into the hands
of freedmen. The middle class ceased to exist, and
slavery, like a bottomless abyss, swallowed up all be
low the wealthier classes. In the first century, it is
estimated there were more slaves than freemen in the
empire. Though recruited no longer to the same
extent by war, its ranks were continually replenished
by the poverty which made impossible the payment
of debts and taxes.
The imperial times saw the most flourishing trade,
commerce, industry, manufactures, and agriculture
Economic known to ancient peoples or a pagan rule.
conditions of They also saw their decline. A view of
mpre. tke material conditions of their life can not
fail to make us better acquainted with the early
Christians. These favorable conditions were : (i) An unsur-

The Empire of Rome. 45
passed economic domain. It was bounded on the
west by the Atlantic, on the south by the Great Des
ert, on the north by the trackless forests or unculti
vated wastes of Germany and Russia ; while its trade
with Central and Eastern Asia and India, with East
ern and Central Africa, was the foundation of the
prosperity of great cities like Antioch, Alexandria,
and Carthage. (2) To this unsurpassed
economic domain Rome gave four hundred
years of peace such as the old world never knew, and
as are not found in the history of any Oriental civ
ilization. The immense standing army was kept
mainly on the frontier. As a rule, the conflicts of pre
tenders to the empire were not of long duration, and
concerned mainly the legionaries, and did not greatly
affect the civic inhabitants. When the barbarians
burst through the frontier defenses, they found a pop
ulation unused alike to war and arms. (3) Rome
laid down and kept in repair the best and most ex
tensive lines of communication before the construc
tion of railways. (4) She gave a uniform currency
and a traffic little hampered by tariff laws to this
immense population of diverse nationalities and
tongues. Manufactures felt this increased demand of trade.
They made rapid and large advance in the variety
and amount of commodities produced. Manufac-
The division of labor, the associations of tures.
capital (stock companies) and of laborers (guilds,
unions, etc.), were never surpassed until our day.
Great advance was made in agricul- Agrlculture.
ture. Improved breeds of cattle and
sheep, etc., the introduction of new kinds of trees,

46 The Conquest.
fruits, vegetables, and their higher cultivation, marked
the first century of our era.
This economic prosperity did not continue. The
causes of its decline were : (i) Slavery, rendering free
labor disgraceful and unprofitable ; (2) The greed of
Roman capitalists, accumulating immense estates and
depopulating the fairest portions of Italy; then enter
ing into competition with the manufactures and trade
of the provinces, and either breaking down their mar-
causes ket or ruining them with high rates of in-
of Decline, terest ; (3) The ruinous system of taxation;
(4) The fact that $5,000,000 more was imported an
nually from the East than was exported, mainly arti
cles of luxury, and this balance was paid in precious
metals, producing, in time, a dearth of coin in the
empire. To these should be added the loss of polit
ical freedom, and moral deterioration, which renders
vain the greatest economic advantages.
In religion, the era of skepticism, profligacy, and
debauchery, reaching from Sulla to Nero (B. C. 80-
A. D. 69), gave way to better morals under Vespasian,
and to a strong craving after the satisfaction of relig-
„ „ , ious needs. These the old Roman religion
Religion. &
could not reach. They sought relief in
natural theology — the law of the nature of things —
like our scientific materialists or agnostics ; in philos
ophy, the teaching of Plato, Zeno, and Plotinus ; in
worships, with their mysteries, purifications, and sym
bolism. Meanwhile, religion played a great part in
the life of the people. Its officers were the leading
officials, as its temples were the most splendid build
ings in every community. Its priesthoods were not
only supported by the State, but heavily endowed

The Empire of Rome. 47
with private funds. Its idolatry came into the Gov
ernment, the social and business life, the amusements,
and the homes of the people.
¦ The pagan Empire of Rome was the most impos
ing fabric of human government the world had ever
seen. The result of the conquests and wars of the
aristocratic Roman Republic, its greatness, had been
preparing for more than half a millennium. It had
elements of power, of wisdom, and perpetuity beyond
any preceding form of human rule. It brought to
warring nations peace. It gave a common citizenship
and a universal law. Its rise was the golden age of
Roman literature and of Roman taste and achieve
ment in art. It made highways for the nations, and
fused races, nationalities, philosophies, and religions.
Its legions for four hundred years made the Pax Ro-
mana, and its governors its jurisprudence, respected
from the Firth of Forth to the Euphrates, and from
the Straits of Gibraltar to the Sea of Azov. The
eagles of its dominion and the fasces of its rule trav
eled unhindered from the cataracts of the Nile to the
mouths of the Danube and the Rhine. To this reign
of peace and order, breaking down of national and
tribal barriers, fusion of customs, ideas, languages,
and peoples, there was a reverse side. The material
and industrial basis of the Roman Empire was slav
ery — a slavery enormously increased in numbers by
wars of conquest, and beyond all others harsh, relent
less, and cruel. To this witness Roman law, Roman
industries and prisons, and the Roman amphitheater.
The extravagance of the emperors and of the Impe
rial Administration wasted the wealth of the world,
and resulted in a system of taxation so burdensome,

48 The Conquest.
oppressive, and finally destructive, that it impover
ished the most fertile countries, diminished and en
slaved the population, and made inevitable the ruin
of the empire.
A careful student of the time has said : " The pride
and luxury of the society which had attained the do
minion of the world knew no refinement or restraint
such as made the Greek decadence last through cen
turies; while, in a single generation, the Roman de
cline rushed into the steep descent of the sensualities
and bestialities of society under Nero — an abyss from
which it never emerged, and the only hope for whose
redemption could be in no philosophic incitement to
moral reform, but in a new dogma and a great rev
elation."

Chapter II.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
We have had before us the outline and propor
tions of the society and government of the Roman
Empire, in which the Christian Church was born,
with which it was in conflict for centuries, and which
was its first great conquest. Over against the gigantic
strength and resources of the one should be set forth
those qualities of the other which led to its predomi
nance and triumph; for these things are not arbitrary.
God has his laws, which work in every age for the
establishment of the Divine kingdom. There is an
increasing action of the moral forces of our nature in
the Christian sphere. The causes which in the first
six centuries prevailed in the overthrow of heathen
ism in the Roman world are as mighty now for a like
conquest in the Orient.
Our Lord sprang out of Judah. The preparation
for his advent was mainly with that remarkable race.
This preparation was of vast importance and of
thrilling interest, but can not be adequately treated
here. Its outlines are familiar to those acquainted
with the Christian Scriptures and with Christian
preaching. Fuller information may be profitably
sought in the works of Edersheim and Schurer.
The Church was, in its origin, purely Jewish. The
apostles and first converts, like their Lord, were of
4 49

50 The Conquest.
that race. Under Paul's leadership, the national
limits were overpassed. After the tak-
r g n. .^ ^ Jerusalem by Titus, and its complete
overthrow by Hadrian, the Jewish element ceases to
be an important factor in the development of the
Christian Church. We can never forget our obliga
tion to that people, to whose Scriptures we appeal
and of whom our Lord was born. It was their fault
and our grief that his own received him not, and that
they were the fiercest foes, as they were the first in
stigators of Christian persecutions.
Not as a product of Jewish development or from
any combination with Greek and Roman elements
did Christianity originate. It owed its existence and
importance to three things, which intrinsically, and
certainly in their connection, were unique. They
are the character or person of its founder, the doc
trines which he taught, and the society which he
formed. The founder of no great historic religion has been
an ordinary man. Jesus differed from the greatest of
these, not in degree, but in kind. The fulfillment
of the mission of other men rested upon what they
did, his upon what he was. Other founders of re
ligions wrought to old age. His work closed be
fore they would have begun theirs. He manifested
himself but three years to men; and his words were
spoken, and finished was his task. His method was
equally unique. He did not retire from the world for
solitude and reflection, like Buddha or Mahomet ; he
did not elaborate a system and commit it to writing,
like Confucius ; he did not meet men in the market
places and at social gatherings for conversation, like

The Christian Church. 51
Socrates. He chose the severest test of the greatness
of a human personality. He gathered about him a
few men from the ordinary walks of life, and lived
with them in the closest intimacy of private life and
of public ministration. He won men by living with
them. The teaching by life has been the chiefest
source of all victories since. The whole effect of his
mission was the impression he made upon the men
thus chosen. It was this impression of the nature of
the man which gave weight to his words and made
deeds of power seem natural to him. This is the
origin of all remembered utterances and narratives
which make him known to us. This impression,
made by his living with men, reveals a greatness of
soul, a sublimity of character, a breadth of sympa
thy, and a depth of compassion which make him,
simply as a man, the noblest, the most attractive, and
the most commanding figure of the ages. In all
times since, he has been the point of support for
aspiring natures, struggling souls, and stricken hearts,
and also of every great moral endeavor of human so
ciety where his name was known. These things all
men confess; but to his followers he has ever been
the most complete and impressive revelation of the
will of the invisible God to men. He and he alone
makes rational, moral, and spiritual the universe in
which we live. His death and resurrection bring
the brightness of unclouded day into the unbroken
darkness of human guilt, human sorrow, and certain
death. This surely was worthy of the Son of God.
On the other hand, the total impression that he
makes is that he is very man. He seeks men, seeks
to cleanse them, to enlarge their natures, to bring

52 The Conquest.
them to a realization of the purpose of their being,
and all this with a depth of tenderness and affection
beyond what men feel for their dearest friends.
When men compare their lives with his, it is the
narrowness of intellect, the littleness and poverty of
nature, the lack of depth and breadth, and never the
reverse, which makes them cry out this life is impos
sible. Yet unnumbered thousands in every genera
tion testify that this life, so wonderful, so supremely
regnant, can reproduce itself in the human spirit,
and that this transformation is the great experience
of human life.
The doctrines of Jesus, which are unique with
him, and which give his teaching the predominance
among all the faiths of the world, on the lowest
ground of the principle of the survival of the fittest,
Tne cluster around four great truths: i. He re-
Doctrines. vealed the one God to men ; that is, the
0 ' supremacy and continuity of being and
law throughout the universe, and in all eternities past
and to come, and that this God, supreme and regnant,
is the Heavenly Father of the race. This teaching
was most antagonistic to the universal polytheism
and idolatry, the source of its bitterest opposition, and
yet its most powerful solvent. By teaching God as
our Father, as the Father of Jesus himself, he made
the most universal and powerful of human relations
interpret God to men.
He revealed the Divine forgiveness. He taught
that all men needed forgiveness ; that men
Forgiveness. did not need to die to be lost, but were
now lost in their sins, and were in danger of eternal
sin; that men escaped from sin only by turning, re-

The Christian Church. 53
peuting, and receiving the Divine forgiveness. The
Divine forgiveness is a loosing from sin, a cleansing
from sin, and the beginning of a new life in which
men do not willfully depart from the Heavenly
Father, but cleave to him in the endeavor to do his
will with the whole heart. The purification of the
heart and conscience from both sin and guilt is alone
accomplished by the Divine forgiveness.
He revealed that love is the principle of moral
and spiritual life in men, as in the nature of God.
Christian love (dydxrj) was a new thing in human his
tory. Jesus revealed it to men, and taught that it was
the principle of the new life. It came to Love.
human hearts, and controlled them through
the Holy Spirit. ' It is the law of the individual and
social life of the Christians. The early ages of the
Church were bright with its radiance ; and in no
other respect is its history more instructive to us.
He revealed immortality to men. All else led up
to this. The great themes and facts of Christian
preaching — Christ crucified, Jesus and the resurrec
tion — were its guarantee. It did not seem strange to
them that a love which had overcome the
. . Immortality.
evil in human hearts and m social life,
controlling the life by its law, and bringing into Di
vine communion, should prepare men, in likeness of
their Lord, to put on immortality. The spiritual
life, the enthroning of the Christian love, the in
dwelling Christ, are ever the clearest proofs of a life ,
beyond this.
These four great truths — God, our relation to him;
the Divine forgiveness ; Christian love ; and immor
tality — were the smooth stones out of the brook

54 The Conquest.
through which was overthrown the colossal form of
the pagan society and State.
The society Jesus formed was the sling which
hurled these stones. The secret of the strength of
this society was that its members were men and
women convinced that in them lived, and through
them wrought, the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit
of the living God. They brought forth the accordant
fruits. This, in every age and land, is the most es
sential and truest characteristic of a Christian Church.
The religion of Jesus Christ is eminently social. No
one can receive his Spirit and not wish others to share
it. With the reception of the Divine for-
The Society. .,,_,..,._,.
giveness was received the Spirit of Christ,
and by that fact the believer became related to the
Christian Church. Through this entrance into the
Christian brotherhood its fellowship, and watch-care,
the purity of the faith and of Christian life was main
tained. In the midst of heathen society, from which
they must in great part separate, there was formed an
other society, animated by a different spirit, inspired
by other ideas, and with other aims. This society
kept together Christian believers, organized them for
service, ministered the means of grace, and led the
attack upon heathenism. These few Christian be
lievers — poor, despised, and friendless — were stronger
than the mightiest empire and the greatest civil so
ciety in the world. They formed the true kingdom
of God, and they waited in ardent expectation and
devout hope for its perfect realization, when should
come unto them their absent Lord. The influence of
Jesus, the truths he taught, the Church he founded,
are the great motor forces which acted upon and

The Christian Church. 55
moved men then, and which move men now; they
transformed human society then, and they change it
now. They all center in the person of Christ and the
work he wrought. He was the founder and is the
substance of Christianity. He is the author and
finisher of the faith. The greatness of Paul and John
but bring more prominently before us the source from
which it was derived.
Pentecost was the birthday of the Christian Church.
The Holy Ghost came in answer to the age-long
prayer of humanity. He came the perpetual witness
to the incarnation and resurrection of our Lord, and
the consummation of his mission. That Birth and
day the mingled tongues of Asia, Africa, Growth of
and Europe heard in familiar accents the the chl,rcn•
message of the divine salvation. The Holy Spirit
gave a common experience to these widely- sundered
hearts and lives. The grace of his transforming pres
ence knew no barriers of nationality or speech. Then
was begun the mission-work of the Christian Church.
She received three thousand converts on the day of
her birth. For the remainder of the cen- The
tury the work went on under the direction Apostolic
of the apostles and those converted under Cnurch-
their ministry, and is the Apostolic Church. Chris
tianity began to spread from Jerusalem as a center
almost immediately, and that remained the mother
Church until its overthrow in the destruction of the
city by Titus.
The most remarkable of these apostolic mission
aries is St. Paul. Added to great natural gifts and
solid learning, God gave a marvelous conversion and
call to the apostolate. Converted about 34 A. D., he,

56 The Conquest.
as a wise master-builder, in three missionary jourj
neys (40-58) laid the foundations of the Church in
Asia Minor and Greece. On his fifth visit to Jerusa
lem since his conversion, he was apprehended, and, to
prevent his murder by the Jews, taken at once to
Csesarea (58). There he remained two years in
prison ; but, having appealed to Caesar, made a winter
voyage to Rome, where he arrived in the spring of 61.
He remained in prison two years, in comparatively
easy confinement ; when on his trial, he, after having
been five years a captive, was released. About a year
of liberty was given him, in which he appears to have
traveled to Asia Minor, and preached the gospel in
Spain. A second time in prison, he was soon released
by a martyr's death in June, 64. His let-
Paul. J . J , .
ters give us a very complete picture of the
man and of his work. His main thought was noth
ing less than winning the world for Christ. His two
great achievements were : The loosing of the obliga
tion of the Mosaic law from the converts from heath
enism to Christianity, so making it a universal relig
ion ; and the teaching of a better righteousness than
that of the law — the righteousness of faith. He has
been called the first fundamental theologian of Chris
tianity. The order of and dates of the New Testa
ment writings, so far as we can determine them, are
as follows :
Compare the date of Paul's writings with the Synoptic
Gospels, 60-80.
I Thessalonians, . . 53
2 Thessalonians, . . . 53 or 54
I Corinthians, . . . 5S, spring
2 Corinthians, 58, midsummer
Galatians  55 or 57
Romans, .... 59, spring

St. Matthew, .
St. Mark, . .
St. Luke, .
St. John, . .
Acts, . . .

. Soon after 70
... .67
 80
... .96
. . 80

James,

 50

ST. PAUL.

The Christian Church. 57
Ephesians  62 or 60 1 Peter,  55
Colossians,  62 or 60 2 Peter  67 or 130
Philemon,  62 or 60 1 John,  After 90
Philippians  62 2 and 3 John, . . . Before 90
1 Timothy,  63 Jude,  60
Titus, ,  63 Revelation, . . . 70 or 90-95
2 Timothy,  64
Hebrews,  66
No age shall ever come that shall not be quick
ened into enthusiasm by the recorded work and words
of power of this most heroic soul, this most devoted
and saintly follower of our Lord, this ablest and most
winning Christian missionary of all the Christian ages.
His influence to-day is not less potent than his work
more than eighteen hundred years ago.
Of the life and works of most of the apostles, lit
tle has come down to us. With St. Paul wrought
also the three teachers of the Apostolic Peter.
Age. St. Peter was the preacher on the
day of Pentecost ; the spokesman of the Apostolic
College ; the head of the Church of the circumcision
through all the nations where dwelt the dispersed
remnants of the chosen people. He was at Antioch
and Babylon. Tradition speaks of a ministry at
Rome.* He perished in the Neronian persecutions,
June, 64.
St. James, the brother of our Lord, was to the
Church at Jerusalem all that St. Peter was to the Jews
of the Dispersion. He commanded the re-
• , . James.
spect of the enemies of the Christian faith
by his devout life; and yet his countrymen stoned
him, as they had stoned Stephen, 66. He remains the
ideal type of the converted Jew, and his epistle makes
for righteousness to-day as did his example and char
acter in the days of the expiring Jewish nation.
*See Appendix, Note A.

58 The Conquest.
To St. John was given a longer career and a
grander mission. After the destruction of Jerusalem,
and probably after the death of the mother of our
Lord, St. John removed to Ephesus. There, entering
upon the work of St. Paul in Asia Minor, he saw
grow up around him the most prosperous and flour
ishing Churches of the first century. He lived to see
Christians of the second and third genera
tion. He had length of days in which not
only to declare the Lord's words, but in which to re
flect upon and weigh their meaning. He saw their
effect upon the world, society, and the Church. From
the union of such susceptibility and intuition of the
Divine with his most intimate fellowship with the
Lord and the maturity of long experience, came the
richest heritage of the Church — the Scriptures writ
ten by the beloved disciple.
These Scriptures have a larger unaccomplished
mission before them in the Christian Church than
any other writings of the Sacred Record.
The extension of the Church went on among the
different races of the Roman Empire. After the
overthrow of Jerusalem, Rome became the great
center of the Christian world. At the end of the
first century, the gospel had been fully preached in
the chief cities of her provinces. Its message had
been proclaimed beyond the Euphrates and on the
western shore of India. Its truths found adherents
south of the Roman dominion, in Arabia and in Africa.
From the first the Jewish converts in Judea must
have been considerable in number. This appears
from the fact of the necessity of conciliating their op
position to the work of Paul, as at the Council of Je-

The Christian Church. 59
rusalem, and the number of poor saints in this mother
Church for whom he made collection. James, the
brother of the Lord, was the head of this Church
until his death. He was succeeded by Symeon, son of
Cleopas — a relative, presumably cousin, of our Lord —
who held the position for nearly forty years, being, it
is said, more than one hundred years of
, . . The Jews.
age at his martyrdom by crucifixion, 106
or 107. After the end of the first century, the Jewish
Christians divided into two sects — the Ebionites, who
held that the law should be observed by all Christian
converts, though sacrifices were done away ; and the
Nazarenes, who held, according to the Council of Je
rusalem, that it was binding only on those who by
birth were Jews. Ebionitic and Gnostic elements
were combined in the Jewish Christian heretical sect
of the Elkasites, who held Christianity to be a critic
ally-revised Mosaism. They spread in Syria and
Arabia. Mohammed became acquainted with them,
and from them drew those ideas of Christianity which
he taught in the Koran, and which have been ever
since the orthodox view of Christianity and its teach
ing in all the Mohammedan world. May God open
the way for a better knowledge than this heretical dis
tortion ! These sects have left a large body of apoc
ryphal writings, like the Preaching of Peter, the Gos
pel of James, the Clementine Homilies, etc.
The Jews in the Greek and Roman cities were
more liberal. When they became Christians they
seem to have entered into the main body of the
Christian societies, and not to have remained separate
sects. From among these Paul found some of his
earliest and best helpers. Such were Aquila and

60 The Conquest.
Priscilla, Timothy and Lydia. These remain as types
of the movement among the Israelites of the disper
sion, until the destruction of Jerusalem and the sup
pression of the rebellion of Barcocheba turned the
feeling of the Jew toward the Christian to intense
hatred. A form for bitter cursing of Christians was
adopted among the prayers of the synagogue, and was
in use for ages after. The relations between Jews and
Christians, religious, social, and political, since 135,
would form a book whose tragic interest would sur
pass that of any romance, and be no unimportant
contribution to the history of Christianity and civili
zation. Through the believing Jews of the Dispersion,
Christianity gained an entrance among the Gentiles,
particularly the Greek population of the cities. In
deed, Greek was the language of the Church at Rome
until after 150. It also spread among them by mi
gration. Every Christian was a missionary. Within
a year from the death of Christ there were probably
Christians in Rome. The Greeks were the first great
race to become pervaded with the Christian teaching.
Their language became that of the Christian Scrip
tures and of the early Christian Church and its
writers — a use for which it was admirably
The Greeks. J
adapted. Its philosophy has in every age
led thoughtful, inquiring minds, like Justin Martyr
and Neander, to accept Christ. It was the founda
tion of all education, and so the common possession
of the educated classes. From it has come much of
the fundamental framework of Christian theology.
The most flourishing early Churches were in its do
main; as Antioch, Alexandria, Corinth, Thessalonica,

The Christian Church. 6i
and particularly the cities, and even country districts,
of Asia Minor. If Christianity drew on the Greek
population for form of thought and language, it repaid
the debt in taking to itself and preserving the life of
the people. The great Eastern or Greek Church has
been the main sphere of its activity, thought, and in
fluence for more than a thousand years. Through it,
more than by any other means, it affects the world.
From Antioch, very early, the Christian mission
aries preached the gospel in Syria in the native
tongue. The center of Syrian Christianity was for
many years at Edessa ; and the seat of its theological
school was there until after 400, and later at Nisibis.
They produced devoted missionaries and able scholars.
A large number of their writings and of translations
of Greek Christian authors have come down to us.
The New Testament was first translated Syriac.
into their tongue. They had a rich hym-
nology. Christianity spread eastwards. Before 250,
there were not a few Christians in Persia. They sus
tained severe and bloody persecutions from 340 to
400. Out of enmity to the Roman Empire, the Nes-
torian and Monophysite sects were protected, and
found a refuge and home in Persia. Armenia be
came Christian in the latter part of the third century
(280-300), through the labors of Gregory the Illumi
nator. Nestorian missionaries carried on their labors
and founded Churches in China.
The Jewish and Greek converts early made known
the glad tidings in the West. Paul's letter to the
Romans proves that a flourishing Church was early
established in the capital of the empire. Though
the early Church at Rome was Greek, yet in the

62 The Conquest.
time of St. Paul there were Christians in Caesar's
household; and at the close of the century, under
Domitian, the emperor's cousin, the Consul Flavius
Clemens was executed, and his wife, Domitilla, ban
ished, probably on account of their adherence to
the Christian faith. From Rome, Christian teaching
came to Carthage and the cities of North Africa,
where it rapidly spread, and where was made the sec-
ln the ond translation of the New Testament
west. and tne nrst jn the Latin tongue. Chris
tianity found its way into Spain from Rome, and first
in the Apostolic Age; early also into the cities of
Southern France, from Asia Minor, and to those of
Germany and Britain. The first Christians in these
cities were probably Oriental slaves, merchants, and
artisans from Italy, Greece, and Syria. For the
first two centuries the advance of Christianity was
by the individual Christian winning the individual
heathen. Christianity remained in the cities confined
to the Roman population until after the fall of the
Roman Empire. In the practical work of preaching
Christ, these objections were met: Its Jewish, bar
baric origin; it was a religion of yesterday; no pic
tures or images in its worship; the heathen called it
atheism; its morality too strict; political dangers;
the members from the poorer and lower classes; they
were accused of fanaticism and creating a new my
thology. They met these b}- preaching monotheism
as an original revelation, claimed the Christian re
ligion as reaching to the beginning of the world, the
conception of the redemption, and, above all, Jesus
Christ who was the concrete ideal of a holy life.
This preaching was enforced by their strict morality

The Christian Church. 63
and brotherly love, and by the heroism of their suffer
ing even unto death. Loyalty to conviction to this
extent was a novelty in the heathen world.
Of the progress of the faith during the second
century, Tertullian, writing near its close, says (Apol
ogy I, 45): "The outcry is that the State is filled
with Christians. They are in the fields, in the cita
dels, in the islands. They make lamentations as for
some calamity, that both sexes, every age and condi
tion, even high rank, are passing over to the Christian
faith; for now it is the immense number of the
Christians which makes your enemies, so few, almost
all the inhabitants of your various, cities being fol
lowers of Christ." Whatever allowance may be made
for rhetorical exaggeration in this passage, that the
Christians were rapidly increasing in the West was a
fact too evident to be denied. Its progress was even
greater in the East. The rapid rise and variety of
the heretical sects shows how Christian ideas had
taken possession of the thought of the time and of
the most diverse sections of society.

Chapter III.
THE PERSECUTIONS.
The preaching of Christianity and its progress
did not pass unobserved by the Roman State and its
rulers. Under Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41),
Claudius (41-54), the early years of Nero, the Chris
tians were considered as a Jewish sect, and protected
by the Roman law. The Jews succeeded in making
the difference plain to the Government. Under Nero,
in June, 64, broke out the first great persecution oi
the Christians. Savage and cruel beyond conception,
the persecution showed what the Church had to ex
pect for the next two hundred and fifty years. The
gigantic conflict was begun. There was no day, from
that time until 313, when a Christian who would not
den}' his faith had any protection from the law ; nay,
those bearing the name were outlaws, as much as rob
bers. Of this persecution, Tacitus tells us: "A vast
multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge
of making the conflagration or burning of Rome, as
of hating the human race. And in their deaths they
were made subjects of sport ; for they were covered
with the hides of wild beasts and worried to death by
dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to ; and when day
declined, they were burned, to serve for nocturnal
lights. Nero had offered his own garden for this ex
hibition, aud also exhibited a game of the circus,
sometimes mingling with the crowd in the dress of a
charioteer, and sometimes standing in his chariot."
64

The Persecutions. 65
This persecution showed the numbers and heroic con
stancy of the Christians at Rome. In this time of
fierce testing of the faith of believers, Peter and Paul
received the martyr's crown.
We shall get a better idea of the conflict if we
consider the attitude of the State and the individual
emperors toward the new religion. Though Vespa
sian and Titus (69-81) were well spoken of by the
Christians, who regarded them as instruments of Di
vine justice in executing judgment upon the Jews, and
only Domitian (81-96) was a bloody persecutor, yet,
during all these years, the persecution was continued
as a permanent police measure against them as a sect
dangerous to the public safety. This principle was
merely unwritten law. No edict was issued ; but the
governors, when any case came before them, judged it
according to the precedent set them by the Progress of
emperor. The followers of a sect whose the conflict.
tendency was to unsettle the foundations and princi
ples of Roman society, were held as outlaws, and the
very name treated as a crime. Nerva (96-98) called
back those banished by Domitian. Trajan, who, as
general and statesman, was called the second founder
of the empire, ruled from 98 to 117. He wrote a re
script or letter to Pliny, governor of Bithynia, which
remained the fundamental law of the empire until the
reign of Decius, 250. Trajan directed those accused
of Christianity, if they sacrificed to the heathen gods,
should be set at liberty; if not, they are to be pun
ished ; that being a Christian is a crime which is ex
posed to capital punishment. But he added : " Chris
tians are not to be sought ouf by the State, but ap
prehended only upon personal complaints by name.
5

66 The Conquest.
Anonymous accusations are not to be considered.
Such a thing does not fit my age." The Government
did not wish to multiply cases. The Christians com
plained that they should either be called criminals
and punished, or called innocent and left in peace.
We can not be collectively criminals and individually
innocent. It is against all law to say that, if we will
only deny or sacrifice, we shall be free. If it is a
crime to be a Christian, we should be punished; if
not, we should be undisturbed. Under Trajan were
martyred Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, and Ignatius,
Bishop of Antioch. Hadrian (i 17-138) was no old
Roman, but a modern spirit, curious, religious, and
skeptical. He maintained Trajan's policy, but cau
tioned against wholesale accusations. Antoninus Pius
(138-161) wished a better religious condition through
a restoration of the old worship. Christians were ac
cused in his reign of causing the famine. Justin
Martyr tells of cases of individual martyrdom. Poly
carp suffered at Smyrna, 155. Marcus Aurelius (161-
180) — a philosopher and a stoic — whose " Medita
tions" show him to be a rationalistic monotheist, up
held idolatry. He caused a more rigid execution of
the law against the Christians. They were to be
sought out. He thought the Christian fearlessness of
death was obstinacy. There seems to be a wearisome
repetition of these opinions of emperors and regula
tions of the State. There were life and movement
enough then. All the imagination and skill of the
artist can not make these scenes as vivid to us as
they were to the poor Christians under Rome's ablest
and wisest rulers. Take this scene, enacted under

The Persecutions. 67
Marcus Aurelius at Lyons, in Gaul, 177, and given to
us by eye-witnesses :
" Present at the examination of these was Alexan
der, a native of Phrygia, and a physician. He lived
for many years in Gaul, and had become well known
to all for his love to God, and his boldness in pro
claiming the truth. He stood near the judgment-seat,
and urged by signs those who had denied, to confess.
The mobs, enraged that those who had formerly de
nied should now confess, cried out against Martyrs of
Alexander, as if he were the cause of this Ly°ns. '77-
change. Then the governor summoned him before
him, and inquired of him who he was ; and when Al
exander said he was a Christian, the governor burst
into a passion, and condemned him to the wild beasts.
On the next day he entered the amphitheater with
Attalus, a man of mark in the city ; for the governor,
wishing to gratify the mob, again exposed Attalus to
the wild beasts. These two, after being tortured in
the amphitheater with all the instruments devised for
that purpose, and having undergone a severe contest,
at last were themselves sacrificed. Alexander uttered
no groan or murmur of any kind, but conversed in
his heart with God ; but Attalus, when he was placed
in the iron chair, and all the parts of his body were
burning, and when the fumes of his body were borne
aloft, said to the multitude in Latin : ' Lo, this which
ye do is eating men ; but as for us, we neither eat
men, nor practice any other wickedness.' And being
asked what name God has, he answered : ' God has
not a name as men have.'
'After all these, on the last day of the gladiatorial

68 The Conquest.
shows, Blandina was again brought in along with
Ponticus, a boy of about fifteen years of age. These
two had been taken daily to the amphitheater to see
the tortures which the rest endured, and force was
used to compel them to swear by the idols of the
heathen ; but on account of their remaining steadfast,
and setting all their devices at naught, the multitudes
were furious against them, so as neither to pity the
tender years of the boy nor respect the sex of the
woman. Accordingly, they exposed them to every
terror and inflicted on them every torture, repeatedly
trying to compel them to swear. But they failed in
effecting this; for Ponticus, encouraged by his sis
ter — so plainly, indeed, that even the heathen saw
that it was she who encouraged and confirmed him —
after enduring nobly every kind of torture, gave up
the ghost. And the blessed Blandina, — after she had
been scourged and exposed to the wild beasts, and
roasted in the iron chair, she was at last inclosed in a
net and cast before a bull ; and after she had been
well tossed by the bull, she also was sacrificed, the
heathens themselves acknowledging that never among
them did woman endure so many and such fearful
tortures." Commodus (180-192) relaxed the severe measures
of his father, though there were martyrdoms in his
reign. He was said to be influenced by his favorite
concubine, Marcia, who favored the Christians. Perti-
nax, after a three months' reign, was succeeded by Sep
timus Severus (193-2 11). He personally inclined to
the Persian worship of Mithra, or the sun. He was
an able general and a great builder and founder of
public monuments. In 197 he issued an edict .pro-

The Persecutions. 69
hibiting every subject in the empire from embracing
the Jewish or Christian faith. Upon this followed
seven years of persecution in Palestine, Egypt, Africa,
Italy, and Gaul. Leonidas, father of Origen, was mar
tyred at Alexandria. In this reign, Tertullian wrote,
when he could not mistake or exaggerate without
injuring the cause for which he pleaded. Tertuiiian's
He says (sec. 50): "You put Christians on witness.
crosses and stakes. You tear the Christians with
your claws. We lay our heads upon the block ; we
are cast to the wild beasts; we are burned in the
flames; we are condemned to the mines; we are
banished to the islands. Nor does your cruelty, how
ever exquisite, avail you ; it is rather a temptation to
us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the
more in numbers do we grow ; the blood of Chris
tians is seed."
An instance of what Tertullian means we can see
in an extract from the martyrdom of Perpetua and
Felicitas, who suffered at Carthage, 202 : " Perpetua
is first led in. She was tossed, and fell on her loins ;
and when she saw her tunic, she drew it over her as a
veil for her middle, rather mindful of her modesty
than of her suffering. Then she was called for again,
and bound up her disheveled hair ; for it Martyrs at
was not becoming for a martyr to suffer Carthage,
with disheveled hair, lest she should seem
to be mourning in her glory. So she rose up; and
when she saw Felicitas crushed, she approached and
gave her hand, and lifted her up ; and both of them
stood together. And when the populace called for
them into the midst, they rose up of their own accord,
and transferred themselves whither the people wished;

70 The Conquest.
but they first kissed one another, that they might con
summate their martyrdom with the kiss of peace. The
rest, indeed, immovable and in silence, received the
swoid thrust; but Perpetua, that she might taste some
pain, being pierced between the ribs, cried out
loudly, and she herself placed the wavering right
hand of the youthful gladiator to her throat."
The house of Septimus Severus ; his son, Cara-
calla (211-218); his cousins, Elagabalus (218-222),
and Alexander Severus (222-235), were given to
Syrian worship, particularly of the sun. Julia Mam-
mea, the mother of Alexander Severus, was a woman
of extraordinary strength of character, and interested
in philosophy and the Christian religion. She sent
for Origen and Hippolytus in order to converse with
them about their faith. Her son was an eclectic ; he
was interested in and admired Christianity. He be
lieved in immmortality, and inscribed the Golden
Rule on the walls of his palace. He admired the
spirit of the Christian society and the organization of
the Church. He placed the statues of Apollonius
Tyana, Abraham, and Jesus in his prayer-room. All
these Septimian empetors favored Christianity, and the
Churches had peace.
He was succeeded by Maximinus, the Thracian
(235-238), a raw barbarian. He hated the Christians
because they had been friends of Alexander Severus.
He issued an edict that the bishops and chief clergy
were to be put to death; but his reign was too short
and he was too busy to do more than begin its exe
cution. The Churches were undistutbed during the reign
of the three Goidians (238-244). Philip the Arabian

The Persecutions. 71
(244-249) believed in a religion lying behind all re
ligions. He favored the Christians. His wife, Severa,
corresponded with Origen.
The Christians did more than to preach the truths
of Christianity and to follow their Lord to prison and
to death ; they defended the faith. No Christian can
read those Apologies, which are never an excuse, but
a defense, which is also an attack, without a higher
courage and a warmer glow of Christian love. The
apologists of the second century were Greek; they
comprise such names as Quadratus and Aristides,
Aristo and Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tatian,
Mileto and Irenseus, Theophilus of Antioch and
Clement of Alexandria. In the third century, Hip
polytus and Origen also wrote in Greek. These
apologists sought to justify the Christian faith, to
reason, and to educate men. The Latin apologists,
Tertullian, Minucius Felix, and Cyprian, wrote in the
third century ; Lactantius, at the close of the Diocle
tian persecution, in the fourth; and Augustine and
Salvian, in the fifth centuries. The Latin apologists
attacked directly the heathen religions. Their de
fense was an irresistible onset. Augus- The
tine's " City of God" and Salvian's " Divine Apologists.
Government" were written to justify the ways of God
to a world dying in the agonies of the barbarian in
vasions. The object of the apologists was to reply
at first directly to the emperor, then later to the edu
cated classes, to the charges made against the Chris
tians, to protest against persecutions, and to set forth
the real teachings of the Christian religion. Their
method was to criticise the heathen religions as fabu
lous and absurd and as immoral according to the tes-

72 The Conquest.
timony of their own writers; to show that all pecu
liar Christian doctrines can be justified to the reason,
and that Christianity was the primitive revelation.
They all appealed to the power of the Christian life
and the constancy of the Christians in martyrdom.
The only literary attacks upon Christianity which
have come down to us are those of Celsus, about 150,
and of Porphyry, about one hundred years later.
Origen, in his " Contra Celsus," preserves and refutes
the attack. The work of Porphyry is much less im
portant. The work of the apologists was thoroughly
and triumphantly accomplished. No form of heathen
ism in any age can survive it, if the appeal is made to
reason. There is no question on which side lies the
weight of the argument. In spite of the wider
knowledge and different lines of attack upon Christian
ity, and necessarily of defense, after fifteen hundred
years there is a striking modernness in the thought
of Origen's reply to Celsus. The four great apologies
are by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, and Augus
tine. If but two can be read, read Justin and Tertul
lian. They bring back the life and dangers of the
early Church.
With Decius (249-251) there is a change. Decius
is an old Roman. He does not believe that Chris
tianity and the empire can stand together. He means
to destroy it from the face of the earth. The edict of
250 provided that "all men, with their wives and
children, shall offer sacrifice; if not, be imprisoned,
and be compelled with all power; if not, then let
them be executed in the worst manner." The pre
fects, or governors, are threatened with severe penal
ties if they do not bring back the Christians to the

The Persecutions. 73
old religion. They are to be summoned at definite
periods. This was a general persecution throughout
the empire. Fabianus, Bishop of Rome, Babylas of
Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem, were martyred.
Origen was tortured at Tyre. Gallus (251-254)
carried on the persecution. Valerian (254-260), by
edict, prohibited all gatherings of Christians; all
bishops and leaders were to be arrested and sent into
exile. The clergy who were exiled were to have their
goods confiscated, and, if they remained Christians, to
be executed by the sword. Cyprian, Bishop of Car
thage, was martyred 258; as were Sextus II, Bishop
of Rome, and his deacon, Laurentius.
Gallienus (261-268) restored the legal position of
the Christians to that of Trajan's time, gave them
freedom of worship, and their cemeteries practical
toleration. So it remained during the reigns of
Claudius (268-270), Aurelian (270-275), Tacitus (275-
276), Probus (276-282), Carus (282-283), and Diocle
tian (from 284 to 303) ; so that the Churches had
forty years of peace, and greatly prospered.
Diocletian was an able ruler, and if he had not un
dertaken the persecution of the Christians, would have
ranked as a great statesman. He gave the persecution
Roman Empire the administrative form of Diocletian.
which it retained in the East until its overthrow in
1453. Incited by his co-regent Galerius, he began the
crudest of all the persecutions in 303. Four edicts
followed each other in the course of the year. He
decreed the destruction of the Christian churches, the
burning of the Scriptures, the dismissal of all civil
and military officials who are Christians, the with
drawal of all rights of citizenship, and the imprison-

74 The Conquest.
ment of all the clergy. Torture was to be used upon
those refusing, and every device to compel them to
sacrifice; and finally death for all Christians. These
were carried out with all the power of the State.
" We read of twenty, fifty, and one hundred put to
death in a single day ; of a whole Church gathered to
gether in Phrygia, and then burned, with the edifice
in which they worshiped ; that women and children
were cut open alive in the palace of Galerius, in or
der to inspect their entrails."
No wonder that the historian Lecky sums up these
sufferings so vividly, an unanswerable reply to the
depreciation of Gibbon: "We read of
Summary. . . .
Christians bound in chairs of red-hot iron,
while the stench of their half-consumed bodies rose in
a suffocating cloud to heaven ; of others torn to the
very bone by shells or hooks of iron ; of holy virgins
given over to the lusts of the gladiators or the mer
cies of the pander ; of two hundred and twenty-seven
converts sent on one occasion to the mines, each with
the sinews of one leg severed by a red-hot iron, and
with an eye scooped out from its socket ; of fires so
slow that the victims writhed for hours in their
agony ; of tortures prolonged and varied through en
tire days. . . . For the love of their Divine Mas
ter, for the cause which they believed to be true, men,
and even weak girls, endured these things, when one
word would have freed them from their sufferings."
These recitals of Christian sufferings make evi
dent that the faith of the early Christians was a reali
zation — (i) Of the value of the unseen; (2) The pre
vailing might of the Divine order ; (3) The salvation
of the risen Lord. None to whom the things of this

The Persecutions. 75
world were the chief end of life ; none who believed
that there was no Supreme Mind in the universe, or
that he could not make his purpose known „ .
to men ; none for whom Jesus was but a christian
good man and a great ethical teacher, Mart>'rdom-
ever faced the lions in the arena or the tortures of
the amphitheater. With these witnesses unto blood,
there was no question of the Divine power over the
material order and the realm of nature. Justin Mar
tyr stands for them all. " Do you suppose," said the
prefect Rusticus to him, " that you will ascend up to
the heaven to receive some recompense there?" "I
do not suppose," was the martyr's ready correction ;
" I know it." Spiritual realities were to them the
great verities of human life.
Other religions have had their martyrs ; but after
the enthusiasm of the first or second generation has
passed away, these witnesses cease. If the chr|St|an
victory does not quickly come, the cause is and other
lost. Where is there a parallel to the two Martyrs-
hundred and fifty years of outlawry and suffering
from a power invincible for a thousand years, and
which represented the civil and political order of the
world, yet enduring the last persecution with a forti
tude equal to that of the Apostolic Age ?
What was the effect of the persecutions? They
consolidated, purified, and reanimated the Church.
They showed conclusively that the heathen religions
had lost all vitality, and with them was perishing
heathen society ; that Christianity was the one living,
growing moral force and spiritual power in a dying
world. While, in the course of centuries, the love and

76 The Conquest.
reverence for the martyrs of the Christian faith de-
Our Debt generated into a baneful worship of saints
to the and a disgusting exhibition, reverence, and
Mart5"s worship of spurious relics, yet the world's
debt to them is not paid nor their service to human
ity ended. The martyrs for civil liberty in modern
times drew their inspiration from the Christian vic
tims of the amphitheater and the Roman executioner,
No greater service could be rendered to a materialistic
civilization, a self-indulgent Christianity, an unbeliev
ing generation, than its awakening to a stalwart faith
in those spiritual and supreme realities for which the
Christian martyrs died
The battle was to the death; but the Church did
not die. The pagan empire did. Diocletian abdicated
issue of the in defeat, 305. Constantine Chlorus did
Conflict. not persecute the Christians His son,
Constantine the Great, succeeded him in 306. He
saw the sign which conquers, engraved it upon his
banners, triumphed at the battle of the Milvian Bridge,
and, as the first Christian emperor, entered Rome, Oc
tober 28, 312. The edict of Milan, proclaiming toler
ation, dates from 313 ; in 323, Christianity became the
religion of the Roman Empire At that time, in the
western provinces of the Orient, the Christians formed
one-fourth of the population ; in some provinces of
the empire, one-tenth; few less than that. Probably,
out of a population of one hundred millions, ten
millions were Christians. From 390-410, the heathen
became a minority. By 550 the heathen worship and
culture had vanished. It remained in existence in
the country places in Italy in the sixth century; in
the Peloponnesus in the eighth and ninth. It was

CHRISTIAN MARTYRS.

The Persecutions. 77
confined to the country, and hence called pagan. By
450, throughout the empire there was a common cul
ture and worship of a Catholic Christian character.
If we consider the influence opposed to Christian
ity, and the material means at her disposal, this is
the mightiest conquest ever made by a re- Ma nltude
ligious faith. Whatever of power, of phi- of the
losophy, of intellectual culture, of wealth Con<>uest-
or social station was in the Roman world, was ar
rayed against the gospel of the crucified Nazarene.
No bitterer enemies or persecutors were found than
the Jews, from whose race he sprang, and to whose
Scriptures he appealed. To the Roman pride of
power and the stoic ideal of moral greatness the gos
pel of Jesus presented an exact antithesis. Humility
and love took the place of pride and exalted self-re
spect. To the most unrestrained, splendid, and uni
versal luxury, licentiousness, and vice, the apostles
and their followers preached the cross, self-denial,
and chastity, even in thought. This conflict was
not merely one of taste, of sentiment, of ideals. It
touched every relation and every hour of daily life.
The opposition between this long-intrenched and
close-clinging idolatry and the spiritual worship of
the Christians was not only ever-present and unsleep
ing, it was active and aggressive. It had in com
mand, and did not hesitate to use, the power of the
mightiest and most universal empire of the world.

Chapter IV.
THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE OF ROME.
The Christian Empire of Rome began with Con
stantine, who, with all defects, was a great ruler, and
west, compares favorably with the most eminent
3East7 ' °f ^is predecessors on the imperial throne.
3<3-i4S3- He removed the Government of the em
pire to the finest site ever occupied by a great cap
ital, whether of commerce or of political dominion.
Constantinople is the monument of his genius, as well
as the bearer of his name. The City of the Sultans sur
passes to-day, as it has done for fifteen hundred years,
in wealth, importance, and population, the mistress of
the victorious legions of Scipio and Caesar, the cap
ital of reunited Italy. The undivided empire of Con
stantine endured only to the death of Theodosius the
Great, at the close of the century in which it had
been founded. Domestic dissensions and imperial
proscriptions destroyed the family of Constantine.
Julian's apostasy and short-lived restoration of hea
thenism had no permanent influence. Valentinian
and Theodosius were able generals and honest rulers.
They stayed the tide of barbarian invasion until the
next century. Theodosius divided the empire.
Alaric, king of the Visigoths, attacked the irnpe"
rial city in the feeble reign of his son Honorius, and
Effect of on August 24, 410, took and' sacked Rome.
Taxation. The weakened monarchy, the attenuated
shadow of the Empire of Rome, lingered on, encom-
78

The Christian Empire of Rome. 79
passed and oppressed by the increasing waves of bar
barian invasion, until it came to an end in 476.
Thus fell, not the Roman Empire — that lived on in
one form or another until 1806 — but the Roman Em
pire of the West.
This rapid conquest was due, not simply to the
valor of the barbarians, but to the vicious system of
the Roman administration. It had been for two hun
dred years little more than a means for the collection
of taxes from a diminishing population with decreas
ing wealth. The inhabitants were systematically dis
armed. Those following any gainful vocation or
possessing property must be followed in their calling
by their children, who could not change their resi
dence. The Decurionate having for generations been
an instrument of fiscal oppression, from which even
its members sought to escape, could appeal to no love
of country, rally no defenders of the State, or com
mand any public resources to resist invasion. The
civil life of the cities being entirely dependent upon
the capital, they could not once unite for common de
fense when all that men hold dear was at stake.
The Roman Empire in the West went down be
fore the barbarians. The East was earlier attacked,
but repulsed them. The local political or- The Roman
ganization independent of the imperial Empire
rr -, -, c . . in the East.
power afforded a means of resistance,
greatly aided by the denser population, the greater
number of walled towns, and the everywhere easy
access to the sea. The imperial arms were superior
in the open field ; and the existence of these local au
thorities made impossible such complete subversion of
the political order as in the West.

80 The Conquest.
Yet in the East the havoc made by these invaders
was terrible. Finlay (Vol. I, p. 186, History of
Effect of Greece) says : " In many provinces the
Barbarian higher classes were completely extermi-
invasions. nated> The loss of their slaves and serfs,
who had been carried away by the invader, either re
duced them to the condition of humble cultivators, or
forced them to emigrate and to abandon their land,
from which they were unable to obtain any revenue
in the miserable state of cultivation to which the cap
ture of their slaves, the destruction of the agricultural
buildings, and the want of a market had reduced the
country. In many of the towns the diminished pop
ulation was reduced to misery by the ruin of the dis
trict. Houses remained unlet; the laborer and the
artisan could alone find bread ; the walls of cities were
allowed to fall in ruins ; the streets were neglected ;
many public buildings had become useless ; aqueducts
remained unrepaired; internal communications ceased."
Out of the overwhelming disaster and ruin of the
Old World came forth the two political forces which
Two Con- were to dominate Europe for the next
trolling Pow- thousand years, and to affect Christendom
ers Surviving « t-> -¦->
the Downfall until this day. The one, the Eastern Em-
of Rome. pire, a survival of the past, conserved the
old civilization, and so adapted the despotism of
imperial Rome to changing conditions as to secure its
existence for a millennium ; the other — the new birth
for the new time — was that group of new nationali
ties and Governments, rising upon the overthrown
foundations of the Roman Empire in the West, which
were to develop into the Christendom of the Middle
Ages and the States of modern Europe. The per-

The Christian Empire of Rome. 8i
petuity and importance of both the Eastern Empire
and the new nations and their influence depended
upon their acceptance of the Christian faith and the
work of the Christian Church.
Thus, out of this flood of invasion, defeat, and dis
tress arose the Empire of the East, to be the bulwark
of Europe, not only against the savage
tribes of the North, but for eight hundred
years against the conquests, first of the Saracen, then
of the Turk; against the Mohammedan religion and
dominion. When centuries of struggle, of warring
civilizations and religions ceased, the Western nations
had come to consciousness of their coherent national
existence and power. When Constantinople at last
fell, England was, under Henry VI, in the midst of
the wars of the Roses, and the way prepared for the
reign of the house of Tudor; there had been four
hundred years of national life since the Norman con
quest ; two centuries had elapsed since Magna Charta,
and one since the founding of the House of Com
mons ; France was making way for Louis XI, and
Spain for Ferdinand and Isabella. The banded forces
of Christendom by this time far outweighed those of
the Moslem dominion ; yet then the fall of Constanti
nople brought Turkish armies into Hungary and Ger
many for two hundred years. The Eastern Empire
preserved for Europe the treasures of the Greek lit
erature and arts, and the knowledge and authority of
Roman law. She gave us the founders of the art of
modern painting and the Byzantine style of architec
ture, more widely spread than any other, extending
from Moscow to Spain, and from St. Mark's at Venice
to India. Order, law, and a public administration,
6

82 The Conquest.
where they governed, had their lesson for the world,
which knew so little of them.
The Greek Church gave the people the Scriptures
in their own tongue ; hence there was a connection
, .. between the people and the clergy which
Influence r r GJ
of the Greek did not exist in the West. The clergy in
church. t^e jjast were mote popular and more
learned, and the laity less ignorant and of more polit
ical importance. The Greek Church was the inform
ing spirit of the empire, its support in peril, and the
cause of its prolonged existence. She performs the
like office to-day in Russia, the modern representative
and heir of the traditions of the Byzantine monarchy.
From the death of Theodosius (395) to the assas
sination of Maurice (602), eleven emperors reigned;
Eastern an^ ^et ^e throne descended from father
Emperors, to son but twice in two hundied years.
395-527 ^g exceptions were Arcadius (395-408),
the son, and Theodosius (408-450), the grandson, of
the last ruler of the undivided Empire of Rome.
The former was ruled by his wife Eudoxia, and the
latter, during his entire reign of thirty-two years, by
his sister Pulcheria, who alone of the family inherited
the ability and character of her grandfather, the great
Theodosius. She crowned her labors by marrying the
Senator Marcian (450-457), to take the throne on her
brother's decease. The five emperors who succeeded
the second Theodosius were all born in the lower or
middle ranks of life, and when past middle age came
to the throne. Three of them — Marcian, Zeno (474-
491), and Anastasius (491-518) — succeeded to the em
pire through the choice of the daughters of the em
perors; two of them— Leo I (457-474), and Justin I

The Christian Empire of Rome. 83
(518-527), by the choice of the imperial guard. They
formed a series of prudent, economical, and reforming
emperors, whose providence laid the foundation for
the successes of the reign of Justinian.
Justinian came to the throne in 527, and reigned
for thirty-eight years. He was a diligent adminis
trator. His reign was renowned for the Justinian,
successes of his generals, Belisarius and 527-565.
Narses, who reconquered North Africa, Italy, and
Eastern Spain from the Vandals and the Goths. He
caused the codification of the Roman law, and lav
ished the wealth of the empire in costly public build
ings, as well as foreign wars. His prodigality laid
the foundation for the misfortunes of his successors.
St. Sophia, in Constantinople, though now a mosque,
is a monument of his brilliant reign.
The successors of Justinian were, like his prede
cessors, men in mature life. Justin II (565-578)
was his nephew. His successor and son- Eastern
in-law, Tiberius (578-582), whose reign was Emperors,
cut short by an untimely death, was the s s~ °2"
best emperor who ruled from Constantinople. His
son-in-law and successor, the upright but unfortunate
Maurice (582-602), a man of tried capacitj' in civil
administration, but lacking sagacity and unsuccessful
in war, inheriting the results of Justinian's reign of
glory, as Louis XVI of France did those of the Grand
Monarch, after a reign of twenty years, saw his chil
dren slain before his eyes, and was then put to death
by the cruel usurper Phocas, in 602.
To trace the rise and fall of nations is one thing ;
to feel the throes of a dying world is quite another.
It is difficult to realize the amount of human suffer-

84 The Conquest.
ing caused by this displacement of populations, the
overturning of an established social order, and the
The Ruin settlement of vast hordes of barbarians
of the amid the wealth and refinement of the
oid World. highest civilization of the ancient world.
Taking from the citizens the bulk of their personal
property, and from one to two-thirds of their real
estate, and sinking of the smaller proprietors into
serfdom were the least of the evils of the barbarian
invasions. Some estimate of the ruin wrought may
be made from the fate of the provinces of North Af
rica. In the later years of Rome's dominion, they
were exceedingly prosperous and fruitful, supplying
the grain for the imperial capital, and filled with
flourishing cities. They never recovered from the
Vandal invasions and rule ; suffered new losses upon
the reconquest of Belisarius, and had no power to re
sist the onset of the Saracen conquest.
The case of those who suffered from the inroads
of the heathen barbarians, like the Huns under At-
tila, was much worse.
Of even our Saxon heathen ancestors, a contem
porary — Apollinaris Sidonius — writing about the time
Saxon of the first invasion of Britain, says: "Be-
invaders. fore they raise the deep-biting anchor from
the hostile soil, and set sail from the continent for
their own country, their custom is to collect the crowd
of their prisoners together, by a mockery of equality,
to make them cast lots which of them shall undergo
the iniquitous sentence of death ; and then, at the
moment of departure, to slay every tenth man so se
lected by crucifixion, a practice which is the more
lamentable because it arises from a superstitious no-

The Christian Empire of Rome. 85
tion that it will insure them a safe return. They
think the foul murders which they thus commit are
acts of worship to their gods, and they glory in ex
torting cries of agony instead of ransoms from their
victims." So the fertile lands of Thrace and Macedonia —
modern Bulgaria — although in the immediate vicin
ity of Constantinople, were ravaged more than once
each generation after 378. The barbarian leaders
withdrew their hosts, leaving behind them smoking
ruins and piles of dead bodies, inviting pestilence.
If this was so in the provinces, how fared it with
imperial Italy herself? Italy, whose brave sons had
made the rule of Rome commensurate with
¦ •,• r ¦ 1 r Fate of Italy.
the civilized world, felt now the weight of
oppression meted out to others for seven hundred
years. First, Alaric, with his Visigoths, marched the
whole length of the peninsula. His hosts were fol
lowed by those of Odoacer, Theodoric, Vitiges, and
Totila, while the ruder Lombards crowded in and took
permanent possession of the land. Justinian's gen
erals, Belisarius and Narses, warred in the heart of
Italy for twenty years, and inflicted more misery than
all the barbarians, and secured for the Eastern em
perors for two centuries the Exarchate of Ravenna.
Following Procopius, an English historian gives a
vivid picture of the horrors of that time in Central
Italy — scenes not without parallel in those days of
doom of a dying people.
" The war had now lasted four years, and it was
over a ruined and wasted Italy that the wolves of war
were growling. The summer of 538 was long re
membered as the time when Famine and her child

86 The Conquest.
Disease, in their full horror, first fell upon Tuscany,
Liguria, and .Emilia. The fields had now been left
two years uncultivated. A self-sown crop — poor, but
still a crop — sprang up in the summer of 537. Un-
reaped by the hand of man, it lay rotting on the
ground; no plow stirred the furrows, no hand scat
tered fresh seed upon the earth ; and in the following
summer there was, of course, mere desolation. The
inhabitants of Tuscany betook them to the mount
ains, and fed upon the acorns which they gathered in
the oak-forests that cling around the shoulders of the
Apennines. The dwellers in ^Emilia flocked into
Picenum. It was computed that not less than fifty
thousand peasants perished with famine. Procopius
marked the stages of decline in this hunger-smitten
people, and describes it : First, the pinched face and
yellow complexion, surcharged with bile ; then the
natural moisture dried up, and the skin, looking like
tanned leather, adhering to the bones; the yellow
color turning to a livid purple, and the purple to
black, which made the poor, famine-stricken country
man look like a burned-out torch ; the expression of
dazed wonder in the face sometimes clinging to the
wild eyes of the maniac — he saw and noted it all.
As is always the case after long endurance of hunger,
some men, when provisions were brought into the
country, could not profit by them. However care
fully the nourishment was doled out to them in small
quantities at a time, as one feeds a little child, still, in
many cases, their digestion could not bear it, and
those who had survived the famine died of food.
Elsewhere, the famine-wasted inhabitants might be
seen streaming forth into the fields to pluck any

The Christian Empire of Rome. 87
green herb that could be made available for food.
Often, when they had knelt down for this purpose,
their strength would not serve them to pull it out of
the ground. And so it came to pass that they lay
down and died upon the ungathered herbage, un-
buried — for there were none to bury them — but un-
desecrated ; for even the birds of carrion found noth
ing to attract them in these fleshless corpses."
But to Rome, the Eternal City, the proud empress
of the world, the haughty mistress of legions used to
eight hundred years of victory, came the Downfall
direst retribution. She who had conquered of R°me-
the world was conquered, sacked, and pillaged, time
after time, by Alaric (410), Genseric (455), Greeks
under Belisarius, and Goths under Totila — five times
before 552. She who had plundered the wealth of
every ancient civilization was successively pillaged as
no other city had been. She who had been exempt
from taxes for over five hundred years, while absorb
ing the wealth of nations through her rapacious pub-
licani, fell into the clutches of the imperial logothetes
till her poverty was too evident to be denied. She
whose forum had been crowded with hostages saw
three hundred children of her nobles, who were held
in custody, fall in one day before the maddened Goth.
Vitiges, in 537, broke down her aqueducts, thus de
stroying the most lavish water-supply that any city
ever possessed. Totila, in 546, broke down two-thirds
of her walls, carried off the gates, and left Rome, for
a brief time, without an inhabitant. At the end of
our period, she was at the lowest point of her humil
iation. Gregory the Great says: "What more can
befall us in this world ? We see nothing but sorrows;

88 The Conquest.
we hear nothing but complaints. Ah, Rome! formerly
mistress of the world, what has happened to thee?
Where is the Senate? Where are the people? The
buildings are in ruins, and the walls are falling. . . .
You all know how our troubles are increasing.
Everywhere the sword! Everywhere death! I am
weary of life." In the famine of her siege, food had
brought more than its weight in gold. Later the gar
rison had raised grain for sustenance on the site of
Nero's Golden House and«£he palaces and gardens of
the aristocracy. Corinth, Jerusalem, and even Car
thage, might deem themselves avenged. Though more
than two centuries had passed since the empire be
came Christian, the old religion prevailed among the
aristocracy and ruling class at Rome. The heathen
spirit may be seen in the giving of gladiatorial games
by Honorius one hundred j-ears after Constantine.
Only the conquest and destruction of Alaric and
Geuseric, and the disasters of the sixth century, de
stroyed the heathenism of the patrician homes and
made the new Rome a Christian city. Upon the old
Rome — the Rome thirsting for the blood of saints,
and delighting in the cruel games and tortures of the
amphitheater — came the fulfillment of the prophecy
of the revelator :
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine ; and she shall be
burned with fire ; for strong is the Lord God which
judgeth her. . . . And the merchants of the earth
shall weep and mourn over her ; for no man buyeth
their merchandise any more, the merchandise of gold,
and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine
linen, and purple and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine

The Christian Empire of Rome. 89
wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all
manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of
brass, and of iron, and marble and cinnamon, and
odors and ointments, and frankincense and wine, and
oil and fine flour, and wheat and beasts, and sheep,
and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed
from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
The merchants of these things which were made rich
by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her tor
ment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas! Alas!
that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and
purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious
stones, and pearls ! For in one hour so great riches
is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all
the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as
trade by the sea, stood afar off, and cried when they
saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is
like unto this great city? And they cast dust on
their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, and say
ing, Alas ! Alas ! that great city, wherein were made
rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her
costliness ! for in one hour she is made desolate.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles
and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her."
(Rev. xviii, 8-20.)

Chapter V.
THE BARBARIANS.
TherK have passed before us the Roman Empire,
in the height of its power and its decline ; the Chris
tian Church, growing from an unknown Jewish sect
until it became stronger than any political power in
the world. We have seen the ages of conflict be
tween these two contending forces, and have felt hor
ror and compassion alternate amid scenes of Christian
persecution and the anguish of a dying world. We
have seen the rule of Rome pass from pagan to
Christian emperors, and undergo a renewal which
should prolong its career another millennium.
We now turn our faces from the past to the fu
ture. We look upon a brighter scene as we mark the
progress of a new force in the world and in civiliza
tion. If the old world and its culture died, it was to
make way for a better one. The Teutonic peoples
were without letters and without arts ; yet to them
were to pass the rule and the home of the proudest
and mightiest conquerors known in human history.
Brave, pure in domestic life, truthful and loyal, rude
and savage, but not cruel, they brought the vigor of a
new race, and nature unspoiled, if untrained. The
control of future ages and the civilization of the race
lay not with the empire whose capital was on the
Bosphorus, but with those tribes of the German for
ests who, through the influence of Christianity, be
came nations, and have come to the dominion of the
90

The Barbarians. 91
world. The society whose beginnings we now trace
fills and dominates Christendom until this day. We
now enter upon a new world.
The barbarians first threatened the existence, and
then the borders of Rome, from the days of Brennus
to those of Marcus Aurelius, or for more than five
hundred years. Taught by the conquests of Caesar
and the successes of the earlier emperors, they were
restrained until the Franks made a permanent breach
in the frontiers, A. D. 250. In seven years (168-175)
under Marcus Aurelius, more than one hundred thou
sand Roman soldiers were taken prisoners by the
barbarians, and the resources of the empire weie
taxed to the utmost. About a century later, Decius
fell in battle against them, 254. A little over a hun
dred years later, Valens perished at Adrianople.
The persistent approaches of the Teutonic invaders
were not checked by abandoning to them the province
of Dacia, beyond the Danube, or the transfer ot
power from the Tiber to the Bosphorus. In 378
Valens, the Eastern emperor, was defeated and slain
at the battle of Adrianople ; and from that time the
recurring waves of barbarian invasion were never
checked. The Goths, the Vandals, the Franks, the
Heruli, and the Lombards were all of Teutonic blood
and training, with kindred speech and institutions,
and common vigor of race and martial valor.
The Goths overran Italy. Under Alaric, after
three sieges, they took Rome in 410. They joined in
repelling the Huns under Attila in 451.
~ , . r , ^ , The Goths.
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths — great
est of the Gothic rulers — defeated the Heruli and
killed their ruler, Odoacer, the first king of Italy, and

92 The Conquest.
reigned in his stead at Ravenna, from 489-526. The
Goths invaded Spain in 415, and founded a kingdom,
which they extended and consolidated, and which en
dured until the Mohammedan conquest in 711, and
has colored all the after-history of the Spanish race.
The Vandals began their westward march in 406.
They overran Northern Africa in 429 ; took Carthage
in 439 ; and under their great but ruthless
The Vandals. "; &
captain, Gensenc, sacked Rome in 455.
The armies of the Emperor Justinian, under Belisa
rius and Narses, broke the power of the Vandals in
Africa, and overthrew the Goths in Italy. Rome was
besieged and taken five times in sixteen years before
552. After this date, with the exception of the Gothic
dominion in Spain, neither Goths nor Vandals ap
pear in history.
The The Lombards descended into Italy un-
Lombards. der Alboin in 568, and after reigning for
two hundred years, remained the permanent con
trolling race-force in Northern Italy.
The Franks, following other Germanic invaders
of Gaul, particularly the Goths and Burgundians,
who had defeated Attila at Chalons in 451,
The Pranks. . ^J '
came into possession of the land, and giv
ing it their name, called it France. Before 500, un
der their able and victorious leader, Clovis — the first
king of the Franks in France — they founded the
first of modern Christian nations. At the close of
this period (600), the Roman race had perished in
France, in Spain, in Italy, in Northern Africa, in Ger
many, and in Switzerland, and in the northern and
western half of what is now Turkey in Europe. So
England had been overrun and taken possession of

The Barbarians. 93
by the Saxons, and was yet to be conquered both by
the Danes and the Normans.
The heathenism of civilization had been over
come, so that its power passed into Christian hands.
The heathenism of barbarism remained. ConverS|0n
The barbaric world was the greater con- of the
quest, viewed with respect to the extent of Barbarians-
its sway or the results of its conversion. The Goths
were a great Teutonic people, dwelling between the
Baltic and the Black Seas. Christian captives, brought
among them from their raids, first made known to
them the new religion. Ulfilas, of their blood, became
the first apostle of their nation. He settled with a
portion of the tribes on the lands south of the Dan
ube, where he served as a bishop for forty years. He
translated the Scriptures into their tongue — the first
accents of Teutonic speech to re-echo the Gospel
story. Ulfilas was an Arian. The Arians believed
that Christ was of a different substance from the
Father, and therefore of inferior divinity. Through
Ulfilas and his followers, the Goths East and West,
the Vandals, the Suevi, the Burgundians, and the
Lombards, became Arian Christians — a fact of most
momentous significance in the history of barbarian
conquests. Arianism seemed to interfere less with
the desires of savage warriors, and having a looser
organization, to impose less discipline and restraint
than the orthodox faith. Through evil and good re
port the tribes remained for two hundred years faith
ful to the teachings of the Arian creed. Hence Ala
ric, Theodoric, Genseric, and Totila were all heretics
in the eyes of their orthodox or Catholic Christian
subjects, and could hardly found a stable dominion.

94 The Conquest.
They reverenced the orthodox bishops and priests,
and, except the Vandals in Africa, did not persecute
the laity; but their Christianity was always that of
the tribe, never that of the nation.
It was, therefore, of vast importance when Clovis,
the king of the Franks, adopted the faith of his Cath
olic wife, Clotilda. From that time the
Clovis. .,_,,. , ., ,
power of the Franks increased, until they
formed the first of Christian nations of barbarian de
scent. The Arian power was overthrown in Africa
and Italy; the Gothic Recared of Spain became
Catholic in 589, and king of the Lombards at the close
of the century. Over the barbarian hosts conquering
France, Italy, Spain, and Africa, had passed the two
forms of Christian faith. Heathenism in worship had
disappeared, but heathenism in life remained; and,
alas, how much of it had found entrance into the
Church itself! At the end of the period, Christian
ity had conquered the Empire of the East, and thrice
the greater portion of the Empire of the West ; once
the civilized Roman world, twice in Arian and Cath.
olic forms the barbarians, who were to be the endur
ing foundations of the modern world.
The barbarian conquests produced no line of
great men. Theodoric, founder of the Ostrogothic
influence of Kingdom in Italy, left no successors, and
on the' his kingdom was wrested from his race in
Barbarians the next generation ; while the successors
of Clovis, the ill-fated Merovingians, raised up no
ruler to be remembered. Yet upon those new foun
dations of race, language, institutions, customs, senti
ments, and ideals the Christian religion built up the
fabric of modern civilization. She preserved what

The Barbarians. 95
was most precious and enduring in the old civiliza
tion, refined the splendid vigor and courage of the
new races, and informed them with a spirit as alien
to their wild marauding valor as to the haughty pride
of the imperial legions. To the strength, freedom,
reverence, and chastity of the Teutonic invaders the
Church brought the best treasures of the old culture ;
she restrained their passions ; tamed their fierceness ;
brought them under rule and law ; but, most of all,
gave that direction and impetus to their religious na
ture which resulted in the Germanic form of the me
diaeval Church, its fittest material symbol being the
consummate flower of the art of the architect — the
Gothic cathedral.
Hence the men to be recalled as the founders of
these nations are the Christian missionaries. They
kid the foundation of stable government work of
and civilization, as well as led the people to christian
. . r- . • Missions
take the first and greatest step in national among the
life — the conversion from idolatrous hea- Barbarians
thenism to Christianity. For what they did, and for
the influence of their work on all ages since, their
names should be held in everlasting remembrance.
There are only a few glimpses of the work which
went on for three hundred years among these savage
invaders. That it was done, and remained done, is
the great fact in Christian history. It could not have
caused the same results if the conversion of the em
pire had not preceded ; but it will prevail mightily on
the earth after the power of Rome has waned. Not a
few lessons for the conduct of modern missions can
be drawn from the record of these saintly and suc
cessful followers of our Lord.

96 The Conquest.
Some of the missionaries were captives, as was
Succath, or St. Patrick ; some were hostages, as was
work Ulfilas. The one in the hardships of a rig-
oi Captives. 0rous bondage among the heathen, the
other in the splendid surroundings of the imperial
court, proved the value of the religion of Jesus Christ,
and felt called to evangelize the heathen. Ulfilas for
forty years was a most successful missionary. Had
his faith been orthodox instead of Arian, his converts
might have been the founders of a nationality as en
during as that of the Franks or Saxons.
St. Patrick was born near Glasgow, Scotland, in
387. At the age of sixteen he was taken captive by
st. Patrick, the Irish. After about seven years of slav-
387-465. ery^ j^ escaped, but was held in thrall by
his strong desire to win the Irish to the religion of
Christ. For eleven years he translated and studied
in the monasteries of Southern Gaul. He began his
mission-work in Ireland in 432, and for more than
thirty years made missionary tours through the island,
preaching to the chiefs and converting the clans. His
knowledge of the language, and raising up of a clergy
who could teach in the native tongue, were large ele
ments of success in his work. " He and his associ
ates had made for themselves, by the labor of their
own hands, civilized dwellings amid the tangled for
ests and the dreary morass. At a time when clan-
feuds and bloodshed were rife, kings rose and fell
suddenly from their thrones, and all else was stormy
and changeful, they had covered the island with mon
asteries, where very soon the Scripture began to be
studied, ancient books collected and read, and mis
sionaries trained for their own country and for the

The Barbarians. 97
rest of Europe. Every monastic establishment was an
outpost of civilization amidst the surrounding hea
thenism; to reclaim the tribes from their supersti
tions, to revise their old laws and usages, was the one
object of their lives."
There were hermits like St. Severinus, who was,
apparently, a native of the East, and of noble origin.
He spoke Latin as his native tongue, and The Work of
was a presbyter, trained in the monastic "le"'^^"
life in the deserts of Thebaid. He never 452-482.
spoke of his origin, and none knew of his past life.
He came to the Roman province of Noricum, the
lands of the Danube between Passau and Vienna,
about 455. It was a scene of horror and desolation
amid Attila's warring sons and the invading Teu
tonic tribes. Amidst the dissolution of all political
and social order, and the constant rapine and plunder
of the barbarians, Severinus taught and ministered
for thirty years, dying at Vienna, 482. He taught by
his own example how to endure suffering, and yet to
trust and hope in God; while he himself was the
source and stay of such moral order as remained.
He lived a strict ascetic life, going barefooted in win
ter as well as in summer, and even over the frozen
Danube. He slept on hair-cloth at night, and wore
it in the daytime. Until sunset he fasted, unless on a
day of festivity. In his humility, he would allow no
credit to be given him for his endurance, but said
that God made him an example to others to warn and
to encourage them. All gifts were refused, and he
declined the episcopate. He lived in a little cell or
hut, around which were grouped others in which
dwelt those who chose to live with him a monastic
7

98 The Conquest.
life. His disinterestedness, his ceaseless charity, and
knowledge of human nature gave him the reverence
and respect, not only of the people with whom he
lived, but of their savage neighbors. They regarded
him with awe for his prophetic power. Though tak
ing nothing for himself, he collected tithes for the
redemption of captives and the relief of the poor.
He devoted himself especially to the release of the
captives taken by the marauding bands who overran
the province. The king of the Alemanni promised
to free his prisoners and withdraw from Roman ter
ritory. When he did not keep his word, Severinus
appeared in his presence, and so awed him that he at
once sent back seventy captives. The soldiers being
unpaid, began to dissolve and to plunder for them
selves. One cohort remained faithful ; but they sent
a messenger to Italy for their wages, but he was in
tercepted and killed. In the midst of these scenes
of misery, Severinus encouraged the resistance and
promised victory to those soldiers who remained, and
which they gained ; or he warned the inhabitants of
the towns of the approaching invasion, so that they
might remove to a place of safety. Those who did
not heed were killed or taken away captive. To the
sick and the poor he ministered, and sought to tame the
pride and violence of the barbarian kings. The fu
ture greatness of Odoacer he predicted when he was
but a common soldier; and he foretold the accession
of Paulinus to the episcopate of the capital of Nori-
cum. When about to die, he called to him the king
of the Rugi, and exhorted his hard-hearted wife,
Giso, to a better life, at the same time warning them
of approaching disasters. He urged the people to

The Barbarians. 99
withdraw from the land and seek homes in Italy.
Then he called around him his fellow-monks, and
gave them his dying charge, which few can read, after
fourteen centuries, without emotion. He called them
to his side, kissed them, and received the holy com
munion. Stretching himself in the form of the cross,
he commanded them to sing the Psalm, " Praise ye
the Lord, all ye his saints," and slept in the Lord.
Such high-hearted courage, unselfishness, and bound
less charity laid the foundations of the new world.
Many more of these missionaries were monks at
the head of a band of Christian brethren. They
crossed the seas, or plunged into the pathless The work
forests, or erected schools for the training of of Monks-
the people or of missionaries to other tribes. Such
were St. Martin of Tours, and St. Columba, the
founder of Iona.
St. Martin was born of heathen parents, in Pan-
nonia, in 316. He was a soldier by profession, and
had served in more than one war. He st Mart!n
was converted and went back to his native of Tours,
country, sought his mother, and won her 3I _4°0'
to Christ. For some time he lived the life of a her
mit on an island near Genoa. In 360 he began his
first monastery. In 371 he was consecrated Bishop
of Tours. His fame centers in his monastery at that
city. He used all his influence to save the lives of
the Priscillian heretics in 388. He died in 400. He
owes his renown largely to his friend Sulpicius Sev
erus, who wrote his life. He is the earliest patron-
saint of France.
St. Columba, the founder of the celebrated mo
nastic settlement at Iona, was born at Garten, in

ioo The Conquest.
Donegal, Ireland, in 521. After having been in
volved in the tribal wars of Ireland, he became a
st. columba, nionk, and founded two monasteries in Ire-
521-597. land. In 563 he went to Scotland. He
founded the mother monastery on the island of Iona.
He preached to and converted the Picts of Northern
Scotland; and his disciples, the islands north and
west of the mainland. He and his followers thor
oughly evangelized these lands. He died in 597. Of
his character, a contemporary says : " In every work
of mercy, he was most ready with his assistance, and
healed with mildness the mental and bodily ills of all
who came to him. He exercised toward himself the
strictest discipline to leave others a good example,
and he abhorred all carnal and mental vices. His
ordinary food was bread and herbs, his drink water ;
but on festivals of the Church, he ate bread made of
corn, and drank a cup of ale or whey. His bed was
not a soft and easy couch, but the bare ground, with
a stone for his pillow."
Another biographer tells us of the monastery at
Iona: " It was of the simplest character, consisting of
Monastery a number of small wattle-built huts, sur
at iona. rounding a green court. It included a
chapel; a dwelling-house for the abbot and his monks;
another for the entertainment of strangers; a refec
tory and kitchen ; and outside the trench a rampart,
a byre for the cows, a barn and a storehouse for the
grain, and other outbuildings. All these were con
structed of timber or wattles."
Of tlieir life it is recorded : " Their rule required
of them that, morning and evening, they should re
pair to the oratory and join in the sacred services

The Barbarians. ioi
Every Wednesday and Friday, except in the interval
between Easter and Whitsunday, was a fast day,
and no food was taken until three o'clock . Life at Iona.
in the afternoon, except on the occasion of
the arrival of a stranger, when the rule was relaxed,
that they might indulge their national hospitality.
The intervals of devotion were employed in reading,
writing, and labor. Diligence was inculcated by the
exhortations and life of the founder, who allowed no
hour to pass in which he was not engaged in prayer,
or reading or writing, or some other employment.
'Reading' included chiefly the study of the Holy
Scripture, especially the Psalter, which was diligently
committed to memory ; and besides this, that of books
in the Greek and Latin languages, and the lives of
some of the saints. St. Columba was distinguished
for his devotion to this occupation, and the books of
Kells and Durrow are wonderful specimens of the
perfection which his followers acquired in the arts of
transcribing and illuminating service-books and man
uscripts. Active labor was also required of every
member of the little community. He learned to till
the ground, to sow the corn, to store the grain, to
milk the cows, to guide the skiff or coracle on the
stormy sea."
Some, not a few, missionaries were ambassadors
of Christ in the courts of petty chiefs or great kings
of those days. Such was Remigius, Bishop Work of
of Rheims, when, in answer to the request RemigiuS,
of Clotilda, the wife of Clovis, he came to and ciovis.
instruct and prepare for baptism the king of the
Franks. " The sacrament was administered on Christ
mas-day. The church was hung with embroidered

102 The Conquest.
tapestry and white curtains, and blazed with a thou
sand lights, while odors of incense filled the place.
The king was struck with awe. " Is this heaven
thou didst promise me?" said he to the bishop.
"Not heaven itself, but the way thither," replied the
bishop. The service proceeded. As he knelt before
the font to wash away the leprosy of his heathenism,
" Sicambrian," said Remigius, " gently bow thy neck;
burn that thou didst adore, and adore that thou didst
burn." Such was Augustine of Canterbury, a monk of St.
Andrew, at Rome, the monastery of Gregory the
Augustine of Great. At the command of that great
Canterbury. Pope, he set out across France ; but, dis-
59 " °5' couraged by what he heard of the heathen
Saxons, turned back. Under the renewed command
of Gregory, he, in company with forty monks, again
undertook and successfully prosecuted his journey,
arriving in England in 596. At their head he
marched in solemn procession, to hold audience with
Ethelbert, king of Kent. He preached Christ to him,
and won the king to the Christian faith. On June
2, 597, Augustine baptized him, to the great joy of
his Christian wife Bertha — the first Saxon king in
England to accept the Gospels and the Church which
were henceforth to rule the Northern nations, as well
as the land of Rome. Eight years later, the work of
the missionary was done, and he was buried in the
yet unfinished Abbey of Canterbury.
Thus these captives, hermits, monks, and bishops,
who appear at the courts of the kings, won a might
ier conquest than Caesar's legions, and founded a do
minion more enduring than that of his successors.

TEMPLE OF JUPITER.

The Barbarians. 103
It seemed in these centuries as if, with the bar
barians, the forests had crossed the Rhine and the
Alps, and spread over the once fertile fields contrasts of
of France and Italy. Where had flour- these Ages.
ished towns in the midst of a cultivated district, the
place deserted by man was taken possession of by
nature, and the forests concealed the buildings and
walls. History recalls no parallel of this revolution.
The subdual of the forests and plains of North Amer
ica for settlement, in this century, equals it in mag
nitude; but in the one, civilization replaced savagery;
in the other, barbarism destroyed a proud and ancient
civilization ; and suffering, misery, and ruin filled
North Africa and all Europe, except a part of the
Balkan peninsula.
The temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, which had
witnessed so many barbarian chiefs bound and fol
lowing the car of their conqueror up the Via Sacra,
who, after gracing his triumph, suffered death at his
hands, saw the successors of those chiefs, at the head
of barbarian hosts, ascend the same way to pillage for
weeks the palaces, and decimate the descendants of
the commanders of victorious legions — the aristocracy
of Rome. It had seen the spoils of the treasuries of
the world pass before its portals. It saw its gates of
gold carried off by one barbarian general, while an
other took away half of the gilded tiles of the roof.
The Coliseum, the monument of the magnificence
of Vespasian, built \>y the toil of Jewish captives,
where the death-agonies of the martyrs of the Chris
tian faith delighted the populace and rulers of Rome,
saw the remnants of that population fed and kept
alive by the charity of a Christian bishop, who filled

104 The Conquest.
the place once occupied by the emperor and the
Senate. In the midst of this mightiest and most protracted
of revolutions, one stable element alone remained.
TheEie- ^^e °^ order had become Christian in
ment of name. In name the barbarians became
Continuity. chrjstians also Though only in name, it
gave opportunity for the worship, the institutions, the
truths, and spirit of the Christian religion, not only to
minister to the miseries of a dying world, but to nour
ish and mold the nascent civilization of modern
times. At the foundation of all our political order
and complex civilization is Christianity.
In no historic period have been taught more im
pressive lessons in the divine education of the race
than in the early Christian centuries.
The fall of pagan Rome teaches the necessary fail
ure of materialistic civilization. The experiment can
Failure of never be tried on a wider scale, or in more
Materialistic favorable circumstances. No ruin could
v za ion. ^ more complete. No historian fails to
read and record its lesson. The follies of the first
French Revolution confirm its teaching. It would
seem as if the atheistic statesmen of Italy, the Social
Democrats of Germany, and the Church of the In
different in England and America, might lay it to
heart. The persecutions and triumph of Christianity set
in vivid light the fact that they make no mistake who
Divine Order side with God. The scaffold or the stake
Evident on tne s{fie 0f q0(j an(j truth is more to
be desired than thrones among their adversaries.
The spiritual kingdom and civilization does not fade

The Barbarians. 105
or die. It alone prevails. There is a Divine order
in human affairs.
The triumph and world-wide reign of the religion
of Christ is sure. It presents the noblest ideal, the
sublimest truth, the best message that the Lessons of
religious nature of mankind can receive. the
It subdues and remedies human sin. It Coniuest-
was given for the redemption of mankind. Those
doubt its prevalence who doubt the possibility of
such redemption — that any power can overcome the
evil in human nature and in human life. The future
welfare and progress of the race is bound up in the
development and powe* of the Christian faith.
Nor do its victories pale. There are witnesses as
ready to go to prison and to death for the name of
Christ in all Christian lands this day as in the days of
Christian martyrdom. There are as illustrious and
devoted missionaries as any age can show. The
Church of Livingstone and Duff, Patteson and Han-
nington, Judson, Goodell, and Coan, Paton, Thoburn,
and Taylor, need not doubt that God is in the midst
of her. Meanwhile the glorious examples of the mis
sionaries of these ages enforce those prime essentials
of enthusiastic faith, lifelong sacrifice, disinterested
love, which with humility and labor, under God, com
mand success.

fart SscmaL
THE TRUTHS THAT WON.
107

Chapter I.
TEACHING OF THE EARLY CHURCH— THE
APOSTLES' CREED.
Religion has ever been the first and most im
portant element in every human society and civiliza
tion. Quinet has said: "The variations of Religion and
paganism reveal the chief cause of the va- Theology.
riations of the social life of antiquity. Religion is the
ideal which reigns over a whole civilization, giving
to its arts even the same family air." That the
Christian religion holds a not less important relation
to modern civilization it is hoped will be evident in
this volume.
Religion has been defined as the living reciprocal
relationship of God to man and man to God. Its aim
and effort is communion with the living God. The
Christian religion is this relationship as based upon
the Christian revelation contained in the Holy Scrip
tures. Religion is a matter of the inward personal
life. It concerns the emotions and will quite as
much as the intellect. It appeals to and commands
the assent and devotion of the whole man. His whole
nature is its domain. To this nature Christianity ap
peals, and demands the decision of the will upon its
claims to purify and rule the personal and social life
of men. For this purpose its truths are preached
and believed. These truths win the man, and they
win society. They bring salvation to the soul, and
perpetuity to the State and civilization. 109

no The Truths that Won.
Theology is the intellectual apprehension of these
truths, their relation to each other and to all other
truth. Hence the task of theology varies with the
varying sum and aspects of human knowledge ; but
she is always the queen of the sciences, allying the
whole circle of knowledge in every age to the high
est thoughts reached by the human mind. The de
velopment of Christian theology was made necessary
by preaching Christianity to the educated heathen,
and answering objections, and defending it against
their philosophers. So the apologists were the first
Christian theologians. It was developed by the de
fense of Christian truth against its distortion and
mixture with heathen elements by heretical sects. It
was farther developed by the desire of the ablest
Christian thinkers, independent of controversy, to
arrange Christian truths in the best order and propor
tion ; that is, system. Though as theology in any
systematic form always follows and never precedes
the conquests of religion, 3ret every advance in the re
ligious history of men, every great reform, is born of
some great soul getting a larger knowledge and drink
ing deeper of the truths of God and his purpose for
men. This was the significance of the teaching of
Christ. His soul was large enough to incarnate and
make known to men the profoundest truths for their
help and salvation.
The one great instrument by which Christian
truth was spread among men during the centuries of
its outlawry and persecution was preaching. It will
require an effort of the mind to put ourselves in the
place of those who first listened to it. There was no
general education of the people ; there were no printed

Teaching of the Early Church. hi
copies of the Scriptures for private reading and study.
There was no New Testament in existence until after
the writing of St. John's Gospel at the The Mission
close of the first century. There was no of Preaching
authorized collection of the Scriptures of Apostolic
the New Testament in general use among A«e-
the Churches, as were the Scriptures of the Old
Testament, to the exclusion of other Christian writ
ings, until more than fifty years later. Paul's first
letter, the first in order of time of the New Tes
tament writings, was not penned until twenty years
after the Pentecost, and our earliest Gospels were yet
later. The appeal was not to the written Scriptures
of the New Testament, but to the preaching. It was
the living word of the living man that conveyed the
truest impression of the Lord crucified and risen, of
his deeds of love and power, and words of salvation.
If we were to listen to this preaching, we would hear
first the reference to the prophets as the basis of the
teaching, much as the Christian preaching of our day
refers to the New Testament. The speaker, having thus
set forth the hope of Israel, growing more clear and
definite through the ages, proceeds to declare its ful
fillment through the Christ whom the Jews crucified,
and whom God raised from the dead, and through
whom now is preached repentance and forgiveness
of sins. Next is given to those who receive
the message, in public and in private, the Lord's
words, and narrative of his life, death, and resurrec
tion, the precious and common gospel of the Chris
tian preaching. To this truth is added the attesta
tion of the Spirit of God, present with the preacher and
the congregation, and manifesting himself, not only

112 The Truths that Won.
to the hearts of men, but by permanent endowments
of gifts and capacities. Thus were developed more
than is possible by education, native abilities ; and
others were added whose existence was never sus
pected, and whose exercise mightily aided in the
spread of the faith. The presence of the risen Lord,
accompanying the preaching by his Spirit, was made
known, not only by the changed habits, dispositions
and desires, and renewed nature of the individual be
lievers, but by the new power — that of Christian
love — which came into and pervaded the new society.
The new truth, the Divine power which accompanied
it, and the results which followed from it in the new
life of the individual and of society, were what made
the preaching, not the written Scriptures, the means
of founding the Christian Church in the chief cities
of the Roman Empire. It was a ministration of Di
vine life, through consecrated human life, to the life
of men and society. After the appeal to the Old
Testament if the audience were Jews, and to the
teachings of the poets and philosophers if they were
Greeks, and the presentation of the death and resur
rection of the Son of God as the universal ground
for immediate repentance before God and belief in
our Lord Jesus Christ, there would come the teaching
of the Lord's words and his works. These would be
emphasized at baptism and the Lord's Supper, which
were observed from the first, and in their application
to the inward life and daily practice of believers.
They thus became the living standard by which men
and Churches measured themselves before any writ
ten Gospels came into general circulation. It is very

Teaching of the Early Church. 113
hard for us to realize the intellectual attitude of the
men of that day. Most of them could not read ; but
their memory served them immeasurably better than
ours. It had never been debilitated by a daily press.
Words heard in a service were remembered, and re
membered literally for a lifetime. St. Anthony so
learned his Bible that he did not need to refer to any
written word. The great preachers and theologians
had a command of the letter of the Scriptures that
seems impossible to men of our time. These facts do
not exclude the existence and circulation of fragment
ary accounts of the work and words of our Lord
from the first. Indeed, the opening words of St.
Luke's Gospel seem to make certain their existence.
But there was no such necessity felt for their use,
and no such circulation of them as would seem es
sential to us. That the preaching — universal, living,
mighty in spiritual power — was the means of pre
serving as well as of proclaiming the truth, and of
founding the Churches, seems to be one of the funda
mental facts of the early apostolic age.
By the time of the destruction of Jerusalem all
this was changed. The older apostles and ministers
of the Word, who had been eye-witnesses xurning-
of his work and passion, were dead. They point,
had left behind them the memory of the 7°
truths they had taught. The first three Gospels
and the most of the New Testament was then in
writing. The youngest disciple, the one most inti
mately associated with his Lord, remained to guard
the deliverance, to preserve the tradition, and, by his
writings, to complete the Canon. The second gener-
8

114 The Truths that Won.
ation of Christians appealed to these writings as to
the Old Testament. From the Epistle of Barnabas
down we have the quotations from which the whole
New Testament could be restored, if the manuscripts
were destro5red. The firsi place in these writings
was given to the Lord's words and the record of
his life; then came the letters of St. Paul and
the other apostles ; then the Acts and the Revela
tion. The common faith ot the early Christians included
a belief in the Supreme God as the Heavenly Father,
hence monotheism ; a belief in the resur-
Faith of the rection, eternal life, and the kingdom of
Ear|y God for men. To receive this gift of God,
Christians. , , • • , -•
men must repent of their sins, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and live lives of self-denial,
inward and outward purity. Christ was believed to
be, and received as, the Revealer of the true God and
his will for men, their Redeemer from sin through
his death, and as living the perfect life and making
this life possible to men. Hence, as the Savior and
Judge of the world, to those who renounced the world
the Spirit of God brought the renewal of nature and
the indwelling of Christ, which enabled believers to
live in the Spirit and to be a community of saints.
They believed this common spiritual experience lev
eled all barriers of race, nationality, social position, or
even sex. In the Church was found equality and
brotherhood as nowhere else this side heaven. The
two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper
were the distinctive marks of this society from its
founding, as the command of the risen Lord.
The Apostolic Fathers are those who wrote in

Teaching of the Early Church. 115
the age succeeding the apostles. Their writings are
mainly practical. They have great value The
as witnesses to the teaching and life of Apostolic
the Church in the age succeeding the Fathers-
apostles and the New Testament Scriptures.
The Epistle of Barnabas was written from Alex
andria, probably about 80 A. D. It is moral in im
port, and catechetical in form. Its aim is
to prove, through the use of the allegoric
method, that the Old Testament is spiritual in its
teaching. The Epistle of Clement, Bishop of Rome, was
written to the Church at Corinth, 96 A. D. He
moves in the atmosphere of the apostolic Clement.
teaching; he recalls the careers of Peter
and Paul, and gives glimpses of the Church organi
zation. The so-called Second Epistle of Clement is
the earliest Christian sermon extant outside of the
New Testament, written about 130 A. D.
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, wrote his epistles on
the way to martyrdom at Rome, where he suffered,
107. The seven genuine letters show an
%.._.,.. , , .. Ignatius.
enthusiastic Christian zeal and readiness to
die for his Lord. They exalt the episcopate as a de
fense against division, and warn against the Gnostic
errors already springing up.
The " Teaching of the Twelve," in fifteen chapters,
is of Alexandrian origin, and dates from about no. The
first six chapters are a treatise on Christian ..Teacning
morals, setting forth the two ways of life and of the
death very much like the Epistle of Barna- welve>
bas. The remaining chapters are a manual of Chris
tian worship, with directions added in regard to the

116 The Truths that Won.
reception of apostles, prophets, and wayfaring Chris
tians, and the choice of bishops and deacons.
"The Shepherd" of Hermas was written from
Rome, where his brother was bishop, about 140. It
is a homiletic allegory, ethical in its aim.
It shows that Christians can and should re
pent of sins committed after baptism. It is of the
least literary merit of any of the Apostolic Fathers. |
Papias and Polycarp were scholars of St. John,
while Polycarp was the teacher of St. Irenseus.
Papias is known to us only by a few fragments of
Papias and his " Oracles of the Lord," an exegesis
Polycarp. rather than a collection of the Lord's
words. He was a Millenarian. Polycarp's letter is
written from Smyrna, where he was bishop, and
where he suffered martyrdom, 155. He quotes, in a
short space, from Matthew, Luke, Acts, 1 Peter, and
Paul's Epistles, including the Pastoral Epistles.
The progress of the development of these truths
into the docrines of the Christian Church and their
crystallization into its creeds divides itself into five
periods :
First period, 30-170, by which time the Apostles'
Creed was in universal use in the Churches of the
Catholic Christian faith.
Second period, 170-254 to the death of Origen.
Third period, 254-381 to Council of Constanti
nople, the close of the Arian controversy. Revised
Nicean Creed.
Fourth period, 381-451 to the Council and Creed
of Chalcedon; and
Fifth period, 400-600. The Monophysite contro
versies. The Pelagian controversy.

Teaching of the Early Church. 117
The developments which culminate in the creeds
came always as the result of controversy. The
first Confession of Faith required of be-
,. ,. , , , „ , First Peroid
lievers was the acknowledgment of the to the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in baptism. Authoritative
This direction, found in Matthew' xxviii, use of the
19, was in use from the first, and the verse Apostles'
is better attested by early quotations than
almost any other passage in the New Testament.'
The first controversy which we have recorded was
caused by the Christian Jews seeking to impose the
yoke of the law upon the Gentile converts. How
steadfastly Paul resisted this, with what Eblonltes.
passionate hate he was regarded, how his
life was embittered and his work and influence sought
to be destroyed, we may read in his Epistles. A
striking confirmation of the existence of this hatred
is found in the Ebionite sect. Though followers of
the Judaizers of St. Paul's day, they did not emerge
into prominence until early in the second century.
They held that the obligation of the law was univer
sal ; that Jesus was not born of the Virgin, but that
the Divine Spirit came upon him at baptism ; that he
was a good Jew, but that Paul was an apostate from
the law, and a false apostle. They were never numer
ous, but lingered on until the fourth century.
As Ebionism would restrict Christianity to the
limitations of a Jewish sect, so Gnosticism, at the
other extreme, would make it a philosophy of re
ligion which should take into itself all the Gnosticism.
permanent elements of the Greek philoso
phy, Persian dualism, and Christianity. In this age
of universal intercourse of nations and knowledge of

118 The Truths thai Won.
religious, which for the first time surpasses that of
the beginning of our era in the Roman Empire, we
now see this same movement going on. An effort is
made to replace Christianity by a higher development
called Theosophy, or Christian Science, or some other
name, in which it shall be a component element with
esoteric Buddhism, the Vedantic philosophy, theurgy,
spiritualism, or other offshoots of alien faiths and
fantastic philosophies. In this there is nothing
new or alarming. This eclectic movement may lead
away individuals; it has neither force nor vitality
enough to touch the foundations of the faith. So
the Gnostics led away good, pious people, had a
strict morality, anticipated Christian theology in some
particulars, formed numerous Churches and commu
nities, but faded away before the awakened conscious
ness of the Church to the majesty and power of her
Lord, and the sentiment that his teaching is the abso
lute religion, and no factor of a higher development.
The first of the Gnostics was Simon Magus, men
tioned in the eighth chapter of the Acts, and his dis-
Simon ciple, Menander. He seemed to have a great
Magus. following in Samaria, and came to Rome to
teach his doctrines, which were a mingling of Syrian-
Phoenician idolatry and Christian ideas, he himself
being the representative of the highest God.
Cerinthus, who lived in Asia Minor in the time of
St. John, followed him. He taught that the world
was not created bv the highest God, but by
Cerinthus. .„.,.",.
an inferior being. Jesus was a man natu
rally begotten, into whom Christ descended at his bap
tism, and from whom he separated at the crucifixion,
so that Christ did not die.

Teaching of the Early Church. 119
Marcion was a practical, reforming, rather than an
intellectual or philosophical leader. He was a pros
perous ship-owner from Pontus, who came to Rome
in 139. He joined the Church there, to
which he gave a considerable sum of
money. He was expelled for his heretical teaching,
144. He traveled much in the East, and founded his
societies in Christian communities. He was living in
163. Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testa
ment, the God of creation and the law, is not the su
preme or good God, the God of redemption. All the
New Testament writings, except the Epistles of Paul
and the Gospel of Luke, were rejected. Marcion was
a strong religious character, of strict morality and of
great organizing talent. Marcionite Churches were
formed wherever the Christians were at all nu
merous. Following Saturninus and Basilides, Valentinus was
the last and ablest great teacher of the Gnostics. " In
his school were started those problems of
. , r .,.-... Valentinus,
the relations of the persons in the Trinity 138-160.
and the natures in Christ, which occupied Rome.
Egypt.
the Greek fathers for three centuries. His
writings are marked by originality and depth;" and
yet his scheme was fantastic and absurd.
The most important of the Gnostic teachings
were: The distinction of the highest God from the
Creator of the world — the opposition between creation
and redemption, so that the mediator of the Gnostic
one can not be the mediator of the other; Doctrines.
the highest God is not the God of the Old Testa
ment, hence it was not his revelation ; matter is inde
pendent and eternal — evil inheres in matter; the ab-

120 The Truths that Won.
solute God unfolds himself in aeons, or heavenly
powers ; Jesus and Christ are sharply distinguished —
there is no real union between Christ and the man
Jesus; Christians are divided into three classes —
spiritual (who are saved), natural (who are capable of
being saved), material (who are not); the distinction
is rather intellectual than moral, though including
both. The second advent is rejected. A severe
asceticism was taught, though a smaller part thought
the sensuous nature indifferent, and became libertines.
The Gnostics anticipated the Church in endeavor
ing to found their whole doctrine upon the New Tes
tament Scriptures without the aid of tradition, and in
their distinction in regard to the Old Testament as in
part fulfilled, in part done away, and in part changed.
With them originated the Roman Catholic doctrines
of purgatory, of the two standards of morals — one
for the religious, and one for the common Christian —
and that the soul of the advanced Christian is the
bride of Christ.
Though falling beyond the limits of the first
¦ period, in logical order comes the last of the eclectic
Manichajism, attempts to form a universal religion. This
350-1200. was made by Mani, of noble Persian de
scent, born in Southern Babylonia, 215. His father
was an adherent of a Babylonian sect, which had been
influenced by Christianity. Mani traveled extensively
in Central Asia and India, and, returning, began to
teach his religion. He made many converts, and
came to the Persian court of King Sapor. In 270
he would have been arrested, but escaped by flight.
Hormuz (272-273), his successor, favored Mani ; but
he was soon followed by Bahrain I, who delivered

Teaching of the Early Church. 121
him to the rage of the Magian priests. He was cru
cified and his body flayed in 276.
Mani's system was not the heresy of a Christian
sect, but was built on the foundation of the old
Semitic, Babylonian nature-religions. It assimilated
Persian and Christian elements ; yet Mohammedanism
is much nearer Christianity than Manichseism ; for
Mohammedanism is monotheistic, while the chief
effort of Manichseism was to solve the problem of
the origin and existence of evil by a crude dualistic
materialism. Light is good, darkness evil. Men es
cape from the dominions of darkness to that of light
through the acceptance of the teaching of Mani, the
greatest of the prophets, or, in the West, the Para
clete, and by a strict ascetic discipline. There is no
redemption in the system. In the West it became
greatly modified by Christianity, and enthralled the
strong mind of Augustine for nine years. To its ap
parent solution of the problem of evil it added a sim
ple worship, a strict morality, and a firm organization.
It spread rapidly. For centuries its head, or pope,
lived at Babylon, and later at Samarcand. From it
sprang the heretical sect of Bogmiles, Paulicans, and
Cathari, which troubled the Church in the thirteenth
century; after which they disappeared. Augustine
combated their opinions, and is the chief writer
against them.
Against the widespread, subtle, and most danger
ous Gnostic errors and heresy, the Church, its teach
ers, and bishops had to contend from 125 Defense of
to 250. From this opposition, essential to the Faith-
the life of Christianity arose three important de
velopments: First, the adoption of the Apostles'

122 The Truths that Won.
Creed as the universal Confession of Faith for the
Church. We can trace its use before 140 in the
Roman Church. Some trace it back to the time of
St. Paul ; but of this we have no proof. In its old
Roman form, it is as follows:
"I believe in God the Father Almighty. And in
Jesus Christ his only begotten Son our Lord, who
was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary :
crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried ; the third
day he arose from the dead ; he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; from
thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Church ; the for
giveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; (the
life everlasting)." " The Maker of heaven and earth"
was added in the Gnostic controversy. The other
clauses were added later; the descent into hell, the
last of all.
This Creed is strictly monotheistic. The Father
Almighty is the Creator of the world and of matter.
He created all things, so that they are under his
power and dominion. This excludes all dualism.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Son of man.
This excludes all docetism, views of Cerinthus, and
dynamistic monarchianism, those of Paul, of Samosata.
The Christian doctrine of Last Things, or Escha-
tology, excludes all Gnostic doctrines of seons and
development. This Creed thus shuts out definitely
the Gnostic doctrine from the teaching of the Church.
Those who realized the greatness of the struggle and
its pressing danger can not repeat this earliest of the
Christian creeds without seeing in it a memorial of
one of the greatest victories won by Christian truth.

Teaching of the Early Church. 123
The ages have only added to the value of these great
truths the Creed proclaims. They have won, and
they will win.
A second result of this conflict with Gnosticism
was the formation of a strict or closed New Testa
ment canon, so as to shut out all but the New
apostolic writings from an authoritative or Testament
devotional use in the Church, and to in- Canon-
elude those shut out by Marcion's or any other muti
lating rule.
The third result was the development of the power
of the episcopate, which will be treated in the third part
of this volume. From these three sources as the issue
of this conflict with heresy — the Apostles' The
Creed, the New Testament Canon, and the Episcopate.
power of the episcopate as the guarantee of the pu
rity of doctrine — arose the old Catholic Church, includ
ing the East and West, and as opposed to the heret
ical sects. At the end of this period it stood forth to
the world a great religion and firmly-established
Church; its Scriptures, Creed, and organization en
abling it to stand firm against the cruel persecutions
which were to come, and greatly aiding in that conflict
with the empire and the barbarians which was to issue
in her triumph.

Chapter II.
FOUNDING OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY— ORIGEN.
The second period, which extends from 170 to
254, saw the rise of the greatest Church teachers be
fore the time of Constantine. The most important of
these were Irenseus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Clement
of Alexandria, and, above all, Origen. They were all
vigorous and successful apologists. The great work
of Irenaeus and Hippolytus, in which Tertullian
joined, was combating Gnosticism. The defense
against false teaching and its repulse must always
follow its attack. So completely was their work
done that the ground was cleared for Origen to lay
the foundations for a comprehensive statement of the
whole circle of Christian doctrine. The period was
marked by the rise and decay of Montanism, and the
rise of those heretical opinions concerning the Trinity
and the relation of the Son to the Father, which pre
ceded the outbreak of the Arian controversy.
Our period opens with a controversy no longer of
mere intellectual interest, but of practical import as
bearing upon the daily life of believers and of the
Church. Montanism ran its course from
Montanism. 150 to 300. Montanus appeared about 150
in Pepezua, Phrygia. He called believers to receive
the reign of the Paraclete (Holy Ghost) through the
prophecy which Montanus proclaimed. " The heav
enly Jerusalem is in Pepezua. Now is the reign of
the Paraclete. Stand aloof from the world; leave
124

Founding of Christian Theology. 125
house and home, and come to Pepezua, and build up
the kingdom of God ! Bring to an end the worldly
conformity of Church by strict personal life, and by
the exercise of strict moral Church discipline on all
sinners in the Church ! The prophets are to decide
on all cases of difficulty." Later, in the West, the
gathering at Pepezua was given up, and the effort was
made to bring the whole Church to their rigorist
opinions. In the Church there have always been
those who believed that the Church should stand alto
gether aloof from the world, and utter an unceasing
protest against its spirit and its works, and those
who believe that Christianity is to pervade the whole
of human society, and thus bring in the kingdom of
God- The tendency of the latter class is to a laxity
which floods the Church with worldliness as the
standards of the Church are lowered to conform
to the ideals of the world. Then the former class
make their power known by protest and division.
The Montanists were the Puritans of their time.
Some features of their life remind us of early Method
ism and some of the Irvingite sect. Tertullian was
their greatest advocate. The Montanists spread rap
idly, but came in conflict with the episcopal organiza
tion by their doctrine of prophecy; this proved too
strong for them. Montanism died out; but so did
spiritual gifts from the Church.
The great Church teachers of this period were
Irenseus, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and
Origen. Irenseus was born in Asia Minor, Irenseus.
about 130. He was a scholar of Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna, who was a scholar of St. John.
He came to Rome, perhaps with Polycarp, and was

126 The Truths that Won.
teaching there when Polycarp was martyred, 155. He
went to Lyons in Gaul, and became presbyter of that
Church. He was absent in Rome, on business for the
Churches, during the persecution of 177, in which
Bishop Ponthinus was martyred. He was chosen his
successor, and died there, probably in 202 ; tradition
says by martyrdom. Though his teaching was only
developed in controversy, he was the first systematic
theologian, from whom all since have learned. He
was fitted for this work by his philosophic spirit, his
breadth of view, and his moderation in temperament.
His central thoughts were three: (1) The unity of
God in creation, redemption, and dominion. (2)
Jesus Christ the sole Redeemer through his incarna
tion. For redemption he must be both God and
man. (3) Human nature becomes divine through
the gift of eternal life through the incarnation, which
is the central point of history. " Jesus Christ, on
account of his great love for us, was made what we
are, that we may become what he is." He sums up
our humanity in himself.
Hippolytus was a Roman presbyter, writing in
Greek, who flourished from 199 to 235. He was .a
scholar of Irenseus, a learned and voluminous writer.
He was the friend of the Empress Severa,
and the opponent of the Roman Bishops
Zephyrinus and Callistus, whom he accused of Modal-
ism and laxity in the administration of Church dis
cipline. He sympathized with Tertullian, and was
the friend of Origen. Being banished to the Island of
Sardinia in the persecution of Maximinus, he died in
exile, 235. His greatest work which has come down
to us is the " Refutation of all Heresies." Irenseus

Founding of Christian Theology. 127
and Hippolytus, with Tertullian, were the great liter
ary opponents of Gnosticism. He shared the theo
logical views of Irenseus.
Tertullian was born in Carthage, 160. His father
was a centurion of the proconsul of Africa. He was
trained in literature, philosophy, history, science, and
antiquities. He spoke and wrote Greek.
t 1 . 1 ... ... Tertullian.
He studied law, and probably practiced in
Rome. His conversion, which occurred in 192, was
as radical and complete in bringing his whole nature
into the obedience and service of Christ, as St. Paul's
before or St. Augustine's after his time. In the midst
of heathen licentiousness, he seems to have lived a life
of moral cleanness, to have been the husband of one
wife, though childless. He was ordained presbyter
of the Church in Carthage. He was a Montanist in
principle from 200 to 205. In the latter year he
identified himself with them on the question of the
veiling of virgins. He held, with the Montanists, that
maidens should not appear unveiled in public. The
year of his death is unknown ; it may have been any
where from 223 to 240.
Tertullian's greatness is in his writings, in which
he appears as a powerful apologist, an acute theo
logian, and an unceasing advocate of a strict Chris
tian life and a rigorous Church discipline. The times
in which he lived doubtless influenced the character
of his writings. Four years after his conversion, the
Septimian persecution broke out. During seven years
it raged ; and in the eight subsequent ones Tertullian
wrote most of his writings which have come down to
us, and changed from the Catholic to the Montanistic
communion. Christianity for him was a warfare in

128 The Truths that Won.
which every Christian should be eager to die for his
crucified Lord. He embraced it with all the warmth
and devotion of his passionate nature. It admitted
of no compromises, but was always in the field facing
a powerful, unscrupulous, and deadly foe, whose suc
cess meant nothing less than the undying damnation
of the soul. In him there was none of the sweet
reasonableness of Christianity. His feeling and think
ing is the opposite of that of his great contempo
rary, Origen, whose experience of persecution was
personal in the keenest bereavements of his youth
and the cruel tortures of his age and the martyrdoms
of his scholars and friends; yet the atmosphere of
suffering never embittered the great soul of the most
unwearied of the Christian fathers. But Tertullian
was of African blood and Roman training, if indeed
there did not mingle in his veins the blood of the
races who had fought under Hannibal and conquered
under Scipio ; so he could contemplate with fierce de
light the endless sufferings of cruel persecutors in the
torments of another world. So he was Roman in his
thinking. The formal legal side, not the spiritual,
ruled him. His conception of Christianity is law
rather than love. The Paraclete Holy Ghost gave a
new law, through Montanistic prophecy, in whose
particular rules and commands, definiteness, and ap
plication, it was superior to the New Testament.
This is the fundamental idea of Latin theology ; it is
always legal. Its philosophy is realistic ; its law
must be definite, with an authorized expositor to de
termine its application. If not the Montanist Para
clete, then the bishop or the Pope in the Catholic
Church, or the Old Testament precepts in the Re-

Founding of Christian Theology. 129
formed Church. This view had its right against the
one-sided philosophical contemplation and spiritual
and idealistic conceptions of the Greek fathers. It
had its mission in the formation of a fixed rule of
faith and firm discipline, which, from Rome, was to sub
ject and train the rude and barbarous tribes of Teu
tonic heathenism. But it is a partial view, and not
the full idea of the Christian faith. To the Christ
who is the truth must be added the Christ who is the
life ; and to the commands and ordinances of the law
must be added the love which is the highest fulfill
ment of the supreme moral obligation.
Of this Latin theology Tertullian was the father.
He first gave expression to those fundamental ideas
which have ruled its course — the sense of the sinful
ness of sin ; the necessity of satisfaction in redemp
tion ; the need of grace ; and the value of good
works. He began its doctrine of man and of re
demption. He is the father of Cyprian and Augus
tine, Jerome and Leo I, of Calvin, Knox, and the
English Puritans. His extraordinary power of con
cise, clear, definite, and fitting expression of ideas in
a single word made him the author of distinctive theo
logical terms; such as " substance " and " persons " in
the Trinity, " two natures " in Christ, " satisfaction "
in redemption, and " original sin." His charm is
in his style — terse, pointed, and weighty. Single
sentences stand out like flashlights from a beacon;
antitheses are sharpened into paradoxes. Cardinal
Newman has called him the most powerful writer of
the early centuries. Add to this the power of an im
petuous nature, glowing with love to his Lord, spurn
ing compromises and restraints, which strove to real-
9

130 The Truths that Won.
ize in the Church that ascetic ideal of holiness which
led to the founding of monastic communities within
the century following his death, and it can be easily
seen why, in spite of his narrowness and harshness,
he attracts more readers than almost any other Church
father. Titus Flavius Clemens succeeded, as the head of
the Catechetical School of Alexandria, its founder,
Pantaenus. From its founding, about 180, for more
Clement than two hundred years, it was the most
of renowned school in Christendom. It was
Alexandria. founde(1 for the instruction in Christianity
of converts from paganism of philosophic culture.
It was continued as a school for the training of
Christian teachers and theologians. Clemeilt was a
man of wide scholarship and philosophic culture, who
had traveled from Rome to Athens, and from Anti
och to Jerusalem, and back to Alexandria. He was
converted in middle life. He seems to have been at
the head of the Alexandrian school from 190 to 202,
when he fled from the Septimian persecution to Cap
padocia; and afterwards he returned to Jerusalem,
where he is supposed to have died, 220. This school,
on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, wrought out its
system, with the aid of the philosophy of Plato and
his followers, and the allegorical method of Philo.
For Clement " Christianity is the doctrine of the cre
ation, education, and redemption of the human race
through the Logos, whose work culminates in the
perfect Christian or Gnostic."
Origen was the profouudest scholar of the early
Church. He was a learned critic, a diligent exegete,
one of the ablest of the apologists, the first great theo-

Founding of Christian Theology. 131
logiau. With a breadth of thought unsurpassed in
the ages since, he laid the foundation for those defi
nitions afterward formulated by the Coun- origen
cils into the Creeds. Origen was born at Hls LI,e-
Alexandria in 185. His parents were both Christians.
His father, Leonidas, was a man of wealth and liberal
culture, who delighted in directing the steps of his
son in the paths of secular learning as well as in the
more congenial walks of sacred literature. The
quickness of perception and depth of understanding
shown by the boyish learner in holy themes was the
joy of his father's heart. When seventeen years of
age, Alexandria became the chief scene of Christian
suffering during the Septimian persecutions. Origen's
father was apprehended, and carried before the magis
trate. Origen strove to reach him, that he might
share his fate ; his mother only prevented him by
concealing his clothes. Finding that he could not
accomplish his purpose, he wrote a letter to his father,
exhorting him to take heed and not to change his
mind "on account of us;" that is, his mother, six
brothers, and himself. Leonidas was martyred, his
property confiscated ; and Origen supported the
widow and dependent orphans by opening a school
for secular instruction in philosophy, and received
aid also from a wealthy lady, who supported a num
ber of young men while they pursued their studies.
During the persecution he was both zealous and dili
gent in visiting the martyrs in prison, going with
them to trial, and kissing them when led away to die.
He narrowly escaped sharing their fate. At length
he could not remain in one place, but for safety went
from house to house. His talents and his zeal led the

132 The Truths that Won.
Christians to reopen their school, with Origen as sole
instructor when but eighteen years of age. He soon
raised up a notable group of scholars, prelates, and
martyrs. For this purpose he had the advantage of
superior instruction as well as of great natural gifts
and unwearied diligence. Pantsenus and Clement, the
founders of the Alexandrian school, were his in
structors in divinity, while Ammonius Saccas, the
founder of the Neo-Platonic school of philosophy,
was his tutor in metaphysics. Though Origen thought
it best to close his philosophical school when he
became instructor in theology, he was no bigot.
Alone of all the men of his time, so far as we know,
" he also instructed many of the more common people
in the Biblical studies, asserting frequently that they
would receive no small advantage from them in
understanding the Holy Scriptures."
At this time and during his whole life Origen was
a strenuous ascetic. While teaching, he sold his
copies of classical writings, receiving therefor an
annuity of twelve cents per day, on which he lived
for many years, refusing the voluntary contributions
of his friends. He not only denied himself by se
vere and rigorous fasts, but after laborious days, cut
short his sleep. Even the few hours he gave to sleep
he spent stretched on the bare ground. Fulfilling
literally the Savior's command not to have " two
coats, neither shoes," he suffered poverty, cold, and
all but nakedness. While still a young man, misun
derstanding Matt xix. 12, he performed an act of self-
mutilation, which brought upon him severe ecclesi
astical censure, and of which he afterward repented.
The rashness and error of his youth taught him

Founding of Christian Theology. 133
that God's methods of discipline are better than ours.
In these years Origen devoted himself with un
tiring assiduity to study. He says : " When I had
devoted myself wholly to the Word, and my fame
went abroad concerning my proficiency, as I was
sometimes visited by heretics, sometimes by those
who were conversant with the studies of the Greeks,
especially those who were pursuing philosophy, I was
resolved to examine both those opinions of the her
etics and those works of the philosophers which pre
tend to speak the truth." The heathen Porphyry
tells us how well he carried out this design : ' ' He
was always in company with Plato and the works of
the chief philosophers known to his time, and others
whose writings are valued in his hands." He acquired
not only the learning of the Greeks, but also became
familiar with the Hebrew, in which his mother was
his fellow-student.
Origen was no mere scholar and ascetic; he knew
well the men, the form and fashion of his time.
About the age of twenty-seven he visited Rome, the
capital of the world — the representative of its ma
terial forces as Alexandria of its intellectual energy.
He went on two missionary journeys to Arabia, once
to the heathen, and in 215 to the heretics. At the
age of forty-three, 228, he visited Palestine. Two
years later he visited Ephesus, staid some time at
Athens, and, on his return, stopped at Csesarea, where
he was ordained presbyter. This act angered Deme
trius, Bishop of Alexandria, who excommunicated him.
Origen went to Csesarea in 231, at the age of forty-
six, leaving Alexandria forever. The sentence of ex
communication was entirely disregarded by the

134 The Truths that Won.
bishops of Palestine, Arabia, Phoenicia, and Greece;
and he was on friendly terms with his two scholars,
who succeeded Demetrius in the See of Alexandria.
The fame of Origen was such that he was upon
terms of intimacy with the greatest and best of the
age in which he lived. He was called to visit the
Empress Mammea, the mother of Alexander Severus,
probably at Antioch in 228. He taught concerning
the faith in Christ, and we know that his words were
not unfavorably received. Later the Emperor Philip
the Arabian assisted him in opening his school at
Csesarea; and Origen corresponded with his wife, the
Empress Severa. He had the friendship of the best
and ablest bishops of his time; but one of them is
known to have been unfriendly to him, and he from
envy. His lectures were so highly esteemed that the
Bishop of Jerusalem and the chiefest of his clergy sat
as learners at his feet.
The twenty-three years that he spent at Csesarea
formed the most fruitful period of his literary life.
The wealth of Ambrose, whom he had converted
from the Gnostic heresy, enabled him to keep seven
amanuenses, who relieved each other as the indefati
gable vigor of Origen successively wearied them.
He also kept seven copyists of his own work, beside
those skilled in calligraphy, for the parts of his diffi
cult work requiring more than ordinary skill. Origen
wrote the first detailed commentary on the Scriptures.
He wrote " Contra Celsus," unrivaled among apolo
gies. His recension of the Greek version of the Old
Testament was the greatest work of his life. It con
sists of six and sometimes eight or nine columns of
parallel versions, with critical notes on each. The

Founding of Christian Theology. 135
" De Priucipiis" is the first independent attempt of
a Christian thinker to form a system of theology.
His commentaries upon the Scriptures have only
partially come down to us ; and yet they form in the
Berlin edition of 1831 sixteen volumes of his works.
In these writings we have some proof of the untiring
energy of the man.
Origen seems to have been nurtured in an atmos
phere of martyrdom. The names of eight of his first
pupils, who suffered death for the gospel's sake, have
come down to us. When he was just established at
Caesarea the Maximinian persecution broke out.
Origen at once published his oration concerning mar
tyrdom to comfort and sustain the afflicted Church.
Eighteen years later the Decian persecution raged.
Origen was now an old man; but his fame made him
worthy of the test. He was apprehended, tortured
with the iron collar, immured in the deepest recesses
of the prison, stretched for days upon the rack,
threatened with burning at the stake; but he never
faltered. The fury of the persecution spent itself.
Origen was released; but he did not rally. He lin
gered a few months, and then, as his father had done,
received a martyr's crown, 254.
Some measure of the penetration and suggestive-
ness of Origen's ideas may be gained from a few ex
tracts. We can then see why no theological writer
can escape dealing with the problems which he
states or with his method of treatment of them.
" Now, in our judgment, God can do everything
which it is possible for him to do without ceasing to
be God, and good, and wise. But Celsus asserts —
not comprehending the expression, 'God can do all

136 The Truths that Won.
things' — 'that he will not desire to do anything
wicked, admitting that he has the power, but not the
Concerning a7^' to do evil.' We, on the contrary, main-
Ood. tain that, as that will which by nature pos-
ceisuTin sesses the property of sweetening other
70, p. 492, things through its own inherent sweet
ness, can not produce bitterness contrary
to its own peculiar nature ; nor that whose nature is
to produce light through its being light can cause
darkness : so neither is God able to commit wicked
ness; for the power of doing evil is contrary to his
Deity and its omnipotence."
" There is, therefore, One whose favor we should
seek, and to whom we ought to pray that he would
be gracious to us — the Most High God, whose favor
is gained by piety and the practice of every
sion of virtue. And if he would have us to seek
Angels. tne favor 0f others after the Most High
Contra Cel- . °
sus, vni, 64, God, let him consider that, as the motion
p. 664, 0f ^e shadow follows the motion of the
A. N. F. body which casts it, so in like manner it
follows that, when we have the favor of God, we have
also the good-will of all angels and spirits who are
friends of God. For they know who are worthy of
the Divine approval, and they are not only well dis
posed to them, but they co-operate with them in
their endeavors to please God; they seek his favor
011 their behalf; with their prayers they join their
own prayers and intercession for them. We may in
deed boldly say that men who aspire after better
things have, when they pray to God, tens of thou
sands of sacred powers on tlieir side."
" I think, therefore, that all the saints who depart

Founding of Christian Theology. 137
from this life will remain in some place situated on
the earth, which Holy Scripture calls paradise, as in
some place of instruction, and, so to speak, The Future
class-room or school of souls, in which they state.
are to be instructed in all the things which De ^'[fS"5'
they had seen on earth, and to receive also p 299,
some information respecting the things A- N' F'
which are to follow in the future, as even when
in this life they had obtained in some degree in
dications of future events, although through a glass
darkly,— all of which are revealed more clearly and
distinctly to the saints in their proper time and
place. If any one, indeed, be pure in heart and holy
in mind and more practiced in perception, he will, by
making more rapid progress, quickly ascend to a
place in the air, and reach the kingdom of heaven
through those mansions in the various places which
the Greeks have termed spheres — that is, globes — but
which Holy Scripture has called heaven ; in each of
which he will first see clearly what is done there, and,
in the second place, will discover the reason why
things are so done; and thus he will, in order, pass
through all gradations following him who hath passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who said, ' I
will that where I am, these may be also.' "
" For in the same way also our bodies are to be sup
posed to fall into the earth like a grain ; Resurrectlon.
and — that germ being implanted in them germ Theory.
which contains the bodily substance — al- ^"""a"5'
though the bodies die and become corrupted, p. 249,
and are scattered abroad, yet, by the word
of God, that very germ which is always safe in the
substance of the body raises them from the earth,

138 The Truths that Won.
and restores and repairs them, as the power which is
in the grain of wheat, after its corruption and death,
repairs and restores the grain into a body having
stalk and ear. And so also to those who shall de
serve to obtain an inheritance in the kingdom of
heaven, that germ of the body's restoration which we
have before mentioned, by God's command, restores,
out of the earthly and animal body, a spiritual one,
capable of inhabiting the heavens."
"The sufferings and disparities of life, the con
trasts of the law and the gospel simply reveal that
what we see is but a fragment of a vast system in
which we can do no more than to trace
Our Relation
to the tendencies, consequences, signs, and rest
scheme of Up0n the historic fact of the incarnation.
Things. -. , . , . r . .
In this respect the entire range of being is
'as one thought,' answering to the absolutely perfect
will of God, while 'we that are but part can see but
part, now this and now that.' " A single sentence
from Origen was quoted by Bishop Butler as contain
ing the germ of his Analogy.
As a theological teacher, Origen had grave faults,
which the Church has recognized and condemned.
Led by the influence of his Platonic conceptions, he
believed in the pre-existence of human souls in an-
Defects other stage of being before their birth in
of origen. this world ; in a succession of worlds previ
ous to and after this, so that the history of this world
is but a moment in the successive world ages ; in a
purificatory process carried on from world to world,
until all, even Satan, should be completely redeemed
from sin. He believed this redemption to depend
upon the free choice of the will ; yet he never showed

Founding of Christian Theology. 139
how that choice should in other worlds, more than in
this, result in eternal blessedness. In consequence of
these views, and following the Alexandrian tradition,
he taught there were two classes of Christians — the
ordinary believer and the advanced Gnostic, or Chris
tian — and two classes of truth for each.
In spite of these defects, he was thoroughly Chris
tian in his thought, the eighth chapter of Romans and
the fifteenth of First Corinthians being the basis of
his teaching. In the breadth of his view, the geniality
of his temper, and the devoutness of his spirit he has
never been surpassed. He has been the teacher of
teachers, and attracted the great Christian thinkers
of every age, with the possible exception of Luther.
He has been called the Schleiermacher of the early
Church. In spite of all errors, no other writer of the
early Church is so fruitful and suggestive.
Origen's distinctive greatness is as a scholar and
a teacher. In these combined relations he has never
been surpassed in the Christian Church. His un
wearied diligence laid under tribute and absorbed for
his use the knowledge of his time. Through his per
sonal influence and his writings he has more widely
influenced Christendom than any other father of the
Church. Augustine and Aquinas, Luther, Calvin,
and Wesley have more profoundly influenced portions
of Christendom; the influence of Origen has touched
the whole.
He owes this distinction to his achievements as a
student and teacher of the Holy Scrip- Biblical
tures. This field absorbed the greater por- scholar.
tion of his iron toil. Jerome knew more Hebrew,
was a sounder exegete, and gave Christendom the

140 The Truths that Won.
best of the ancient versions of the Holy Scriptures,
the Latin Vulgate ; but the services of Origen ex
ceeded his. Origen was the founder of the science of
textual criticism, through his great labors on the Sep
tuagint and on the New Testament. His Scholia
are the earliest specimens of marginal explanations.
His Commentaries were the first continuous exegesis
of the Scriptures. All commentators, ancient or
modern, have dug from his mine ; and a very consid
erable part of what is valuable in them they owe to
Origen. Not only did he lay the foundation, but
eagerly built up the fabric of Biblical interpretation.
If he used the allegorical method, it was with definite
limits, while he was an accurate grammarian as well.
His knowledge and contribution to the interpretation
of the Bible were absolutely unrivaled.
His influence as an apologist and theologian was
scarcely less far-reaching. As a theologian he aimed
to make central in his thinking the supremacy of God
our Father aud his character as holiness and love;
Jesus Christ as the Mediator of creation, rev-
Theologlan. .
elation, and redemption ; in the unity of cre
ation, human free will, or the power of moral determi
nation, as a decisive element in the fulfillment of the
Divine counsel. He also emphasized the teaching that
Christ died for all men. He aimed to show the
agreement of the best human thinking with the Holy
Scriptures, and that they are consistent with all real
knowledge and with the highest reason. To this end
he used Plato's philosophy, his archet3^pal ideas, and
the allegoric method. He won to Christianity the
educated classes of the Greek world, and made for
ever, as against all heretics, the Old Testament a

Founding of Christian Theology. 141
part of the Christian Scriptures. He struck the
grand outlines of an all-embracing Christian the
ology, which, however they may have been rectified,
have never been surpassed.
To these results of his thinking and his labors
must be added his abilities and disposition as a man
and his character as a Christian, which made him so
inspiring as a teacher and so pure as an example.
To his sympathy with all human learning he added
an equal sympathy with all human souls.
m, • \ ¦, ¦ , , , . ¦, Character.
This moved him to teach the rude and the
ignorant as well as those trained in the schools, made
him a most winning and successful controversialist,
and gave him, as a teacher of teachers, friends of the
great and noble spirits of all times. Though an as
cetic, he was not of the legal spirit. His mastery of
himself and harmony with his highest convictions
gave an ease and sweetness of spirit amid unfavorable
or frightful surroundings, which, like his tireless
labors, has never been excelled in all the ages since.

Chapter III.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY— CREED OF
NIC/EA.
After the conflict with the attempts to absorb
the Christian religion in a religious philosophy had
failed, men began to occupy themselves with the intel
lectual representations of the relations of the three
Divine persons acknowledged in Christian baptism,
especially that of the Son to the Father, and between
the two natures in the person of our Lord. The
Monarchian- Greek disposition, intellect, and culture
ism. seemed to be peculiarly fitted for and to
delight in this task. Its difficulty may be conceived
when we reflect that, after all the efforts of all the ablest
thinkers during the centuries of the histor}' of our
race, we yet know so little of the relations of body,
mind, and spirit in ourselves. If these great Greek
thinkers and theologians did not attain to absolute
certainty in their conclusions, and answer all ques
tions to the satisfaction of thoughtful minds for all
ages, they did present that solution of these problems
which at that time demanded authoritative answer
from the Church, and which was the wisest then
offered, and has commanded general assent in the
Church in all ages since. It is easy to say that the
view of Athanasius or Leo is defective ; yet no man
familiar with the question would replace them with
the views of Arius or Eusebius, of Nestorius or Eu-
tyches ; and the choice had to be made from among
142

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 143
them. In the consideration of these questions, we
are to remember that the Protestant Christian is
bound, as to his faith and conscience, only by the
Holy Scriptures, which contain all that is necessary
to salvation both for our faith and practice, and that
these creeds have for us only the authority of their
truth. We are also to remember that they represent
to us the , highest result of human thinking and the
best expression of the mind of the Church on the
most difficult problems of the Christian faith. These
problems could not be ignored; some answer must
be given ; the future of the Church depended upon
the answer indorsed by her authority. It is of no
inconsiderable consequence that the great branches
of the Christian faith, the Greek, Roman Catholic,
and Protestant Churches, rest upon these great com
mon foundations of theological thinking.
Three views were presented and discussed before
the adoption of that conception of the Divinity of our
Lord which prevailed at Nicsea. These were Dyna
mistic Monarchianism, Modalistic Monarch- Dynam|St|C
ianism, and Subordinationism. Dynamistic Monarchian-
Monarchianism — from dynamis (power) and ism'
¦monarchy (sole rule of one) — taught that the Divine in
Christ was only a power, and not a nature. Christ
had not a pre-existing spiritual being, but one after
his moral condition — a man exalted to Divine dignity.
It exalted the human moral development of Christ.
This view was first contended for by a layman, The-
odotus, a leather-worker from B}'zantium. His work
belongs to a former period, but is given here for con
nected presentation. He came to Rome about 185,
and taught that Christ was a mere man. He was ex-

144 The Truths thai Won.
communicated by Bishop Victor, 192-202. The lead
ing representative of these opinions was Paul of Sa-
mosata, Bishop and Viceroy of Antioch under Queen
Zenobia of Palmyra. He was excommunicated, 269;
deposed, the sentence being then carried into execu
tion, in 273. The Unitarians are the modern represent
atives of this party ; they were never numerous in the
Church. Respecting these views, many went to the other
extreme, and were called Modalistic Monarchians,
Modalistic because they made Christ only a mode of
Monarchian- being the Father. They were also called
Patripassians ; that is, the Father suffers
because they said "God was crucified," "God died,"
etc. Its most prominent advocate was Sabellius, of
Libya, who came to Rome, and was at first favored,
but afterward excommunicated, by Bishop Callistus,
218-223. He taught that, for creation, God is Father;
for redemption, he is Redeemer; for the Church, he
is the Holy Ghost. Hence, the Trinity is one of
equality and economy. This was a large and influ
ential party in the Church. The Roman bishops for
thirty years — Victor, Zephyrinus, and Callistus — were
Modalistic Monarchians.
There were those who believed that Christ was
Divine, but that his independent personal being must
subordina= be emphasized in opposition to the follow-
tionism. ers of Sabellius. They held the Son to be
subordinate to the Father. They taught that Christ,
the Logos, had a personal substance and pre-exist-
ence ; that he belongs to the inward necessity of the
being of the Father. It is false to say there was a
time when he was not. Christ was truly God, but

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 145
inferior in dignity. The word Logos, applied to
Christ, is found in St. John's Gospel. It was so used
by Justin Martyr, in 135; Theophilus of Antioch,
175; and Athenagoras, 175-185. The term is used
to express the thought that the Mediator of creation
and redemption is the same. Dionysius of Alexan
dria taught that Christ is the creature of the Father
Hippolytus and Tertullian, though they combated
modalism, held subordination views. Origen ad
vanced to the statement of the eternal generation of
the Son, though he held that he was inferior in per
son and office.
In the third period (254-381), the Church came to
a definite and authoritative decision in regard to the
Divinity of our Lord. She advanced be- Arius and
yond all Monarchianism and Subordina- Hls Doctrine.
tionism to the creeds of Nicsea and Constantinople.
The occasion of taking this step was the teaching of
the presbyter, Arius. The one great man by whom
it was carried through was Athanasius. Both of these
men were connected with the Church in Alexandria.
Arius was a scholar, as was Eusebius of Nicomedia,
and Lucian of Antioch. Lucian was a thorough Bib
lical scholar, but was influenced by the views of Paul
of Samosata, whose deposition he refused to sanction.
Arius, thus trained and influenced, came to Alexan
dria, where he was ordained presbyter, 311. He was
an eloquent preacher, with a subtle mind. He was
tall, of agreeable address, and lived a pure life. He
stated his view, that " there was a time when the
Lord was not," in 319, and was condemned by a coun
cil of Egyptian bishops in 321. Christianity had now
come to the throne of the world ; and beyond all

146 The Truths that Won.
questions of politics, of civil and social life, these
theological distinctions became the theme of discus
sion in the street and in the market-place. The gist
of the doctrine of Arius was: " The Father is Father;
the Son is Son ; therefore, the Father must have ex
isted before the Son; therefore, once the Son was
not ; therefore, he was made, like all creatures, of a
substance which had not previously existed." These
opinions were rejected by the Council of Nicsea, 325.
After long debate, the 318 bishops came to the decis
ion, with only two dissenting voices, that the Son
was of the same substance with the Father, and hence
of equal co-eternity. Arius was condemned and ban
ished. Eleven years later he was recalled, and died
in 336, as he was about to be restored to his former
position in the Church.
The man most influential in securing the condem
nation of Arius at Nicsea — -the lifelong and victorious
Athanasius °PPonent of his doctrines — was Athanasius,
His at that time a young deacon attached to
Teaching. Alexander| the Bishop of Alexandria. Ath
anasius argued in favor of the eternal generation of
the Son and his consubstantiality (Homoousia) with
the Father — that is, his perfect Divinity as Son of
God — on the following grounds : The Father must
always have been Father, or he could not be the ab
solute and unchanging God. The Son is not Divine
if he is not Son by nature, but only by God's grace.
The unity of man with^God falls to the ground if
the Mediator of their unity is only a creature, and
not the absolute God. " If Christ," he said, "differed
from other creatures simply as being the only creature
immediately produced by God, then he could not

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 147
bring the creature into fellowship with God, since we
must be constrained to think of something still inter
mediate between him as a creature and the Divine
essence, which differed from him — something whereby
he might stand in communion with God ; and this in
termediate being would be precisely the Son of God
in the proper sense. In analyzing the conception of
God communicated to the creature, it would be neces
sary to arrive, at least, at the conception of that
which requires nothing intermediate in order to com
munion with God — which does not participate in
God's essence as something foreign to itself, but which
is itself the self-communicating essence of God. This
is the only Son of God — the being who can be so
called in the proper sense. The expressions, Son of
God and Divine generation, are of a symbolic nature,
and denote simply the communication of the Divine
essence. It is only on the supposition that Christ is,
in this sense alone, the proper Son of God, that he
can make rational creatures children of God. It is
the Logos who imparts himself to them through
whom they live in God — the Son of God within them,
through fellowship with whom they become them
selves children of God."
Professor Moller puts it concisely thus: " Nothing
less than the Eternal Son of God, through his incar
nation, could accomplish the redemption of mankind.
Christ has renewed the whole man through his union
with him. The fundamental thought of Athanasius
is that, through a real union of Divinity with human
nature, salvation is accomplished, in which the Divine
life makes possible to extend the natural connection
with the whole of humanity— to overcome death and

148 The Truths that Won.
to raise to immortality. The incarnation is necessary
through the need of revelation and of redemption. The
Divine life comes into the life of man objectively
through the Holy Ghost, and subjectively through
faith; that is, the reception of the Lord."
The incarnation was the center of the teaching of
Origen, but as a means of relating the Father to the
creation of the race and the world, and re
vealing him to man. Athanasius advanced
to the incarnation as the essential guarantee of re
demption — its central purpose. The work of Atha
nasius in defense of this doctrine only began with
the definition of the Nicaean Council. Athanasius
was born at Alexandria about 296. He was trained
in Homer, Plato, and logic. He knew thoroughly
paganism and Judaism. His chief study was Chris
tian theology. His treatises, "Against the Gentiles"
and " On the Incarnation," are remarkable theolog
ical essays, especially for a man not more than
twenty-two years of age. He was twenty-nine at the
Council of Nicsea, and elected Bishop of Alexandria —
a position second only to that of Rome — the succeed
ing year, 326. In November, 330, the Emperor Con
stantine commanded him to receive Arius back into
the Church. From this time his conflicts ceased only
with his life. " He was small in stature," says Greg
ory Nazianzen ; " but his face was radiant with intelli
gence ; accessible to all ; slow to anger ; quick in sym
pathy, pleasant in conversation, and still more pleas
ant in temper ; effective alike in discourse and in
action; assiduous in devotions; helpful to Christians
of every class and age." He wrought in his diocese
with exemplary fidelity. He ruled as a thorough-

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 149
going and successful bishop ; but refused to receive
Arius into communion with the Church in 331. He
was summoned to a Council at Csesarea in 334, charged
with having put a Milesian bishop (Arsenius) to death.
The charge was renewed at a Synod at Tyre in 335,
where his enemies showed in a box an arm of the
murdered Arsenius. " Did any of you know Arse
nius?" calmly asked Athanasius. Many voices an
swered in the affirmative. A hooded figure was led
into the midst of the assembly, the covering was re
moved, and Arsenius stood before them. Command
ing him to hold out his hands, — " Did any of you
know of Arsenius having three hands?" said Athana
sius. His enemies could only raise cries of magic to
cover their confusion ; nevertheless, they condemned
him, and deposed him from his See. Athanasius ap
pealed to the Emperor Constantine. He appeared in
person before him in the public street as he was re
turning on horseback to his palace, and besought his
justice. The emperor ordered an investigation. The
Arian bishops changed the charge to one of threat
ening to detain the grain-ships bound for Constanti
nople, and the emperor's jealousy being aroused, he
was banished to Treves, February, 336. He remained
there two years and a half. Arius died the same
year, and Constantine the Great in May, 337. He
was recalled soon after the death of the latter, but
did not arrive at Alexandria until November, 338.
Constantius, the successor of the first Christian em
peror, was an able ruler, and sought to control the
policy of the Church as his fathers had done. He
was a zealous Arian. A Synod at Antioch, under the
control of the Eusebian party, in 340, deposed Atha-

150 The Truths that Won.
nasius, and elected Gregory of Cappadocia, an Arian,
in his stead. Athanasius appealed to Julius, Bishop
of Rome, and sailed for Rome at Easter, 340. An
other Arian Council at Antioch, 341, renewed the
condemnation of Athanasius. In the meanwhile, Ju
lius had called a Council at Rome, which met in Oc
tober or November, 341. It pronounced Athanasius
innocent. He spent the next two years at Rome and
Milan. He was present at the end of the year 343,
with one hundred and seventy bishops, at the Council
of Sardica, where he was again acquitted. Gregory,
the Arian Bishop of Alexandria, died in February,
345. In 346, Athanasius visited Treves, Adrianople,
Antioch, and Jerusalem, and returned, after a six years'
exile, to Alexandria, October 21, 346. More than four
hundred bishops, including those of Britain, were in
communion with him. After the death of his brother
Constans in 350, and the usurper Magnentius in 353,
Constantius was the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
He hated Athanasius with a bitter personal hatred.
For ten j^ears Athanasius held his ground at Alexan
dria, though condemned by Councils at Aries in 353,
and Milan in 355. " Finally, on the 8th of February,
356, while he was engaged in service in the Church
of St. Theonas, a band of armed men burst into the
sacred building. Here, for a time, he maintained his
composure, and desired the deacon to read the psalm
and the people to respond, ' For his mercy endureth
forever,' as the soldiers rushed forward with fierce
shouts toward the altar. He at length made his es
cape in the crowd, and withdrew to the solitudes of
Upper Egypt." (Apology for His Flight, 24.) George
01 Cappadocia, a bitter Arian, was sent to supersede

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 151
him in Lent, 357. Athanasius spent the next six
years in exile among the monks of the Egyptian des
ert. He admired and promoted monasticism. The
monks alone protected him against imperial despot
ism. The emperor compelled his old friend, the aged
Hosius of Cordova, to pronounce against him in 357,
and Liberius, Bishop of Rome, in 358. as did the
Arian Councils, Ariminum in 359, and Seleucia in
360. Constantius died November 4, 361. The apos
tate Julian succeeded him. George of Cappadocia
was murdered by the pagan party, December 24, 361.
Athanasius was recalled by Julian, and returned to
Alexandria, February 22, 362. Athanasius was now
the greatest person in the Roman world — too eminent
as a Christian and a bishop to be left in peace by the
pagan Julian. At his command he went into his
fourth exile, October 23, 362. On leaving, he said :
" Be of good heart ; it is but a cloud ; it will soon
pass." In a few months (June 26, 363), Julian
closed his career. In July the undaunted bishop
was at Alexandria. In September he sailed for An
tioch, to meet the Emperor Jovian. He returned to
Alexandria, February, 364. The same year Jovian
died, and was succeeded by Valens, a bitter Arian.
Athanasius was banished for the last time, October 5,
365. He is said to have lived for many months in his
father's tomb, near Alexandria. He returned, Febru
ary 1, 366, and was undisturbed in his See until his
death, May 2, 373, at the age of seventy-seven.
He had been Bishop of Alexandria forty-seven
years. Five times banished by four em- his
perors, he had spent twenty years in exile. Character.
We can but join in the words of Hooker : " The whole

152 The Truths that Won.
world against Athanasius, and Athanasius against it;
half a hundred years spent in doubtful trial, which
of the two in the end should prevail — the side which
had all, or else the part which had no friends but
God and death — the one a defender of his innocency,
the other a finisher of all his troubles?" The great
ness of Athanasius rests upon his unshaken adhe
rence to his conception of the Divinity of Christ.
Deeply religious ; sensitive yet persistent ; firm, dis
creet, and affectionate ; moderate when triumphant, —
if he sometimes felt and was influenced by the stress
of controversy, his life and its results are among the
greatest in Christian history.
Men like Origen and Athanasius, like Basil and
the two Gregories, declared, defended, and expounded
truth amid the warring sects and parties of the Church ;
but her Councils defined the faith in clear, precise,
and unmistakable terms, and yet brief enough to be
come the easily-remembered Confession of the com
mon people, especially as they became a part of the
highly-developed liturgy of the Church.
The Oecumenical Councils of the first six centu
ries are those of Nicsea, 325; I Constantinople, 381;
(Ecumenical Ephesus, 431; Chalcedon, 451; II Con-
Councils, stantinople, 553. Three of these — Nicsea,
I Constantinople, and Chalcedon— formulated creeds
for the use of the Church and the defense of the
faith. These creeds are remarkable as being expan
sions or explications of the Apostles' Creed. They
are also remarkable for not going beyond the ques
tions then pressing for decision ; and in brevity con
trast strongly with the later Creeds, like the Thirty-
nine Articles, or the Augsburg and Westminster

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 153
Confessions. The Councils were called by the em
peror, who summoned to them all Christian bishops.
These alone, with the emperor or his representative,
had voice or vote. Men like Arius or Athanasius
could be present as the advisers of the bishops. The
Councils not only decided points of doctrine, but de
termined questions of discipline, usage, authority,
and jurisdiction. The conclusions of the Councils
on the latter were embodied in articles called can
ons, or rules.
The Council of Nicsea, the greatest and most im
portant of these assemblies, consisted of three hun
dred and eighteen bishops. Hosius Of Cor- Nicfea.
dova, Eusebius of Csesarea, and Eusebius
of Nicomedia were the ablest and most influential of
its prelates. Both Arius and Athanasius were in at
tendance. The Council gave the definition of the
Son to the Father, which centered in the word ho
moousios — of the same substance as the Father.
The Nicsean Creed is as follows :
" We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of all things, visible and invisible; and in one
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begot- Nicsean
ten of the Father [the only begotten — that Creed'
is, of the essence of the Father — God of God], Light
of light, very God of very God; begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father ; by whom
all things were made [both in heaven and in earth] ;
who, for us men and for our salvation, came down
and was incarnate, and was made man. He suffered,
and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the
dead. And in the Holy Ghost.

154 The Truths that Won.
[" But those who say, ' There was a time when he
was not;' and ' He was not before he was made;' and
' He was made out of nothing;' or ' He is of another
substance' or 'essence;' or 'The Son of God is cre
ated,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' — they are con
demned by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church."]
The Emperor Constantine confirmed the decrees
of the Council; but, influenced by Eusebius of Nico
media, he leaned more and more to the Arian side.
Constantius was a Christian from personal convic
tion, but also a thorough Arian. By him the ortho
dox were oppressed and banished. Julian the Apos
tate despised both parties alike. Jovian favored the
Creed of Nicsea, but Valens was its bitter opponent.
Upon his death, Theodosius came to the throne — a
great ruler, a Nicsean Christian, and the friend of
Ambrose. In the East, and among the majority of the theo
logically-trained bishops, the Creed of Nicsea was not
received with favor. They were conservatives, and
could not advance beyond the teachings of Origen,
while they disliked the terms of the Creed as savor
ing of Sabellianism. Still less were they inclined to
Arianism. That they were finally won to a convinced
and reasoned support of the Creed of Nicsea was due
to the writings and influence of three men, called the
great Cappadocians. Two of them — Basil and Greg
ory of Nyssa — were brothers ; while the third — Greg
ory of Nazianzen — was their lifelong friend. All
three were bishops — Basil of Csesarea in Cappadocia,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Sasima, and, for a
short time, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Basil, 330-390, was a leader and ruler of men,

The Doctrine of the Trinity. 155
founder of flourishing Church institutions, and author
of the first great rule of the monastic life. Gregory
Nazianzen, preacher and poet, was a volumi- The Three
nous writer ; born, 325 ; Bishop of Sasima, Cappadocians.
370 ; Archbishop of Constantinople for a few months
in 381 ; died, 392. Gregory of Nyssa was born 335,
and became Bishop of Nyssa in 371; attended the
Council of Constantinople, 381. He died 395. He
was the theologian of the age. His " Great Cate
chism " was the most significant dogmatic work of
the fourth century. Through the influence of these
men and their teacher, Apollinaris of Laodicea, the
one hundred and eighty-six bishops, most of whom
were from the East, at the first Council of Constanti
nople, 381, called by Theodosius, accepted the Nicsean
teaching. They further settled the Trinitarian doc
trine by more precisely defining the relation of the
Father and the Son, and added an article concerning
the Holy Ghost. This article condemned the doctrine
of Macedonius, who taught that the Holy Spirit is a
Divine energy diffused throughout the universe, but
not a distinct person in the Trinity.
The Creed of Constantinople is as follows :
" We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible
and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Creedof
Christ, the only begotten Son of God, be- constanti-
gotten of the Father before all worlds' nope-
seons; Light of light, very God of very God; begotten,
not made, being of one substance with the Father ;
by whom all things were made ; who, for us men and
for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was
incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and

156 The Truths that Won.
was made man. He was crucified for us under Pon
tius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third
day he rose again, according to thfc Scriptures, and
ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of
the Father; from thence he shall come again with
glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose king
dom shall have no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the
Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the
Father, and who, with the Father and the Son to
gether, is worshiped and glorified ; who spake by the
prophets. In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remis
sion of sins ; we look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen."
Sometimes we wonder if the lost causes, after all,
should not secure our suffrage. Some evil things
succeed. This is particularly the case if we do not
fully enter into or understand the distinctions which
divided the Church into parties. It may reassure us
to have so eminent a scholar and fair a judge as Pro
fessor Harnack declare : " The victory of the Arian
doctrine, in all probability, meant the ruin of Christen
dom. The Arian Christology is the most inwardly
empty and dogmatically worthless of all that meet us
in the history of doctrine. But it had its mission as
a bridge between the half-heathen in the Church and
monotheism, and in the early training of the Teutonic
races."

CHAPTER IV.
DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST— CREED OF
CHALCEDON. 381-451.
These seventy years were those of the overthrow
and dissolution of the Roman Empire and society in
the West, and, for more than fifty years, of political
weakness in the East. During these years Rome
was taken by the Goths, North Africa conquered by
the Vandals under Genseric, Gaul and Spain con
quered by the Franks and Burgundians, while all
Middle Europe was ravaged by the Mongol savage
Attila. On the other hand, this was the golden age of
Christian theology. The greatest galaxy of Christian
writers in the early Church wrought at this time.
While the old order changed and the old The Men of
world died, Christian thought showed a tne Per|od-
vigor seldom since surpassed. The greatest men of
the former period made this illustrious with their
closing labors. Such were the three great Cappado-
cians — Basil ; the two Gregories and their teacher,
Apollinaris ; with Didymus the Blind, the great teacher
of the Catechetical School of Alexandria ; and Diodo
rus, the founder of the great Exegetical School of
Antioch. But groups of the ablest Christian teachers
came to the ripeness of their powers and the fullness
of their labors in these seventy years. Among them
were the most famous names of the Christian Church.
In the West we find the great Latin fathers, Ambrose, i57

158 The Truths that Won.
Jerome, and Augustine ; writers like Vincent of Lerins,
Sulpicius Severus, and Paulinus of Nola ; and Rome's
ablest bishops, like Innocent and Leo. In the East,
centering about Antioch, Theodore of Mopsuestia,
Chrysostom, Theodoret, the most eloquent preachers
and the ablest exegetes of the early Church ; and prel
ates like Nestorius and Ibas of Edessa. With Alex
andria as a center, were Isidore of Pelusium and
Synesius ; Epiphanius, the great detector and pre
server of heresy ; and the most powerful prelates of
the East, its patriarchs, Theophilus, C}'ril, and Dios-
curus. The first forty years of this period was an interval
of peace between two great controversies — the Trini
tarian, under Athanasius, and the Christological, con
nected with the names of Nestorius and
Nestorius. , . , , ,
Eutyches. Men began to think how the
Son of God and the Son of man are united in Christ.
The controversy was started by Nestorius, a native of
Syria, and trained in the School of Antioch, who, in
428, had been made Patriarch of Constantinople.
Nestorius was a sincere and pious Christian, but with
a limited intellectual horizon, and lacking in tact and
political foresight. He taught: " The God-Logos-the-
Divine lived in Jesus as in a temple. God is not born,
but man has been born, and suffered ; hence Mary can
not be called the mother of God. Before the incarna
tion there was only one nature — the Divine — in Christ ;
afterward there were two, the Divine and human."
Nestorius was in favor with the emperor. At his re
quest, by imperial command, a General or Oecumen
ical Council was called at Ephesus at Pentecost, 431.
Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, 412-444, was an

Doctrine of the Person of Christ. 159
able theologian, a powerful, politic, and unscrupulous
ruler of the Church. He was jealous of Nestorius
because the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyrii of
was taken from Antioch instead of Alex- Alexandria.
andria. Cyril condemned his teaching, and accused
him of heresy. He won to his side Ccelestine, Bishop
of Rome. Menon, Bishop of Ephesus, the seat of
the Council, was his friend. Cyril came from Alex
andria to Ephesus with a fleet and fifty bishops.
About two hundred bishops were present. The
bishops from Syria, the supporters of Nestorius, had
not arrived, nor the legates from Rome, when the
Council began its sessions. The imperial commissa
ries protested against such precipitate action. Never
theless, through the influence of Menon and the
treachery of John, Patriarch of Antioch, the plans of
Cyril were carried out; and these proceedings were
afterward sanctioned by the Roman legates. The
Council framed no new Creed, but declared that the
Creed of Nicsea should be interpreted in the sense of
the Alexandrians. The Council condemned and de
posed Nestorius. The Emperor Theodosius II was
displeased with the Council, and refused to sanction
its acts. He exiled both Nestorius and Cyril. The
sentence was never taken from Nestorius, who wan
dered into Arabia and Upper Egypt, and died in ban
ishment, probably about 440. Cyril began negotiations
with the court for his restoration, In 433, upon sign
ing a creed drawn up by Theodoret, he was restored to
his See and to favor with the emperor, and obtained
the recognition of the acts of the Council of Ephesus.
Alexandria now became the supreme power in the
Eastern Church. Cyril died in 444. His successor,

160 The Truths thai Won.
Dioscurus, was passionate and violent, where he had
been prudent and strong.
Eutyches, the aged Archimandrite, or head, of a
monastery near Constantinople in 448, was accused of
heresy by Eusebius of Dorylseum. In sermons,
Eutyches had taught, "My God Jesus
Christ is not like me in nature. He has
not taken the human body, but a body like the
human ; that is, not an individual body, but a body
which is a compendium of human nature. He had
not a personal humanity. The human to the Divine
in Christ is like a drop of water in the ocean. Be
fore the incarnation there were two natures, the hu
man and the Divine in Christ; since, but one, the Di
vine." The accusation was tried before Flavian, Pa
triarch of Constantinople. Eutyches was condemned;
but being favored by the empress, he appealed to a
General Council.
Dioscurus, who was all-powerful with the em
peror, urged the calling of such an assembly. He
sought three things — the adoption of the view of the
Alexandrian party; the deposition of all bishops who
had written against the one nature in Christ ; and the
depression in rank of the Bishop of Rome, who had
opposed him, beneath the Eastern patriarchs. Dios
curus opened the assembly, 135 bishops being present,
in August, 449, at Ephesus. Eutyches was restored
without even according a hearing to his accuser.
Flavian, Eusebius, and a long list of bishops were de
posed, and Rome was placed below the Oriental patri
archs. When one or two bishops endeavored to op
pose these proceedings, Dioscurus called soldiers and
monks into the assembly. " ' Cut those in two who

Doctrine of the Person of Christ. 161
speak of two natures,' was the cry." Flavian was
grossly ill used, taken into exile, and died in a few
days while on the journey. The Roman legates es
caped by flight. This Council was called the Robber
Synod, from these violent proceedings, and its acts
annulled. In 450, Theodosius II died, and was succeeded by
his sister, Pulcheria, who raised her husband, the
Senator Marcian, an able ruler, to the throne. In
order to put an end to these destructive council of
divisions, and to curb the ambition and chalcedon.
usurpation of the Patriarch of Alexandria, Marcian
summoned the fourth and greatest Oecumenical Coun
cil to meet in September, 451, at Chalcedon. Six
hundred and thirty Eastern bishops and four legates
from Leo I of Rome were present. The devastations
of Attila prevented the attendance of Western
bishops. Rome, which had been in alliance with
Alexandria for one hundred years, now came to a
union with the emperor against the pride and vio
lence of Dioscurus, the head of the Church State of
Alexandria. Leo, the Bishop of Rome, was then the
greatest man living. At the Council the Alexandrian
watchword was, " Out of two natures, one Christ ;"
that of Antioch, "In two natures, one Christ;" the
decision of the Council, " Two natures in one per
son." The Council reinstated the bishops deposed at
Ephesus. Dioscurus was deposed, not for heresy,
but for violence and irregularity. The orthodoxy of
both Cyril and Theodoret was affirmed. The Creed
adopted was mainly derived from Leo's letter to Fla
vian in 449. Its twenty-eighth canon gave equal
dignity to the See of Constantinople with that of

1 62 The Truths that Won.
Rome. Canon Gore admirably sums up the issues
and value of this controversy :
" Another danger threatened the Church. Nes
torius denied that the babe on Mary's knees was God.
The new error necessitated a new dogma. The Chris
tian knew that, in worshiping Christ, God and man,
he was worshiping, not two persons, but one, and that
one the Eternal Son, who was born of Mary. He,
then, that denied that Mary's child was God, denied
either that it was indeed God who had taken flesh,
or that it was indeed flesh that he had taken. Christ
was one person, and that person Divine. For this
truth Eutyches had fought : Christ is one ; he is Di
vine. But having but one idea, and that to oppose Nes-
torianism, he lost, in the assertion of the unity and
Divinity of Christ's person, all sense of the counter
truth which alone gives reality to the incarnation, the
truth of his humanity.
" Eutyches refused to say that the human nature
remained in the incarnation. He shrank from calling
Christ 'of one substance' with us men. In some sort of
way he left us to suppose that the human nature was
absorbed into and lost in the Divinity. The Church's
instinct was sound when it condemned in Eutyches
the merging or annihilation of the human nature.
The whole doctrine of our salvation depends on
Christ being of one substance with us. He did not
merely touch our nature as from the outside, and, by
touching, transmit it into something else ; he took it
in all its parts — body, soul, and spirit — with all its
feelings, wants, instincts, powers, temptations, weak
nesses; sin only excepted. He took it all; he is it,

Doctrine of the Person of Christ. 163
and he is it forever. The whole doctrine of the sec
ond Adam centers in this. No assuming of the ap
pearance of man, of the clothing of mere human
flesh, will avail anything ; Christ is the second Adam,
the new man, the first parent of a restored human
nature. The whole value of the atoning sacrifice de
pends on this, that it was Man who offered himself in
that human nature, that in us had sinned. The whole
meaning of the ascension is lost if it is not our human
nature which is exalted to God's right hand."
The following is the Creed of Chalcedon :
"We, then, following the holy fathers, all with
one consent, teach men to confess one and the same
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in God
head, and also perfect in manhood; truly creed of
God and truly man, of a reasonable [ra- Chalcedon.
tional] soul and body ; consubstantial [co-essential]
with the Father according to the Godhead, and con-
substantial with us according to the manhood ; in all
things like unto us, without sin ; begotten before all
ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in
these latter days for us and for our salvation ; born of
the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to
the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord,
Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures,
inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;
the distinction of natures being by no means taken
away by the union, but rather the property of each
nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person
and one Substance; not parted or divided into two
persons, but one and the same Son, and Only-begot
ten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ ; as the
prophets from the beginning have declared concern-

1 64 The Truths that Won.
ing him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught
us, and the Creed of the holy fathers has handed
down to us."
The definition of the doctrine concerning the per
son of Christ was completed at the third Council of
Constantinople in 68 1, where the relation of the
human and Divine wills is clearly stated. Henceforth
the doctrine of the Church concerning our Lord is
that he is of one substance with the Father, of two
natures in one person, with two wills.
The Council of Chalcedon inflicted irreparable
injury upon the Eastern Empire. The Roman defi
nition was unpopular. Riots and long continued dis-
Resuits of turbances followed the conclusion of the
the council Council in Palestine and Egypt. It re-
of chalcedon. sulted in the losg of the CoptiC) Syriac,
and Armenian Churches from the communion of the
Greek Church. It weakened the allegiance of these
populations to the Imperial Government. The great
Sees of Antioch and Alexandria and their influence
fell away from the Church and Government at Con
stantinople. Instead of a united Christianity in the
East, there was formed a Coptic Church in Egypt ;
the Syrians became Monophj-sites through the un
wearied labors of Jacob Baradeus from after 541 ; and
hence they were called Jacobites. The Nestorians
were as far from being reconciled as ever. The Ar
menians retained the Creed of Cyril, but rejected
Chalcedon. The work of the Council was regarded
as the carrying out of the imperial program. All the
Churches which were not Greek in race or speech
separated from the Catholic Church. The result was
more owing to race and national differences than to

Doctrine of the Person of Christ. 165
theological distinctions. The emperors tried for one
hundred and fifty years to heal these dissensions, but
failed. Justinian called a General Council, the second
of Constantinople, in 553, to interpret the Creed of
Chalcedon in a Monophysite sense. At his desire, it
condemned Origen aud three of the early opponents
of the Monophysite doctrine — Theodore, Diodorus,
and Ibas. These efforts were unavailing. This age
long and widespread disaffection toward the Church
and Empire was one potent cause of the rapid Mo
hammedan conquests of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.
After 1,400 3rears, these Oriental Churches present a
divided and degraded Christianity to the Moslem
population and governments under whom they have
been in subjection and contempt for twelve centuries.

Chapter V.
THE PELAGIAN CONTROVERSY — DOCTRINE OF
HUMAN SIN AND REDEMPTION.
The chief figure in the Pelagian controversy was
Aurelius Augustinus, the greatest of the Latin fathers,
whose views on anthropology have profoundly af
fected the theology of Christendom until this day.
St. Augustine was born at Tagaste, in Numidia,
North Africa — present Algiers — November 13, 354.
st Augus- -^s fatner> Patricius, was a burgess of the
tine. town, and was still a pagan at the birth of
8 e- his son. He was a man of vehement and
sensual disposition, but afterward became a Christian.
His mother, Monica, was a Christian, and a woman of
piety, who took care to have her son instructed in the
true faith, and placed among the catechumens; yet,
notwithstanding all his mother's admonitions and
prayers, he grew up without any profession of Chris
tian piety or any devotion to Christian principles.
His father was greatly interested in his education.
He was sent first to Madura, and afterward, when
seventeen years of age, to Carthage, to learn rhetoric.
In his nineteenth year he read Cicero's" Hortensius,"
and eagerly engaged in philosophical studies. In 383
he left Carthage for Rome. His stay of twelve years
at Carthage — from his seventeenth to his twenty-ninth
year — was remarkable for two phases of his experi
ence, which color all his after life and thought. Car
thage was a most immoral city. Led ou by his pas-
166

The Pelagian Controversy. 167
sions, Augustine plunged into the profligate life of
the time. He formed an illicit connection — common
enough in that society — and had a natural son born
to him, whom he greatly loved, and named Adeoda-
tus. Wearied and disgusted with a sensual life, he
took refuge with the Manichseans, whose dualistic
principles, especially the essentially evil nature of
matter, harmonized with his struggles and feelings.
He went to Rome a" Manichseau, and lodged with one
of the sect; but meeting Faustus, their great leader,
he was greatly disappointed in his converse with him.
While he was teaching in Rome, Milan wished for a
professor of rhetoric. He was sent by Symmachus,
the prsefect of Rome, to fill the place. At Milan he
made the acquaintance of the great Ambrose, who
received him "like a father." He went to hear him,
" trying to discover if his eloquence came up to the
fame thereof." At last he was fully convinced of his
Manichsean errors, but far from a Christian.
He has left an account of his conversion (Con
fessions, 8, 13; P. N. F., Vol. I, p. 127): "I flung
myself down — how, I know not — under a Conversion.
certain fig-tree, giving free course to my
tears, and the streams of mine eyes gushed out — an
acceptable sacrifice unto Thee. And, not indeed in
these words, but to this effect, spake I much unto
Thee, 'But Thou, O Lord, how long? How long,
Lord? Wilt Thou be angry forever? O, remember
not against us former iniquities !' for I felt that I was
enthralled by them. I sent up these sorrowful cries :
' How long, how long? To-morrow, and to-morrow?
Why not now? Why is there not, this hour, an end
to my uncleanness ?' I was saying these things, and

1 68 The Truths that Won.
weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart,
when, lo ! I heard the voice as of a boy or girl — I
know not which — coming from a neighboring house,
chanting and oft-repeating: 'Take up and read!'
' Take up and read !' Immediately my countenance
was changed, and I began more earnestly to consider
whether it was usual for children, in any kind of
game, to sing such words ; nor could I remember ever
to have heard the like. So, restraining the torrent of
my tears, I rose up, interpreting it in no other way
than as a command to me from heaven to open the
book, and to read the first chapter I should light
upon. ... So I quickly returned to the place where
Alypius was sitting; for there had I put down the
volume of the apostles when I rose thence. I grasped,
opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which
my eyes first fell : ' Not in rioting and drunkenness,
not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying : but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts
thereof.' No further would I read, nor did I need;
for instantly, as the sentence ended— by a light, as it
were, of security infused into my heart — all the gloom
of doubt vanished away."
He was then thirty-two years of age. He pursued
a course of instruction for baptism, and that rite was
administered to him and his son by Ambrose, at
Easter, 387. He gave up his profession as a teacher,
and left Milan. His mother — the saintly Monica —
died at Ostia as he was about to sail for Africa. In
the same year he entered a community of monks,
living by rule, in his native city. There he lived in
retirement for about three years. In 391 he visited

The Pelagian Controversy. 169
Hippo — now Bona — when he was forced, by the ac
clamations of the people, to be ordained presbyter, at
the age of thirty-seven. Four years later he was or
dained coadjutor bishop with Valerius; and on the
death of the latter, 396, succeeded him in his See.
From his forty-first year until his death — thirty-four
years — he faithfully performed the duties of a bishop
in the early Church. While living in community
with his clergy, and conscientious in the performance
of the duties of his office, it largely directed his liter
ary labors. The bishop was the defense of the Church
against heresy. Hence, from the practical side of his
work came the incitement which made his writings
so largely controversial. He wrote his "Confessions "
in 397 ; carried on his controversy with the Mani
chseans from 395 to 400 ; with the Donatists, from
400 to 415 ; the Pelagian, from 412 to 428. His great
apology for the faith, the "City of God," was written
413-426. His most finished doctrinal work, on the
"Holy Trinity," occupied him nearly thirty years,
from 400 to 428
In 429, the Vandals, under Genseric, invaded Af
rica, carrying ruin and devastation with them. Gen
seric, in 430, besieged Hippo. Augustine was seized
with a fatal illness. Surrounded by the sufferings
and sorrows of a doomed city and a dying race, in the
third month of the siege, after seventy-five years of con
flict, this strong warrior soul passed from the city of
defeat and death to the city of God, August 28, 430.
Pelagius was a British monk, of whose early life
nothing is known. He came to Rome Pelagian
about 400. He was pious, of agreeable ad- controversy.
dress, and had an earnest, moral aim. He was scan-

170

The Truths that Won.

dalized at the evil lives of the Roman clergy. When
he rebuked them, they replied that "Augustine taught
that ' to do good is God's gift,' and he had not given
them that gift." Pelagius taught that God required
nothing impossible of men ; and that no ascetic exer
cise annuls the duty of watching and conquering
self. The chief points of difference are the following :
Augustine Held:
In Adam's sin all his de
scendants are involved as sin-

Pelagius Held:
Sin is not in the nature, but
in the will. Physical death is
natural, not the result of sin.
Adam's sin has not injured
his descendants. There is no
original sin.
A sinless life, led by man's
own power, is not absolutely
impossible. The freewill can
always act against sin at the
decisive moment.
All children are born in the
state of Adam's innocence.
Children dying unbaptized go
to heaven. Infant baptism is
a consecration.

ful, corrupted, and guilty.
Every man is in original sin.

We live only by the grace
of Christ, and that grace is
active, effective, and irresist
ible. This grace is bouna up with
baptism; so that unbaptized
heathen, and children dying
unbaptized, are shut out of
heaven Infant baptism is for
the remission of sin.

Semi-Pelagianism arose in the monasteries of
Southern France from the rejection of the extreme
opinions of Augustine in regard to grace and free-
Semi- will Its characteristic teaching was that
Peiogiamsm grace and free-will work together in human
salvation. Some held that free-will began the work
of salvation, and was supplemented by grace ; and
others that grace began the woik, and was enforced

The Pelagian Controversy. 171
by free-will. John Cassianus, their greatest leader,
taught that grace is necessary to every man, but free
will works with grace.
Pelagius met Augustine in 411, and then went to
Palestine ; and so far as we know, he spent the re
mainder of his life in the East. Augustine, feeling
that Pelagian doctrines were the essence of what is
Antichristian, wrote against him. A scholar course of the
of Augustine, Orosius, went to Palestine, controversy.
and, with Jerome, accused Pelagius at the Synods of
Jerusalem and Diospolis, 415. At both he was ac
quitted. He was condemned by two North African
Synods, 416. Both parties appealed to Pope Inno
cent I. He was on both sides, but finally inclined to
the African bishops. Pelagius's Confession of Faith,
directed to him, did not arrive at Rome until after
Innocent's death in 417. His successor, Zosimus, ex
pressly recognized the orthodoxy of Pelagius, 418.
In the same year the Synod of Carthage condemned
Pelagius, and his opponents obtained a rescript from
the Emperor Honorius, April 30, 418. Then Pope
Zosimus pronounced on that side. Pelagius was con
demned, with Nestorius, by the Council of Ephesus,
in 431. The small Synods of Orange and Valence, in
529, decided in favor of Augustinian teaching as
against both Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. Greg
ory the Great, 590-604, adopted a modified Augustin-
ianism, which ruled through the Middle Ages. We
must admit the truth of the deeper views of sin and
grace as taught by Augustine ; but all Protestants re
ject his teaching that saving grace is bound to the
sacrament of baptism ; and all who are not predesti-
narians deny that grace is irresistible.

172 The Truths that Won.
The peculiar doctrines of Augustine are in rela
tion to the effects of Adam's sin, original sin, the elec-
Augustinian tion of grace, and predestination. These
Teaching. are important from their wide and long-
enduring influence, and can best be given in his own
words. " Nevertheless, that one sin, admitted into a place
where such perfect happiness reigned, was of so
heinous a character that in one man the
whole human race was originally, and, as
one may say, radically condemned; and it can not be
pardoned and blotted out except through the one
Mediator between God and men — the man Christ
Jesus, who only has had power to be so born as not
to need a second birth." (Enchiridion, 48, p. 253.)
"Hence, the whole mass of the human race is con
demned ; for he who at first gave entrance to sin has
Original sin— been punished, with all his posterity, who
Universal were in him as in a root, so that no one
d^mnationof *s exemPt from this just and due punish-
the Non- ment, unless delivered by mercy and unde
served grace; aud the human race is so
apportioned that in some is displayed the efficacy of
merciful grace ; in the rest, the efficacy of just retri
bution. For both could not be displayed in all; for
if all had remained under the punishment of just
condemnation, there would have been seen in no one
the mercy of redeeming grace. And, on the other
hand, if all had been transformed from darkness to
light, the severity of retribution would have been
manifest in none. But many more are left under pun
ishment than are delivered from it, in order that it
may thus be showu what was due to all. And had it

The Pelagian Controversy. 173
been inflicted on all, no one could justly have found
fault with the justice of Him who taketh vengeance ;
whereas, in the deliverance of so many from that just
award, there is cause to render the most cordial
thanks to the gratuitous bounty of Him who deliv
ers." (De Civitate Dei, XXI, xii, p. 463.)
"And, consequently, both those who have not heard
the gospel, and those who, having heard it and been
changed by it for the better, have not re- T1)e Mass
ceived perseverance ; and those who, hav- of the
ing heard the gospel, have refused to come
to Christ — that is, to believe on him— since he him
self says, ' No man cometh unto me, except it were
given him of my Father;' and those who, by their
tender age, were unable to believe, but might be ab
solved from original sin by the sole laver of regener
ation, and yet have not received, this laver, and have
perished in death, — are not made to differ from that
lump which it is plain is condemned, as all go from
one [Adam] into condemnation. Some are made to
differ, however — not by their own merits, but by the
grace of the Mediator ; that is to say, they are justi
fied freely in the blood of the second Adam. There
fore, when we hear, ' For who maketh thee to differ ?
and what hast thou that thou hast not received?
Now, if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as
if thou hadst not received it?' (1 Cor. iv, 7) — we
ought to understand that, from that mass of perdition
which originated through the first Adam, no one can
be made to differ except he who has this gift, which
whosoever has, has received by the grace of the
Savior." (De Correptione et Gratia, Vol. V, ch. xii,
p. 476.)

174 The Truths that Won.
" Those, then, are elected, as has often been said,
who are called according to the purpose, who also are
Election predestinated and foreknown. If any one
and Perse- of these perishes, God is mistaken ; but
none of them perishes, because God is not
mistaken. If any one of these perishes, God is over
come by human sin ; but none of them perishes, be
cause God is overcome by nothing." (De Correptione
et Gratia, Vol. V, ch. xiv, p. 477.)
These peculiar doctrines of Augustine widely and
deeply influenced his own age. They were the result
of his thinking and experience, but were elaborated
Peculiar ln his controversies with the Manichseans,
Doctrines the Donatists, and the Pelagians. They
powerfully influenced modern Christendom. They
ruled the thinking of the Middle Ages and the teach
ing of Calvin, Luther, the English Puritans, and
their ecclesiastical descendants. For fourteen cen
turies he has been the leading theological teacher of
Western Christendom. Beginning with Arminius
and Wesley, the reaction against his opinions has be
come general in this century.
Augustine, to the grief of Christendom, was not a
scholar, nor was he a broad, constructive, or sympa
thetic theologian. He was a powerful and original,
Character of though not a consistent or comprehensive
his Thinking, thinker. His central thought is the doc
trine of sin ; his chief excellence, the exaltation of
grace. He brought religion out of philosophic cos
mology, and worship into the sphere of the innermost
life of the soul. His chief teaching ma}- be grouped
about the three ideas — the Church, predestination, and
the evangelical faith.

The Pelagian Controversy. 175
According to Augustine, the Holy Spirit is bound
to the Church, so that the Church is the necessary
means of salvation. The Holy Spirit is infallibly
communicated through the sacrament of
j- ..• 1 .......... . The Church.
ordination, by which an indelible character
is imparted to the recipient, and the priest is separated
from the laity as the one through whom the grace of
God is conveyed to men, and the holy sacrifice of the
Eucharist offered to God. Thus unbaptized children
are forever unsaved; marriage must become a sacra
ment, so as to be consecrated by the Church ; property
is consecrated by alms ; the Church should direct all
science; and the State is only valuable when it places
its means at the service of the Church. In these po
sitions, Augustine is the father of Roman Catholicism,
of the duty of religious persecution, and of those
ideas of Church authority and the necessity of
priestly sacrifice which are contradicted by the whole
history of the Protestant Churches.
Predestination has been so fully treated in the ex
tracts that only the briefest characterization is at
tempted here. The aim of Augustine's teaching is
union with God. Sin is separation from Predestina-
God, self willing to be independent, the tl0I,•
proud thought of the heart. Sin brings unrest ; only
God can give rest. This is brought to men in com
munion with God through grace, which irresistibly
seizes us and gives us a new being. Grace is con
ceived as coming from the absolute decree of God be
fore all time ; so that the saved are sons of God be
fore their birth, their faith in Christ, or any connec
tion with the means of grace. It is conceived as
flowing, independently of Christ or his work, out of

176 The Truths that Won.
the being of God. Every process of the earthly or
individual life, or of collective history, is only an ap
pearance ; in reality, it occurred before all time in the
counsels of God. From this results a conception of
God which contradicts the most evident ethical princi
ples. Augustine never fully overcame his Manichse
ism. There is a persistent dualism running through
his whole scheme of thought. The devil and his
kingdom forever rival, if they do not endanger, the
supremacy of God.
Grace which brings salvation is given on account
of Christ, his sufferings, and his cross. "And thus
he appears for us as our head, himself the fount of
The Evan- grace." The just shall live by faith, is a
geiicai Faith. new thought from the Holy Scriptures.
These Scriptures were the foundation of Augustine's
thinking. He lived in them. They were the source
of the faith by which we are saved. In his love
and use of the Bible and treatment of traditions out
side of it, he laid down positions held by the Protest
ant Churches. In his fundamental conviction, " For
me to cleave to God is good;" and that God is in us
to create faith and good works, bringing the human
soul into immediate connection and dealing with God ;
and in the rejection of all human merit or good works
as procuring salvation ; but that it is of God's grace
alone, — he does away with all Church or priestly medi
ation, and prepares the way for the Reformation.
These are his main, but not only, contradictions.
They arise from the cast of his mind, more acute and
profound than comprehensive ; from his lack of broad
culture, his practical aim, and the exigencies of con
troversy. The ground of his central teaching con-

The Pelagian Controversy. 177
cerning original sin seems to have been suggested to
him from the practice of infant baptism as of use in
the controversy with Pelagius. The teaching con
cerning the priesthood and the Church was developed
in the Donatist controversy. Augustine, with all his
writings, prepared no work which will compare with
Origen's " De Principiis." Perhaps his greatest error,
and the one from which Christendom has suffered
longest, is that of confining the work of the Holy
Ghost to those who are in communion with the
Catholic Church. The recognition of the larger mis
sion of the Holy Spirit is the prerequisite to success
in the work of Christian missions, and the funda
mental condition of the reunion of Christendom.
Professor Harnack has called Augustine the Re
former of Christian Piety. It is this aspect of his
work which commends him to us, in spite of contra
dictions and unworthy conceptions of God and man.
For Augustine, Christianity was not a higher knowl
edge; with him there were no differing classes of
Christians according to intellectual capacity. He
taught that, " not what one knew or said decided, but
what one loved ; for when it is asked whether any
one be a good man, it is not asked what he believes
and rightly hopes, but what he loves. For he who
loves rightly, without doubt rightly believes and
rightly hopes ; but he who loves not, believes in vain.
Little love is little righteousness ; great love is great
righteousness ; perfect love is perfect righteousness."
Through love in humility, we renounce self and
lust, and receive God and his law ; the peace of God
is poured into the soul ; the living God is its Friend.
So he taught, in his "City of God," that the historical

178 The Truths thai Won.
development was to end in perfection through the Di
vine education of the race. Augustine was a man of
high-souled courage ; he loved God ; he was fearlessly
truthful and honest. His works have been the sup
port of all truth-loving souls from Luther and Calvin
to the Jansenist of Port Royal and to Dollinger and
the opponents of the Vatican decrees of our own
day. His character and personality gave weight to
his words through the ages, and is well outlined in
our closing extract :
" O how wonderful, how beautiful and lovely are
the dwellings of thy house, Almighty God ! . . .
O Jerusalem, holy city of God, dear bride of Christ,
Augustine's my heart loves thee; my soul has already
Meditations. iong sighed for thy beauty ! The King of
kings himself is in the midst of thee, and his children
are within thy walls. There are the hymning choirs of
angels, the fellowship of heavenly citizens. There is
the wedding-feast of all who, from this sad, earthly
pilgrimage, have reached thy joys. There is the far-
seeing choir of the prophets ; there the company of
the twelve apostles ; there the triumphant army of in
numerable martyrs and holy confessors. Full and
perfect love there reigns; for God is all in all. They
love and praise ; they praise and love him for evermore.
Blessed, perfectly and forever blessed, shall I too be,
if, when my poor body shall be dissolved, . . .
I may stand before my King aud God, and see him in
his glory, as he himself hath deigned to promise.
' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory which I had with thee before the world
was.'" (P. N. F., Vol. I, p. 6.)

fart Third.
THE RULERS IN THE NEW WORLD. 179

Chapter I.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EARLY CHURCH.
Our Lord left no command on the subject of
Church government, and no ideal constitution for the
societies gathered in his name. He gave, as the prin
ciple of their being and organization, a love like his
own, and a spiritual headship never vacant or changed,
because held by himself, and manifest and ministered
by the Holy Ghost. This makes legitimate all forms
of Church rule and authority which do not violate
these two fundamental principles of the Redeemer's
reign in his kingdom.
' The Church was an assembly of all baptized be
lievers. All had, or were supposed to possess, the
Holy Spirit. They controlled their affairs TheApostoIic
in a democratic, congregational manner, church.
and the spiritual motive predominated. pos eg'
The apostles were those to whom they owed their
founding and first hearing of the gospel. They were
not necessarily of the twelve, but, both in their time
and later, of those who had not seen the Lord, being
traveling teachers or evangelists, who had given up
whatever property they possessed to the poor, and
went everywhere preaching the word. They are men
tioned in the Acts xiii, i; i Cor. xii, 28; Eph. iv, n ;
and the " Teaching of the Twelve." The nearest
modern example would be the itinerant founders of
the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. 181

1 82 The Rulers in the New World.
The prophets were sometimes traveling teachers,
like the apostles, as we see in the " Teaching of the
Twelve," and in the "Shepherd" of Her-
Prophets. mas; and sometimes settled, as seem to
have been Agabus and the daughters of Philip. The
distinctive feature of their office was that they gave
the word of the Lord. They were held in high honor,
and judged as true or false by the test of their lives.
They offered prayers at the communion, and received
of the gifts then offered.
The teachers were men like Apollos, or assistants
of the aposties, like Timothy, or Titus, or Silvanus.
They taught the teaching necessary for the
congregation and suggested by the Spirit.
They taught of faith, love, and wisdom. Prophets
and teachers are grouped together, as at Antioch —
Barnabas and Simeon, Lucius and Manaen. In addi
tion, there were those specially endowed with gifts, by
the Spirit, of government or ministration to the needs
of the poor, the sick, or of the Church. These were
all spiritual gifts to a person, and not to an office.
But the leadership of the Church was not left en
tirely to these personal endowments, of which it
Church might be deprived by death or removal.
Officers. a certain position was given to men who
were first converted, and had and maintained influ
ence in the Church, such as Stephanas, at Corinth.
Men were chosen to an official position in the early
societies, having recognized duties and responsibilities.
Such was the choice of the deacons recorded in the
sixth chapter of Acts. So Paul and Barnabas or
dained elders in every Church they founded in Asia
Minor, on their first missionary journey. So Titus

Organization of the Early Church. 183
was exhorted to ordain elders in the Churches in
Crete. So Paul writes to the bishops and deacons of
the Church at Philippi, and calls to him the elders of
the Church at Ephesus. And we find, early in his
ministry, in the Church at Jerusalem, at the Apostolic
Council, 55, the apostles and elders ; so, also, 1 Pet. v, 1.
These official terms, bishops and elders, or presby
ters, seem to be used interchangeably, and their offices
were of equal rank and dignity during the first hun
dred years of the Christian Church. Compare Titus
i, 5 and i, 7 ; 1 Tim. v, 17-19, with iii, 1 and iv, 14;
Acts xx, 17 with xx, 28; so, also, the epistle of Clem
ent, 96, and "The Shepherd" of Hernias, 130, shown,
also, by the language of Irenseus, 177-202, and Clem
ent of Alexandria, 190-220. The apostles living and
teaching in communities of Jews and Gentiles con
formed the organization of the Churches more or
less to the social forms with which they were famil
iar. There was no idea of establishing an exact pat
tern of Church government, to be closely copied dur
ing the Christian ages. This is clearly seen when we
consider the apostolate, the foremost ecclesiastical
office in their time. They made no provision for its
continuance after their death. The apostolic fathers
knew nothing of an apostolic succession of bishops.
Hence, whatever shape Christian truth, Christian love,
and the necessities and circumstances of the time,
under the guidance of the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit, gave to the organization and polity of
the Church, was both legitimate and providential.
This organization was, at the first, of the simplest
kind. Following the forms of the organization known
to the Synagogue, as far as these were suited to a

1 84 The Rulers in the New World.
Christian assembly, the first officers of the infant
Church, after the apostles, were deacons and presby
ters, or elders. It is significant that the dea
cons, the first Church officers chosen, were
destined to an office which had developed through
the exigencies and increase of the work, and was
wholly original, but has continued through all forms
of Church organization, and through all ages to our
time. The deacons were chosen at first to relieve the
apostles from the care of temporal concerns, and to
minister to the sick, the poor, the widows, and later,
the martyrs, and any needing help. In the early
Church, the ministry was to the temporal necessities
of the faithful, and the first officers chosen by the
Church were for this service. Though two of the
original seven were preachers of the word, this minis
try seems not to have belonged to their office.
Their character and demeanor were to be such as be
comes representative men in the Christian society,
holding positions of responsibility in respect both to
the Church and to the world. In time, they became
the ministers or deputies of the bishops in their ad
ministration of the increasing temporalities of the
Church, and assistants of the presbyters in the admin
istration of the sacrament of baptism and of the
Lord's Supper. When men of signal ability, they be
came assistants of presbyters and bishops at the Dio
cesan, Provincial, and even Oecumenical Councils.
Long before 400, the office became a recognized step
toward the priesthood. And yet, though this office is
found in almost all forms of Church-life, still, in none
of them do its original duties form the main func
tions of the officers who bear its name. In the

Organization of the Early Church. 185
Greek, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal Protestant
Churches, it is a lower step to the priesthood or elder
ship, and its duties are confined to assisting the offi
ciating ministers in the sacraments. In the Churches
of the Presbyterian and Congregational polity, the
main duty of the deacons is to look after the tem
poral and spiritual condition and current expenses of
the Church. If the sick and poor come under their
charge, it is only an incident, and not the main con
cern of the office.
Indeed, the original idea in its purity seems only
to be realized in the revived office of deaconess.
Their work and ministry were known and
praised in the Apostolic Church, and men
tioned by heathen enemies in the beginning of the
second century. From the second to the third cen
tury, the office became inferior to that of the widows
of the Church, who discharged most of their peculiar
duties. In the Greek Church, it was revived in the
fourth century. In the Roman Church, it gave way
finally to the female monastic orders. It was revived
in Germany, England, and America, in this century,
for the accomplishment of a work long neglected in
Protestantism. The crying need, especially in our
large centers of population, is for a revival of the
primitive office of deacon, and the congregational care
of the sick, destitute, widow, the orphan, and the aged.
The word presbyter is the Greek word for senior,
or elder. From it come our words priest and Pres
byterian, Presbytery, etc. Its nearest Eng-
. , , , . Presbyters.
lish equivalent is elder, and it is so trans
lated in our version of the New Testament. To the
Christian presbyter were given the functions and du-

1 86 The Rulers in the New World.
ties which were confided to the elders in the Jewish
synagogue. The Jewish elders formed a court, which
administered discipline in their community and as
sembly. There is little doubt that Christian presby
ters or elders were at first disciplinary officers, who
looked after the morals and behavior of the society.
The presbyters condemned to ecclesiastical censure,
and deprived of communion, or assigned other forms
of discipline or penance. They also pronounced the
penitent absolved, and restored to the communion of
the Church. The communities in which the founder,
or predominant element, was Jewish, had elders.
The Church at Jerusalem had elders, but also a
lengthened presidency of James, the brother of our
Lord. The Churches at Ephesus had elders; but St.
John long presided over them. So the Church at
Antioch had elders ; but Ignatius _was their bishop.
The administration of the Eucharist and the benedic
tion were deemed inherent in the office of presbyter ;
but all presbyters were not originally preachers,
though teaching from the Scriptures came to be their
recognized work, especially in the East. While the
Churches of Jewish origin had elders, the Churches
of Gentile stock had bishops — probably conforming to
the title and office of the mutual relief and burial
clubs of that time. The presbyterate has suffered no
such transformation as the diaconate and episcopacy.
It is now, as it has been through the ages, the great
office of the Christian ministry through which the
preaching of the word, the administration of the sac
raments, aud the care of souls has been and is now,
ministered to millions of believers. Through the
presbyterate, as by no other means, the love, word, and

Organization of the Early Church. 187
sacraments of our Lord come to the hearts and family
life of Christians. A Church could exist without
bishops and without deacons ; but without the dis
charge of the duties which fall to the office of the
Christian presbyter, it could have no organized life.
The piety, devotion, ability, and character of the
presbyterate has, in every generation, been the surest
test of the spiritual condition and the effective work
of the Christian Church.
In the Gentile communities, the bishop was largely
a financial as well as a disciplinary officer. Repre
senting the Church, he seems to have had charge of
the funds which were ministered by the dea-
1-1 ii T 1 ¦ Bishops.
cons to the sick and the poor. In this way
he became responsible, not only for the contributions
for current expenses, but also for the money or real
estate given to the Christian community by bequest
or deed of gift. As he had charge of the financial
resources of the Church, and presided over the con
gregation, as the presbyter in Churches of Jewish
origin, he must have kept the canon, or catalogue, or
list of members. This being in his custody, he alone
could tell who were worthy of letters of Christian
commendation, and of the alms and temporal care of
the Church. Thus, when heresies were rife, the
bishop was the depositary of the apostolic tradition of
the faith; and he applied the standard to all mem
bers of the Church, especially to those receiving her
aid. Not only so, but he was the recognized de
fender of the faith against the heretics ; and through
his ability in controversy and his government, he
was the great bond of the unity of the Church and
the guard of its purity both in faith and morals.

188 The Rulers in the New World.
Hence he became more and more a preacher of Chris
tian truth and the representative of the Christian
community. In the intercourse of the Churches with each
other, the presbyterate would extend to the Gentile
Churches, as no one man, and hence no bishop, could
perform the duties which devolved upon the presby
ters ; hence they formed the council of the bishop in
cases of discipline and administration, dispensing the
sacraments, and teaching under commission of the
bishop. How did Churches originally having elders
come to have bishops? In various ways in different
places. In some places, apostolic residence — as at
Jerusalem or Ephesus, and possibly Peter at Antioch —
gave a permanent presidency to the College of Pres
byters. This continued in Palestine until 200. In
other places, "the College of Presbyters would tend to
choose, for the performance or superintendence of any
action resolved upon, one of their number, who
would be the episcopos for the occasion. If of proved
fitness for executive duties, he would be often chosen,
and tend to become permanent. His authority was
long a delegated one, and his influence dependent
mainly on his personal qualities."
The bishop was in the beginning but the first
among equals, and then president of the presbyters
for purposes of discipline. The worship of the
Church demanded a leader, a single individual. The
intercourse between the Churches demanded a repre
sentative man in each. From 125 to 200, the bishops
increased in power through the conflict with the
Gnostic heresies and Montanism. In Asia Minor,
Syria, and North Africa, there was a bishop in every

Organization of the Early Church. 189
small town; in Pontus, Gaul, and later in Upper
Italy, they were only in the chief cities ; in the time
of Irenseus, only one bishop was in Gaul, at Lyons.
By 170, each individual community was ruled by a
gradation of officials, at whose head was the bishop;
and the bishop represented the community.
In regard to apostolic succession in this age, Pro
fessor Ramsay says : " The theories of the functions
of the episcopate and its relations to the community
varied with the lapse of time. In Igna- Apostolic
tius, the Clementines, and the Apostolic Succession.
Constitution, 115-260, the bishop stood in the place of
the unseen Lord, intrusted with the oversight of his
Master's household until he should return. Later it
came to be a not unnatural inference, from the belief
that the bishop was the custodian and conservator of
apostolic teaching, that he, rather than the presbyters,
took the apostolic place. The bishops had succeeded
the apostles in the presidency of several of the
Churches by a delegated vicarious ordination."

Chapter II.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EPISCOPATE.
The great feature of the Church organization of
this period, 170-600, was the increase in the power
and authority of the Christian bishop. It is difficult
to conceive how the Church could have maintained
herself against the manifold heresies and divisions of
the century between 150 and 250, without the strong
and centralized government of the episcopate. This
also formed so firm a bond of union and government
that the organization of the Church was stronger than
that of the Roman Empire, as experience taught
Decius and Diocletian. The development of a fixed
and controlling executive power like the episcopate
seems to have been an historic necessity. The office
drew to it, for the service of the Church, the greatest
men of the time. In persecution, they were the first
selected for the attack. They nobly stood the test of
martyrdom; as witness Symeon and Alexander of Jeru
salem, Ignatius and Babylas of Antioch, Fabianus
'and Sixtus of Rome, Cyprian of Carthage, Pothinus
of Lyons, and Methodius of Tyre, to take only the
most noted. They were among the first missionaries
to the barbarians, as Ulfilas to the Goths and St. Mar
tin of Tours to the Franks. Indeed, in any list of
the great men of this time, confined even to teachers
and writers, the larger and more influential part
would be found in the ranks of the episcopate. Such
were Athanasius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine,
190

Development of the Episcopate. 191
Cyprian, and Eusebius of Csesarea. To them fell the
task of preserving and transmitting the laws and cul
ture of the old civilization to tlieir Frankish conquer
ors, a task which later came to the monasteries.
At the beginning of this period the presbyters
formed with the bishops a college or board, like a
Board of Trustees, for the charge of the Bishops and
different administrative duties. The bishop Presbyters.
regarded himself as fellow-presbyter and priest with
them, only that he had precedence in rank. They
often formed an aristocratic party, in opposition to the
bishop. The deacons were subordinate to them, as
they could not administer the Lord's Supper, which
was the function of the presbyters.
The defense against heresy increased the authority
of the bishop and the respect of the office. Irenseus
taught that neither Apostolic Churches nor the scholars
of the apostles can assure the truth against Defense
human weakness of remembrance and sub- against
jective influence. But God assures the "nJVhe
truth through the bishops, who, in virtue of Apostolic
their office, have a gift of the Holy Ghost, Saccess ""¦
and take the place of the apostles and prophets. The
gift is such that in the apostolic office of bishop lies
the assurance of apostolic truth. The bishop is the
heir of the spiritual gifts of the early Church, and,
through the succession of bishops, is the continuance
of the authority of the apostolate in the Church.
This is the germ of the theory of apostolic succession ;
and in 190 this view finds its earliest expression. Its
farther development is thus sketched by Professor
Ramsay : " When discipline as well as doctrine cen.
tered in the bishops, it began to be argued that they

192 The Rulers in the New World.
had succeeded, not only to the seats which the apos
tles filled, but also to the powers which they pos
sessed. It began to be urged that -the powers, espe
cially of binding and loosing, which the Lord had
conferred on the apostles, were given them, not per
sonally, or as constituting the Church of the time,
but in representative capacity, as the first members
of a long line of Church officers. Against an early
assertion of this view, Tertullian raised a vigorous
protest; nor did the view win its way to general ac
ceptance until the time of the great Latin theologians
of the fifth century, 410-440. It was a still later de
velopment of this view to maintain that the bishops
had also succeeded to the power of the apostles in the
conferring of spiritual gifts, and that through them,
and through them exclusively, did it please the Holy
Spirit to enter into the souls of either individual
Christians in baptism, or of Church officers in ordi
nation. It was received as a doctrine by the Council
of Paris, 829, and passed into the ordinals, or ritual
for ordination."
The man whose writings and influence affected
the doctrines of the Church and the development of
the episcopacy more than any other one man in this
or any other period of the history of the
Church, was Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus.
He was born at Carthage, about 200. Of patrician
family, and highly educated, he had either inherited
or acquired considerable wealth. For some time he
was occupied as a teacher of rhetoric. Enthusiastic
in his temperament, accomplished in classical liter
ature and rhetorical art, while a pagan he courted
discussions with converts to Christianity. Csecilius,

Development of the Episcopate. 193
a. presbyter of Carthage, was the instrument of his
conversion; and he assumed his name when he was
baptized, 246. He devoted his wealth to the relief
of the poor and to other pious uses. He was chosen
bishop of the Church at Carthage, 248, an office which
he held until his martyrdom in 258. We have a con
temporary account of his execution. The people
crowded to the scene. He was called the friend of
the poor, the helper of the defenseless. The place
of execution was thronged as at the death of a king.
The governor said : "A few more such executions,
and we are lost."
Cyprian's extraordinary qualifications and activity
as an ecclesiastical ruler are seen clearly in his letters.
He lived in the times of heretical divisions, schisms,
and of the persecutions. He apprehended Cypi.ian0I1
the unity of the Church as of a living or- the
ganism. He made this union a visible and P'sc°Pate-
external one, through the sacraments and the regu
larly-ordained clergy; not in a unity of faith and fel
lowship with our common Lord. He declared : " He
can no longer have God for his Father who has not
the Church for his mother. . . . Does any one be
lieve this unity, which comes from the Divine strength
and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in
the Church ? He who does not hold this unity does
not hold God's law, does not hold the faith of the
Father and of the Son, does not hold life and sal
vation." Cyprian made the episcopate the representative of
this unity. He taught the substantial equality of the
Christian bishops. The bishops, by the gift of the
Spirit received at ordination, are the successors of the
13

194 The Rulers in the New World.
apostles— they have apostolic powers, are teachers
and judges of Christians; they bind and loose, "and
are stewards of Divine gifts of grace. His motto
was, "The, Church in the bishop." He says: "They
are the Church who are a people united to the priest,
and the flock which adheres to its pastor. Whence
you ought to know that the bishop is in the Church,
and the Church is in the bishop, and if any one be
not with the bishop, that he is not in the Church "
The ability and generosity, the self-denial, paternal
care, and benignity of this great prelate, with his
death of martyrdom, tended to make this the prevail
ing doctrine and the corner-stone of the religious
organization. The position of Augustine as the great theologian
of the West, his piety, his success as a controversial-
influence of ist, his character and growing influence,
Augustine. made decisive his opinions on Church au
thority. He follows in the path of Cyprian, but goes
beyond him. " No one attains to salvation and to
eternal life who has not Christ for his head — who does
not belong to his body, which is the Church. The
entire Christ is the Head and body ; the Head is the
only begotten Son of God, and the body is the Church.
He who agrees not with the Scriptures with the doc
trine concerning the Head, although he may stand in
external communion with the Church, notwithstand
ing, belongs not to her. But moreover, he who holds
fast to all the Scripture teaches respecting the Head,
and yet cleaves not to the unity of the Church, be
longs not to her. . . I should not believe the
gospel had I not been moved to do so by the author
ity of the Catholic Church." Undoubtedly, unity was

Development of the Episcopate. 195
the great need of the Church in that age of the disso
lution of all political and social bonds ; but this was a
great price to pay for it. A broad foundation was
laid for the claims of Rome and the superstructure
was not long wanting.
The noblest representative of the episcopate of
these centuries was Ambrose of Milan. His father's
name was Ambrose, and he was prsetorian Ambrose.
prsefect, or imperial governor, of Gaul, "JsLife
Spain, and Britain. During his term of office, his son
Ambrose was born in Gaul, probably in 340. While
quite young, his father died, when his mother repaired
to Rome. There he received a religious education,
and was reared in habits of virtue by his mother, a
woman of exceptional accomplishment and piety.
He was trained in the rudiments of Greek and Roman
literature, and in law. He won such reputation in
the practice of law at the court of Probus, the prse
torian prsefect of Italy, that he was taken into his
counsel, and afterward appointed consular prsefect, or
imperial governor, for Liguria and .Emilia, which in
cluded Milan, Liguria, Turin, Genoa, and Bologna.
His residence was at Milan, and by prudent and gen
tle use of his power, he conducted the affairs of the
province with general approbation and growing pop
ularity. Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, died in 374. The
tide of religious feeling ran high between the Arians
and the orthodox. The people came together for the
election of a new bishop. Ambrose came in his civil
capacity of governor. " He spoke to the people in a
grave, eloquent, and pathetic address, admonishing
them to lay aside their contentions, and to proceed to

196 The Rulers in the New World.
the election in the spirit of religious meekness."
Some one cried out, " Let Ambrose be bishop," when
he was at once unceremoniously chosen to the vacant
See. He declined the office, and concealed himself,
but was discovered, and his election was confirmed
by the emperor. He was then a catechumen, but was
baptized, and eight days afterward, in his thirty-fifth
year, toward the end of 374, ordained Bishop of Mi
lan. He had never married, but lived with his sister
Marcellina, who had early taken the vows of a virgin
in the Church, and a brother, Satyrus, likewise un
married, and both older than himself, in the tenderest
intimacy and family affection. Upon his ordination,
as he had large means, he distributed his money to
the poor and settled his lands upon the Church, ex
cept some of which he made his sister tenant for life.
His sister looked after all the domestic needs of the
household, while his brother relieved him from all
financial cares and responsibilities. He entered upon
a regular course of theological study, under the care
of Simplician, a presbyter of Rome. He studied
Philo, Origen, and Basil, and read Clement of Alex
andria and Didymus. In his thinking, he drew from
the Scriptures, the philosophic writings of Cicero, and
from Philo and Origen. He was fitted for the duties
of the high office to which he was so unexpectedly
called by the purity of his character, his natural abil
ity as a teacher and governor, his warm sympathies,
and undaunted courage ; also, in the execution of his
duties, he was able, bold, aud upright.
Ambrose responded with zeal to the cause of the
orthodox against the Arians. He presided at Aquileia
in 381, where the Arian bishops were condemned and

Development of the Episcopate. 197
deposed. He withstood successfully Symmachus in
his petition for the restoration of the Altar of Victory
in the hall of the Roman Senate, and the revival of
the pagan ceremonies. In 384, the young Emperor
Valentinian and his mother Justina professed the
Arian faith. They requested the use of two churches
for the Arian party, but Ambrose refused. Force
was employed to take possession of the large basilica
for the imperial worshipers. The people favored
Ambrose, and filled the church. Ambrose said: " If
you demand my person, I am ready to submit; carry
me to prison or to death — I will not resist ; but I will
never betray the Church of Christ. I will not call upon
the people to succor me ; I will die at the foot of the
altar rather than desert it." One of the imperial
chamberlains sent word to him : " While I live, dost
thou despise Valentinian, I will strike off thy head!"
Ambrose replied : " God grant you to fulfill what you
threaten ; for then my fate will be that of a bishop,
your act will be that of a eunuch." The empress
desisted from her purpose. When the emperor was
urged to confront Ambrose in the church, he replied :
" His eloquence would compel you yourselves to lay
me, bound hand and foot, at his feet."
Ambrose refused to celebrate communion with
those who had caused the death of Priscillian for
heresy, and with the usurper who had murdered his
friend, the Emperor Gratian. He expended the treas
ure and melted the sacramental service of the church
to rescue the multitudes of Christians taken captive in
the wars of that time. He successfully interceded
with Theodosius for the pardon of those who had
supported the usurper Eugenius. When Theodosius

198 The Rulers in the New World.
himself, in a fit of ungovernable rage, had caused the
massacre of seven thousand persons in the circus at
Thessalonica, as punishment for a riot in which the
majesty of the emperor had been insulted, and some
of his officers maltreated and killed, Ambrose with
drew from the capital, and wrote a courteous but
manly letter, in which he bade the emperor repent
and do public penance for his sin. Theodosius ac
knowledged his guilt, stripped himself of his royal
insignia, and, praying for pardon with groans and
tears, was received again into communion with the
Church. Ambrose proved true indeed what his secretary
said of him after his death, — he was "a man who, for
fear of God, had never feared to speak the truth to
kings." The writings of his episcopate of twenty-
three years fill four volumes, and comprise commen
taries, sermons, ethical and practical writings, and
ninety-two letters. Some of his hymns have come
down to us, and are in all collections. The old Ro
man spirit and power speak in them.
He was not above his age in his exaltation of celi
bacy, his superstitious reverence of relics, dreams, and
false miracles, and his bigotry, preventing justice to
infidels and heretics where the interests of the Church
were concerned. But he was great in character and
as a Christian bishop. He fed with a liberal hand
the poor who flocked to his dwelling ; he showed un
common generosity and kindness to his adversaries ;
with Christian affection, he sought the happiness of
all men. He everywhere commanded the confidence
of men. The dying Theodosius, " the last great em
peror of the world," commended his sous to his care.

Development of the Episcopate. 199
When Ambrose was dying, the regent Stilicho urged
the people to pray for his recovery. " I have not so
lived among you," said Ambrose, " as to be ashamed
to live ; I have so good a Master that I am not afraid
to die." He passed from the cares of the Church
militant to the joys of the Church triumphant, on
Good Friday, April 4, 397.
If there was magnificent scope for the exercise of
episcopal powers in the days of Ambrose, the oppor
tunity was not less in the time of the Teu- Bishops in
tonic conquest. The bishop then had his ^"'J"^
residence in the city — often in the prseto- Conquest.
rium, or house of the Roman governors. He wore
the dress of a Roman noble, and was the center of
the old Roman life, culture, and law. He acted as
judge among the Roman inhabitants, as understand
ing their law, and where were concerned widows and
orphans. He had in his care and administered the
great wealth and large estates of the Church, which
had been given and bequeathed by the pious of both
the Roman and Teutonic peoples. In the assemblies
of the Frankish nobles, he sat beside the king. In
this intercourse, the bishops brought to the Frankish
nobility, not only the Roman culture, but the Chris
tian religion. The bishops were either men trained
to a monkish life in the cloisters, or men of rank and
literary talent from the old Gallic nobility ; in either
case, men of education. The monk had to outgrow
the cloister; the noble often lacked the spiritual
mind. Of the necessary qualifications for the office,
Sidonius Apollinaris, himself a bishop of the time
and a man of rank, writes: "If a monk is called to
be a bishop, he might be as holy as Paul or Anthony,

200 The Rulers in the New World.
Hilarius or Macarius; yet would an objection be
raised whether he would not use his office, not as a
bishop, but as an abbot. He would be able to entreat
for souls with the heavenly, but not with the earthly
judge. The laity would not accommodate themselves,
as would the clergy, to a monastic discipline. If he
should be a clergyman, so would jealousy be aroused
in all the rest ; if a layman, so would they take it ill
that he came from the laity. He should be capable
of every embassy ; not once only should he be in the
service of the city before the king in royal sables, or
stand before princes in purple cloaks." The bishops
were the one bond for the whole society ; their elec
tion, the only political act of the people. They were
the "natural protectors and helpers of the poor, the
prisoners, slaves, and freedmen. They used benefi
cence in such great measure as perhaps the world
never saw again. When the Goths had ravaged South
eastern Gaul, Bishop Patiens, of Lyons, distributed
grain gratuitously, not only in Lyons, but in all the
cities on the Rhone and the Saone, in Aries, Riez,
Avignon, Orange, Albi,Valence, Troyes, and Clermont.
Sidonius Apollinaris strove to mediate between con
tending armies, freeing those carried into slavery.
So did the bishops generally. No merchant went
through the land to whom was denied an episcopal
letter of commendation. The Jews knew how to
prize their worth." It was not strange that, in an
age of defeat, invasion, and ruin, the rule of the world
fell into hands so able, characters so disinterested, and
wills so strong. These were the new rulers of the
new world.

Chapter III.
PROVINCIAL SYNODS, METROPOLITANS, AND
PATRIARCHS.
In the sketch of the Roman provincial adminis
tration, in the first part of this volume, the meeting
and functions of the Provincial Assembly for arrang
ing matters of taxation was described. This had its
first and fullest development in Asia Minor. The
importance of understanding the Roman political ad
ministration is seen, not only in the conflict of the
heathen empire with the Church, and in the state of
society treated in the fifth part, but especially in re
spect to the organization of the Christian Church,
which, in all the gradations above the local society,
followed closely the imperial model.
Provincial Synods, or Councils, are first found in
Asia Minor, after the example of the Administrative
Council (of the province at the time of the Synods
Montanist and Paschal controversies. They and Metro-
spread widely through Asia Minor and the po
East, in the period from 160 to 200. They met in the
spring and fall. They are first found in the West in
the early part of the third century. They were first
called to settle controversies, as under Cyprian ; but
by 250 they have a fixed form in Africa and Rome.
Bishops alone vote in these assemblies; but other
clergy may attend. In the first half of the third
century, the bishops of the provincial capital have a
precedence over the other bishops of the province.

202 The Rulers of the New World.
He convokes the Synod, prepares the business which
shall come before it, and draws up its decrees. He is
the superior bishop of the province, and becomes
metropolitan, or archbishop. The Provincial Synods
develop an independent Church organization. The
metropolitans were formally recognized by the Coun
cil of Nicsea. It provided that no bishop could be
consecrated withco the consent of his metropolitan.
Though with no legal right, he came to influence the
elections, as the Bishop of Alexandria those of Egypt.
He exercised ecclesiastical superintendence over the
whole province — the erection of new bishoprics, the
delimitation of the metropolitan See, the removal of
a bishop, the power of alienating Church property,
and the care of the vacant bishoprics. In extreme
cases, appeal was made to him, when he had the power
of controlling the provincial bishop without the as
sistance of other bishops. He sent synodal letters, or
accounts of important decisions or proceedings of
the Councils, to the bishops. He could give or re
ceive letters of communion, and publish and carry
into effect laws enacted either by the emperors, or by
Councils, relating to the Church.
The bishops of a province elected and ordained
their metropolitan without the concurrence of the
Their metropolitan of any other province. This
Election. was the approved constitution of the
Church from Nicsea to Chalcedon, 325-451. After
ward, in the East, the election was conditioned by
the rights of the patriarch.
In the latter part of the third century, Synods of
more than one province were called together in cases

Provincial Synods. 203
of controversy, as in the controversy concerning the
Lapsed, or those who had taken part in heathen sac
rifices, when were assembled the bishops
of Africa and Mauritania. So, in the case
of Paul of Samosata, in 262-268, a Synod of all the
Syrian bishops was called at Antioch, and invita
tions were sent to the Bishops of Egypt and Cappa
docia. Groups of provinces were united into prse-
fectures for purposes of imperial administration.
These came to have ecclesiastical Synods. At the
Council of Chalcedon, 451, following and influenced
by the civil divisions of the empire into dioceses, the
metropolitans of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Con
stantinople, and Rome became patriarchs. By the
end of this period, the Bishop of Rome had gained a
certain primacy over the other patriarchs. The Greek
and Roman Catholic Churches recognize patriarchs
of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexan
dria, thus maintaining a double succession. The
Syrian, Maronite, and Coptic Churches have patri
archs, as have also the Nestorians and the Arme
nians. None of these Oriental Churches acknowledge
the supremacy of the Roman See.
The organization of the Greek and Oriental
Churches culminates in the patriarchate. The Church
of England has the complete episcopal organization,
with archbishops at its head, who are Metropolitans
of Armagh and Dublin, of Canterbury and York.
The various episcopal Churches among the Protest
ants, except the Protestant Episcopal Church, which
follows the Church of England, have the office, func
tions, and order of bishops, with no tactual succes-

204 The Rulers in the New World.
sion. This is the episcopacy of the first two centu
ries. It includes the Lutherans, Moravians, and
Methodist Episcopalians.
The Reformed Churches and the Presbyterian
bodies are governed by Assemblies of presbyters and
laymen. All clergymen are of equal rank. The In
dependents, Congregationalists, and Baptists have no
gradation of clerical rank or Church superiority, the
individual Church being the unit and sole authority
in their organization. Each of these great systems of
Church polity — the Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Con
gregational — can claim some features of the organiza
tion of the early Church. Despite all the variety in
that organization during the first century, it may be
doubted if there is in existence a Church polity which
does not either largely add to the organization of the
Apostolic Church, or contradict the principles or
usage of the apostles themselves.

Chapter IV.
THE PRIMACY OF ROME.
How did the Bishop of Rome come to have an au
thority superior to the other bishops of the Church?
How did he become Pope and head of the Roman
Catholic Church?
How did he come to claim to be the supreme ruler
in the Church for all Christendom, and the vicege
rent, or representative, of God on earth?
These questions outline the history and claims of
the Papacy. The answers to them can not fail to be
of interest to every Christian.
The accomplishment of these ends and the defin
ing of these claims was a process of centuries ; but it
depended, first and chiefly, on the political source of the
importance of the rule and authority of the ,m|£Ih'l,ce
city of Rome. That alone explains the see of Rome.
facts. How great was that dominion, how long in
preparation, how enduring in structure, will be plain
to the reader of the opening pages of this volume.
Without some comprehension of the world-wide and
age-enduring rule of Rome, there can be no under
standing of the existence and authority of the Roman
Catholic Church. With that clearly in mind, there is
no mystery in its origin, growth, and predominance.
Rome was the source of law and government for four
hundred years over the lands conquered by the Chris
tian faith — a territory larger than that of all Europe.
205

206 The Rulers in the New World.
From Rome law was received, and appeals in its admin
istration were made, and allegiance rendered, for more
than the lifetime of ten generations of men. It would
have been strange if, after the destruction of Jerusa
lem, the center of the societies of that Church which
aimed at universal conquest for our Lord had been
at any other place than at the capital of the world.
That time was at the full-tide of the power and splen
dor of the empire. It was the age of the Coliseum.
The Church of the first generation after the Pas
sion and Pentecost looked, as did Paul and the other
First Center apostles, to Jerusalem as the mother Church.
of the church Its fall made necessary another center. An-
at Jerusalem. ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ bg the first Chnvch of
the Gentile Christians, and Ephesus to have had an
acknowledged influence during the life of St. John ;
but neither of them could compare with the metrop
olis and capital of the empire, where Jewish and Gen
tile Christians were nearer fusion than anywhere else,
where St. Paul was martyred, and where St. Peter
was said to have preached and ruled and died with
him.* That Rome was necessarily the center of every
widespread religious movement in the empire is
Rome Takes Proved by every influential heretic coming
the Place of to Rome, from Simon Magus to Sabellius.
So the great Gnostic leaders, Marcion and
Valentinian, and Theodotus, the author of the error
for which Paul of Samosata was condemned. The
causes which drew heretical teachers to Rome would
make influential the Church which met and overcame
their teachings, and cast them out of its fold. With
this great cause, as always in every process of histor-
*See Appendix, Note A.

The Primacy of Rome. 207
ical development, wrought many important minor
ones. A cause of no small influence was the position
of the Christian society at Rome. It was early
founded — probably soon after Pentecost— by some
Jewish Christians, whose names and share in the
work are alike unknown. When St. Paul wrote, in
57, the Church was then strong, influential, and well
spoken of in all Churches of the Christian faith. The
next notice we have of the Church is in the epistle of
Clement, 96, in which he shows how the Roman
Church interests herself in the affairs of other
Churches. He gives the judgment and advice of the
Church in Rome in regard to disorders in the Church
at Corinth. The Church showed itself liberal, sym
pathetic, and interested in intercourse with other
Churches in the provinces, and equal to the demands
which her position made upon her.
The conflict with the Gnostic heresies and Mon
tanist error in the second century increased the influ
ence of the Church of the largest city where the faith
of Christ was preached. Not only were Effect0fthe
chiefs of heretical parties busy in Rome, controver-
but appeals were made to the Roman Hse"tl^, on
Church by both parties where differences the Position
, . .1 c of Rome.
arose in the provinces, as in the case ot
the Montanist controversy in Asia Minor. Bishop
Victor, of Rome, 190-202, endeavored, in the Paschal
controversy, to cause all the Churches, especially
those of Asia Minor, to conform to the Roman date
for celebrating Easter. Irenseus, writing 190, holds
that " the true faith in the whole Church must be in
agreement with Rome, because it is the greatest, the
oldest, and known of all, and founded by the apostles

208 The Rulers in the New World.
Peter and Paul, and had preserved the apostolic tradi
tion and faith until his time by a succession of
bishops." A check in this progress to a primacy over the
bishops of the other Churches was experienced at the
Effect of the cl°se 0I" the second century, in the develop-
organization ment and independence of the provincial
yno s. organjzation 0f Synods, and in the theory
of Tertullian and Cyprian that all bishops, not those
of the apostolic seats — that is, cities where the
apostles had lived — only, assure and preserve the
Christian faith.
Cyprian taught that the episcopate from its origin
was one, and all bishops are equal. In each, all are
represented. The chair of Peter, Bishop of Rome,
is the symbol of the unity of the episcopate. In the
case of Paul of Samosata, 273, the heathen Emperor
Aurelian decided that those were Christians who
were in communion with the Bishop of Rome. This
applies to the provincial bishops.
A third cause was the fact that Rome was the only
apostolic seat in the West. He^- authority, derived
from the residence and teaching of the apostles, was
shared with no city west of the Adriatic.
Rome the , r . , .
Only Apos- From her the faith went out to Africa,
toiicSeatin Spain and Britain, while Irenseus, born in
the West, ,r . ... , „, . ¦' ^ ,
Asia Minor, and ruling the Church in Gaul,
acknowledged the greatness of the Roman Church.
The uniqueness of this position was seen in the re
lations between the bishops of the East and West.
When the Synodal decrees were sent from the bishops
of the East, they were sent to the Bishops of Rome,
who communicated them to the other Churches of the

JLt'i
wxM-'m*

The Primacy of Rome. 209
West. Two most momentous secular changes, the
removal of the capital from Rome and the barbarian
invasions, greatly enhanced the position of Rome as
the mother Church and the superior episcopal seat in
the West.
The removal of the capital from Rome to Con
stantinople freed the Roman Bishop from the nearness
and oppression of the imperial power, which proved
so often injurious, and sometimes fatal, to Removal of
the occupant of the See of Constantinople. tne CaP|tal
frvi tt r -r. 11 from Rome to
The power of the Bishops of Rome had constanti-
opportunity to develop without the calling nop,e-
to account, dwarfing of prerogative, and pruning of
claims, which would have limited it, if the imperial
residence had remained by the Tiber instead of being
transferred to the Bosphorus.
The invasions of the barbarians tended to the
same result. The secular power being humbled or
overthrown, the conquerors looked with awe and
reverence at the only possessor of power, EHect of tne
of influence and government, whom their Barbarian
numbers could not intimidate or tlieir arms on<iues ¦
and pillage destroy. The fact that these alien in
vaders were of the Arian Creed bound the orthodox or
Nicsean Christians to the supremacy of the Roman
See as their patron and protector. In him was pre
served the majesty of the Roman name and the au
thority of the Roman power. In the person of Leo
I, the Bishop of Rome acceded to the vacant throne
of the emperors of the West. Thus the Bishop of
Rome became the head of Western Christendom, and
hence of the Roman Catholic Church.
The progress of the See of Rome to the primacy
14

210 The Rulers in the New World.
is seen in its relations with the bishops of the East.
There was now the capital of the empire, and apos
tolic seats and churches as ancient as
Influence of . . _,
Theological Rome. The predominance of Rome was
Controver- greatly advanced by the theological contro
versies of the East. Rome always profited
by fishing in troubled waters. During the great Arian
controversy her bishops were the steadfast supporters
of the orthodox cause. Athanasius found protection
and support from Julius, 340-346, which kept the
West firm by his side. The result was at once ap
parent. The Synod of Aries, 314, and the Council of
Nicsea, 325, had not once mentioned any claims of
the superiority of the Bishop of Rome; but the Coun
cil of Sardica, 343, decreed that a bishop condemned
by a Provincial Council might appeal to Julius, Bishop
of Rome, who might review the case before judges
named by him. The Council was a small one of the
bishops adhering to Athanasius ; and the jurisdiction
conferred is one of honor and for the present emer
gency by an oppressed minority. The Roman bishops,
however, claimed it gave a general and direct juris
diction over the whole Church, and falsely ascribe it
to the great Council of Nicsea. The first Council of
Constantinople, 381, however, gave Constantinople a
place beside Rome as one of the patriarchates. The
bishops of North Africa were in dispute in regard to
appeals to Rome with its bishops from 418 to 432.
The Canons of Sardica, falsely ascribed to Nicsea,
were appealed to in order to sustain the claims of
Rome. The African bishops investigated the case,
denounced the false claim, and refused the right to
appeal. Nevertheless, Chrysostom, 403-407, appealed

The Primacy of Rome. 211
to Rome from the arrogance of Theophilus and the
tyranny of the emperor. So both parties in the con
troversies of Nestorius and Eutyches appealed to the
occupant of the Roman See. Yet the Bishops of
Rome have not always been orthodox. Victor, Zephy-
rinus, and Callistus, 190-222, were Modalistic Monar
chians. Liberius, 358, signed a heterodox creed at
the command of the Arian emperor. Zosimus, 417,
favored Pelagius, while the occupant of no See ever
made a more pitiable exhibition of obsequiousness
and tergiversation than Vigilius, 540-555.
The extension of the hierarchical constitution,
through the creation of metropolitans and patriarchs,
favored the advancement of the Roman Bishop. In
the West, it made him the supreme eccle- Effect of the
siastical authority. In the East, after Chal- Metropolitan
cedon, 451, Alexandria was overthrown Constitution-
and Antioch discredited by the Nestorian heresy, while
Constantinople, with no apostolic tradition, and ham
pered by the imperial authority, was no match for the
growing power of Rome. We will see this power
suffering defeats, but making steady advance toward
the recognition of permanent authority and primacy
in the great Popes of the last two centuries of this
period. The list of the Bishops of Rome for the first two
centuries presents only four Latin names. The mem
bership and officers of the Church and the language
of its worship were alike largely Greek. The Chris
tian religion had not yet won the ruling minds of the
great governing race of the ancient world. Indeed,
there is no name of note in the list from St. Clement,
100-109, to that of Innocent I, 402-417. While Ath-

212 The Rulers in the New World.
anasius, Chrysostom, Cyprian, Ambrose, and Augus
tine were making forever illustrious the Sees they
Early Bishops ruled, no great words or work or character
of Rome. comes from Rome. While great schools at
Alexandria, Csesarea, and Antioch were producing
scholars, authors, and eminent prelates, but two au
thors of any note are recorded in the Roman annals,
and they were the schismatic Hippolytus and Nova-
tian ; for while Jerome was a Roman presbyter the
work by which he is remembered was done after he
left Rome. If there is no single great name in these
centuries in the history of the Roman Church, in the
last two of our period, 400-600, there were three
great men who were most able ecclesiastical rulers, and
obtained and secured the primacy of the Roman See
in all the lands of the West. The first Leo and the
first Gregory were the ablest men of their times, and
laid the foundations for that supremacy of the Roman
Church which endured until the Reformation.
Innocent entertained the appeal of Chrysostom
against Theophilus of Alexandria, and endeavored to
arrange a Council of Bishops to secure justice. He
innocent i, inclined against Pelagius. During his pon-
403-417. tificate Rome was taken by Alaric, though
in his absence. He encouraged celibacy. By his en
lightened rule he won many heathen to the Church.
He had genius for administration. He strongly urged
the claims of Rome. He wrote thus to the CouDcil
of Carthage, 417: "Whatever was transacted in the
provinces — let them be ever so remote — should not
be considered as ratified until it had come to the
knowledge of the Apostolic Chair ; so that by its en
tire authority every just decision might be confirmed,

The Primacy of Rome. 213
and other Churches, as the pure streams should be
distributed from their original, undisturbed source
through the different countries of the world, might
learn from this Church what they had to ordain,
whom they had to pronounce innocent, and whom to
reject as irreclaimably wrong." These claims were
rejected in North Africa; but the time came when
they could be made good.
Leo I, born about 390, was a man of lofty am
bition and commanding intellect. He was highly cul
tivated, according to the standards of that time, but
knew no Greek. He came in conflict with the Mani
chseans, and gave them choice of conversion or banish
ment. He was distinguished above all his Leo i,
predecessors for his preaching. From his 440-461.
short, pithy sermons are derived many of the lessons
found in the Roman Breviary. Ninety-six of his ser
mons and one hundred and ninety-three of his letters
have come down to us. After the complete destruc
tion of Aquileia in 452 by Attila, King of the Huns,
Leo met him, and persuaded him to turn back from
an attack on Rome. He was less successful with Gen-
seric in 455 ; but he showed equal courage, and miti
gated in some degree the horrors of the worst sack
and pillage Rome has known. At the Council of
Chalcedon, 451, Leo's letter to Flavian, in which he
set forth the doctrine of the two natures in the one
person of our Lord, became the basis of the Creed of
the Council and of the Church. But Leo's greatness
stands out as the " representative of the imperial dig
nity and severity of old Rome ; and he is the true
founder of the mediaeval Papacy in all its magnificence
of conception and uncompromising strength." He

214 The Rulers in the New World.
was the first Pope. What were the grounds of his
conception of the authority of the Roman See will
be given nearly in his own words. His chief thought
is that he is Peter's representative. This teaching
had first been broached by Stephen, 253-257; it had
not been forgotten by Damasus, 366-385, Siricius,
385-395, or Innocent; but Leo first made it of per
manent influence. It is the one theological basis for
the Roman supremacy, and answers our third question
in regard to the claims of Rome. Leo says: "The
love of the whole Church recognizes Peter himself in
his See, and Peter's care still rules in all parts of the
Church." Peter's successor is all he was, whose
special commission it was to " strengthen his breth
ren" and "to feed Christ's sheep." More than this,
"Christ willed that his sacred gift (the spreading of
the gospel) should belong to the office of all the
apostles only so far as is consistent with his having
endowed the blessed Peter, chief of all the apostles,
with it in a supreme manner, and his having willed
that from him, as from a head, his gifts should flow
out into the whole body, so that he should know that
he has no share in the Divine mystery who has dared
to retire from the solid foundations of Peter." And
moreover, " though there are many bishops and pas
tors, yet Peter should govern them all by his peculiar
office, whom Christ governs by his supreme author
ity. Thus great and wonderful is the share in its
own power which the Divine condescension assigned
to this man." Rome is mightier than when at the
head of the empire. " They [the apostles Peter and
Paul] it is who have brought thee [Rome] to such a
height of glory, that as a holy race, an elect people, a

The Primacy of Rome. 215
royal and sacerdotal state, raised to be head of the
world through the Holy See of the blessed Peter, thou
shouldest rule with a broader sway in the divine re
ligion than by thine earthly dominion."
Canon Gore sums up tersely the points of Leo's
theory: " 1. Whatever Peter was among the apostles,
that the Pope is among the bishops. 2. The statement of
Pope is not patriarch, or chief among pa- Leo's claims.
triarchs, but is in immediate relation to the whole
Church East and West, similar to the relation of the
capital to the whole Roman Empire. 3. Peter is a
mediator between Christ and the other apostles. He
is the only immediate recipient of the sacerdotal
grace ; and what the others receive, they receive
through him. If this be true, then separation from
Rome is separation from grace, and therefore from
Christ." Of course, there is no support for such
teaching in the Holy Scriptures, and the example of
St. Paul at Antioch is in evident disproof. But Leo's
theory of mediatorship was consistent and thorough
going. He says: "Indulgence of God can not be
obtained except by sacerdotal [priestly] supplication."
His practice corresponded with his theory. He
wrote to the Illyrian bishops "that on himself as the
successor of the apostle Peter, on whom, Le0>3
as a reward of his faith, the Lord had con- Practice.
ferred the primacy of the apostolic rank, and on whom
he had firmly grounded the universal Church, was
devolved the care of all the Churches, to participate
in which he invited .his colleagues, the other bishops."
He succeeded in securing an edict from Valentinian
III, 445, " that nothing should be done in Gaul, con
trary to the ancient usage, without the authority of

216 The Rulers in the New World.
the Bishop of Rome ; and the decree of the Apos
tolic See should henceforth be law."
Leo's greatest triumph was the acceptance of his
teaching as the basis of the Creed of Chalcedon ; but
Leo and the with this victory came a sore defeat. The
cnaicedon twenty-eighth canon of this Council, fol-
451. lowing the canon of the first Council of
Constantinople, 381, made the city on the Bosphorus
equal in rank with Rome, and enlarged the limits of
her patriarchate. This shattered Leo's theory and
claim of universal and immediate appellate jurisdic
tion. He contended against it, but it remained in
force in the East.
Leo's greatest work was the establishment of the
right of bishops, in cases of importance, to appeal
from their metropolitans to the Pope at Rome. This
is the corner-stone of the Papacy, and is rejected by
the Greek, Oriental, and English Churches, who re
tain the constitutions of metropolitans and patriarchs.
Leo does not refer to the Virgin Mary ; mentions
relics but once ; sanctions prayers to the saints, but
mentions only Sts. Peter, Paul, and Laurence. He
makes no allusion to confession in any sacramental
sense. His conduct in controversy has been denounced
as " imperious, precipitate, unjust, and not overscru-
character pulous ;" and his style characterized as
of Leo. « business-like, severe, terse, and epigram
matic." He was sincerely pious, modest in reference
to himself, and with himself severe. His whole life
was given to the aggrandizement of the See of Rome,
which he was convinced was the only safeguard of
Society, the Church, and the faith. In ability to think

The Primacy of Rome. 217
and to rule, no greater name is found among the
Popes of Rome.
The years following Leo's pontificate were stormy
ones for the Roman See. On account of a quarrel
with the Bishop of Constantinople, com- From Leo to
munion was broken off between the East Q«gory 1.
and West from 484-519. A few years later, the
armies of Justinian came into Italy. After twenty
years of rapine, desolation, and conquest, the Popes
were little more independent than the Bishops of Con
stantinople. No bishop of the imperial capital ever
showed greater compliance or baseness than Vigilius,
540-555. Under his four successors — Pelagius I,
John III, Benedict I, and Pelagius II, 555-590 — the
Papacy reached the lowest depths of degradation and
dependence. From this condition it was raised by
Gregory I, who realized Leo's theories in practice,
and from whom directly descends the Papacy of the
Middle Ages.
Gregory I, called the Great, was born, probably,
at Rome, about 540. His father, Gordianus, possessed
senatorial rank. Pope Felix II is said to Gregory
have been his great-grandfather. His tne Great-
mother, Sylvia, was remarkable for her mental endow
ments. Both she and two of his father's sisters, Tar-
sillia and jEmiliana, have been canonized as saints.
He was educated for the law. When about thirty
years of age, he was chosen prator urbanus by the
citizens, a position he held for three years (571-574),
discharging his duties with great pomp and magnifi
cence. Deeply affected by the death of his father, he
retired from public life, and gave his whole fortune to
pious uses. He built six monasteries in Italy, and

218 The Rulers in the New World.
one in Rome, dedicated to St. Andrew, in which he
embraced the Benedictine rule, and devoted his whole
time to works of charity and the exercise of fasting,
meditation, and prayer. He became abbot of the
monaster}' in 575, and afterward was Papal repre
sentative at the court of Constantinople for three
years. In 590, he was chosen Pope. He declined,
but was confirmed by the emperor. As Bishop of
Rome, he had charge of the Churches and ecclesias
tical interests of the city. As metropolitan, he had
the oversight of the seven suffragan, or later cardi
nal, bishops in the neighborhood of Rome. As pa
triarch, he ruled over Central and Southern Italy and
the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. In addi
tion, with Leo, he claimed appellate jurisdiction over
the whole Church.
Gregory was a great administrator — one of the
very greatest of a great race. Eight hundred and
Work forty of his letters remain to attest the
ofdregory vjgor of his mind and the variety of his
occupations and responsibilities. During his pontifi
cate, the Lombards were checked ; discipline enforced
in Italy, France, England, Spain, and Africa ; pagan
ism, Arianism, and Donatism weakened. He saw re
alized the desire of his heart for forty years, in 596,
in the mission of the monk, Augustine, for the con
version of England. He was the inventor of the
Church doctrine of purgatory, and the modern Roman
teaching concerning masses and transubstantiation.
The present order of the mass is almost entirely due
to his arrangement. He gave attention to sacred mu
sic and primary education. Not slow to assert the
authority of the Papal Chair, he was far from claim-

The Primacy of Rome. 219
ing the titles and privileges of his successors. In his
protest against the use of the title of Universal Bishop
he sa3Ts : " The apostle Peter was the first member of
the universal Church. As for Paul, Andrew, and
John, they were only the heads of particular con
gregations ; but all were members of the Church
under one head, and none would ever be called uni
versal." In his administration as patriarch, he paid partic
ular attention to the choice of bishops. The candi
date should be already in holy orders ; not ;a) choice
bound to any secular office ; free from of Blsn°Ps
bodily defects ; of good life and conversation ; well-
versed in the Holy Scriptures, especially the Psalms;
benevolent and charitable ; not a youth, or one who
had married a second wife or a widow, or who had
young children. If suitably qualified, he was to be
chosen from the clergy he was to rule. The use of
money or influence in the elections was strongly pro
hibited. Finally, Gregory reserved the right of con
firmation to himself.
While he insisted on his rights of supervision and
strict discipline over bishops and metropolitans, he
was equally careful to respect theirs. He (D) ms Ad-
writes to Dominicus of Carthage in 592 : ministration
. .in Reference
"But as to what your fraternity has writ- to the
ten about ecclesiastical privileges, have no Bishops.
doubt whatever about this, that as we defend our own
rights, so we preserve those of every single Church.
I neither grant to any one, through favor, more than
he has a claim to ; nor, through ambition, derogate
from the just rights of any ; but I desire to honor
my brethren in all respects, but that each one should

220 The Rulers in the New World.
be so honored that his rights be not opposed to those
of another." Gregory took great interest in the condition of the
cleigy. He held that "bad priests are the cause of
(C) The the people's ruin ;" that " what is a fault in
clergy. a iayman, is a crime in a clergyman;" and
" that a clergyman, corrupt within, can not long stand
in relation to the world outside." He forbade the
ordination of any one in public office, civil or mil
itary. Wandering clergymen were called back to
their work. He urged upon all the supreme duty of
aiding the poor and oppressed. " In all the clergy,
he required strict celibacy ; they were to have no
women in their houses but mothers, sisters, or wives
married before ordination, from whom they were to
live separately."
As the first monk who became Pope, he had great
solicitude for the condition of those following the
monastic life. To an abbot, he writes :
(d) Monks. . ...
As the ceaseless remissness of thy de
ceased predecessor saddened us, so thy care rejoices
us. Restrain, therefore, those who are committed to
thee from gluttony, pride, avarice, vain discourse, and
all uncleanness. In which correction, know that this
order is to be observed, that thou love the persons,
but persecute the vices, lest, shouldst thou act other
wise, correction pass into cruelty, and thou ruin those
thou desirest to amend." He ordained that no man
was to become a monk under eighteen years of age;
two years of probation were always to be required
(Benedict required but one), and from soldiers three;
no married person was to receive the vows, unless
both man and wife were willing to embrace the mo-

The Primacy of Rome. 221
nastic life ; not even an abbot was to leave his con
vent except on urgent occasions, and no one ever
alone ; no monk or nun was to retain any private
possession ; no young woman was to be made an ab
bess ; no woman was to be " veiled " (finally and irrev
ocably consecrated to virginity) under sixty years of
age — (forty appears to have been the previous limit
fixed by the Councils.) He was careful to see that
monastic communities were provided with endow
ments, and to protect them in the possession of such
as had been given them by bequest or otherwise.
He contributed largely from the revenues of " the
patrimony " for this purpose.
The care and increase of this patrimony was an
unceasing object of his solicitude. The See of Rome
had large possessions, constituting what . , Care f
was called the "Patrimony of St. Peter," "thePatri-
not only in Italy and the adjoining islands, mony-
but also in remoter parts, including Illyria, Gaul, Dal-
matia, and even Africa and the East. In regard to
the possessions of the Church in Italy, Mr. Bryce
says : " Ever since the restriction of the Western
Empire had emancipated the ecclesiastical potentate
from secular control, the first and most abiding object
of Gregory's schemes and prayers had been the ac
quisition of territorial wealth in the neighborhood of
the capital. He had, indeed, a sort of justification ;
for Rome, a city with neither trade nor industry, was
crowded with poor, for whom it devolved upon the
bishop to provide." Thus was laid the foundation for
wealth which led to power, and, one hundred and
fifty years later, to that temporal dominion which
ceased only in 1870. These estates of the entire pat-

222 The Rulers in the New World.
rimony were managed by officers called " rulers of
the patrimony" and "defensores," to whom Gregory
continually wrote, directing them about the manage
ment of the farms and the protection of the peasants.
In this work, he showed a genius for administration
more minute and not inferior to Leo's. The reve
nues of the "patrimony" were divided according to
custom in the West — in equal parts to the bishops, the
clergy, the buildings and service of the Church, and
to the poor.
Gregory was unbounded in his charities. A great
part of the population of Rome depended on them.
Daily, when he sat down to dinner, a por-
(f) Charities. "" ' V
tion was sent to the poor at his door. He
had the poor and infirm searched out in every street,
and kept a large book for the names of the objects of
his bounty.
What difficulties he fought against in the closing
years of his work, and yet how untiring and success-
Last Days ful he was in its performance, his letters
of Gregory. show. jn 600, he writes to Eulogius of
Alexandria : "In the last year, I have received your
letter, but have been unable to answer it until now,
owing to the excess of my illness. For nearly two
years I have been confined to my bed, and afflicted
with such pains from gout that I have hardly been
able to rise for three hours' space on festivals to cele
brate mass. I am soon compelled, by excess of pain,
to lie down again, and seek relief by groaning. My
pain is sometimes alleviated, and sometimes intense ;
but never so alleviated as to leave me, nor so intense
as to kill me. Hence I am daily dying, but never
die." Writing to Theodelinda, Queen of the Lorn-

The Primacy of Rome. 223
bards, in 604, he says : " Not only are we unable to
dictate ; we can not even rise to speak ; as your mes
sengers, who found us well when they came, have
left us in the utmost danger." The indefatigable and
dauntless spirit left this home of pain, March 12, 604.
In personal appearance, Gregory was of medium
height. The expression of his countenance was
mild ; his features were regular ; his com- aregory's
plexion swarthy and fresh. He had a high Appearance.
forehead, with dark hair, nose slightly aquiline, lips
thick and ruddy, and his beard somewhat tawny and
of moderate length.
Gregory had an excessive preference for monastic
and ascetic forms of life, and the superstitions of the
age in regard to miracles and relics. He aregory's
was sometimes too courtly in his address character
to rulers, the most lamentable instance of which was
his letter to the cruel usurper Phocas. " In nature
and bearing he was singularly tolerant, liberal, and
kindly;" in administration, considerate yet firm —
never harsh or domineering.
The use of the pallium was introduced in confirm
ing the election of bishops, and so strengthening the
power of Rome, 543~595- The pallium TnePallium
was a narrow band, which surrounded the
neck, and hung down before and behind, like a let
ter Y. It was made of white wool, ornamented with
four dark-purple crosses. It was sent from Rome by
the Pope, and no election was valid which was not
confirmed by the receipt of this gift. This made the
entire episcopacy of the West dependent on the Ro
man See, and is the corner-stone of the constitution
and administration of the Roman Catholic Church.

224 The Rulers in the New World.
Two events beyond this period were necessary to
the development of the Papacy of the Middle Ages.
Conquests of One, the conquest of the Saracens, which
the Saracens, destroyed the patriarchates of Jerusalem,
Antioch, and Alexandria, limited the development
and growth of Constantinople, and so removed all
rivalry, if not resistance, of the Churches of the
Orient. On the other hand, the life-and-death strug
gle of Christendom for existence in Africa, Spain,
France, and Italy made helpful the centralization of
authority and discipline in Rome ; and the conversion
of the Teutonic nations contributed to the same
result. The final step, and the one on which the Papacy
of the Middle Ages rested, was not taken until "the
"Forged 'Forged Decretals' secured it its temporal
Decretals." suzerainty, the immunity of its priesthood
in the superior ecclesiastical tribunals, and the tre
mendous prerogative of excommunication and inter
dict." The Papacy was the slow-growing development of
the hierarchical constitution of the Church. The
Causes of the system of bishops, archbishops, and patri-
Deveiopment archs seemed to require a head to complete
of the Papacy. ... ., ., •_,, . . ,
it, and secure its unity. This develop
ment also represents the results of personal ambition
and fraud. From the forged date of the Sardican
Canon to the Forged Decretals and donation of Con
stantine, through the Middle Ages, fraud has been a
powerful element in the establishment of the Papal
claims. However beneficial such a centralized authority
was, in some respects, to the life and civilization of

The Primacy of Rome.

225

the Middle Ages, we should not forget that it ren
dered necessary the separation of the Greek and Ro
man Churches, and hence the division of Christen
dom in the face of a powerful Mohammedanism,
which was the crowning misfortune of the Crusades,
and caused the loss of Constantinople to Christen
dom ; and that it rendered necessary the great Refor
mation before the Middle Ages could give way to
modern times. It is to-day a survival of an outworn
part in the life of the Church and of Christian civili
zation. Its claims, both political and ecclesiastical,
are as anachronistic and impossible of realization as
its infallibility is incredible. 15

Chapter V.
THE CLERGY.
The development of the life and work of the
clergy and their position in the Church, the State,
and society was determined by the action of three
forces — the theoretic ideal of the office, the organiza
tion and discipline of the Church, and its legal estab
lishment by the State.
Though there were special officers from the first in
the Church, these never received spiritual gifts to the
exclusion of the rest of the Church, nor were they
Thearowth cnannels through which the grace neces-
of the Sacer- sary to a Christian life came to the body of
dotal ideal believers, nor were they widely sundered
from them. The consciousness of this general priest
hood of believers remained long in the Church. Ter
tullian says: "Are not we laymen priests? Where
three are, a Church is, although they be laymen. For
each individual lives by his own faith; nor is there
exception of persons with God." Also Origen says:
"All Christians are priests; not merely or pre-eminently
the office-bearers, but all according to the measure of
their knowledge and their services in the kingdom of
God." On the other hand, Clement, 96, quotes the
Jewish priests in the Old Testament as a type and
analogy of the Christian ministry. This was a favor
ite parallel with those who wished to exalt the clergy
above the laity. In the third century, especially after
the overthrow of Montanism, there came into prorni-
226

The Clergy. 227
nence the idea of the Christian minister as a sacer
dotal priest. This was favored by the increasing com
parison of the Christian worship with the heathen
mysteries. The sacrificial idea was first set forth
fully by Cyprian, and with emphasis, as a fundamental
distinction, by Augustine. The development of this
doctrine is shown in the next part of this work, which
treats of Christian worship. The third element in
the growth of this theory of the office of the clergy
was the predominance of the ascetic and monastic
ideal of the Christian life. Through this influence
the clergy were expected to separate themselves from
the world and from the life of the home.
The growth of the Church, the increase of its
functions, and the power of the hierarchical develop
ment caused a corresponding multiplication of clerical
offices. By the side of the bishop, the church Or-
presbyters, and deacons, came into being ganization
the minor orders of the clergy, which be- pnne. Minor
came very numerous in the large cities. orders.
These were the sub-deacons, through the division of
the work of the deacons ; the lectors, those who read
the Holy Scriptures; the exorcists, those who had
care of the spiritually sick, and repeated over them
the prayers of the Church ; the acolyths, who were
the personal companions of the bishops, and who
rendered personal service to the clergy ; the ostiaries,
the doorkeepers, who saw that no suspicious persons
entered the places of Christian worship, and watched
over the separation of the catechumens and penitents
in the services of the Church. Both of the latter were
from analogous officers in the heathen temples. By
260 most Churches in Rome and the West had these

228 The Rulers in the New World.
lower orders. The development in the East was in
dependent and not so early. The Church in Rome,
under Cornelius, 251-253, had in its clergy forty-six
presbyters, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, forty-
two acolyths, fifty-two exorcists, lectors, and ostiaries.
Fifteen hundred widows, sick, and poor were cared
for by the Churches, which fifty years later were forty
in number. After the establishment of the Church
by Constantine, not only did the numbers of the
clergy greatly increase, but there were added two
lower grades, not orders, of clerical service — the para-
bolani, those who cared for and ministered to the sick
for the Church ; and the copialce, or fossores, those
who buried the dead. These formed a kind of guild,
under the control of the bishop. Their number was
often increased to augment his power, aud was not
seldom limited by law. The limit at Alexandria of
the parabolani was 600; at Constantinople, 1,100.
For the care of the property of the Church were cre
ated the offices of stewards, treasurers, secretaries,
legal advisers, and keepers of the archives. These
positions were not necessarily, but often, filled by the
clergy. The increase in the numbers and wealth of
the Church led to the creation of the office of arch
deacon. He was the right hand of the bishop in the
care of church property, in his judicial administra
tion, in the supervision of the lower clergy, and in
the appointment of presbyters and deacons. Thus
he came to have great influence. The character of
the administration of the bishop often depended on
the ability and piety, or the reverse, of the arch
deacon. The archpresbyter never came to have the
same importance, but he represented the bishop in

The Clergy. 229
his absence. Comparatively few of the clergy, and
almost none in the West, could be educated in the
theological schools of Alexandria, Csesarea, Antioch,
Edessa, or Nisibis. They were therefore trained in
the lower orders for the diaconate, and in that office
for the order of presbyters. In this training and
promotion through the grades of the clergy was
limited the choice of the people, and formed the
higher clergy. Later the monasteries often became
schools from which were taken the clergy. Deacons
were not ordained before twenty-five years of age,
nor presbyters before the age of thirty.
As the ascetic and later monastic ideal came to
prevail in the Church, the theory gained ground that
the clergy should not marry. In the third century
this began to be applied to the bishops, celibacy of
The small Spanish Council of Elvira, 305, the Cler8y-
pronounced against a married clergy ; the great Coun
cil of Nicsea, 325, refused to take such action. The
Council of Gangra, 360, pronounced against those
who refused to take part in divine service celebrated
by married priests. But the usage was for marriage
to be allowed which took place before ordination,
but none to men in orders, hence no second mar
riages. The Council of Ancyra, 314, allowed a
deacon to marry, if he had stated his intention to do
so at his ordination. From about this time dates
the Greek usage that deacons and priests may marry
before ordination, but not a second time; bishops
must be and remain unmarried. In the West, the
action of Siricius, Bishop of Rome, 385, in issuing a
decretal (letter) against a married clergy — that is,
deacons, presbyters, and bishops — forms the turning-

230 The Rulers in the New World.
point. This view was confirmed by the Synods of
Carthage, 401 ; Turin, 401; and Orange, 441; and by
the influence of bishops like Augustine, who lived
together with their clergy in a house in common.
Leo I included sub-deacons in the prohibition. The
popes were zealous for clerical celibacy as freeing
the ministry from the cares and complications of the
world; yet there were married bishops from 350 to
410 such as Hilary of Poitiers, the father of Gregory
Nazianzen and Synesius of Cyrene. Vigilantius,
about 400, appeals to bishops who chose only married
men for deacons. But the monastic ideal prevailed;
the unmarried clergy were more dependent and pliant
to the commands of the Popes and bishops, and were
on this account as well preferred.
Those who had led an immoral life could not be
ordained, or those who had married twice, or who
had married a sister-in-law, or a niece, or those who
Exclusion ha<^ Deen baptized when ill. Also actors,
from dancers, pantomimes, soldiers, and slaves
Ordination. _ 1 j j
previous to emancipation, were excluded.
The clergy were forbidden to follow secular callings
except in cases of necessity. They were not to
undertake the affairs of others, or to do business on
commission ; nor were they allowed to take interest,
which was accounted usury. They were also forbid
den to assume any civil office.
Through its establishment by the State, the
The Effect of Church became a legal institution, with
the Union of iep-al claims upon her members, and sut>-
the Church , ,
with the ported by the power and resources of the
state. State. The clergy were directly supported
from the treasury of the State. The endowments

The Clergy. 231
and temple property were often given to the Church,
and also money from the communal treasury, for the
erection of church edifices. The emperor made pres
ents of land, etc., to the Church. She was also au
thorized to receive gifts, bequests, and fees.
The clergy, like the heathen priests, were exempt
from all personal public service. They were also re
lieved from all municipal offices and the burdens of
the Decurionate. Hence, as many of the Exemptions.
latter sought to enter the ranks of the
clergy, it became a law that every one inscribed in
the list of the decurions must resign his property be
fore becoming a clergyman. All Church and clerical
property was exempt from extraordinary taxes and
compulsory services. The clergy were also free
from all ordinary legal processes, and had laws and
courts of their own.
The bishops exercised judicial authority through
courts of arbitration. Even the heathen preferred
these to the ordinary civil courts. They received
police jurisdiction in certain cases, and had super
vision of all moral questions. Bishops also had the
right of intercession in the cases of condemned
criminals. The right of asylum for those accused of crime
was granted to the Christian Churches, as formerly to
the heathen temples. This was a temporary refuge
from popular rage or private vengance, but was not
designed to withdraw the transgressor from the
course of civil justice. Heresy now became a crime
against the State, and false teachers were liable to
civil penalties. The first to be so executed were
Priscillian and his companion, by the usurper Maxi-

232 The Rulers in the New World.
mus, 385. The act was denounced by Ambrose, St.
Martin of Tours, and the leading Christian bishops ;
but in the following centuries the Church and its
rulers seemed wholly to lose sight of the rights of
conscience. Was this development normal and justified?
Such was the development, sketched in these chap
ters, from the Church of the earlier generations of
Christians, which, with its spirituality, simplicity, sac
rifice, and abounding love, appeals to every Christian
heart. The Church came into union with the State,
and was often stronger than any civil or secular
power. It had an elaborate and thoroughly-disci
plined hierarchy, whose members in the West were
forbidden to marry, and were organized under a mon
archical papal rule. It came to be an institution of
vast wealth, with an army of servitors, clerical and
monastic, whose prelates had often all the pride and
power, and sometimes even violence, of the secular
princes. We are compelled to ask, Was this development,
which presents to us a Church as far removed from
that of the first century as from the extremest form
of Protestantism, necessary, or was it designed by
her Lord? Granting that growth and development
were necessary, does that justify all that took place?
Are there any principles by which we can judge
whether a course of development is right, normal, and
beneficent, or the reverse? History is a world judg
ment ; but just because it is a judgment, it is not a
justification of all that has been done in the world or
in the Church. Historic existence is not historic jus
tification, but may be the exact opposite. History

The Clergy. 233
shows the development of institutions, but does not
justify their means of growth or their existence. The
principles underlying the office of the Christian min
istry, and which should control its development and
its relations to the Church, have never been better
stated than by Bishop Lightfoot, the ablest scholar
England has given the Christian Church in this
century, and which forms a basis for the reunion of
Christendom more Scriptural, spiritual, and stable
than any decrees of Popes or Councils.
" The kingdom of Christ, not being a kingdom of
this world, is not limited by the restrictions which
fetter other societies, political or religious. The ldea| of
It is, in the fullest sense, free, comprehen- the christian
sive, universal. It displays this character, Mlnlstry-
not only in the acceptance of all comers who seek ad
mission, irrespective of race, caste, or sex, but also in
the instruction and treatment of those who are al
ready its members. It has no sacred days or seasons,
no special sanctuaries ; because every time and every
place alike are holy. It interposes no sacrificial tribe
or class between God and man, by whose interven
tion alone God is reconciled and man is forgiven.
Each individual member holds personal communion
with the Divine Head. To him immediately he is
responsible, and from him directly he obtains pardon
and draws strength.
" The influence of this idea on the moral and
spiritual growth of the individual believer is too plain
to require any comment ; but its social effects may
call for a passing remark. It will hardly be denied,
I think, by those who have studied the history of
modern civilization with attention, that his concep-

234 The Rulers in the New World.
tion of the Christian Church has been mainly instru
mental in the emancipation of the degraded and op
pressed, in the removal of the artificial barriers be
tween class and class, and in the diffusion of a general
philanthropy, untrammeled by the fetters of any party
or race ; in short, that to it mainly must be attributed
the most important advantages which constitute the
superiority of modern over ancient societies. Con
sciously or unconsciously, the idea of a universal
priesthood, of the religious equality of all men —
which, though not untaught before, was first embod
ied in the Church of Christ — has worked, and is
working, untold blessings in political institutions and
in social life. But the careful student will also ob
serve that the idea has hitherto been very imperfectly
apprehended; that, throughout the history of the
Church it has been struggling for recognition, at
most times discerned in some of its aspects, but at
all times wholly ignored in others ; and that, there
fore, the actual results are a very inadequate measure
of its efficacy, if only it could assume due prominence,
and were allowed free scope in action
" This, then, is the Christian ideal : a holy season,
extending the whole year round; a temple confined
only to the limits of the habitable world; a priest
hood co-extensive with the human race.
" So it was with the Christian priesthood. For
communicating instruction, and for preserving public
order ; for conducting religious worship, and for dis
pensing social charities, it became necessary to ap
point special officers. But the priestly functions and
privileges of the Christian people were never re
garded as transferred, or even delegated, to these

The Clergy. 235
officers. They are called stewards, or messengers of
God, servants or miuistrants of the Church, and the
like ; but the sacerdotal title is never once conferred
upon them. The only priests under the gospel, des
ignated as such in the New Testament, are the saints—
the members of the Christian brotherhood. . . .
As individuals, all Christians are priests alike ; as
members of a corporation, they have their several and
distinct offices. The similitude of the human body,
where each limb or organ performs its own functions,
and the health and growth of the whole frame are
promoted by the harmonious but separate working of
every part, was chosen by St. Paul to represent the
progress and operation of the Church."

fart Fmtrilr.
WORSHIP AND DISCIPLINE. 237

Chapter I.
WORSHIP OF THE EARLY CHURCH.
The conquests of Christianity were the conquests
of religious conceptions and ideas which the modern
world esteems as superior to those of pa- influence of
ganism; and the Christian, as the revela- Worship in
.. _ . „ the Develop-
tion ot God for man s salvation. These ment of the
conceptions and ideas became incarnate in Church.
the historic life of Jesus, who was presented as very
God and very man, and so the author of redemption.
The Christianity of the early centuries was based on
the incarnation, which alone assured complete recon
ciliation of man with God. Those receiving these
truths and ideals necessarily separated themselves
from the heathen life and society around them, and
from a society with a different social code and a dif
ferent aim from that into which they had been born.
The struggle of that society for union, cohesion, de
velopment, and predominance, under a stronger and
more centralized form of rule, has been shown in the
last chapters. The victory of Christianity was the
victory of a firmly-consolidated Church. Christian
ity, as it came in contact with the unformed elements
of social and political order which were taking the
place of the old civilization, appeared to the barba
rian tribes not so much a system of intellectual
truths as an imposing and venerable system of gov
ernment — the only relic of the world-wide power and
239

240 Worship and Discipline.
predominance of Rome. So the barbarians were won
quite as much to the Church as to Christianity — often
times much more to their own hurt and age-long
scandal and loss of Christendom.
But neither the doctrines of the Church nor its
order and government would alone have satisfied the
new nations which were taking the place of the worn-
out populations of the empire. The Teutonic tribes
were naturally religious. In depth, purity, and power
of religious sentiment, they have seldom been sur
passed among the races of mankind. In vain would
the religious teachings, or the compact and powerful
organization of the Church, have appealed to the
Northern invaders, if Christianity had been a philos
ophy, and not a religion. A religion has worship,
and appeals to the perennial needs of the human
heart. The worship of the Christians was as much
superior to the religious rites of their pagan neigh
bors as were their doctrines more sublime, and their
organization the heir of all the genius for human rule
that was ever possessed by Rome as the lawgiver of
the world.
While it is always to be borne in mind that the
spiritual worship of the Christians was an immense
gain for humanity — a gain which can only be appre
hended when we contrast it with the religious rites of
the pagan Orient — we must not forget that, with the
development of doctrine and ecclesiastical organiza
tion, there was a like development of Christian wor
ship. This development was in part necessary for
meeting the changed conditions of the Church and
congregations, and the fulfillment of the mission of the
Church to the men of those times. But like all re-

Worship of the Early Church. 241
ligious development, unless under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit, the baser elements inevitably appear.
The only development which can honor God must be
directed by God. This Divine direction can only be
received by a Church predominantly spiritual, quick
ened and responsive to the influence of the Holy
Ghost. On the contrary, the Church, for the three
centuries from Constantine until Gregory I, experi
enced the incoming flood-tide of worldliness and polit
ical corruption in consequence of its union with the
State, and at the same time the overthrow of the old
order, and its replacement by savage hordes, ignorant
of letters and the very rudiments of culture. It
would be strange indeed if, to the higher purposes of
the Divine Spirit, there was not failure of adequate
response — if there did not creep in perversions and
corruptions. These were not thrown off and corrected
until men more in accord with the Spirit of God than
was the regular organization of the Church appeared
in the Reformation, yet a thousand years in the
future. No adequate conception of the early Church is
possible without a knowledge of its worship. In the
study of the religious services of the Church will be
found set forth in. vivid 'contrast the strength and
weakness, the purity and defects, the glory and cor
ruption of the Christianity of the first six centuries.
The development of Christian worship during this
period divides itself into four sections :
1. The early Church, 30-170.
2. The old Catholic Church, 170-381.
3. Greek Catholic Church, 381-600.
4. Roman Catholic Church, 381-600.
16

242 Worship and Discipline.
The first apostles were Jews. Until compelled to
separation by persecution, they observed the Jewish
worship of Sabbath; the hours of prayer and the
the Jewish temple services, with meetings from house
the Apostolic to house of the members of the Christian
A«e- community for praise and prayer ; the love-
feast; and the Lord's Supper. (Acts ii, 15; x, 9;
xxii, 17; ii, 46; v, 24; and xii, 12.)
When they could no longer worship in the forms
to which they and their fathers were accustomed in
the temple, whatever of form was taken over into
Christian assemblies came from the synagogue rather
than from the temple. The service seems to have
included prayer, reading of the Scriptures, exposition
of the Scriptures read, with exhortation and benedic
tion, and probably singing. There were two parts
of the Christian worship which were original and
unique, though both based on the Passover Supper.
They were the love-feast and the Lord's Supper.
These were the distinctive parts of Christian worship.
The Lord's Supper was observed as in the presence of
the unseen Lord. The3', the members of his house
hold, pledged themselves to him ; and, by his love
being bound to each other, they made remembrance
of his death. The performance of this rite enjoined
by the risen Lord was preaching the gospel " in the
fullest and highest sense, and in the most significant
form." The love-feast was the common meal in
token of a common brotherhood. It was an unceas
ing witness to the test of the discipleship applied by
the world. " By this shall all men know that ye are
my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Worship of the Early Church. 243
The Christians converted from heathenism mingled
with a few converted Jews, and were under the guid
ance of the apostles, or those taught by WorshiDof
them. We have a picture of such a Church the aentiie
in Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians. Chrl8t,an»'
The passages relating to Christian worship are:
1 Cor. xiv, 33, 39, 40; xii, 3, 4, 17; xi, 20; xvi, 2, 19.
Compare with these Eph. iv, 30; 1 Thess. v, 19; and
Rom. xvi, 5.
The worship was held usually in the house of
some prominent member of the Church as above, at
Corinth and at Philippi; while at Ephesus Paul se
cured the school of Tyrannus as a place for Chris
tian teaching, whether of worship we can not say.
They met on the first day of the week — the Lord's-
day. (1 Cor. xvi, 2 ; Acts xx, 7 ; Rev. i, 10.) The
order of worship seems to have been prayer, reading
Scriptures, prayer, teaching, prophecy, speaking with
tongues, singing. Teaching was probably an exposi
tion of the passage read, with practical applications,
the result of reflection and the attainment of knowl
edge or gnosis. Prophecy was the speaking with
authority the will of the Lord, the Spirit directly aid
ing in the explanation of the Scriptures, the preach
ing of Christ, or the treatment of present emergen
cies. Speaking with tongues was the expression of
sorrowful or joyful emotions in an ecstatic state,
caused by thoughts of heaven and future glory. In
time, teaching and prophecy came together, and
formed the sermon and exhortation. Speaking with
tongues passed into the songs and hymns of the
Church.

244 Worship and Discipline.
The love-feast, or Agapse, was originally a full
meal, of which the Lord's Supper was only a part.
The At the beginning of the second century
Love-feast, they were separated. Love-feasts contin
ued to be observed until 350-400.
In the worship of the Apostolic Age, the Church
comes together as a body of believers, called to be
saints, in whom dwells the Holy Ghost. They wor
ship the Lord, crucified and risen, and the Heavenly
Father. The purpose of the worship is the edifica
tion of believers, and the conversion of those who
know not God. The aim is to secure the surrender
of the whole body to the Lord, the renewing of the
mind, and the doing of the will of God. As a con
dition to this edification, all things are to be done
decently and in order. The Church, as a body of be
lievers, are the children of God, themselves priests,
as being in immediate communion with him. Those
who speak or take part in the service are called of
the Spirit, and through these the mind of the Spirit
is made known to the Church.
The chief point in the sendee is the Lord's Sup
per — with and through it the preaching of the death
The Lord's and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and thus
Supper. reconciliation to God and participation in
the gift of the Holy Ghost and the fellowship of the
brethren. From the following, the example of the
Lord at the Paschal Supper, and the statements in
1 Cor. xi, 20 ff., the order of its administration seems
to have been as follows:
1. The Eucharistic prayer.
2. Blessing of God on the gifts offered, or bene
diction.

Worship of the Early Church. 245
3. Preaching of the words of Jesus.
4. Consecration of the elements.
5. Breaking of bread.
6. Administering of the cup.
7. Prayer of thanksgiving.
8. Hymns of praise.
There were no special liturgies:
Dr. Plumptre gives this sketch of the Apostolic
worship and love-feast :
" The Church, meets together in a large room
hired for the purpose, or given by one of the more
wealthy converts. The materials of the meal were
according to the taste and wealth of the community.
They would include meat, poultry, fish, cheese, milk,
and honey, with, of course, bread and wine. The
cost of the meal fell practically on the richer mem
bers of the Church, whether it was provided out of
the common funds, or from contributions in kind of
the provisions suitable. At the appointed hour, they
came and waited for each other, men and women
being seated at different tables, perhaps, on opposite
sides of the room, until the bishop or presbyter of the
Church pronounced the blessing. They ate and drank.
Originally, at some time before or after the meal, one
loaf was specially blessed and broken, one cup passed
around especially as the ' cup of blessing.' When
the meal was over, water was brought, and they
washed their hands. Then, if not before, according
to the season of the year, lamps were placed on their
stands, and the more devotional part of the meeting
began. Those who had special gifts were called upon
to expound Scripture, or to speak a word of exhorta
tion, or tc sing a hymn. It was the natural time for

246 Worship and Discipline.
intelligence to be communicated from other Churches;
for letters from them or their bishops to be read; for
strangers who had come with Church letters to be
received. Collections were made for the relief of dis
tressed Churches at a distance, or for the poor of the
district. Then came the salutation — the 'holy kiss,'
which told of brotherhood — the final prayer, the quiet
and orderly dispersion."
The suspicion of the heathen in times of persecu
tion, the excesses like heathen feasts, the spirit of
caste in the Church, and the ascetic ideal which made
it obligatory to partake of the sacrament of Holy
Communion, fasting, changed this freedom and sim
plicity of the early Christian worship.
The second century was the Post -Apostolic Age.
It saw the conflict with Gnosticism and with Monta-
Worship of nism, and the cessation of spiritual gifts.
Apostolic Those specially possessing them — apostles
Age. and prophets — flourished in the Church
until the casting out of Montanism. The Church
met for worship on the first day of the week. So
testify Barnabas, Ignatius, Pliny, and Justin. The
place of meeting depended upon the extent that the
Church enjoyed peace from the persecuting State,
whether in public or secret places. The aim is, as
before, the building up of the Church and the con
version of those who do not believe. The teaching
was given by teachers of the local Church — bishop or
presbyters, or prophets or apostles, if any were pres
ent. These were evangelists who addressed the peo
ple ; afterward, any moved by the Spirit might do
likewise, but all under the direction of the president
or bishop. The service is the immediate act of the

Worship of the Early Church. 247
Church in prayer and consecration, and of God with
the Church through the word and the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper as organs of the Holy Spirit.
There is no priestly mediation ; but the Church is a
congregation of priests as the free children of God.
The Lord's Supper is no act of merit or necessity
before God, but the spontaneous expression of the life
of faith in self-surrender and prayer, and in spiritual
service, which is the real offering the Christians bring
to God. The purity and simplicity of the Christian wor
ship, as set forth in the Acts and Epistles of the New
Testament, and as preserved in the memo- Letter
rials of the Catacombs, awaken the admira- of plin*
tion of every devout heart. Nor are we without
authentic literary monuments of the worship of the
early Church. A heathen governor, writing of the
Christians of Bithynia, who were within the sphere
of the influence both of St. Paul and St. John, gives
an account of Christian worship which had come to
his knowledge through the judicial examinations of
those condemned to die for the " Name," which can
never fail to touch the Christian heart. Pliny, in his
letters to Trajan, about 1 1 1 A. D., says he was told
by those who had worshiped with the Christians that
" they were accustomed to meet on a stated day, be
fore sunrise, and to repeat among themselves a hymn
to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves, as with
an oath (sacramentum), not to commit any wicked
ness ; not to be guilty of theft, robbery, or adultery ;
never to break a promise or withhold a pledge ; after
which it was their custom to separate, and meet again
at a promiscuous, harmless meal." In this account,

248 Worship and Discipline.
we see the meeting on a " stated day " — the Lord's-
day ; the gathering before sunrise, that they might
not be disturbed by their heathen neighbors; the
singing of a Christian hymn (so hymns, as distin
guished from psalms, must date back to the first cen
tury) ; then the participation in the sacrament, with
such instruction as made it a real and efficient agent
in the moral development of the individual and of the
Church ; afterward, their coming together again for
the love-feast, which made manifest and deepened
their Christian fellowship. Such was the worship of
the martyr Church of Bithynia. A picture so pure
and fair must ever attract the thought and secure the
reverence of Christians of every age and clime.
We have the worship of the early Church of
about the same date set forth more in detail, and yet
The Teaching wn^ a simplicity as marked, in the "Teach-
of the ing of the Twelve," A. D. no: "But on
Twelve. ^£ j^ord's-day do ye assemble and break
bread, and give thanks after confessing your trans
gressions, in order that your sacrifice may be pure.
But every one that hath controversy with his friend,
let him not come together with you until they be recon
ciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. . . .
Now, concerning the Eucharist, thus give thanks;
first concerning the cup : 'We thank thee, our Father,
for the holy wine of David thy servant, which thou
hast made known to us through Jesus thy Servant ;
to thee be glory for ever and ever !' And con
cerning the broken bread: 'We thank thee, our
Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast
made known to us through Jesus thy Servant; to
thee be glory forever! Even as this broken bread

Worship of the Early Church. 249
was scattered over the hills and became one, so let
thy Church be gathered together from the ends of
the earth into thy kingdom; for thine is the glory
and the power, through Jesus Christ forever.' But let
no one eat or drink of your thanksgiving [Eucharist]
except those baptized into the Lord's name. But
after ye are filled, thus give thanks : ' We thank thee,
Holy Father, for thy Holy Name, which thou didst
cause to be tabernacled in our hearts, and for the
knowledge and faith and immortality which thou
hast made known to us through Jesus thy Servant;
to thee be glory forever. Thou, Master Almighty,
didst create all things for thy Name's sake ; thou
gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment, that
they might give thanks to thee; but to us thou
didst freely give spiritual food and drink and
life eternal through thy Servant. Before all things
we thank thee that thou art mighty; to thee be
glory forever ! Remember, Lord, thy Church, to de
liver it from all evil, and to make it perfect in thy
love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for
thy kingdom, which thou hast prepared for it; for
thine is the power and the glory forever. Let grace
come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the
Son of David ! If any one is holy, let him come ; if
any one is not so, let him repent! Maranatha, Amen.'
But permit the prophets to give thanks to as much as
they desire."
We observe in these directions the assembling on
the Lord's-day, and the celebration of the Eucharist,
in which confession of sins and reconciliation of the
brethren is marked. There is given a short form of
prayer for the consecration of the wine and the bread ;

250 Worship and Discipline.
then the communion ; and after it, the longer prayer
of thanksgiving and intercession for the Church.
The whole bears the impress of the gathering to
gether of believers for prayer. It is not the worship
of the great congregation, and has no kinship to
even the oldest liturgies which have come down to us.
Some twenty-five years later, in 135, Justin Martyr
gives, in his "Apology" to the Emperor Antoninus
Justin Pius, a graphic and touching picture of
Martyr. Christian worship. (Apology I, 6, 7, 65.
A. N. F., Vol. I, pp. 185 and 186.)
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in
cities or in the country gather together in one place,
and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of
the prophets are read as long as the time permits.
Then, when the reader has ceased, the president
verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of
these good things. Then we all rise together and
pray; and as we before said, when our prayer is
ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and
the president in like manner offers prayers and
thanksgivings, according to his ability; and the peo
ple assent, saying, Amen ; aud there is a distribution
to each, and a participation of that over which
thanks have been given, and to those who are absent
a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are
well-to-do and willing, give what each thinks fit;
and what is collected is deposited with the president,
who succors the orphans and the widows, and those
who, through sickness or any other cause, are in
want, and those who are iu bonds, and the strangers
sojourning among us, and, in a word, takes care of all
who are in need."

Worship of the Early Church. 251
The celebration of the Lord's Supper is set forth
more in detail in the passage to which Justin refers
above : " Those who are called brethren are assembled,
in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common
for ourselves and for the (newly) baptized (one), and
for all others in every place, that we may be counted
worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our
works also to be found good citizens and keepers of
the Commandments, so that we may be saved with
everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we
salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought
to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of
wine mixed with water; and he, taking them, gives
praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through
the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost, and offers
thanks at considerable length for our being counted
worthy to receive these things at his hands. And
when he has concluded the prayer and thanksgivings,
all the people present express their assent by saying,
Amen. Those who are called by us deacons give to
each of those present to partake of the bread and
the wine mixed with water, over which the thanks
giving was pronounced, and to those who were absent
they carry away a portion."
In this testimony we have set forth the gathering
together on Sunday, the Lord's-day; the reading of
the lessons from the Gospels and prophets ; the ser
mon, and the exhortation; the rising, and then the
common prayer of thanksgiving and intercession, and
the holy kiss ; then the consecration of the bread and
wine mixed with water (symbolizing the Divine and
human natures of our Lord) , by the president or pres
byter, the people joining in the Amen ; the com-

252 Worship and Discipline.
munion, the deacons distributing the elements of the
sacrament. The president, presbyter, or bishop, then
gives thanks, the people as before responding. Amen.
We notice the Christian love which prompts a reser
vation of a portion for those necessarily absent;
then the collection for the orphans, widows, sick,
poor, the captives, or the strangers sojourning among
them It will be seen that the religion of Justin's
time was of a very practical kind, and that the Church
always cared for her own poor.
order of From these notices we derive the fol-
Worship. lowing ordei of worship in the Post-Apos
tolic Church : First Part.
i. Singing a psalm.
2. Reading — Gospels and Prophets.
3. Address of the President — exposition and application
of the lesson.
4. The whole Church rises in prayer and intercession for
the needs and requests of the Church.
Second Part — The Eucharist.
1. The kiss of peace — sign of brotherhood.
2. The offering of the gifts through the deacons (our col
lection.) 3. Prayer of the President. A threefold prayer of thanks
giving for creation, redemption, and salvation.
Thanksgiving for the cup.
Thanksgiving for the bread.
4. Prayer of consecration of the elements.
5. Communion — the bread, and then the wine.
6. Prayer of thanksgiving.
7. Prayer of intercession — "Remember thy Church, O
Lord," etc.

Chapter II.
WORSHIP OF THE OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Our next period treats of the worship of the old
Catholic Church — the period from 170 until 381, or
until the settlement of the Arian controversy at the
Council of Constantinople. The Church passed
through the Septimian, Decian, and Diocletian persecu
tions, and then rejoiced in the imperial favor and
patronage of Constantine, succeeded by the divisions
and persecutions of the Arian controversy. These
great changes could not but effect the worship. It
is a great change indeed from the small houses of
prayer to the imperial basilicas, from the persecuted
bands of believers to the Church of the court,
thronged by the heathen multitude. These things
made necessary some changes, and brought in more.
The authorities are Tertullian, Cyprian, and the
second book of the Apostolic Constitutions. There
are two principles of worship in this period, the sec
ond of which entirely supplants the first at its end.
First, the conception of the early Church that wor
ship is the act of the Church; the sacrifices which it
offers [are jtself. The only priest between God and
his Church is the Lord Jesus Christ. So Tertullian
says: "For this is a spiritual sacrifice, TwoPr|nci.
which does away with the old sacri- pies of
fices. . . . We are true worshipers and Worsn|P-
true priests, who, praying in the spirit, make an
offering of prayer, a sacrifice appropriate and accept-
253

254 Worship and Discipline.
able to God." Likewise Irenseus says : " Sacrifices
do not sanctify the man ; but the conscience of him
who offers sanctifies the sacrifice."
The second, which at first lay alongside of the
former, even in the same minds, was the conception
of worship as consisting in the sacrifice which is the
act of the priest, and in which the priest is the me
diator between the Church and God. The essence
and worth of worship are in the sacrifice, which is
the service well pleasing to God, and in the objective
performance of which lies its value. The central act
of the sacrament becomes, not the participation of
the people, but the consecration by the priest. Ter
tullian makes a sharp distinction between clergy and
people, and speaks of offering sacrifice. Cyprian
holds that the bishops succeed to the apostolic office,
and speaks of celebrating sacrifice and offering the
cup of th^ blood of Christ. To the prevalence of
this view contributed the overthrow and reaction
against Montanism, the exaltation of the episcopate
and the clergy, the influence of the catechumenate
forming 'wo classes in the Church, the influence of
the penitential discipline, and the carrying over the
ideas of priesthood and sacrifice from the Old Testa
ment, and, finally, the influence of the secret disci
pline and the heathen mysteries.
Tertullian seems to make the intercessions which
the Christians make on behalf of emperors and the
Testimony Peace of the empire, on behalf of enemies,
of and for fruitful seasons. The commem-
an. oratjon and intercession for the dead take
place in connection with the Eucharist. He describes
the blessing of the cup iu the Lord's Supper as conse-

Old Catholic Church Worship. 255
cration ; and the consecration of the bread to be a rep
resentation of the Lord's body he held to have been
accomplished by the Lord's words, "This is my
body." He states that the Eucharist was administered to
all those who were present ; for he recommends those
who hesitated to be present at the celebration on fast-
days, for fear of breaking their fast, to be present in
deed, but to reserve the portion which they received.
This applies to the bread only. It was consecrated
bread, which some were in the habit of putting to
their lips before the ordinary meal. The Eucharist
was received, not at the usual meal-time — as the
Lord's command seemed to require — but in assem
blies, before dawn, and from no other hands than
those of the presidents. It was given into the hands,
and the Christians felt an anxious dread lest any por
tion of the bread or wine should fall to the ground ;
for the holy communion was administered under both
kinds. Prayers, which are called prayers of sacri
fice, followed communion.
Cyprian says that, in the eucharistic action, " be
cause we make mention of his passion in all our sac-
rices (for the passion of the Lord is the
sacrifice which we offer), we ought to do
no other thing than he did; for Scripture says that,
so often as we offer the cup in commemoration of
the Lord and his passion, we should do that which
it is evident the Lord did (mixing water with wine)."
In the eucharistic action, as well as in prayers, in
tercession was made for brethren suffering affliction,
whose names were recited, as were also the names of
those who made offerings, and of the dead who had

256 Worship and Discipline.
departed uncensured in the communion of the Church.
The liturgical office of the priest seems to be
summed up in sanctifying the oblation, in prayers and
supplications; and the brethren are admonished that,
when they come together to celebrate the divine sac
rifices with the priest of God, they should not in
dulge in noisy and unseemly prayers, a passage which
seems to imply that the congregation took a promi
nent part in the eucharistic service. The deacons
presented the cup, after consecration, to those who
were present, probably in a certain order; the bread
was received into the right hand, and was not unfre-
quently carried home in a casket.
The Apostolic Constitutions, Book II, says: "After
the sacrifice has been made (consecration of the ele-
"TheA os- ments)> let each rank severally partake of
totic consti- the Lord's body and of the precious blood,
tutions. approaching in rank with reverence and
godly fear, as to the body of a king; and let the
women draw near with veiled heads, as befits the
rank of women. And let the doors be watched, lest
any unbeliever or uninitiated person enter." By
ranks, we are no doubt to understand the several or
ders of the clergy and ascetics, and then laymen and
women. Clement, Origen, and Dionysius add noth
ing worthy of note to the traits presented by these
writers. From Tertullian we learn that, in the intercession,
prayer was made in commemoration and for the dead.
The consecration of the bread was made in the use of
the words, " This is my body." We see the strictness
of the fa9ts and the practice of reserving a portion of
the sacrament prevalent in North Africa, and the cele-

Old Catholic Church Worship. 257
bration of the Eucharist in the early morning, as in
Justin's time. Christians received the communion in
both kinds, and the bread from the hand of the pres
byters or bishop in their own hands. Cyprian con
firms the statements of Tertullian, and makes men
tion of mixing the wine with the water ; and that the
office of presbyter or bishop was confined to the con
secration prayers and supplications, as in the "Teach
ing of the Twelve," and in the time of Justin; and
the congregation took part in the prayers after com
munion, like a modern prayer-meeting. This freedom
of worship seems to have become more formal in the
directions of the "Apostolic Constitutions;" and yet
we see that the spirit, and largely the form, of the
service is akin to the earlier usage of the days of
Justin Martyr.
In this period, Sunday is the day of Christian
worship. Wednesdays and Fridays, the
.,„.,, , Fasting.
days commemorating the Savior s betrayal
and crucifixion, fasting was observed until three
o'clock in the afternoon — the hour of his death. In
the forty years' peace (263-303), the Chris- order of
tians built large churches and had legal Worship.
ownership of their cemeteries. Christian worship in
this period, as set forth in the second book of the
"Apostolic Constitutions," was as follows:
First Part.
1. Singing of psalms. Reading two portions from Old Testa
ment.
Singing. Reading two portions from the New Testament.
2. Addresses — the bishop or presbyters.
3. Common Church prayer. The Church standing facing the
east, with upraised arms ; the men with uncovered
heads, the women veiled. 17

258 Worship and Discipline.
Second Part — The Eucharist.
1. The preparation. Kiss of peace ; offering of gifts; Ter-
tullian's prayer for the dead.
2. The consecration. Prayer of praise and thanksgiving;
the Lord's Prayer.
{a) Prayer of praise and intercession by the deacon, re
sponded to by the Church.
(b) High priestly benediction through the celebrant.
(c) Consecration prayer of the bishop.
(d) The offering — words of institution.
Communion, closing with a psalm.

Chapter III.
GREEK CATHOLIC WORSHIP.
We see an established and stately ceremonial
when we read the description which Cyril, Bishop of
Jerusalem, gives of the liturgy, as it was actually cele
brated there, 350-386 A. D.
After describing the Sursum Corda, Preface, and
Sanctus, he proceeds : " Then, after hallowing our
selves by these spiritual hymns, we beseech the mer
ciful God to send forth his Holy Spirit upon the ele
ments displayed upon the table, to make the bread
the body of Christ, and the wine the blood of Christ ;
for most certainly, whatsoever the Holy Spirit may
have touched, that is hallowed and transformed.
Then after that the spiritual sacrifice — the unbloody
service — is completed, over that sacrifice of propitia
tion we beseech God for the common peace of the
Churches ; for the welfare of the world ; for kings ;
for soldiers and allies; for those in infirmity; for
those in special trouble; and generally we all pray
for all who need help ; and this sacrifice we offer.
Then we make mention also of those who have gone
to rest before us — first patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
and martyrs — that God, at their prayers and interces
sions, would receive our supplications; then also on
behalf of the holy fathers and bishops who have gone
to rest before us ; and generally of all our body who
have gone to rest before us, — believing that the great
est benefit will accrue to their souls for whom the
259

260 Worship and Discipline.
supplication is offered while the holy and most awful
sacrifice is displayed. Then follows the Lord's Prayer,
and the ' Holy things to the holy ones;' after which
ye hear the voice of the chanter, with divine melody,
inviting you to partake of the holy mysteries, and
saying : ' O taste, and see how good the Lord is !'
Permit not the bodily palate — no, but faith unfeigned —
to judge of these things ; for they who taste are bid
den to taste not of bread and wine, but of the copy
(AvriTUTtos) of the body and blood of Christ. When
you approach, then, draw near, not with the wrists
straight out, not with the fingers spread, but making
the left hand a throne for the right, as for that which
is to receive a king, and hallowing the palm, receive
the body of Christ, saying, after the reception, the
Amen. Then, after carefully hallowing thine eyes by
the touch of the holy body, partake of it, giving
heed lest any portion of it fall aside and be lost ; for
whatsoever thou hast lost, thou hast suffered damage
of thine own members. Then, after communicating
of the body, draw near also to the cup of the blood,
not stretching forth thine hands, but bending, and,
with an air of adoration and reverence, saying the
Amen, sanctify thyself, partaking also of the blood of
Christ. Further, touching with thy hands the mois
ture remaining on thy lips, sanctify both thine eyes
and thy forehead, and the other organs of thy senses.
Then, while awaiting the prayer, give thanks unto
God, who hath thought thee worthy of so great mys
teries." We have here a superstitious reverence for
the elements accompanying a teaching of transforma
tion, but not transubstantiation.
Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria had their litur-

Greek Catholic Worship. 261
gical service. We have no proof of a written lit
urgy before the fifth century. The great name of
this period is Chrysostom; the great Church is St.
Sophia, at Constantinople. The usage of the impe
rial capital prevailed throughout the Greek Church,
and in all the lands of its conquests, from the Sea of
Kamtchatka to the Adriatic. Its forms of worship
are those of the great Sclavic race and Russian Em
pire. In the conception of Christian worship of this
period, priesthood and sacrifice are as much essential
factors as they were in the Old Testament theocracy.
It completes those by offering a perfect means of sal
vation and embracing all men.
The essence of the worship is the edification of the
people. The service is- a symbolic representation.
What is executed before the eyes of the Theareek
devout is not the fact itself, but an intima- exception
tion through symbol and action. It is not of worship.
the representation of the sacrifice of the Son of God,
but the mysterious allegorical representation of the
Divine act for the redemption of the world, accom
plished by our Lord in the sacrifice of Golgotha and
in his glorious resurrection. The worship is carried
out without the co-operation of the Church ; but it
presumes its presence, and without it there is no sense
or aim in the dramatic representation. Hence there
are no private masses. The Greek conception of the
Church in worship is a holy fellowship of initiated or
consecrated members, to whom are confided the Divine
mysteries, and which is intrusted with consecrated
forms. In this it resembles the heathen mysteries.
The division of the church, the chancel and the
sanctuary; the related action of the priest, deacon,

262 Worship and Discipline.
and choir ; the relation between the prayers and the
singing, — remind one of the antique classic drama and
its chorus. The Byzantine Church is a many-domed structure;
but all parts command a view of the space in front of
Description of the altar, which is the stage for the per-
the worship, formance of the worship. The women oc
cupy the galleries ; the men, the floor. A wall sep
arates the sanctuary with the altar from the chancel
in front of it and the church without. This wall is
covered with paintings — Christ on the right hand,
Mary on the left, both surrounded with a band of
apostles and saints. The frames of these pictures are
covered with gold-leaf and ornamented with precious
stones. Before this pictured wall, and separated from
the rest of the church by a low rail, is the space for
the action of the drama of worship. Right and left
are great candles. In the light of these, through the
splendor of the gold-and-silver-adorned pictures, the
priests and deacons exercise their office. At their
side stands the choir of singers. The wall inclosing
the sanctuary is pierced for three sets of doors from
the chancel. The large ones in the center are called
the royal doors, and are used only by the priests to
pass through, except in Easter-week, when the faith
ful may enter by them. Usually, they use the doors
at the side. Within the sanctuary, at the left or north
side, is the table for the offerings ; at the right, the
diaconicum, or clothing-room for the officiating priest.
In the midst is the altar, which symbolizes the holy
sepulcher. The silk altar-cloth is consecrated by the
bishop. On it is represented the burial of Christ.
One of the four ends must contain a martyr's relics.

Greek Catholic Worship. 263
A cross lies on the altar, before which are lighted
candles. On the altar are also the house of the sac
rament for the consecrated bread, most richly wrought,
and a copy of the Gospels. The celebration of di
vine worship begins on Saturday evening, the action
representing the history of redemption, from the cre
ation until the birth of Christ. The service at six
o'clock on Sunday morning represents the history
from the birth of Christ until his entrance upon his
ministry. The chief service, at ten o'clock A. M.,
represents the life of Christ, from the beginning of
his ministry until his ascension.
The following is the order of the service accord
ing to the liturgy of Chrysostom, which is Order of
most generally used in the Greek Church, ^dreek
and which dates from the eighth century, Church.
though with some later additions, and shows the full
development of the liturgical tendencies of the closing
centuries of this period:
A. Mass for the catechumens. (The cathechumens are those
under instruction, or on probation, in the Church.)
(a) The officiating priest kisses the altar and Gospel.
(b) The Litany chanted by the deacons, responded by the
choir ("Kvpie hteriaov).
(c) Antiphonal recitation of the holy praises, like a sum
mary preaching of the gospel.
(d) Little Entrance — The Gospels were joyfully borne into
the church ; choir ; hymns to the Trinity.
(e) Reading Scriptures.
1. Epistle through celebrant ; responsive hallelujah ;
Psalmody.
2. Gospel through the deacon ; responsive, " Praise to
thee, O Christ !" blessing with trikerion and dike-
rion (two or three fingers) ; dismissal of catechu
mens.

264 Worship and Discipline.
B. Mass for the faithful.
I. Preparation and dressing; silent prayer; spreading
out of the antimensium (altar-cloth) upon the altar ;
choir, song of the cherubim ; kindling of the in-
> cense; washing of the hands.
Great Entrance — Gifts joyfully placed upon the altar.
Shutting of the holy doors.
Silent prayer.
II. Eucharist. (a) Creed — the constitution of catechumens.
(b) Canon —
I. Apostolic benediction.
2. Praefatio.
3. Prayers of the Canon.
(ad) Thanks for creation ; sanctus.
(bb) Thanks for redemption; offering; re
sponse, "Thine of thine;" oblation.
(cc) Consecration ; epiklesis (invocation) of
the Holy Ghost.
(dd) Commemoration (all kneel) ; hymns of
thanks.
(ee) Prayer for the Church triumphant.
(ff) Prayer for the communicants.
(c) Communion — "The holy things to the holy ones;"
choir singing.
(d) Post-communion — Exhibition of the elements;
bringing back of the table of oblation ; choir,
Psalm xlvii ; prayer of thanksgiving ; benedic
tion ; recitation, Psalms xxxiv and cxiii.
Distribution of gifts (autidoron).
Removal of the priestly garments.
Conclusion ; dismissal.
Of the effect of such ritualistic service — of the ex
altation of ritual as the means of instruction and
grace for the people — Professor Harnack says : " Who
ever to-day studies the condition of the Greek relig
ion among the orthodox and Monophysites — not the

Greek Catholic Worship. 265
religion of the ignorant and common people, but also
the ritual of worship, the magic ceremonies, and the
representations of the common priests and monks —
he will, at many places, have the impression that re
ligion can scarcely sink to lower depths. It has re
ally become superstition — a chaos of mixed and
wholly heterogeneous but firmly welded sentences
and forms ; an opaque, variegated, and verbose ritual,
highly treasured because it binds the people and the
race to each other and to their past, but of which
only the inferior parts are yet. living. . . . Poly
theism, in the full sense of the word, is re-established.
Religion has lost contact with spiritual truth. . . .
The ritual may always set forth, it may itself in
clude, the sublimest and loftiest thoughts ; yet, as a
spiritual religion, it has no place, and is a degener
ation." Yet no one who has seen a congregation at a serv
ice of the Greek Catholic Church but must admire
their reverence and devotion. Their singing, without
the aid of any instrument, is the most magnificent
heard in any Christian worship. Among their clergy
are many men of large intelligence and deep piety.
They have the Scriptures in the language of the peo
ple. We can but think that there is among them a
greater latent force, which might be used for the up
building of the kingdom of God, than anywhere else
in Christendom.

Chapter IV.
ROMAN CATHOLIC WORSHIP.
In the Roman Catholic Liturgy there is a real,
not symbolic, offering of the New Testament sacri
fice, through the priesthood of the New Testament
theocracy. All is centered in a real sacri-
The Roman . .
Catholic fice, the repetition of that of Golgotha,
Conception ^ajty renewed and offered before God.
of Worship. .
Worship is no longer the act of the con
gregation, but that of the priest ; and its significance
as a means of grace is the real mediation of the
priesthood. It needs neither the co-operation nor
presence of the Church, but is of value in itself;
hence the practice of private masses. The Church
finds its center in the altar; prayer is concentrated on
the sacrifice ; and all is the divinely-ordained worship
of God. We give now a comparative view of the chief
liturgies. First, the Greek and Roman Catholic in
comparison comparison until the Canon of the mass,
of the Greek or (-^e eucharistic service proper. Then we
and Roman x x
Catholic have a comparative view of the old and
service. simpler Ambrosian and Gregorian Canons ;
then the Mozarabic and Ephesian, from which comes
the liturgy of the Church of England ; and finally
the usage of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches.
266

Roman Catholic Worship.

267

Greek. Roman Catholic.
1. act of preparation.
1. Preparation of Liturgical Persons.
(a

(a) Prayer before the pictures.
(b) Entrance to the sanctuary.
(c) Putting on the vestments.

Orationes praeparatorise —
touching the hands.
(b) Putting on the vestments.
(c) Spiritual preparation —
Graduale antiphon, Con-
fiteor.

2. Preparation of Liturgical Place.

Pros Komidie (entrance).
Preparation of the gifts.
(a) Cutting out of the Lamb.
(b) Piercing the Lamb with
the holy lance.
Mixing of water and of
wine.
Assembly of the Church
in prayer about the
Lamb.
(c) Placing the gifts on the
Discus.
Covering with the holy
star, holy covering, in
cense.

Entrance to the place of sac
rifice with prayer.

(a) Salutatio.
(b) Altar prayer.
(c) Ascendeus ad altare.
[d) Inclinatus super altare.
(e) Osculatur altare.

11. service of the word.
A. Introduction.

1. Introit sentence.
2. Psalm.

1. Ektenie (a litany).
2. Antiphons.
3. Beatitudes. With Gloria Patri.
Little Entrance with the 3. Kyrie (rest of the Ektenie
Gospels. corresponds with II A,
Trisagion— " Holy, holy , 1-3.)
holy." Gloria in Excelsis.

268 Worship and Discipline.
Greek. Roman Catholic.
B. Reading of the Scriptures.
i. Salutatio. I. Salutatio.
Prokeimenon (introduc- Collect.
tory) passage from the 2. Epistle.
Old Testament. Graduale and verse —
2. New Testament. Hymn.
(ad) Epistle. Hallelujah (or Tractus)—
Psalmody. choral response.
Hallelujah. Sequence.
(bb) Gospels. 3. Gospels.
" Praise to thee, O Christ!"
C. Preaching of the Word — Exposition.
Ektenie (Litany). Sermon
III. the eucharist.
A. Offering.
(aa) Constituting the offering
of the Church.
Silent prayer.
Handwashing — I n c e n s e
(Avrypiov.)
(bb) Offering of gifts.
Great entrance.
Mere liturgical, formal, and ceremonial representation of the
elements. The offering of prayer
for the bread, water, wine.
Epiklesis of the Holy Ghost.
Ektenie (Litany). Purification gifts. Prayer for
the acceptance of the Secretu.
Intercession for those ex
cluded from the fellowship
of sacrifice.
Note.— Introit is the anthem at the beginning of the Eucharistic
service. Anttphon is a psalm, chant, or hymn, sung responsively by two
sections of the choir. Conjiteor is a form of general confession of sins.
Collect is a short prayer. Graduale is an anthem sung after the epistle
Sequence is words set to the last notes prolonged of the hallelujah.
Tractus is a single voice singing the psalm in the midst of the choir.
Epiklesis is an invocation, usually of the Holy Ghost.

Roman Catholic Worship. 269
Hence arose the great families of liturgies; for
the service of the Christian Church from the days of
Constantine to those of Imther was a liturgical serv
ice, and came to be a highly-enriched and The Great
elaborate ceremonial. This is still the Liturgies.
case in the Greek, Oriental, and Roman Catholic
Churches ; in a lesser degree in the Church of Eng
land and her descendants who use her liturgy.
There can be no question of the impression of
such a liturgical service on the minds of the unlet
tered and untutored sons of the forests, who took the
place of the proconsuls and patricians of Rome;
or of the hold that the great Christian truths so
often repeated took on them. And there is a place
in all worship for impressiveness and grandeur.
" The Eord is in his holy temple," is a magnificent
conception, a glorious reality. But with the service
in a foreign tongue, it is easy to overestimate the edu
cational or spiritual benefit received, and the tendency
to tediousness and unmeaning repetition is great.
We can only sketch the characteristics of these great
liturgies, and their use in the Greek and Roman and
the Episcopal Churches of Protestantism. For while
Presbyterianism has its forms of prayer and order of
service, they have been far more individual and of
the local Church than common to the whole ecclesi
astical body or communion. For more convenient
reference, we place these directories of worship in a
table, side by side, so that the reader may readily ob
serve wherein they are identical, and wherein they
differ.

270

THE GREAT LITURGIES.

GALLACIAN,

GREEK ORDO.

AMBROSIAN

MOZARABIC,

ROMAN.

THE GREAT EU

AND

AND

CHARISTIC

GREGORIAN.

EPHESIAN.

PRAYER.

Sursum Corda.

f Prefatory Trayer.

Prefatory Prayer.

1. The Preface.

Introit.
Introit.
[Sursum Cor
Gloria in Excelsis.
Gloria in Excelsis.
da.]
2. The Prayer of
the Triu in phal
Preface.
EPISTLE AND
Hymn, [ijti-
ace.]
l-i
GOSPEL.
3. TheTriuiuplia,
Sanctus.
fl
Hvmn. [Sanc
0
3
tus]
ft
'C
4. C 0 m m emora-
Prayer for the liv
ing and for ac
a
< 6 u
Oblation of Ele 3
ments. "£
EPISTLE AND
GOSPEL.
tion of our
Lord's Life.
ceptance of the
5. C 0 m m ernora
Sacrifice.
O
tion of Institu
Pn
tion.
NICENE CREED.
NICENE CREED.
THE CONSECRA TION.
6. "Words of Insti
tution of the |
Expulsion of Cate
chumens.
Oblation of Ele
ments.
Bread.
7. Words of Insti- i
tution of the
"Wine.
Oblation.
Prayer for the ¦- f Sursum Corda.
Church. ^ J
8. Oblation of
the Body and
Blood.
-2
TRIUMPHAL HYMN. p,
<. TRIUMPHAL HYMN.
9. Intro ductory
Prayer for the
Descent of the
Prayer for Quick
and Dead.
C 0 m in ernoration
of the Living-
Holy Ghost.
10. Prayer for the
Kiss of Peace.
(Te ig-itur.)
Change of Ele
ments.
THE GREAT INTER- '
COMMEMORATION
"WORDS OF INSTI
CESSORY PRAYER.
OF INSTITUTION.
TUTION.
11. General Inter- >
cession for the
Quick and the
Prayer for the
Dead.
Preface to the
rt
Elevation and
Fraction of Host
into nine parts.
Invocation.
Oblation.Com memoration
of the Dead.
Dead.
12. Prayer before
the Lord's
Prayer.
13. The Lord's
Lord's Prayer.
1-0
Union of Conse
Embolismus.
crated Elements.
TheLord's Prayer.
ft"d
Elevation.
Prayer.
14. The Embolis
Communion.
<
LORD'S PRAYER. O
LORD'S PRAYER.
mus.
THE COMMUNION.
U
Embolismus.
15. The Prayer of
Embolismus.
Inclination.
Union of Conse
16. T h e Holy
crated Elements.
Things to the
Holy Ones aud
the Elevation
COMMUNION.
COMMUNION.
of the Host.
17. The Fraction.
iS. The Confes
Prayer.
sion.
Dismissal by the
19. The Commun
Deacon's Decla
ion.
ration.
Thanksgiving".
20. TheAntidorou
The Mysteries are
Dismissal with
aud Prayer of
completed.
Blessing.
Thanksgiving.
Roman Catholic Worship. 271
Eet us take the Ambrosian and Gregorian form as
the simplest. It begins with the sursum corda, "Eift
up your hearts." Then the preface — that is, a form
serving as an introduction to the anaphora or missa
fidelium (mass for believers), consisting of the bene
diction, as in the Eiturgy of St. James, " The love of
the Eord and Father, the grace of the Son and God,
and the fellowship and gift of the Holy Ghost be
with you all." Second, then the sursum corda and
the response, " We lift them up unto the Eord "
(Habeamus ad Dominum). Third, thanksgiving (Deo
gratias — eucharisiid) , " Eet us give thanks unto the
Lord!" Response, "It is meet and right" — Eiturgy
of St. Chrysostom — " It is meet and right to worship
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in the consubstantial
and undivided Trinity." Fourth, the contestation,
the preface proper and equal to the Great Entrance
of the Greeks, was originally bringing in of gifts.
Roman words: " It is very meet and right, just and
wholesome we should always and everywhere give
thanks to thee, O Holy Eord, Father Almighty,
Eternal God, through our Eord Christ," the meet
and right of Ritual of the Church of England. Then
follows the sanctus, " Holy, holy, holy, Eord God
Almighty." (Trisagion.)
Oblation is a consecration of the elements, some
times a short prayer being added. Preface to the
Lord's Prayer, the Roman form is: "Eet us pray.
Being taught with the precepts of salvation, and
trained with the divine institution, let us dare to
speak," — the Lord's Prayer, by the priest. Embo
lismus; that is, an inserted prayer — the name given
to the prayer which in almost all ancient liturgies

272 Worship and Discipline.
follows the Lord's Prayer, founded on one or both of
the last petitions. It was usually repeated by the
priest in a low voice, symbolizing the silence in which
our Lord lay in the grave. From the Church of
Jerusalem we have the following form : "And lead us
not into temptation, O Lord, the Lord of hosts, who
knowest our infirmity ; but deliver us from the evil
one, and his works, and every assault and will of his,
for the sake of the Holy Name which is called upon
our lowliness !"
The Ephesian liturgy is next, from which comes
that of the Church of England, which is the source
of that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The
following elements are added to the Ambrosian rite.
The introit is the anthem at the beginning of the
eucharistic office. There is added :
Gloria in Excelsis.
Epistle and Gospel.
Nicsean Creed. Expulsion of catechumens.
Kiss of peace.
Elevation and fraction of the host (the consecrated bread)
into nine parts. Union of the consecrated elements.
Prayer. Dismissal.
In the Roman service are added no new elements,
though there is given a different order. The same is
true of the Greek ritual, though there is a greater
elaboration of the parts.
A scholarly American writer has said: "The
thought of the liturgy of the Greek Church is the
Divine manifestation in effecting the work of human
redemption, extending from the act of creation,
through all the intervening dispensations, to the life

Roman Catholic Worship. 273
of Christ, from his birth to his glorification. Every
prayer, lesson, antiphonal, or chant; every posture,
action, change of vestments, shifting of colors, etc.,
are so many symbols to illustrate the unfolding
history of redemption. In the Latin Church the
entire liturgy centers in one thought of supreme in
terest — the atoning sacrifice of Christ — veritably re
peated at every mass. With variety in secondary
parts, during the changing festivals of the year, the
point around which the whole system revolves, and
toward which every member points, is the sacrificial
offering of Christ in the mass by the officiating priest,
and the appropriating of its benefits by the worship
ing Church."
In regard to the doctrine underlying all this ritual,
Cyprian is the first who speaks of the priest offering
a sacrifice in the sacrament of the Lord's Doctrloe
Supper. The fathers inclining toward of the
transubstantiation are Gregory of Nyssa
and Chrysostom in the East, and Hilary and Ambrose
in the West. In the symbolic school are reckoned
Basil, Eusebius, Gregory Nazianzen, and Augustine.
Gregory the Great taught that in the Lord's Sup
per the sacrifice of Christ is actually repeated, and
his doctrine has become the (Roman) standard.
Not until the fourth century was it regarded as
essential that both celebrant and recipient should be
fasting at the time of communion. Tertullian and
Cyprian seem to favor it, and it was commanded by
Basil, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine.
Baptism was the most significant rite of . Baptism.
the Christian Church. It marked the deci
sive moment when the heathen broke with his old life

274 Worship and Discipline.
and society, the idolater with his old religion and wor
ship ; the hour when he put on the new life, became a
member of the new society, and an heir of heaven.
The Church, at the administration of this sacrament,
prayed that he might receive the Holy Ghost ; the
presbyter or bishop placed his hands on his head, in
token of the bestowal of the heavenly gift. This
afterward became separated from baptism, and be
came the rite of confirmation. The candidate, on his
part, renounced the devil and his works, the world
and the flesh, and professed his acceptance of the
common faith of the Church in the Creed used at
baptism. Those to be baptized were clothed in white,
and all the surroundings were such as to lend im-
pressiveness to the act, as we see in the baptism of
Clovis, pp. 101-2. The effect upon the recipient can
not be imagined by one brought up in a Christian land.
All former sins were believed to be washed away. So
taught the "Shepherd" of Hermas, 130. Later, a
magical efficacy was attached to the sacrament, like
the initiation to the heathen mysteries. It was spoken
of as " initiation," " illumination," etc. Most of the
fathers, after 200, taught baptismal regeneration. It
remained the turning-point in the life of the believer —
the decisive breaking from the old life, and the be
ginning of the new.
' The Eucharist was first celebrated on the Lord's-
day. Then, also, on the fast-days — Wednesdays and
Time and Fridays; in the East, also on Saturday.
Method of When Christianity became supreme, daily
Celebration. celebration became usual. In the Apos
tolic Age, the hour was at the evening meal ; Pliny
says before dawn. In the third century, Tertullian,

Roman Catholic Worship. 275
Cyprian, and others speak of the same practice.
Cyprian, the morning for public and solemn com
munion. When the Church triumphed, set hours be
gan to be appointed. They were at first nine o'clock ;
on ordinary feast-days, at twelve; on fast-days, at
three in the afternoon.
It is believed no regularly-prescribed liturgies
were in use in the ante-Nicaean period. No elevation
of the host, or its adoration, are known in the writ
ings and monuments of the first six centuries; no
use of ceremonial lights until after 300. — Jerome
favors them, 378 ; no use of incense for the first four
hundred years. The Agapae, or love-feasts, con
tinued to be observed until 391 ; no private mass,
where the priest alone received the elements, in this
period. The celebrating of the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was (29-350) the supreme object of all
meetings of the saints.
Should any one dwelling in town absent himself
for three Sundays from the Church, he should, for a
time, be suspended from communion. The laity re
ceived both bread and wine in the sacrament of the
holy communion until the twelfth century.
Adult baptism was the more common for the first
six centuries. It was often postponed until just be
fore death. The nature and duration of Baptism
instruction before baptism varied with cir
cumstances—from a few days to two or three years.
Infant baptism is attested from 250. From the fourth
century, the propriety of infant baptism was unques
tioned, and the practice was not unusual. The duty
of performing baptism pertained to the episcopal
office, and could be discharged by the bishop, and

276 Worship and Discipline.
by those only to whom his right was delegated. So
in the East and West, in the first six centuries, though
others, even laymen, baptized in cases of necessity.
The apostolic mode, ordinarily, was by immersion;*
but this was not exclusively the case. The " Teach
ing of the Twelve," ch. vii, thus provides : "And
concerning baptism, thus baptize ye : Having first said
all these things, baptize into the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living
water. But if thou have not living water, baptize
into other water; and if thou canst not in cold, in
warm. But if thou have not either, pour out water
thrice upon the head into the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But before
the baptism, let the baptizer fast, and the baptized,
and whatever others can; but thou shalt order the
baptized to fast one or two days before."
The early Church practiced trine immersion. Dr.
Bennett says: "We are compelled to believe that,
while immersion was the usual mode of adminis
trating baptism from the first to the twelfth century,
there was very early a large measure of Christian
liberty allowed in the Church, by which the mode of
baptism could be adjusted to the peculiar circum
stances. To this conclusion we are led by the com
bined testimony of the ' Teaching of the Twelve,' of
the decisions of the Church fathers and the Councils,
and of the uniform art representations."
Preaching took place on Sundays, fast-days, great
festivals, and fasts in Lent. In Africa, the preacher
sat, while the congregation stood. In the
Preaching. „ ,
East, both sat, as did Chrysostom. Preach
ing was, in the earliest age, especially the duty of the
* See Appendix, Note B.

Roman Catholic Worship. 277
bishop. It was reserved wholly to him in the Afri
can Churches. In the East, presbyters were more
generally permitted to preach. Chrysostom preached
most of his sermons as a presbyter. Primarily, the
power and duty was in the bishop ; but he might,
and usually did, authorize presbyters who were capa
ble to preach. Monks and other laymen, as Origen,
were sometimes permitted to preach in the East, but
not in the West. No sermons by any Roman bishop
are extant before Leo I. The apostles, bishops, and
presbyters of the earlier ages — Origen, Augustine, Ter
tullian, Athanasius, and Jerome — were extempore
preachers ; Basil, the two Gregories, and Chrysostom
preached written sermons. Preaching passed into
disuse in the Roman Church, toward the end of this
period. The influence of barbarians who could not
understand Latin, and preachers who could not use
the Teutonic tongues, contributed to this result.
The earliest feasts of the Church — the Passover,
Pentecost, and Easter — were observed from its birth.
With the former would be associated the The church
events of our Lord's passion, and with the Year-
latter his ascension. Palm Sunday was observed in
the Greek Church in the fourth century. In the
early part of the third century, we find notices of the
fast before Easter. Irenaeus and Tertullian speak of
it as a fast of one or two days, or of forty hours.
Generally, it corresponded to the time the Savior lay
in the grave. Toward the end of this period, it was
a Lenten fast of approximately forty days. Leo I
speaks of ember days — that is, days of fasting — in re
lation to the four seasons. They seem not to have
secured any general observance in this period. The

278 Worship and Discipline.
Roman custom was to observe as fast-days the
Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays of the first week
in Lent, and the weeks succeeding the festival of
Pentecost, and the 14th of September, and the 13th of
December. Epiphany — the feast of the manifestation
of God at the baptism of our Lord — was observed in
the East, from about the close of the second century,
on the 6th of January. Christmas is earliest noticed
as a festival of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, on
December 25th, in the pontificate of Liberius, 352-366,
at Rome. It was not celebrated independently of
Epiphany, in the East, until the last quarter of the
fourth century. In the West, the feast of Epiphany
was celebrated from 360. It came, in that part of the
Church, to refer to the visit of the magi. The Christ
mas festival, extending to January 6th in the latter
part of this period, came to be preceded by fifty days
of special prayer, known as the Advent.
Sunday, from apostolic times, was observed as the
Eord's-day — the day of Christian worship. It was
made a day of rest from labor — all but
The Week. . . .
that necessary for agriculture — \>y a law of
Constantine, 321. Wednesdays and Fridays were the
ordinary fast-days of the Church.
Hours The hours for prayer observed by those
of Prayer, especially given to the religious life and in
the monasteries were :

I. Nocturnas, . . .
2. Matina-Laudes, .
3. Prima, . .
4. Tertia, .
5. Sextia, ...
6. Nona, . . .
7. Vespers, . .
8. Completorium or compline,

12 Midnight.
3 A. M.
6 A. M.
9 A. M.
12 A. M.
3 P. M.
6 P. M.
9 P. M.

Chapter V.
THE DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH.
The Church being a voluntary association, and
inviting all to receive the gospel and become mem
bers of the society of believers, there must „. . ,.
-1 ' Discipline in
be some means of discipline to preserve the Early
the moral purity of the brotherhood. The Cnurch-
method of Peter, in dealing with Ananias and Sap
phira, could not be of universal application. There
fore, the Church, from the first, possessed and exer
cised this right in accordance with the precept of our
Lord in Matt, xviii, 15-17. Paul gives an instance in
detail in the fifth chapter of First Corinthians, and
2 Cor. ii, 5-10. He lays down the general rule in
2 Thess. iii, 6, 14, 15. With this agrees 3 John 10.
The exclusion from the Church, and so throwing
back into the world, is called delivering over to Sa
tan, because the powers which rule the moral world
outside of the Church are considered as hostile to
God. This act, and the release from it, or absolu
tion, is the act of the Church — generally of the body
of presbyters, under the direction of the bishop. Of
course, the apostles, as the source of the gospel
preaching, had original jurisdiction in cases of dis
cipline. The offender was expected to acknowledge
his sin with public humiliation and penitence. This
confession and satisfaction to the community or
brotherhood which he had disgraced by his fall were
279

280 Worship and Discipline.
the indispensable conditions of his absolution. The
gross or mortal sins were idolatry, murder, adultery,
and fornication. With idolatry was, of course, classed
apostasy, and, later, heresy.
The early view was, that all sins are forgiven in
baptism. Hermas, A. D. 130, held that it was possi
ble to forgive sin — gross sin — once after baptism,
the view generally being that Christ might forgive
sins at the end of life, but that the Church could not,
though Irenaeus teaches that for " those who now sin
Christ will die no more, but will come as judge and
demand an account ; therefore, be not proud, but
afraid, lest, after having known Christ, doing some
thing displeasing to God, we should have no further
remission of sins."
The Montanist controversy makes an era in the
history of penitence. Previous to 150, there is no
Effect of instance of readmission to the Church of
Montanism a gross sinner, except through the inter
cession of a confessor or prophet. To that date, pub
lic penance was a help, but not a commandment. So
Tertullian denies that the bishop, representing the
Church, can exercise discipline, the power of binding
and loosing — or the power of the keys, as it is called
from Matt, xvi, 19; xviii, 18; and John xx, 23 — but
that the Holy Spirit in the Church can do this only
through the Montanist prophet. Callistus, Bishop of
Rome, declared that he conferred pardon for the sins
of adultery and fornication on the ground of repent
ance rendered. Tertullian denounced this action ; and
Hippolytus was driven to the formation of a schis
matic Church ; the latter expressly sa}dng that Cal
listus is the first to extend such forgiveness. The

Discipline of the Church. 281
power of the bishop prevailed, and Montanism was
overthrown. The Decian persecution caused a fur
ther advance in Church discipline. Cyprian is the
father of the penitential discipline of the ancient
Church, and it is closely connected with his views of
the powers of the bishop and the doctrine of the sac
rifices in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
The fundamental rule of the priestly system of
penance is, that the Spirit accompanies the office,
irrespective of the character of the person penitence
who fills it. As a consequence, Church after
penitence came to be looked upon as a 2S° A- D"
healing medicinal act, more than as showing repent
ance, or as a penalty for gross sins. The penitential
system, founded from 250-500, then began to decay,
and after 600, was all but dead.
We have, up to the beginning of this period — (a)
Suspension from communion for a fixed period;
(b) This suspension from communion and from the
prayers of the Church, together with definite acts of
penance ; (c) Excommunication, either final, or with
the condition that the offender might be readmitted
by means of penitence.
At the time of Cyprian, the sentence of penitence
did not exceed one or two years. It was regarded as
a privilege and concession, cautiously granted, as it
was administered but once. Penitence was voluntary
for the most part, the time of its duration being de
termined by the earnestness of the repentance and
the discretion of the bishop. Of this discipline, Ter
tullian and Cyprian speak in terms which show its
depth and genuineness.
" Penitence is a discipline for the abasement and

282 Worship and Discipline.
humiliation of man, enjoining such conversation as
Tertullian on inviteth mercy. It is directed, also, even
Penitence. jn ^e matter of dress and food — to lie in
sackcloth and ashes ; to hide his body in filthy gar
ments ; to cast down his spirit with mourning ; to ex
change for severe treatment the sins which he hath
committed ; for the rest, to use simple things for meat
and drink, to-wit, not for the belly's, but for the
soul's sake ; for the most part, also, to cherish prayer
by fasts; to groan, to weep, and to mourn night and
day unto the Lord his God ; to throw himself upon
the ground before the presbyters, and to fall on his
knees before the beloved of God, to enjoin all the
brethren to bear the message of his prayer for mercy."
(Tertullian, De Pcenitentia, ch. ix.)
" Men must pray and entreat with increased con
tinuance ; pass the days in mourning, and the nights
in vigils and weeping ; employ their whole
Cyprian. . ? , , & . ,. , ,
time in tears and lamentations ; lie stretched
on the ground; prostrate themselves among ashes,
sackcloth, and dust ; after Christ's raiment lost, wish
for no garment beside; after the devil's feast, must
voluntarily fast; give themselves to righteous works,
whereby sins are cleansed ; apply themselves to fre
quent almsgiving, whereby souls are freed from
death." (Cyprian, De Eapsis, ch. xxi.)
The penitential discipline of the Church, or public
penance, was elaborated at the Councils of Neo-Caesa-
The rea and Ancyra, in 314. This took the
Penitential place of the indefinite period of penitence
ys em' fixed by the earnestness of the repentance
of the penitent and discretion of the bishop. Now
penitence became a penal sentence, which was to be

Discipline of the Church. 283
worked out by certain appointed stages — so many
years to be passed in one stage under certain condi
tions ; so many years in another, with a relaxation of
the conditions, the latter stage not to be begun until
the earlier one was completed ; and so, step by step,
the outcast was restored to full communion. This
system lost its vigor in the early part of the fifth cen
tury, through the abolition of the office of penitential
presbyter, who had charge of it. The system, with
its stations, was as follows :
The first station was that of the mourners (flentes).
The position of mourners was the position of those
whose penitence had already begun. The (a) Mourners,
mention of the name is rare among early
authorities ; and it is not likely that the thing itself
was frequently imposed. It was a part of the scheme
and framework of the system, held in reserve rather
than commonly inflicted. In the appointment of the
ancient churches, there was an open area or space set
apart in front of the door. All who entered the
church necessarily entered through this area or ap
proach. This was the place assigned to the mourn
ers, and beyond it they were forbidden to pass. The
mourners, being placed outside the very doors of the
church, could take no part in what was going on in
side. They were cut off from all sacred rites what
ever. They could hear neither the reading of the
Scriptures nor the preaching; still less could they
join in the prayers and the sacred mysteries.
There is no express mention of any austerities
peculiar to the second station. The hearer (D) Hearers
is within the door, in the narthex, or porch, (Audientesi.
of the church, where he could listen to the Scrip-

284 Worship and Discipline.
tures and the sermon. In some buildings he might
be able to hear while standing in the vestibule ; but,
as a rule, his place must have been assigned within
the building, at the lower end of the church.
The Kneelers occupied the third station in the
Eastern system. In the Western, it was not only the
Kneelers principal, but in general practice must have
(Substrati). Deen the only one, except, perhaps, that of
Bystanders. Their position was within the door of the
church, so that they might go out with the catechumens.
They stood within the walls of the building, in the part
below the ambo or reading-desk. The kneelers were
again recognized as a part, though an erring part, of
the Christian fold. The delinquent, in this stage of
penitence, was arrayed in sackcloth. Sozomen (vii,
16) gives this account : " In the Western Church, and
especially at Rome, the place in which the penitents
stand is visible to all. They take up their position in
it, distressed and sorrowful. When the liturgy is
finished, as they may not share in the public mys
teries they throw themselves prostrate on the ground
with cries and tears, when the bishop, in his compas
sion, coming to them, falls likewise by their side, rais
ing his voice with theirs, till at length the whole con
gregation is dissolved in tears. After this, the bishop
is the first to rise, and to take them by the hand ; and
when he has offered the prayers suitable lor sinners per
forming penance, he dismisses them from the church."
The last penitential station was that of Bystanders.
Bystanders They stood together with the faithful, com
iConsis- municating with them but in prayer only ;
and not being dismissed before the eucha
ristic service, their position was above the ambo.

Discipline of the Church. 285
At the end of our period, public penance came
into disuse. There were exhortations to private con
fession, but this was voluntary. There is no trace of
compulsory auricular confession in this period.
Such has been the course of the development of
Christian worship and the discipline of penitence in
the ancient Church. Through this, which EMectofthe
lay nearest the people's heart and daily life Discipline
and thought, rather than through any doc- of Pen,tence-
trinal error, came the superstitions and corruptions of
the later centuries of this period. The discipline of
penance was looked upon as a medicine for the sins of
the daily life. Pardon for sins after baptism was sup
posed to be secured by daily repentance and prayer —
the five prayers of the Church, its fasts and offerings.
In time, to the reception of the sacrament and as a
preparation thereto, came the discipline of penitence,
which, not in this period but in the Church of the
Middle Ages, developed into the compulsory practice
of auricular confession; i. e., private confession to a
priest. The effect this discipline was supposed to secure
was peace of soul to the penitent. On the contrary,
the peace and joy of God's children fled from his
Church. It has been so in every age. Spiritual ad
vice and counsel are given the believer in the fellow
ship and watch-care of the Christian Church. Such
counsel and admonition form one of the highest priv
ileges and most solemn duties of the Christian pas
torate. But God alone can forgive sin, and the assur
ance of his Spirit can alone comfort the penitent and
the sorrowing. The High-Church movement of our
time, with its sacramental system of doctrine, its elab-

286 Worship and Discipline.
orate ritual and minute ceremonial, has sought to re
vive a system of Church penitence and priestly confes
sion and absolution. With it, as with its prototype
in the early Church, success has been the death-blow
to Christian peace and joy. The father of this move
ment in Protestantism was Dr. E. B. Pusey. That
he was a man of real holiness of life only makes more
evident the tendency of these teachings. His own
words will show most faithfully the effect of this sys
tem. Of his own religious experience he writes, Sep
tember 26, 1840: " My dear wife's illness [she died a
year before the date of this letter] first brought to
me what has since been deepened by the review of
my past life; how, amid special mercies and guardian
ship of God, I am scarred all over and seamed with
sin, so that I am a monster to myself. I loathe myself;
I can feel of myself only like one covered with leprosy
from head to foot. Guarded as I have been, there is
no one with whom I do not compare myself, and find
myself worse than they ; and yet. thus wounded and
full of sores, I am so shocked at myself that I dare
not lay my wounds bare to any one • I dare not so
shock people."
After choosing his intimate friend. Keble, the
author of the " Christian Year," as his confessor, he
framed a set of rules for his daily life. The following
are some of them : " To aim to offer all acts to God,
and to pray foi his grace in them before commencing
them ; as, conversations ; while people are coming
into a room or before I enter a room ; each separate
letter which I write ; each course of study ; and in the
course of each of these, if continued long ; and His
pardon at the end, and note down omissions. Never,

Discipline of the Church. 287
if I can, to look at beauty of nature without inward
confession of unworthiness. To make mental acts,
from time to time, of being inferior to every one I
see. To drink cold water at dinner, as only fit to be
where there is not a drop ' to cool this flame.' To
make the fire to me from time to time the type of hell.
Always to lie down in bed, confessing that I am un
worthy to lie down except in hell, but so praying to
lie down in the Everlasting Arms." He desired
" not to smile if he could help it, except with children,
or when it seems a matter of love, like one just escap
ing out of the fire." He wore a hair shirt in the day
time unless ill, used a hard seat by day and a hard
bed by night. He considered his wife's death, his
suspension from preaching by the university for
teaching false doctrine, and the death of his daughter,
as punishments for his sins. However much there
is to be granted to that spiritual vision which, the
clearer it becomes and the nearer we get to God, leads
to the abhorrence of one's self in dust and ashes ; and
however valuable are these habits of self-recollection
and self-restraint to any real holiness of character, and
however much better overscrupulousness may be
than a careless and ease-loving forgetfulness of God
in the daily life, — yet it must be said that there is no
warrant for this legalism and lifelong aspect of pen
itence in the New Testament. Paul passed out of the
seventh into the eighth chapter of Romans, and did
not wear a hair shirt when he wrote the Epistle to
the Galatians. The freedom of Christ's Spirit, and
the brotherhood with him in the Father's house, is
exchanged for a yoke of servitude. The assurance
and joy of the Christian life are not in the sacra-

288 Worship and Discipline.
ments, but in Christ himself. Not penance, but his
word abiding, gives peace. This is the Christian
faith. The greatest corruptions of this period came from
that which was most sacred, the worship of the
corruptions Church. The development of liturgy at
of these Ages, ^g ciose of the period caused the cessation
Effect of r ...
Elaborate of preaching, as a rule, at the public serv-
Rituai. jce_ This was especially the case with the
Greek Church, with its more elaborate ritual. At the
same time, in the East, the ritual was in the language
of the people, and the laity were better educated, and
so retained the use of the Holy Scriptures. In the
West, Latin was retained as the language of the
Church service, while both the service and the Scrip
ture were in a tongue foreign to the speech of the
people. The first translation of the Bible in the Latin
Church into the language of any of the Teutonic
peoples — Wycliffe's — was nearly eight hundred years
later. With preaching and the Scriptures withdrawn
from the people, the* influence of the Church became
almost altogether legal, or even magical, the spiritual
and even intellectual influence almost altogether
failed. Then the extravagant language used in the
liturgies, or by the preachers, concerning the sacra
ment of the Lord's Supper, tended to convert the
most solemn and pathetic service of the Church into
a magical rite, and the extravagance of liturgical
statement became the doctrine of the Church.
Alongside of this perversion of what was holiest
in the Church, the worship of her Lord, came the in
fluence of heathen elements, which not only corrupted

Discipline of the Church. 289
the spiritualitly of worship, but brought in polytheism
instead of the worship of the Christian's God, one
and triune.
These corruptions came into the Church after the
time of Constantine. It was not strange that imme
diately after the most prolonged and se- worship of
verest of the persecutions that the Church Martyrs.
should reverence the martyrs who had died for the
faith. The day of their martyrdom was celebrated as
their birthday, and feasts were held at their graves.
Augustine tells us of his mother, the saintly Monica,
that, " as was the custom in Africa, she bore to the
memory of the martyrs sacrificial beer, bread, and
unmixed wine." Yet this was very like the heathen
sacrifices at the graves of their dead. Splendid
churches were erected over the places of the martyrs'
burial, as over the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul at
Rome, and of many others.
From the veneration of the martyrs came the in
vocation of the martyrs and of the saints. Legends
of their lives and mighty works were re- worship of
ceived as Holy Scripture, and recited at Samt»-
the feast-day set apart for their commemoration.
They were supposed to have power to bless or in
jure. With the martyrs, they took the place of the
old heathen heroes and city founders. So churches,
communities, and cities came to have patron saints.
In this way, as with the old heathen mythology, the
helpful powers were classified and localized. To relics
of the martyrs were added those of the saints. These
were almost indispensable to the consecration of a
church, and were greatly prized by heathen converts
of royal or noble birth or station. Often they were
19

290 Worship and Discipline.
used as protective charms, like the heathen amulets.
With this veneration of relics, mostly spurious, grew
the desire to make pilgrimages to the holy places.
The life of the monks was no offensive novelty to
„, .. those who knew the heathen ascetics, while
Worship of the the idea of virginity, on which rested the
Virgin Mary. conventUal 1}fe 0f t.he nuns> was familiar
for centuries through the Vestal Virgins. So with
the increasing reverence of the Virgin Mary, culmi
nating in the feast of the Purification on February
2d, sanctioned by the Emperor Justinian, 542, and of
her Ascension, or Assumption, August 15th, by Em
peror Maurice, 582-602. To her came naturally those
ideas long associated with the worship of Astarte.
Isis, and Cybele.
In like manner with many of the insignia and
vestments of the clergy. The miter of the bishop
Heathen was taken from the head-dress of the Per-
Eiements in sian priests ; the scarlet robes of the car-
christtan dinal from those of the heathen priest, the
Worship. Roman flamen. The alb, a white linen
tunic with sleeves reaching to the feet, was an Egyp
tian sacred dress. The dalmatic, a short-sleeved shirt,
was worn by Commodus and Elagabalus, and is now
the outer garment worn by the deacon at the Roman
Catholic mass.
Thus says Schultze: "The worship of the Chris
tians had elements which, in their outward appear
ance, or in their contents, or both, must have seemed
familiar to the heathen. So with the old names — tem
ple, holy temple area, the all-holiest, and the altar of
sacrifice. The table form of the Christian altar gave
way in the fourth century to a stone altar which

Discipline of the Church. 291
reminded more of the antique altar. There, in the
liturgical language, they spoke of offering and sacri
fice, and the action of sacrifice was really exhibited.
Also the name sacerdos, for the Christian priest,
turned back to the word of antiquity. In the wor
ship itself there did not fail the use of incense, which
indeed had been the case of the Old Testament rites,
but which yet was in union with the antique (heathen)
worship." It is not intended to convey the impression that
these heathen influences were the only ones that
wrought these transformations in the Church. Some
of them are as old as human nature, and found in
every religion of mere human development. Others
were from the influence of a time when culture and
intellectual life paled before the advancing floods of
barbarism; some from an attempt to adapt to the
Church some features of the Jewish ritual ; but cir
cumstances made the polytheistic trend of the heathen
influence strong and effective.
This chapter on Christian worship may well close
with a sketch of the greatest of Christian preachers,
one of the holiest of men, and whose service in the
ordering of Christian worship is recognized ch/ysostom.
in the name given to the liturgy most in His L,,e-
use in the Greek Catholic Church. John, surnamed
Chrysostom, or the Golden Mouth, was born at Anti
och in 347. Secundus, his father, was a military
officer of high rank. Anthusa, his mother, was left a
widow at twenty years of age. She was wealthy, in
telligent, devout, and devoted herself to the training
of her son. She appears to have been superior to
the women of her time, who were uneducated, kept in

292 Worship and Discipline.
unnatural seclusion until marriage, and often treated
by their husbands with severity and distrust. John
had as teacher the most famous rhetorician of his
time, Libanius. At the age of twenty-three he be
came a Christian, and was baptized. He wished to
abandon secular life and become a monk. His mother
took him into the room where he was born, and im
plored him to remain with her, who had given her
life for him, until her death. He yielded to her
pleadings, but at her death carried out his purpose,
and began the life of a monk in 375.
For six years he remained with the community,
or until 381, when, in the thirty-fifth year of his age,
he was ordained deacon. Five years later, when
His work at forty, he was ordained presbyter. After
Antioch. serving as deacon, he devoted his life to
preaching. For seventeen years he labored in Anti
och, and six in Constantinople, and became the most
famous preacher of all the Christian ages. Augustine,
Leo, and Ambrose and Caesarius of Aries were the
great preachers of the West; but none of these, nor
the great preachers of the East, with Gregory Nazi-
anzen at their head, approached the abundance, the
variety and excellence of the great presbyter of An
tioch. In a sedition in a circus at Antioch, in 387,
the statues of the Emperor Theodosius and his wife
were overthrown, and the emperor was justly in
censed. While the populace was awaiting the pun
ishment of their misdeeds, which the Bishop Flavian
exerted himself to avert, John preached to the people
his justly celebrated sermons on the " Statues." He
led the people to penitence, comforted them in their
suspense, and exhorted them to perseverance in good

Discipline of the Church. 293
works when arrived the news of their pardon. While
in Antioch, he wrote the treatise on " The Priest
hood," the most of his "Commentaries," and the
most renowned of his sermons. On the twenty-first
of February, 398, in his fifty-first year, without effort
on his part, he was consecrated Archbishop and Patri
arch of Constantinople.
The last ruler of the undivided Empire of Rome
was dead, and the Government had fallen into the
feeble hands of Arcadius, the son of Theodosius the
Great— hands too weak to hold the reins, Chrysostoni
which were seized by court favorites or by at constan
ts ambitious wife. The first of these tlnople-
favorites was Rufinus, master of offices, and who, on
the death of Theodosius, became regent of the East.
Rufinus was an able man, but one of the most avari
cious, unscrupulous, and treacherous characters of a
time when baseness and violence ruled in the public
service. He was killed by the soldiers of Gainas, a
Gothic general, November 27, 395. Eutropius, the
eunuch, succeeded to the vacant post. He had sup
planted Rufinus, who intended his daughter to be the
imperial consort of Arcadius. Eutropius secured his
marriage with Eudoxia, an able and ambitious woman,
the daughter of a Frankish general, April 25, 395.
Further to secure his position, Eutropius called to the
capital the celebrated preacher of Antioch. At first,
Chrysostom was favored by the empress. Eutropius,
for his misrule, was banished to Cyprus, and after
ward brought back to Heraclea, and executed, 399.
The Gothic General Gainas was defeated and killed
in an insurrection, December 23, 401. From hence
forth the will of Eudoxia was supreme in the State.

294 Worship and Discipline.
The" strict preaching of Chrysostom alienated her
from him. Theophilus, the great Patriarch and Pri
mate of Alexandria, had consecrated John as Arch
bishop of Constantinople. He was envious that the
new patriarch had been taken from Antioch instead
of Alexandria. His one desire was to make Alexan
dria the great See of the East. In 401, some monks,
called the " Tall Brothers," came to Constantinople,
and complained of ill usage from Theophilus. Chry
sostom, while respecting their excommunication, inter
ceded for them. Theophilus answered him angrily.
Eudoxia heard their story, and summoned Theophi
lus to Constantinople to answer for his conduct. In
the meantime Chrysostom made a tour of three
months in Asia Minor, deposing immoral bishops,
and setting the affairs of the Churches in order, and, at
the same time, raising up a host of enemies against
himself. During the absence of Chrysostom, the
emissaries of Theophilus won the empress to his side.
He came, accompanied by Epiphanius, and, with
rich gifts, wrought upon the bishops and the court.
He scorned to plead to the charge against him, but
Council of proceeded to act as a judge, calling a Coun-
TheOak. c[\ a£ a county estate of the empress near
Constantinople, called The Oak, June, 403, to inquire
into the orthodoxy of Origen, and to hear com
plaints against Chrysostom. The patriarch of the
capital refused to appear at a Council packed by his
enemies. The question of the orthodoxy of Origen
was dropped; and Epiphanius, seeing through the
intrigues of Theophilus, sailed for Cyprus, but died
on the way. The Council of The Oak deposed Chry
sostom for maladministration, and handed him over to

Discipline of the Church. 295
the emperor on a veiled charge of treason, which it
was hoped would lead to a sentence of death.
Chrysostom withdrew into banishment; but thor
oughly frightened by an earthquake, the empress re
called him in three days. In spite of his endeavors,
Chrysostom's return was a triumphal entry. Theo
philus fled to Alexandria. In September of the same
year the statue of the empress was erected in the
square in front of the great door of the church.
Chrysostom preached against it as a manifestation of
pride and vanity amounting to sacrilege. The wrath
of the empress was inappeasable. She heard, falsely
however, that in a public discourse he had compared
her to Herodias seeking the head of John. From
henceforth reconciliation was impossible. John had
not waited for the annulment of the decree, unjust
and invalid, of the Council of The Oak.
On that charge, he was again deposed, and, in
Easter week, arrested and carried away to banish
ment to Cucusus on the Armenian frontier. Chrysos
tom appealed to Innocent I of Rome, who Banishment
recognized his orthodoxy, and, with the and Death-
Emperor Honorius, demanded his return. On the
way to Cucusus, his guards treated him with brutal
severity, seeking to end his days on the journey. He
was kindly received at Cucusus. Friends from Anti
och visited him; and he kept up a constant corre
spondence with his flock, from whom he had been
torn. Well has it been said that these three years
were the most glorious of his life. The Empress
Eudoxia died six months after his banishment ; but
his enemies only added to the severity of his treat
ment. In the winter of 405-6 he was taken to the

296 Worship and Discipline.
mountain town of Arbissus, sixty miles from Cucusus.
There, in the bitter winter weather, and amid more
savage men, John, a native of sunny Antioch, suffered
severely, and his ever-feeble health was greatly im
paired. On returning to Cucusus, he revived again,
and hoped yet to resume his work at Constantinople.
His enemies now secured his banishment, in 407, to
Pityus, the most inhospitable spot in the empire, on
the eastern shore of the Black Sea. The guards who
were to enforce the decree spared no pains to hasten
the death of the illustrious prisoner. In great weak
ness, as he passed through Comana, he asked the
guards to delay the journey; but they hurried on.
He fainted in the way, and was carried back to the
monastery. Asking for white garments, he distrib
uted his own raiment among the clergy who were
present. Having received the Eucharist, he spoke a
few farewell words, and repeating his favorite motto,
"Glory be to God for all things, Amen," went to be
with his Lord.
The letters of Chrysostom, written in his banish
ment, even more than his sermons, testify to his
genuine and exalted Christian character. Equally
His eminent as a preacher and saint, he wrought
Character. jn a generation unworthy of him. The
place he was called to fill was most difficult. Few
could have succeeded ; but by temperament and race
he was unfitted for such a struggle. Great orators
are seldom leaders of men. Demosthenes, Cicero,
Peter the Hermit, and even Savonarola, are significant
examples. The gifts of moderation, judgment, and
decision are not those by which an orator gains suc
cess. On the other hand, no Roman or English prel-

Discipline of the Church. 297
ate, after his return from banishment, would so soon,
or so helplessly, have been at the mercy of his foes.
Chrysostom is represented as small in stature, his
frame attenuated by the austerities of the monastery
and his habitually ascetic mode of living, personal
his cheeks pale and hollow, his eyes deeply Appearance.
set, but bright and piercing, his broad and lofty fore
head furrowed by wrinkles, his head bald. He fre
quently delivered his discourses sitting in the reading
desk, in order to be nearer to his hearers and well raised
above them. His health was not good ¦ his digestion
never recovered from his life in the monastery, and
perhaps caused an irritability of temper, of which his
enemies complained.
The source of his power in the pulpit was his un
rivaled knowledge of the Scriptures. The six years
spent in the monastery gave him a mas- Sourceofhis
tery both of its letter and meaning, which Power as a
was of first importance to a great Christian reac er'
preacher. He grew great on the thoughts of God.
Then he loved men ; his great aim, of which he never
lost sight, was to convert souls. This gave earnest
ness to his preaching. The sermons of Chrysostom
and his exposition were clear, logical, full of apt and
versatile illustration; his language simple, yet re
fined. The ordinary reader can not turn his pages, in
spite of all difference of age, race, speech, and some
times luxuriant rhetoric, without feeling the genuine
Christian spirit, and being both interested and helped
in the spiritual life. Their main characteristics are
their ethical aim, their straightforward common sense,
and the warmth of Christian love. The same qual
ities added to wide knowledge of the Scriptures,

298 Worship and Discipline.
through mastery of the Greek tongue and the use of
the historic and grammatical method in interpretation,
make his commentaries of lasting value.
A biographer says : " It is this rare union of powers
which constitutes his superiority to almost all the
other Christian preachers with whom he might be
compared. Savonarola had all, and more than all, his
fire and vehemence, but untempered by his sober,
calm good sense, and wanting his rational method of
interpretation. Wesley is almost his match in simple,
straightforward, practical exhortation, but does not
rise into flights of eloquence like his. The great
French preachers resemble him in his more ornate
and declamatory vein ; but they lack that simpler
common-sense style of address which equally dis
tinguished him."

fart Fifth.

THE NEW SOCIETY.
299

Chapter I.
THE OLD SOCIAL ORDER IN ROME.
IT is always difficult to give an accurate estimate
and representation of those relations of men with each
other which we call society, and of that
• , . ,-r i . t t • Distinctive
society s life and moral value. It is not a Difference
light task to depict that social life whose between «
influence presses upon us as impalpably ana a
and unceasingly as the air we breathe and christian
. , . , ° _ . , Civilization.
of which we are a part. Every resident
in a foreign land realizes how imperfect must be such
an estimate with narrower resources of observation
and materials for judgment. How then can we ar
rive at results of permanent worth in endeavoring to
reconstruct the social order of past generations.
Against this difficulty of the task may be placed
its necessity. No man can avoid some judgment
upon the social order and moral life of the world
in which he lives. Nor can he long remain in a for
eign country and not feel the proportionate value of
these resultant and main factors of the national life.
Indeed, without this informing life the history of past
ages is but a mass of dates and names, as devoid of
interest as of profit. With this, not only are they
again alive, but speak with no uncertain sound in re
gard to some of the deepest and most perplexing
problems men have to face. The endeavors, failures,
and successes of these ages have a living interest
301

302 The New Society.
and an abiding lesson. The society of those times
was as much alive as ours, and its lessons in social
dynamics are much easier followed and quite as profit
able. We see but the trend and flow of things around
us ; it is not seldom difficult to distinguish the main
current from its divided parts and swirling eddies.
We see all things in process ; very little of final result.
With past ages the difficulty is, at the same time, less
and different. With them there is little question of
the results ; they are even more apparent than the
process by which they have been reached. Both pro
cesses and results find often their best interpretation
in the life of our time reflected upon them, and they
show the results of processes with which we are daily
familiar. The past and the present are the comple
ments of each other.
The nature of man does not greatly change; the
tendency of his desires, the aim of his endeavors,
the possibilities of his achievements may, but these
changes are not so great but that they are related to
and explain each other. History never repeats itself;
for the principles of social organization and the laws
of their actions are uniform, not the particular cir
cumstances or example. The fundamental principles
of human nature and the great laws of social organ
ism do not change, but their action is modified by
those principles of growth and retrogression which
distinguish the sapling from the giant of the forest,
and the oak firmly rooted through the storms of a
thousand years from his neighbor whose rotten heart
needs but the first tempest to reveal its inward decay.
History separates, as nothing else, the transitory from
the permanent, the seeming from the real.

Old Social Order in Rome. 303
To estimate the new life which Christianity
brought into society, and the transformation which it
wrought, we must understand in some measure the
old order which it replaced. If there are those who
think that Christianity has, and has had, but little
influence upon human affairs in this world ; that it
is concerned exclusively with a world of which our
senses can give no positive knowledge, and of prepa
ration for that world to the neglect, if not the despite,
of this ; that it is a system of belief in part proved
false or unfitted to our time, and in part concerned
only with that which can neither be proved nor dis
proved, and therefore may be ignored, or might better
be done away, — he needs no further answer than the
careful and open-minded consideration of the facts to
which attention is called in these pages. If there are
others who think all religions are in the main alike,
and the distinctive virtues and energies of Christianity
are only what it has in common with other faiths,
they need only to place these facts before them, and
live among them, to realize that the difference be
tween a heathen and a Christian civilization is the
most profound social difference in the history of the
race. The most splendid society of Athens or Rome,
of Cordova or Delhi, is more alien to us than the
crassest ignorance and crudeness of the times of St.
Louis or Charlemagne. There are possibilities of
power and growth, of permanence and beneficence in
the one, which are impossible in the other. Chris
tianity as a determining factor in civilization can not
be ignored, and is not likely to be done away.
No better proof of this statement can be found
than some adequate conception of the social and moral

304 The New Society.
life of the opening century at once of the Roman
Empire and the Christian religion. The materials of
its representation are drawn from its contemporary
heathen literature, its monuments and inscriptions,
its laws, its social customs and usages. To bring this
life into a compass narrow enough for intelligent
comprehension, we will take the generation living
from Paul's first missionary journey to the destruc
tion of Jerusalem, from 40 to 70 A. D., the age of the
active ministry of the apostles. We will consider
briefly in order the life of the court and aristocracy,
the condition of women, children, and slaves, the in
fluence of the literature, philosophy, religion, and
amusements of the people. These, in connection
with the political and economic life sketched in the
first part, will furnish materials sufficiently full and
accurate for both portrayal and estimate.
Claudius came to the throne of the world, 41 A. D.
He was fifty years of age, had never been thought of
for the empire, and possessed few of the
Heathen qualities which fit men for rule. He was
Rome. industrious and of literary tastes, and had
The Court. . . \ '
he lived in private station would have
maintained the character of a quiet and respected
gentleman. In the foremost position of the world,
he was ruled by his wives and his freedmen, and his
timidity made him cruel. His first wife had borne
him two children, when he divorced her because he
believed she had threatened his life. His second
wife, according to the prevalent custom, was divorced
for incompatibility.
Messalina, his third wife, he married before he
was emperor. She was the daughter of Antonia, the

Old Social Order in Rome. 305
granddaughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, while
Claudius was the son of Antonia's sister. The next
year she bore a son who was called Britan- Me8Sa|ina
nicus, from his father's campaign in that the Daughter
island ; they had also a daughter, Octavia. ot Antonia-
She assumed part in the government, and, without
consulting either the Senate or the emperor, she gave
away the command of provinces and legions. She
corrupted or intimidated the judges, and sold Roman
citizenships and the offices of state. The freedmen,
Polybius and Narcissus, were the instruments by
which she ruled. Her morals were the most disrep
utable, and she was relentlessly cruel where her
fears, her avarice, or her passions were concerned.
Julia, the beautiful niece of Claudius, she caused to be
put to death, because she feared she might become
her rival, and also the husband of her victim, and his
sister, another Julia, who was the daughter of Eivia,
wife of Augustus. She caused the death of Appius
Silanus, who rejected her advances ; Julius Caton ius,
who was about to impeach her ; and Valerius Atticus,
that she might gain possession of his estate. One of
the freedmen, Polybius, was executed at her order.
The other powerful favorite feared for his life, and
determined she should die. Until this time her adul
teries had been with dissolute nobles and actors ; she
now sought to wiu a handsome Roman youth, Cor
nelius Silius, who would have nothing to do with her,
so corrupt was her character, but that he expected,
through her, the death of her husband and a share in
the throne. While Claudius was absent she publicly
married Silius with all the rights of a legal connubium.
The freedman, Narcissus, made use of this event to

306 The New Society.
show the emperor his danger, and finally, on his own
responsibility, signed her death-warrant. She was
killed by a tribune of the guards in the gardens of
Lucullus, a portion of the domains which had be
longed to her victim, Valerius Atticus, in the fall of
the same year as her disgraceful marriage.
In the next year, 49, Claudius married Agrippina,
the widow of a dissolute noble. By her first husband
she was aunt of Messalina and the mother
of Nero. He died a natural death, the re
sult of his excesses, but she was accused of shorten
ing the days of her second husband, a man of great
wealth. Agrippina herself was of the highest nobil
ity; she was a sister of the Emperor Caligula, her
aunt was the wife of Tiberius, while she herself was
the granddaughter of Augustus and niece of Claudius,
whom she married. Being at the same time the
mother of Nero, she stood in the most intimate rela
tionship with each of the five emperors of the house
of Julius Caesar. Her father was an able general,
and she was born at his headquarters, named after
her, later, Colonia Agrippa (now Cologne), A. D. 17.
Her mother, Agrippina, in moral character, in beauty,
and intellectual endowments, was one of the noblest
women of imperial times.
Agrippina, the fourth wife of Claudius, was a wise
and energetic, dissolute and unscrupulous, beautiful
and ambitious woman. She ruled with her husband,
on whose coins her head appears. For two years she
labored with the freedman, Pallas, to induce Claudius
to set aside his own son Britannicus, and make her
son Nero, three years older, the heir of the throne.
She succeeded in this plan, A. D. 51. She then caused

Old Social Order in Rome. 307
the death of Julius Silanus, the husband of Octavia,
the emperor's daughter and sister of Britannicus, in
order that she might marry Nero, which she did in 53.
Then she secured the death of Lollia Paullina as a
possible rival; of her sister-in-law, Domitia Eepida,
the mother of Messalina ; and of the brother of her
daughter-in-law Octavia's first husband, who, like
herself, was a descendant of Augustus. Having
assured the succession to her son Nero, she resolved
on the death of her husband, the emperor. He was
poisoned with the aid of Eocusta and a Greek physi
cian, Xenophon, A. D. 54. For some time she ruled
with Nero, who came to the throne at the age of sev
enteen. A few years later, Nero wished to divorce
Octavia, one of the few pure women of the imperial
house, in order to marry Poppoea Sabina. His mother
opposed this project, whereupon he decided she
should die. Nero invited her to visit him at Baise, a
seaport town south of Rome. She went by ship;
there was a pretended reconciliation, with hypocrisy,
on both sides. On her return, the ship was so ar
ranged as to go to pieces when they got out to sea.
Agrippina saved herself by swimming, and fled to a
villa near the Lucrine Lake, and informed her son of
her happy escape. Nero ordered Anicetus, the com
mander of the fleet, to kill her. He went to her villa
with a band of men. They surprised her in her bed
room, and she fell under the strokes of the tribune,
A. D. 59. Messalina had caused the death of Agrip-
pina's sister, and another sister's husband ; Agrippina
brought to death the mother of Messalina, and the
husband of her daughter Octavia.
Nero, the matricide, had nine years yet to reign.

308 The New Society.
He had caused the death of Britannicus — his cousin by
Nero. birth, brother by adoption, and brother-in-
law by marriage — by poison, in his presence, and at
his own table. His sister Octavia, the wife of Nero,
he put to death in 62. In the same year he married
Poppcea Sabina, who died three years later in conse
quence of a brutal kick from her husband. He caused
the execution of the poet Lucan, and his old tutor,
Seneca, of Paetus, the noblest of the senators, and of
Corbulo, the ablest of the generals. Licentiousness
and cruelty have made his name a byword. He was
the first persecutor of the Christians, and under him
Peter and Paul died as martyrs. In consequence of a
revolt he fled, but took his own life, dying just as the
executioner arrived, A. D. 68.
There succeeded the short and troubled reigns of
Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, when, in 69, Vespasian
came to the throne. He was an economical and tem
perate prince, and brought back some reverence and
order to the court. His son Titus died an early death
in consequence of licentiousness, while the other son,
Domitian, lived in adultery with Julia, Titus's daugh
ter, whose death he caused. Adultery, incest, and
brutal, disgusting cruelty stain the names of most of
the emperors of this time. In the second century
the relations of Hadrian and Antinous, the vices of
Fausta, wife of Marcus Aurelius, and the excesses of
their son Commodus, kept up the evil reputation,
which did not fail of representatives in the century
succeeding, in Caracalla and Elagabalus, until the
hereditary monarchy died out, and only soldiers bore
rule. It is sad and distasteful to read such a tale ; but it

Old Social Order in Rome. 309
should be told. The court influenced the life of the
time more than in any age since. If Nero showed a
preference for eloquence or music, rhetoricians and
musicians abounded; and when Marcus Aurelius
came to the throne, the court and society became phi
losophers ; also, because nothing like it can be found
in the Christian ages, the nearest parallel being found
in the renewed Roman heathenism of the court of
Pope Alexander VI. Such bloodthirstiness and sensu
ality may be found in Oriental courts, but not again
in Europe. Even in courts the most corrupt, Chris
tian sentiment has been some restraint, and such
abysses of corruption and breath of moral pestilence
has not again come upon Western civilization.
While this sickening taint so infected the rulers of
the world and the imperial house, the preaching of
the gospel of Jesus just began to form the new soci
ety, in the midst of the dying world, which was to
bring in the new social order. While Messalina,
Agrippina, and Nero ruled the world, the first genera
tion of Christians received the gospel. What a set
ting for the books of the New Testament, most of
which were written in this period. Is there in hu
man history a greater contrast than between these
teachings and the forces which then ruled the world ?
No wonder that Christians spoke of the world as lying
in the wicked one, and thought of the speedy second
coming of the Lord as the only solution of the intol
erable situation around them.
The court may be much more corrupt than the
people ; it is seldom better. A surer index to the
morals of society is the condition of women. The ma
trons of Rome's early time were pure and noble,

3io

The New Society.

worthy of respect and reverence like Lucretia, or Cor
nelia, the mother of the Gracchi. The profound and ter-
Women rible corruption of the civil wars was never
Divorce, cured. This is shown in the frequency of
divorce. In the time just before the empire, we find
C. Sulpicius divorced his wife because she went on
the streets unveiled ; another Roman noble because
she had spoken confidentially with a freedman ; and
another because she had gone to the play without his
knowledge. So with the generation before Augustus :
Cicero separated from his first wife in order to marry
a richer one ; and from his second because she did not
grieve enough over the death of his daughter Julia.
The strictly moral Cato divorced his first wife, who
had borne him two children ; and delivered his second
wife, Marcia, with the consent of her father, to his
friend Hortensius, after whose death he married her
the second time. Pompey rejected his first wife,
Antistia, in order to form a relationship with Sulla
through marriage with his stepdaughter .Emilia,
who, for this purpose, was compelled to separate from
her husband, Glabrio. After her death he married
Mucia, whom he divorced in order to marry Caesar's
daughter Julia. Under the empire the condition of
these relations was worse. Of Julius Cassar and Au
gustus we can not record what was the common talk
of the streets, and denied by none of their biographers.
The women began to divorce their husbands with
out alleging any ground except their preference for
Dissolute- another. Juvenal speaks of a woman of
ness. the nobility who had eight husbands in five
years. Roman women were more susceptible to the
moral contagion of their time, from the fact that all

Old Social Order in Rome. 311
their knowledge and experience of life came after their
marriage. They had childhood, but no girlhood. The
majority of them married soon after the twelfth year,
and before they were fourteen. It is not strange that
in an era of change, of riches, of power and luxury,
with all old bonds of custom and habit broken down,
and no influence of religion to restrain them, they
should run to the same excess of riot as the men.
Roman writers, from Horace down, unanimously tes
tify to the unchastity of the women. Seneca says :
" A man who has not formed an immoral relation
with a married woman is despised by them." This
evil did not cease with the doing away with the worst
excesses of the court in the first century. Dio, nearly
two hundred years later, tells of the consul in conse
quence of the Septimian law against adultery receiving
in one year three thousand complaints.
To this widespread and profound dissoluteness,
contributed in no small degree, besides the pollution
of the court, the corrupting influence of Causes.
literature — like the writings of Ovid and
Martial, and many another poet ; the pictures on the
walls, which, as Propertius said, " put out the eyes of
innocence ;" the seductions of the theater, of which
Friedlander says, "The immoral effects of the theater
can hardly be represented great or terrible enough ;"
the scenes of slaughter and martyrdom in the arena,
which seared the conscience and killed every tender
feeling; besides the incitements of the banquets of
which Tacitus speaks.
This immorality, so fearfully prevalent, was not
universal. Had it been, Rome could not have con
tinued to exist three generations, instead of twelve,

312 The New Society.
under the empire. The inscriptions tell a different
tale of family affection and family life. Pliny in his
letters introduces us to a circle of noble
and excellent women. He tells us of Arria,
the wife of Paetus, one of the noblest and purest sen
ators of Rome. Her husband and son were at the
same time dangerously ill. The son, of rare worth,
died. Arria bore him to the grave without his father
knowing of his death. She answered Paetus's ques
tions with assumed ease, — he was better, he had slept.
When she could no longer restrain her tears, she left
the room and gave way to her grief. When its vio
lence was spent, she returned with dry eyes and placid
countenance. Paetus recovered from his sickness.
He was concerned in the conspiracy of Scribonianus,
who raised a revolt in Illyria in 42. The chief was
killed; Paetus was taken prisoner and brought to
Rome. Arria sought to gain access to him on the
ship which conveyed him to the capital, in the guise
of a slave, such as always wTaited on a man of his
rank. Failing in this, she hired a boat and followed
the ship. When her son-in-law adjured her to pre
serve her own life, and said, among other things, "Do
you wish then your daughter to die with me, if I
must die?" " If she has lived as long and as harmo
niously with you as I with Paetus, yes," was the re
ply. She was then carefully watched, but she said :
"You accomplish nothing. You can cause that I suf
fer a harder death; that I shall die you can not pre
vent." With these words, she sprang from her seat
and dashed her head against the wall. As they
brought her back to life, she said, "I said I would
find a hard way to death if you denied me an easy

Old Social Order in Rome. 313
one." When occasion came, she snatched a dagger
and plunged it into her breast, and then handing it to
her hesitating husband, said, "It does not hurt,
Paetus." Her daughter Arria, and granddaughter Fannia,
were worthy of her. They saw their husbands slain
in the imperial proscriptions of Nero and Domitian.
They would have followed the example of the elder
Arria ; but at the dying request of those they loved,
they consented to live for their children. Pliny tes
tifies that Fannia was as attractive and gracious as
she was noble.
If the condition of women was such as the Roman
writers depict, that of the children could not have
been favorable. They were sinned against
before their birth. Well said the husband
of Agrippina, that "the son of such parents could
bring no good to the State." That son was Nero.
Abortion, or the exposure of children to death or a
worse fate, was common during the whole period of
the heathen empire. When the children grew up
they were intrusted to the care of slaves, with whom
they always began and often completed their educa
tion, and from which association, with rare exceptions,
they received an eaily moral taint. They were in the
power of their father, who could sell them or put
them to death.
The corrupting influence of their time came in
upon them from every side,— from art, from litera
ture, from the games. When we take into Progressive
account the evil example of the parents Corruption.
and the society in which they moved, the effect of
slavery, enormous, licentious, and cruel, in which they

314 The New Society.
were reared, and the utter lack of religious and feeble
moral restraint, the progressive deterioration of Ro
man society, literature, art, and national life and
power, is seen to be inevitable. Indeed, we can see
why Christianity could not save the State, and why
the race must die. The inward virus and physical
taint of generations of moral corruption could not be
purged away. The barbarians — rude, violent, and un
cultured, but pure — could alone supply the vigorous
physical life necessary for the new world.
No feature of Roman society was more prominent
or more influenced its moral condition than slavery.
slaves ^e SIaves of Rome were recruited, in the
Sources of first place, from captives taken in war.
uppy. >r*ne jewjs]1 captives are represented on
the Arch of Titus. Besides the prisoners sent to the
Egyptian mines after the Jewish wars, or sent into
the provinces to fight in the ampitheater, or reserved
for the conqueror's triumph at Rome, ninety thou
sand were sold as slaves. Man-stealing was practiced
by pirates. Marauders on the frontiers, highwaymen,
and the unwary were enticed, even in cities. These
victims were sold in the markets as slaves. Again,
the judgments of the courts, sometimes for crimes
and misdemeanors, but more often for debt from the
failure to pay taxes or the usurious loans, kept up
the supply. Then, of course, the children of slaves,
though by no means keeping up the full number,
formed a large portion of the whole.
The rapid advance in wealth and the habits of
luxury accompanying the creation of great establish
ments, the formation of immense estates and the driv
ing out of the peasant proprietors, the use of slaves in

Old Social Order in Rome. 315
trade and manufactures, produced a demand which
only an increasing number of slaves could supply.
On the rural estates, there were special classes of
slaves to work in the fields, to care for the olive-
orchards and vineyards, to look after each classes of
kind of stock; as horses, cattle, sheep, and slaves.
swine. So those who had charge of the fruit garden,
the vegetable garden, the bees, the poultry and birds,
the fish and game in the parks.
In the urban home, the porter stood at the door
in chains. Female slaves were numerous in the
apartments of the women, and their mistresses
treated them with as great rigor as the masters did
the slaves that were employed in the field and in
other service. Slaves of different kinds had charge of
the carpets and the furniture, of the kitchen utensils
and provisions, the art collections and the wardrobes.
For personal service there were slaves for the cham
ber, the toilet, the bath, the kitchen, service at the
table, and even bearers of sedan chairs instead of
horses. Slaves were also the accountants, the super
intendents, readers, secretaries, librarians, copyists,
teachers, musicians, actors, artists, dwarfs, deformities,
and fools. When the master walked abroad, slaves —
the anteambulones — went before him ; slaves — the pedi-
sequi — went behind him ; and a slave — the nomencla-
tor — walked by his side. When a lady went out, those
slaves who followed her bore her sandals, fan, and
parasol. Slaves were much more numerous in Italy in pro
portion to the free population than in Number of
Rome. Yet, in the capital, they formed slaves.
more than half the population. Friedlander's estimate

316 The New Society.
of the population of Rome, in which Mommsen in
the main agrees, is as follows :
Roman citizens,  320,000
Their women and children,  300,000
Senators and knights,  10,000
Garrison,  20,000
Strangers,  60,000
Slaves,  900,000
1,610,000*
Mommsen says: "Before the law the slave was
wholly without rights ; he was a thing, over whom the
Slave with- master alone had authority. He could com-
out Rights. pei hjm (;0 thg meanest or the most im
moral service. He could torture and kill him, or, old
and sick, let him die of hunger."
The condition of the slave was worse in the
country. In a great part of Italy the field-hands
labored in chains during the day; at night they lodged
in a prison dormitory ; and they wore a brand-mark
or the head half-shorn.
Slaves could be sold as gladiators or courtesans.
The punishments were cruel beyond recital. The
very housemaids at the ladies' toilet wore no clothing
on the upper part. of the body, so that the mistress
could prick or strike them more effectively. If driven
to desperation so as to kill a master or mistress, all the
slaves, sometimes hundreds or thousands in number,
were put to death.
During the second century there was a change for
Causes of t^le better in the condition of the slaves,
Ameiiora- and an acknowledgment of their natural
rights. Thus were recognized the slave's
marriage, his family relationship, and his property.
* See Appendix, Note C

Old Social Order in Rome. 317
He became capable of marrying a wife or en
tering into a corporation. When he became free,
he had some rightful place in society. This change
came from the influence of Stoic philosophy, from
political relations, which lessened the supply of pris
oners of war and those taken by force, and, above all,
from the influence of the preaching of the gospel and
of the growing Christian Church.
The age of Augustus was the great age of Roman
literature. Seventy-five years before, and as many
after, include the great masterpieces of the
_ . J? r . Literature.
Latin tongue. The emperors from Au
gustus to Marcus Aurelius, excluding the successors
of Nero, who reigned less than a year, except Ves-
pasion and Trajan, were all authors; and all except
Claudius were poets. Poets as well as poetry en
joyed the favor of the emperor. The great nobles of
Augustus's reign, like Maecenas, Massala, and Pollio,
were generous in their treatment of the illustrious
Latin poets. In an age when no money was to.be
made by copyrights, the sole defense of the poet
against hunger was the patronage of the wealthy.
This was extended through the first century with the
usual results of such patronage. The praises of the
nobility were sung; their gardens, dwellings, furni
ture, the splendor and luxury of their apparel and
entertainments were described; and yet, though in
the attitude of a beggar, a lean living was doled out
to the poet.
Seldom has poetry had a wider influence than in
this age. The first training of an educated man be
gan with Homer, much as the Bible with us, but
wholly with a literary aim. Then he early became

318 The New Society.
acquainted with, and studied all through the years
he was in the grammar school, the works of Greek
and Latin poets. This formed his lan-
Influence of . .
Poetry on guage as much as it controlled his taste ;
Education so fa^ njs soberest prose had a poetic color-
and Life. . .... „ , ¦ , ,
ing and diction. After the grammar school,
the boy passed into the hands of the rhetorician, where
he studied the prose writers and declamation. In an
age when there was no free public life and no liberty
of public speech, and when even secret authorship
was highly dangerous, the attention of educated men
was turned to poetry and oratory, in which all were
amateurs, and which gave a habit of unreality to their
thought and its expression. If literature was the
means of education, the fashion of court and of so
ciety, the occupation of educated men, and so the
common topic of conversation in the social intercourse
of men and women, it had no healing for the ills of
the time. While lofty thoughts, inspiriting examples,
and tasteful elegance do not fail in the greatest writers
of these times, in Cicero and Eivy, in Virgil and
Horace, yet so much of it was tainted with the preva
lent moral corruption that there was, at the close of
the first century, a reaction in favor of the Latin
writers of the simpler and nobler days of Roman so
ciety, while men turned toward philosophy for that
help to an improvement in morals which they sought
in vain from literature.
Indeed, the later part of the first century saw a
reaction, though not a recovery, from the crimes and
excesses of the rule of the house of Caesar.
Philosophy. Vespasian wrought a change in the direc
tion of economical expenditure and a moral life. The

Old Social Order in Rome. 319
gain was well-nigh lost under his sonsj but the
tendency was felt until the death of Marcus Aurelius.
The last age of the republic and the first of the em
pire had been as much an age of skepticism as of
open profligacy and unblushing immorality. Skepti
cism never satisfies. The human heart and society
soon weary of its mocking and fruitless negations.
Roman society sought relief in strange Oriental wor
ship and philosophy. Philosophy — that is, the pro-
foundest and truest thoughts concerning the essence,
the origin, and the purpose and end of things — had
been cultivated with rich results by the Greeks before
the arms of Rome had passed the waters which sur
round the Italian Peninsula. Their efforts proved
God to be a necessity of human thought, if the
scheme of things is considered as a united whole, the
craving of the human spirit after immortal life, and
yet the inability of the unaided intellect to establish
these positions ; so that the period closed in Pyrrhonic
skepticism. The Romans were so wholly dependent
on the Greeks for their philosophic guidance that a
sketch of the course of Greek thought must be given
to understand the philosophy which attracted them.
The first philosophers sought to find the ultimate
principle of things in something material, and founded
the Ionic School. Thales, the first of these, ionic school.
600 B. C, placed it in water; Anaximenes, Pythagoras.
570 B. C, in air ; Heraclitus, 500 B. C, in fire ; Anaxi-
mander, 502 B. C, in infinite matter. Pythagoras,
525 B. C, taught that the universe is a harmony built
up of number and measure, and pervaded by a world
soul. He taught metempsychosis, or that souls go
into different human bodies.

320

The New Society.

The same problem was approached by the Eleatic
School, from the side of thought irrespective of ma-
Eieatic terial existence. Xenophanes of Colophon,
School. 6Zy g c., its founder, placed the principle of
the universe in a pantheistic idea of unity; Parmen-
ides, 500 B. C, in simple being, in which thought and
the thing thought are the same. Empedocles. 492-532
B. C, thought of the universe as an eternal sphere, of
which love and hate are the fundamental powers. De-
mocritus, 460-350 B. C, was the founder of the Atomic
philosophy. He conceived of the universe as an ag
gregate of allied and ordered atoms, the soul as com
posed of a sum of round fiery atoms. Anaxagoras,
500-428 B. C, made a great advance on all previous
thinking in making No.us, or Reason, the first princi
ple of things.
Socrates, 470-399 B. C, made the second great
advance, in turning the attention of thinkers and
philosophers from the universe to man
Socrates. himself. He gave an ethical tendency to
philosophy. Its aim, he taught, should be self-
knowledge, virtue, self-restraint, self-conquest, and a
blameless life..
The three Socratic schools, which represented
three ethical tendencies springing from his teaching,
socratic were the Cyrenaic, which held the highest
Schools. good to be enjoyment ; the Cynic, with
which the highest good was renunciation, the avoid
ance of enjoyment ; and the Megarian, with which
the highest good was the eternal and all-existing
being, sometimes represented as spirit and thought,
and sometimes as God.
Plato was the greatest scholar of Socrates, in many

Old Social Order in Rome. 321
respects the most illustrious thinker of Greece, and
the greatest idealistic philosopher of all piat0,
time. His was a richly-gifted nature, at 429-348 B.C.
once poetic, speculative, and profoundly philosophic.
In brief, these are his leading thoughts concerning
God, the world, and man:
Plato taught that God, in his being, is unknow
able, but he must be conceived as spiritual. The
multitude know him only through appear- his Doc-
ances ; the wise, by abstraction, knowledge. trlnes- aod-
The highest God is an intelligent, free, wise, and just
spirit. He is the Former of the world, not its Creator ;
for matter eternally exists. God is in no sense the
Author of evil.
The Divine reason organizes matter according to
a pattern of eternal ideas. These ideas are a medium
between God and matter. They are the
„ . , , , , The World.
Divine conceptions and thoughts, accord
ing to which, as types, God makes the things of
the world. These ideas are eternal, unchangeable,
and exist only in themselves, separate from all things,
but the patterns of all that is. They are founded in
God, and he is the all-embracing idea. The highest
idea is God.
The world and the stars have, souls. The human
soul is a reproduction in miniature of the world soul,
of the same substance, formed after the Man.
same idea of the Good. In the human
soul are three elements — the immortal soul, the reas
onable, the divine ; the better, masculine, courageous
element; and the feminine sensuous element. The
last two are mortal. The human soul existed in an
other state before birth. The soul is immortal, the

322 The New Society.
fruit of the life before and kernel of the life to come.
All virtue is knowledge, and all vice comes from
ignorance and error. Sin is involuntary; unright
eousness is a sickness of the soul, which
Ethics. 111
comes upon it like sickness to the body.
He who does evil, errs only in judgment ; it is no
act of the free will, but of the passionate nature. As
guilt is only a want of spiritual power, so redemption
is but coming to one's self. In his ideal state, he al
lowed community of wives, slavery, exposure of
crippled children, and sexual vice.
Aristotle was the scholar of Plato. His mind and
disposition were the opposite of his master's. He was
Aristotle, mathematical, critical, realistic, the phi-
384-322 B.C. losopher of the understanding, and a sys-
temizer. He was the founder of logic and dialectic.
He denied Plato's teaching of ideas, the pre-existence
of souls, and that no man is voluntarily evil.
God is represented as the final cause, the universal
object of desire and love, as pure intelligence without
His Doc- power, active only in thought. He is not
tnnes. dod. Creator, as the world is eternal. He denied
Divine providence.
The soul is the substance which, only through the
body, comes to manifestation. The soul can not
think without the body. Yet the reason
Man. . .
is immortal, while all else of the soul per
ishes with the body. The unity of the soul is de
nied. The highest wisdom of Aristotle is a sound
and judicious morality. In the State he allows hate
and revenge, the exposure and death of weakly chil
dren and abortion, and defends slavery, denying that
the slaves have reasonable souls.

Old Social Order in Rome. 323
With all deductions, Plato's thought leads to the
antechamber of the Divine presence, and has been
the means of leading great and inquiring TneResult
spirits — such as Justin Martyr, Schleier- of Greek
macher, and Neander— to Christ. It in- Thinkln»-
fiuenced both Origen and Augustine. Aristotle laid
down laws of thought which all men must heed. His
ideas of natural philosophy were dominant until the
Reformation. His metaphysics ruled the schoolmen,
and so the dogmatic theology of the Roman Catholic
Church until this day, as, through John of Damascus,
it does that of the Greek Church.
The leading philosophic tendencies after these
two great thinkers are Stoicism, Epicureanism, and
Skepticism. The founder of Stoicism was Zeno of Citium,
340-260. His system is a materialistic pantheism*
Yet the world-reason is the author of the Stoicism.
moral law, and the rewarding and punish
ing judge. All is unalterably determined from
eternity. Evil is necessary; without it there is no good.
Every human soul is a part of the Godhead. All
mvths and idolatry are received and alle-
J Ethics.
gorically explained. The wise man must
subject all his emotions and passions to reason, and
attain to perfect apathy and to self-control. Suicide,
lying, and sexual vice were allowed.
The Epicureans adopted the Atomic sys- Epl<.ureanism
tern of philosophy. They taught that the Epicurus,
highest good is enjoyment and freedom 342"27°-
from care.
Pyrrho, the founder of philosophic skepticism,

324 The New Society.
taught the impossibility of attaining to philosophic
ske ticism knowledge. We are compelled by neces-
Pyrrho, sity to be contented with the appearance
325 B.C. Q|- things. Carneades, 215-130 B. C, com
bated every religious belief.
Greek philosophy, showing the necessary direc
tion of human thought and the limits of its achieve
ments, was a preparation for the gospel of Christ.
In all this speculation, the Romans, who were
not original thinkers, were influenced mainly by the
Roman Stoic School. They accepted the panthe-
Phiiosophy. {stjc idga 0f q0(jj tjjg materialistic con
ception of the universe, and the fatalistic view of
man. The two greatest names among them were
Seneca and Epictetus.
Seneca taught : " The wise man lives with the
gods on an equal footing; for he is really himself
God, or bears a part of the Godhead in him.
Seneca. .
We are, at the same time, God s associates
and his members." Yet we find how little this
means and how completely man is left to himself
when we read : " Prayer is useless. Why raise the
hands to heaven ? Wherefore trouble the gods when
you can make yourself happy? It becomes you to
become an equal associate with the gods, rather than
to appear before them as one praying to them."
The moral tendency of Stoicism appears to the
best advantage in Epictetus. The beginning of phi
losophy to him is the knowledge of our
Epictetus. , 1 • ,
own weakness and impotence. In order to
become good, we must first see that we are bad.
Philosophy must purify us from the darkness which
imagines we need nothing, and from despair of our

Old Social Order in Rome. 325
own powers. He refers man to God. From God
shall man seek what he lacks, moral help ; but the
God to whom we must turn is the God in us. Our
reason and will are the higher powers, in whose help
we must confide, and whom we should follow. There
is much in his teaching which is in accord with
Christian morality ; but there is a selfish trend where
apathy is the aim, and compassion, if shown, is never
to be felt. This Stoical teaching accorded well with
the Roman pride and insensibility to pain. It cultij
vated a lofty self-respect, and often a keen sense oi
honor. But there was in it no place for sympathy
with men. Stoicism emphasized the dignity of men,
and so favorably affected criminal legislation and the
condition of slaves.
The Roman youth, seeking a higher education,
went from the rhetorical school to the lectures of the
philosophers, usually from his eighteenth Philosophy
to his twenty-fifth year. Physics, logic, and ln Education.
ethics were taught; but the aim was predominantly
moral. The teacher not only taught, but applied his
doctrine, and was the confidential friend and spiritual
adviser of his pupils. These schools kept up the
tradition of pure morality in Roman society. While
the Cynics preached morality to the people, yet phi
losophy failed to work any regeneration, and to do
more than to delay the progressive degeneration.
Its power was insufficient, its ideals too poor, its cir
cles too narrow. It allied itself with the heathen re
ligion in Neo-Platonism ; but its final effort was its
final failure. The wandering, begging, and cheating
philosophers became a plague of the country where
they were at all numerous.

326 The New Society.
Ammonius Saccas was the founder of Neo-Plato
nism. Plotinus was its most eminent teacher. He
Neo-Piato- taught that the universe of things consists
tin™s 20'°- °f a supersensuous world, and our world,
270 A. d. or the world of appearance. The super-
sensuous world consists of the Original Being, the
world of ideas (Plato's), and the soul. The Original
Being is simply active power; all being is the pro
duction of this "One." In the "One" is all, so far
as it has being, and hence is divine. The system is,
therefore, dynamistic pantheism. The first production
of the Original Being is reason, both the ideal world
and the idea. From reason comes the soul, which is
an immaterial substance. The soul produces the
world of appearance. The world is not evil ; but the
cause of evil is the intermixture with matter, which
is the foundation of every individual being. Evil
is, therefore, the intermixture of man with the sensu
ous. Redemption consists in freeing man from the
sensuous by asceticism; this leads back to reason.
This purifies the soul, and prepares for the imitation
of God. The soul becomes not merely without sin,
but becomes God, through the vision of God; that is,
through ecstasy.
The religions of the heathen were as diverse as
their different races and nationalities. They had the
common characteristics of polytheism and
Religion. idolatry The Qreek clothed his reiigion
with his wonderful poetic and artistic genius. Egypt
taught immortality, but degraded man to the worship
of beasts. In Persia, the belief in immortality was
blended with that of an eternal conflict between good
and evil. The Shemitic and Babylonian star and

Old Social Order in Rome. 327
nature worship was licentious and cruel. With their
intensely practical character, the gods of the Romans
were those of agriculture, the family, the State, and,
above all, war. There was a most exact and scrupu
lous observance of ritualistic requirements under the
most severe penalties in auguries, and auspices, and
religious forms of the State ceremonial. Rome not
only had the twenty great gods which Plato enumer
ates, but adopted those of the countries which she
conquered, and crowned all with the deification of the
members of the imperial house. This, of course, was
the degradation of whatever lofty ideas were ever
symbolized in the mythologies. For although there
was recognized not the deification of the individual
emperor, with all his weaknesses, vices, and crimes,
so much as the power and permanence of the Roman
State, yet this remained the highest ideal.
The pettiness, selfishness, and yet intimate union
of idolatry with the whole life of the individual and
of the family may be seen by a glance at ldolatry and
its relation to the life of the ordinary the course of
Roman citizen. Juno was the protectress xh^aoJdess
of the Roman women. On their birthday of the
they sacrificed to Juno Natalis. The feast omen'
of the Matronalia they celebrated with sacrifices in
the temple of Juno Eucina, in remembrance of the
founding of marriage by Romulus at the seizing of
the daughters of the Sabines. As Fluvonia, she was
associated with Mena in the purification of women.
In regard to marriage and its rites, she was honored
by the bride as Juga, Curitis, Domiduca, Unixia,
Pronuba, Einixia. As Ossipaga, Ophigena, and Lu-
cina, she watched over the unborn child and its birth.

328 The New Society.
As Conciliatrix and as Viriplaca, she appeased the
husband; and as Sororia, preserved peace among
sisters. The goddesses invoked at birth, besides Juno,
were Mane-Geneta, Carmenta, and Egeria. The god
The Child- called upon at the first cry of the new-born
Divinities hM wag VaticarmS- The chM was lajd
who pro
tected it. upon the ground. If the father took it up
in his arms, all was well ; but if not, it was killed or
exposed : hence there was a goddess of uplifting, or
Levana. The divinities who protected the child in
his infancy were Cunina, Statilinus, Edusa, Potina,
Paventia, Fabulinus, and Catius. Juventas, the god
dess of youth, had a temple ; Orbana, the goddess of
orphans, her sanctuary. The fever goddess had two
temples. With special rites were honored Pietas, Pax,
Bonus Eventus, Spes, Quies, Pudicitia, Honor, and
Virtus, who all had temples or chapels. Especially
honored was Concordia.
The religious service and idolatry which encom
passed the life of the mother and her son from the be-
The After Life g'nn^n£ OI" n's existence, entered into all
and its Di- his after life. Terminus presided over the
v " "' boundaries of his estate ; Silvanus of his
forests ; Dea Dia, over the fruits of the field ; Pales,
over the flocks : Flora, over the flowers, — and had a
festival of unbridled license. Vertumnus presided over
the fields and gardens, and his wife Pomona, the
fruits ; and the great goddess Ceres watched the grain.
If he began family life, Vesta guarded the hearth.
The Lares and Penates of the house had their altar
and offerings.
The fifteenth day after his birth, the Fates, or Fata

Old Social Order in Rome. 329
Scribenda, were called upon, and through life he never
ceased to worship Fortune. Every State employment
was mixed up with idolatry. The soldier wor
shiped the eagle borne on the standard of his cohort
or legion. All civil and judicial oaths were tainted
with the pervading idolatry, and every citizen must
sacrifice, if called upon, to the genius of the emperor.
From this recital the inevitable antagonism and in
cessant conflict in which the Christian engaged against
idolatry, and which entered into and broke up the re
lations of business, society— all public and family
life. The Christians could not live in the old, they
were compelled to found a new world.
The utter failure of art, literature, philosophy, and
religion to reform Roman society or pre- _.. ,
J r The Amuse-
serve heathen civilization, unmistakably ments.
confronts us when we consider the amusements of
the people.
The theater was the oldest of these. The three
theaters in the time of the empire would accommo
date from 50,000 to 75,000 people — a much The
larger number, in proportion to the popu- Theaters.
lation, than could find room in the theaters of any
capital in Europe. The old stage presented a rustic
comedy, with coarse and obscene allusions. At the
time of the introduction of Christianity the represen
tations were usually mythological scenes. Those spe
cially preferred were the love adventures of Jupiter,
Venus and Adonis, Apollo and Daphne, Phaedra and
Hippolytus, etc. Ovid said he thought his poems
" should not be charged with immorality, when the
emperor and senators, the matrons and maidens, yes,
even children, saw the mimes. The wife deceive?

330 The New Society.
her husband, and not only the ears hear unchaste
speeches, but the eye is accustomed on the stage to
revolting shame."
The heathen Zosimus, writing in the fifth cen
tury, said: "The introduction of pantomimes under
Augustus was a symptom of the universal moral ruin
of the world which began with the beginning of the
monarchy." The corrupt moral influence of the theaters, which
could accommodate at one time one-twentieth of the
free population could never be inconsider-
The Circus. , , , .... , ,
able ; but was insignificant when compared
with that of the circus and amphitheater. The great
circus under Julius Caesar had 150,000 sittings ; under
Titus, 250,000 ; and under Trajan, to the end of the
empire, 385,000. It was the boast of Rome that all
her citizens could find accommodation in her circus.
Being free, it was crowded. In the morning before
daybreak people came streaming in to find places.
It was thronged from the time of Julius Caesar to the
end of this period. Of course, in such a vast space,
little attention could be paid to individual horses and
charioteers. Hence they were distinguished by their
colors, which could be seen across the immense crowd,
and through the dust. The races were run by horses
hitched two or four abreast. Nero drove ten abreast
at Olympia. They were driven fourteen times the
length of the arena, or seven times around the course,
a distance of about five miles. All the violence of the
most intense political partisanship, the excitement of
the horse-race, and the risk and anxiety of the most
eager gambling, raged in the circus. The people
staid all day. After Nero's time, from twenty to

Old Social Order in Rome. 331
twenty-four races were run each day. The crowds
and excitement of the circus endured through Chris
tian times. A riot at the circus at Constantinople
nearly cost Justinian his throne, and occasioned the
loss of thirty-two thousand lives.
The corruption of the theater, the excitement of
the circus, culminated in the games of the The Games
amphitheater. These comprised the gladi- phitheater.
atorial games and the contests with wild beasts.
The first mention of gladiatorial games is in 264
B. C , when three pairs fought at the funeral of Brutus
Perus. In 65 B. C, Julius Caesar sought combats of
to give games which should surpass any- Q'adiators.
thing seen in Rome ; but the resolution of the Senate
limited him to the use of 320 pairs of gladiators. Au
gustus ordered that the praetor should give these
games twice a year, with not more than 120 men.
When private persons gave games the usual number
was one hundred pairs. During the reign of Au
gustus ten thousand men fought in his games. In
the games of one year at the Dacian triumph of Tra
jan, 106, the same number fought. In the course of
four years, about 240, five thousand men fought in
these games.
Gladiators were sometimes sentenced criminals;
sometimes prisoners of war, or slaves, and even vol
untary recruits. They were trained in the sources of
gladiatorial schools. Caligula established supply and
_ . . V 1 , Training of
the first one m Rome. Domitian founded aiadiators.
four. There were always from twelve hundred to two
thousand gladiators in Rome. There were also schools
at Capua, Praeneste, Ravenna, and Alexandria — places
chosen for the healthfulness of their location. The

332 The New Society.
discipline of these schools was of cruel severity. The
men were kept in little cells, without windows on
three sides, and opening on a pillared hall. The pun
ishments were scourgings, brandings, and heavy
chains. At Pompeii the remains of sixty of these
| men have been found in their cells, many of them
heavily fettered. They not seldom committed sui
cide. Symmachus, in the last of the fourth century,
tells of twenty nine Saxon captives who were to have
taken part in the games in honor of his son's acces
sion to the praetorship, who strangled each other with
their bare hands.
Not satisfied with such scenes, the Roman tiger
Battles thirst for blood showed itself in Julius
in the Am- Caesar at his triumphal games — causing to
phltheater. fight {n thg areQa fiye hundred {oot> three
hundred horse, and twenty elephants.
For this purpose excavations were made, and arti
ficial lakes formed. In these sea-fights under Julius
Naval Caesar, 46 B. C, fought one thousand men
Battles. and two thousand rowers ; under Augustus
three thousand soldiers, and under Claudius nineteen
thousand. Nero, Titus, and Domitian favored the
populace with these rare sights, as did Philip the Ara
bian, in 248, at the secular games.
Gaines in which wild animals fought were intro
duced in 186 B. C. In Pompey's games were used
Combats seventeen elephants, five hundred lions,
¦with and four hundred other animals. Julius
Wild Beasts. Cgesar used four hundred lions and forty
elephants; Augustus, three thousand five hundred
animals. These numbers are small compared with
five thousand wild and niue thousand tame animals

Old Social Order in Rome.

333

used by Titus, 80, in the hundred days' festival ; or
the eleven thousand slain in 106, at the Dacian
games of Trajan. The aristocracy also gave private
games in which they were used. The games of the
Emperor Philip (248) rivaled any before seen.
Rhinoceroses were pitted against elephants, bears
and elephants against buffaloes, while lions, tigers,
leopards, hyenas, wild horses, wild asses, giraffes,
and even hippopotamuses and crocodiles, were found,
and fought for their lives in the arena. Criminals
were sentenced, and Christians were condemned
to martyrdom by being thrown to the wild beasts;
while, with a refinement of cruelty difficult to
imagine, these executions took place in the course
of the representation of plays upon the stage, — the
death of Jason and of Hercules; the robber' Laureolus
crucified; Daedalus torn to pieces by the lions, or
Orpheus by the bears.
These games, and the amphiteaters for them, were
found from Jerusalem to Seville, and from England
to North Africa. There was no important Extent of the
... 1-1,1 ^ Prevalence of
city in which there were not numerous aladiatoriaI
bloody offerings. There was hardly a Games.
small town in Italy where annual combats, at least
of wild beasts, were not held two or three or four
days in the year. In small or poor places three
or four pairs of gladiators fought; in larger ones,
twenty, thirty, or even fifty pairs. According to the
expenditure of human life was estimated their splen
dor. They were most numerous in Italy, Gaul, North
Africa, and Spain. There were never so many in
Greece and the Asiatic lands. The only Roman of
eminence who pronounced against them was Seneca.

334 The New Society.
In Rome, of course, the games were given with
the greatest expenditure of blood and treasure. The
Time given seven yearly games under Augustus lasted
to Games sixty-six days; Tiberius raised the number
in Rome. tQ e{ghty -seven ; Marcus Aurelius to one
hundred and thirty-five, where it remained. Besides
these, were the extraordinary games which sometimes
filled out one or two hundied days. These games in
cluded the theater, circus, and amphitheater.
The imperial games cost annually one hundred
thousand dollars under Augustus. Three days' games
The Expense *n a c*ty ^n Central Italy cost twenty-two
of the thousand dollars. Yet Augustus gave
Games. jjerod nve hundred thousand dollars for
games at Jerusalem ; and two thousand five hundred
Jewish captives fought in the amphitheater at
Csesarea, 70, after the fall of Jerusalem. Aurelian's
games upon entering office as consul, about 265,
cost two hundred and seventy-five thousand dol
lars. The games of Symmachus's son as praetor, about
375. cost four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
These sums should be increased sixfold to tenfold to
represent the money of our day.
The most significant monument of Roman impe
rial times is the Coliseum, built by the Emperor
The Vespasian 70-S0. It rested on eighty
coliseum, mighty arches, and rose one hundred and
fifty feet into the air. It was elliptical in shape,
about 625 feet long by 505 feet broad, while the
arena was 280 feet long by nearly 180 feet in breadth;
it had sittings for 87,000 spectators. The splendor of
the display, as representing the world-wide dominion
and unceasing permanence of Rome, doubtless at-

Old Social Order in Rome. 335
tracted many of the spectators. The Venerable Bede
tells us of a saying, common in his time, about 750:
"So long as the Coliseum stands, Rome will stand;
when the Coliseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome
falls, will fall the world."
The last day before the games began, the gladiators
were called together and given a free meal in public,
furnished with costly meats and drinks. _. „
J The Games
Many spent the day in riotous excess, oth- in the
ers in taking leave of their wives and Co"sel,,,,¦
friends, and the Christians of their fellow-believers.
The next day the seats are filled. The emperor and
his family occupy the imperial box. The senators,
the knights, and wealthy members of society fill the
marble benches. Women, as well as men, are there to
feast their eyes on scenes of blood. Indeed, at their
head are the Vestal Virgins. From senators to women
of fashion, all are in their gayest attire and most
sumptuous array. The ornaments of wealth, the in
signia of office, the beauty and power of Rome, are
there. Suddenly the trumpets of the heralds sound.
The gladiators, in the costumes of the different na
tionalities they represent, and armed with the arms
they are about to use, pass in long procession around
the arena. When they reach the imperial box, they
hail the emperor with, " Imperator, we who are about
to die, salute thee." No Christian pen would will
ingly trace the scenes of these bloody conflicts. If a
wounded gladiator implores for life, the emperor by
turning up his thumbs grants it, but more often, by
turning them down, gives the signal for the finishing
stroke. The multitude manifests the greatest dis
pleasure when a gladiator seems unwilling to die.

336 The New Society.
When the combat ceases, attendants, attired to repre
sent the gods of the lower regions, come out with
gleaming hot irons to test the fallen and see if they
are dead. The bodies are borne to the dead-chamber,
and any lingering wretch with the stroke of the
sword is released from his pain.
There were six hundred years of these brutal,
cruel, public murders. It was high time for Alaric,
Genseric, Totila, and Belisarius to sweep the race
Abolition from tne ground, polluted with drinking
of these such streams of human blood ; for, though
ames. Constantine decreed the abolition of these
games, October i, 326, and Valentinian forbade the
condemnation of a Christian to a school of the glad
iators in 365, and they had ceased in the East, they
continued in Rome. In 404, the monk Telemachus,
plunging between the combatants to separate them
in the last gladiatorial games given in Rome, was
torn in pieces by the raging multitude, whose pleasure
he had spoiled.
If we consider the extent of these bloody specta
cles of the amphitheater, every province of the empire
Extent and having a procurator of games, who was
influence of also interested in keeping up the supply
t ie ames. ^ ^e capital ; if we consider the cost, the
revenues of provinces being lavished in a few days;
if we take into account that the theaters, the circus,
and the amphitheater could accommodate at one time
more than one-third of the whole population, men and
women, of the city ; that the ordinary free plays and
games occupied from three to four months in the
year, while there were added from one to two months

Old Social Order tn Rome. 337
more by the extraordinary games, besides all the pri
vate spectacles, — we can estimate their immense influ
ence and the irremediable demoralization caused by
them. We can see why the Roman citizen, who must
attend the theater, the circus, and the games of the
amphitheater from dawn to setting sun each second or
third day, could not support himself, and why, out of
320 000 Roman citizens, 200,000 were fed by the State
This free distribution of grain was practiced, to the
ruin of agriculture and draining the resources of the
State, not only at Rome, but at Alexandria, at An
tioch, and in other cities of the empire. There is a
necessary connection between bad morals and bad
economics. The reader may think this picture of Roman so
ciety and morals overdrawn. The contrary is the
case. No missionary would dare to print corruption
or speak of the familiar sights of every-day of Roman
life in a heathen land. Nor could the his- witness of
torian of Rome desire or dare to record the Pompeii.
daily scenes of the most splendid and refined so
ciety of the capital of the world. What the hea
thenism was to which the gospel came, and which
the gospel conquered, buried and restored Pompeii
tells us with evidence impossible to question. The
historian, sober and never partial to the Christians,
Hermann Schiller, says: "Pompeii shows frightful
immorality." Christianity has its dark spots, its crowded slums,
in its great capitals and in the centers of population ;
but the cruel slavery, the unbridled and unconcealed
profligacy, the basest forms of immorality, are as for-

338 The New Society.
eign to Christian civilization and as unknown to the
citizens of a Christian land as the games of the Ro
man amphitheater. The world has moved, and moved
along the plane of Christian morals. Along this plane
the path of future progress lies.

Chapter II.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND SOCIETY.
The new world began with the individual. The
Christian was a new man. Regeneration, however
difficult to explain as a process, is a fact The Effect
of experience. Growth in the physical of
,/. c ., 1 j • Christianity
world is one of the most complex and in- upon the
explicable of processes, but none the less individual,
one of the most evident and controlling of facts.
Such an experience alone could give the purity and
equality of the first Christian ages. This regenera
tion wrought that entire ethical reform which has
always made the religion of Christ the most powerful
agent in the moral elevation of the individual, and
enabled it to reach and save the slave, the outcast,
and the criminal. According to the letters of St. Paul,
these, turned from their evil ways, became members
of the Christian Church. This work continued; for
Celsus, more than a hundred years later, makes it a
reproach against the Christians that they receive such
into their fellowship. Since the preaching of the
Cross to the dying thief, the Christian faith has saved
those who were lost. Its cure is radical and complete.
Not only were men turned from their old life, — they
were turned to a new one. The old desires and affec
tions were driven out by the expulsive power of a
new and all-controlling affection for the loftiest ideal,
and the noblest and most winning personality which
ever appealed to the human heart. The believer was
339

34o

The New Society.

not all the time striving, by mortifications and weary,
fruitless endeavors, to arrive at moral purity ; he re
ceived inward cleansing through God's unspeakable
gift. He wrought not for life, but from life. The
contents of his Christian experience were positive
rather than negative. Self-restraint came as the re
sult of the inward, more abundant life, not as the sole
and direct result of moral endeavor. What philosophy
and merely ethical teaching in every age has failed to
do, that the Christian religion wrought, according to
the testimony of heathen observers like Galen,
130-200 : " We know that the people called Christians
have founded a religion in parables and miracles. In
moral training we see them in no wise inferior to the
philosophers. They practice celibacy, as do many of
their women ; in diet they are abstemious, in fastings
and prayers assiduous; they injure no one. In the
practice of virtue they surpass philosophers ; in prob
ity, in continence, in the genuine performance of
miracles, they infinitely excel them."
Let us remember that this work was accomplished
in the midst of all that habit, association, universal
influence an(^ all-powerful custom could do to draw
of oid Christians back into the old heathen life.
Associations. Qf the strength of those innuences SUr-
rounding them we can have no conception. An apt
illustration of them is given by Augustine in his
"Confessions." "Alypius, a Christian, was compelled
by his friend to go to the amphitheater. Shutting
his eyes, he kept his soul unpolluted, until, through
some chance in the fight, there arose a terrible out'
cry. Almost involuntarily he opened his eyes. With
the sight of the flowing blood, he drank In the inhu

Christian Life and Society. 341
manity of the place. He was intoxicated with the
bloody pleasure. He saw, he cried, he was inflamed.
He took the mania away with him and it stung him
to return." It was not that the new life died away with the
obligation of watchfulness, self-examination, and the
realization of a nobler ideal ; these were insisted upon,
but they were not all — they did not stand alone — they
were related to and a part of that divine salvation
by which lost men and a corrupt society could be
redeemed. Its power was inexhaustible, its redemp
tion plenteous.
According to the Christian conception, the regen
eration of the individual was not an end in itself.
When a man was born of God, he was born socia|
into a new society, the kingdom of God, Reform.
represented on earth by the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Hence the salvation of the individual and of
society were correlative factors; the one involved the
other. The principle which was to regenerate so
ciety, and of the new social order brought in by the
acceptance of the reign of Christ, was Christian love ;
love that sacrifices, love that forgets self, love that
dies, love that brings purity and peace. This love is
divine ; it is received by men ; it allies them to God ;
it binds them to each other; it is the attractive, crys
tallizing power of the new society in the new world.
The purifying influence of this love is felt first in
the home. Here the new life came; for wherever
Christ was preached, "women were invited The
and welcomed into the Christian commu- Christian
nities, and were admitted equally with men
to all Christian privileges. Hence, in a Christian

342 The New Society.
family the wife and mother held an honorable place."
Chastity, in contrast with heathen licentiousness, in
vesting marriage with a religious sanctity, and allow
ing divorce only for the cause named by Christ, hal
lowed and strengthened the life of the home. The
blessing of the Son of Mary came upon the woman
hood of the race
As " saints," " brethren," and "' sisters," the earliest
names for Christians, they formed a holy brotherhood,
united and pure. This aspiration after
Marriage. . .,_,...-
purity was seen m the Christian view ot
marriage. Three things were regarded as essential —
one husband with one wife, or monogamy; divorce
only for adultery ; no alliance of the sexes tolerated
except in marriage, hence concubinage done away
among them. Marriage was allowed, widowhood
honored, but virginity was by many preferred. Sec
ond marriage was discountenanced. Everywhere the
thought was, purity at any price. Knowing the con
dition of human society, we can see why they should
go to the other extreme. Yet Paul's comparison of
the relation of Christ to his Church to marriage, hon
ors in the highest degree this relation on which de
pends the family life.
The difficulties of the situation are proved by the
severe and long-continued struggle against concubi
nage, a relation in which the woman renounced the
name of wife, and the rank and dignity of her hus
band ; and the children did not take the full legal po
sition of children born in legitimate marriage, and
yet which had a certain lawful relation as a kind of
legalized polygamy. The practice became wide
spread. The laws against it of Constantine, and later

Christian Life and Society. 343
those of Justinian, hardly checked it, and it was
wholly done away by law only in the ninth century.
Pope Calixtus was blamed for having favored such
marriages, and three Councils — 400, 402, and 538 —
mention them without placing their right in question.
Christianity made chastity as obligatory upon man as
upon woman, yet only under Theodosius II was first
recognized the right of the wife to divorce in case of
her husband's adultery. The position of women in
the Church brought purity and equality into the
home. The Pauline precept enthroned love there as
Christ had taught the indissoluble union of husband
and wife. The Church gave the right and the ideal,
the realization came slowly in the State. Before that
ideal sexual immorality hid itself, and unnatural vice
perished from civilized society.
In the Christian home the children shared in the
blessings which came upon the parents. No richer
blessing could come to any child than to
, • r ¦ 11 Children.
be born to a heritage of purity and love.
The heathen practices of abortion, or the exposure of
the children to die, or to be brought up as the mean
est of slaves, could never enter the Christian family.
"Under the old Roman law, parents might at any
time put their children to death, or sell them as
slaves ; but this severity was at once voluntarily soft
ened in Christian families, and the power was taken
away by Christian emperors." The blessing of the
Babe of Bethlehem came upon the childhood of the
world. The old household gods, with their familiar
rites, were displaced, but the Christian home had its
religious life.
From the beginning, "grace" was said at meals —

344 The New Society.
hardly any other Christian observance is older, or of
Reii ious more universal usage. The practice of
Life in making the sign of the cross on the fore-
the Home. head) foy thfi beginnlng 0f the third cen.
tury, came to be a perpetually-repeated sign in fam
ilies. Children were early taught the Lord's Prayer
and the Apostles' Creed and to pray at midnight,
sunrise, and at every meal. They were taught from
the Scriptures, beginning with the Psalms. Christian
songs and hymns were an abundant source of recrea
tion at meal-times, and in all family and friendly re
unions. No attempt was made in the first century to do
away with slavery; that would have been impossible
without a political and social revolution.
Slaves. A slave could live a Christian life. Chris
tians generally considered slavery as belonging to this
world, and therefore not as immoral, but yet as not
corresponding to the highest will of God. The
Church cared for the spiritual welfare of slaves, and
taught that their masters were to improve their con
dition, and were responsible for their souls. Their
position was greatly improved by the Church; slaves
even became bishops. Christian feeling toward slav
ery is well expressed by Gregory the Great : "As our
Redeemer, the Author of the whole Creation, took
upon him human nature for the purpose of releasing
lis by his grace from the chains of bondage, in which
we were held, so is a salutary action performed when
men, whom nature from the beginning made free, and
whom the rights of nations have subjected to the
yoke of slavery, are restored to the freedom in which
they are born."

Christian Life and Society. 345
The increasing poverty and economic distress ren
dered slavery unprofitable at the close of this period.
The invasions of the barbarians broke up the slave-
markets allowed the escape of multitudes of bond
men, and seriously affected the institution. The in
fluence of monasticism, in despising property and
luxury, tended in the'same direction; but the one chief
cause leading to the cessation of slavery in Europe
was the teaching of the Christian gospel, and the in
fluence of the Christian Church. We may say, in the
words of Mommsen : "Christianity had, in the begin
ning, considered servitude as a provisional condition,
and its task as its abolition. Its influence was such
that not only Christian owners freed their slaves in
greater numbers, but also the freedom of slaves was
purchased out of the means of the Church; and,
finally, the law did away with gladiatorial games, es
tablished a kind of manumission before the Church in
the community, and fully did away with the differ
ence between the free and the freedman."
Such were some of the effects of the application of
the principles of Christian love in the family life. Its
results were not less far-reaching in the wider circles
of business and society.
The acceptance of the gospel rendered inevitable
antagonism to the prevalent practices of public and
social life. It required the reception and CnrIstian
manifestation in life of the Spirit of Christ, and Heathen
so utterly alien to the dominant philos- "'''" * '-'
ophy, customs, and usages, and even laws of the
State. The one close-clinging sin, intermixed with
all the forms of social, public, and even domestic life,
¦was idolatry. With this the Christian convert could

346 The New Society.
make no compromise. The result was separation,
which often involved the disruption of families ; the
breaking up of all business or trade interests upon
which depended a livelihood; the incurring of the
enmity of old-time friends, associates, and often rela
tives, which not infrequently led to a martyr's death.
This separation involved a constant restraint, lest old
habits, passions, associations, finding occasion in the
multiplied points of conflict between the new faith
and the old accustomed life, should bring the believer
into sin and disgrace. Such Christian watchfulness,
circumspect walking, and careful self-restraint were
essential to the Christian in the midst of the domi
nant heathenism of the first three centuries. Hence,
the Christian received a new spirit, lived a new life,
developed a new society, with institutions and offices
fitted for its needs, which should one day, in the
providence of God, take the place of a decaying and
fallen state, and raise the fabric of a purer and nobler
civilization. Many trades and occupations were closed to the
Christians. Such were all which had to do with the
Trades and manufacture or ornamentation of idols, or
Professions, portrayal of idolatrous scenes, and so, in
large part, all decorative art, all trade in objects of
idolatrous worship. Actors, and all connected with
the stage, were compelled to cease their connection
with it on professing faith in Christ. Montanists
held that Christians should not even teach in the
schools, so permeated was the literature with idol
atry; only the simplest trades and callings were with
out its degrading taint. We must remember these
were the most serious and practical questions of the

Christian Life and Society. 347
daily life of Christians for two hundred and fifty
years. Take the case of a soldier who is converted to the
Christian faith, — must he therefore desert his colors,
and, if unpunished, remain under the
• ' r 1 :¦ 1 1 . , 1 Public u'e
stigma of disloyalty ; or stay with them,
and either take part in the idolatry of the soldiers or
die a martyr's death? So Christians were dissuaded
from taking public office. The Council of Elvira, 303,
ordered that Christian magistrates should not attend
church in the year that they served as duumviri, and
pronounced upon life and death.
What, then, in the life of the Christian took the
place of the civic and military duties from which they
were excluded; the social life, which cen- christian
tered in idolatrous feasts, or lascivious plays, Fellowship.
or cruel games of the amphitheater ; the overthrow
of business interests, and the intimacies of friendship
and domestic life turned to hatred? The one and
sufficient answer is, the purity and fellowship of the
early Christian society. Profession of faith in Christ
made essential personal communion with God and
purity of life. Of these things their heathen enemies
testified. But the charm which drew men from the
world, and held them safe amid manifold trials aud
temptations, was the love of God manifested in the
fellowship of the Christian society. Great as have
been the victories of the fellowship of the Christian
faith in all the ages since, it may be doubted if it was
ever purer or more fervent and attractive than in the
Church of persecution and martyrdom. By them was
accepted, realized, and they rejoiced in the test, " We
know that we have passed from death unto life, be-

348 The New Society.
cause we love the brethren." Tertullian tells us that
the heathen said, "See how these Christians love one
another." This was promoted by the common meal,
or love-feast, partaken for the first two centuries in
connection with the Sunday worship, and the sacra
ment of the Lord's Supper. Afterward as an even
ing meal, it continued until the fourth century. At
both love-feast and sacrament all distinctions of rank
faded away. The Christian master and the Christian
slave sat side by side. The inequalities of fortune
were forgotten, and all were brethren and sisters in
the Lord, greeting each other with the holy kiss.
The world, into which they were born, and which
they had known, with many individuals of high char
acter, and many domestic, civil, and martial virtues,
was yet a world without love — the very picture of a
materialized society ; the world into which he entered
through the Christian faith as by a second birth, was
a world loving God, receiving and manifesting his
love in a fellowship as wonderfully attractive as it
was unique. It was not so hard to die in a company
so lowly and so noble, so pure in faith, so ardent in
affection, and so triumphant in hope.
The source of all that made glad the heart of the
Christian was his communion with God. The teach-
Communion ing of the unity of God wrought an intel-
with aod. lectual and moral revolution to one brought
up in idolatry. How could there be communion with
the multifarious gods of heathenism ? But the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, came near to
men. He was our Father, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. In him was the basis of this fellow
ship. The marked characteristic of the life of indi-

Christian Life and Society.

349

vidual Christians — from all we know from the docu
ments, the narratives and memorials upon the tombs
of the early Christians which have come down to us —
is joyfulness ; not simply cheerfulness, but joyfulness.
These despised Christians had their ministration of
the Holy Spirit that made them able always to re
joice. They, and they only, were victorious in this
dying world.
This purity, fellowship, and rejoicing was minis
tered to by the instruction, the worship, and discipline
of the Church. The instruction of the
Church was most definite and precise in
the preparation for baptism. " The catechumens
were instructed in the great articles of the Creed
(Apostles'), the nature of the sacraments, and peni
tential discipline of the Church. Special examina
tions and inquiries into character were made at inter
vals during the forty days. It was a time of fasting
watching, and prayer." This instruction was con
tinuously followed by the reading of the Scriptures
and committing passages to memory in private or in
the home when possible, or in the worship of the
Church ; and also by that great means of expounding
Christian doctrine and enforcing Christian practice,
the preaching of the Word. All the great doctors
of the Church were preachers; and, in the early
years, laymen, as well as men ordained, could preach.
The worship of the Church was at first mainly
during the first half of this period eminently social in
character. Its psalms, hymns, and spirit
ual songs, its unpremeditated prayer and °rs p"
its accustomed forms for common supplication both
in use, made the worship one of thanksgiving rather

350 The New Society.
than one of expiation, and gave a sense of freedom
and fellowship which were unknown in the Church
when the love-feast and offering of fruits and grain
in the service of the Eucharist gave way to the re
straint of a fixed and stately, and often tedious, cere
monial. The lessons of the worship of the Lord's-
day were deepened when the solemnities of Lent, the
rejoicings of Easter and Pentecost, were filled out in
the round of the Christian year. If there was less of
freedom, there was more of order and an unceasing
inculcation of Christian truth of value to the ruder
nations of the North.
The discipline of fasting two days in the week
was to inculcate self restraint. The discipline of the
Church was invaluable in making supreme
Discipline. , , , . . . , r
moral obligations without respect of per
sons, and in deepening the sense of sin, while hold
ing out the hope ol pardon. It had its characteristic
faults, and it failed in the end, but only when the mo
nastic life had absorbed nearly all the more earnest
Christians under a still more rigorous rule. This dis
cipline, first Christian and then monastic, testified
to the universal supremacy of moral obligation during
the ages of national decay, and when the darkness of
intellectual night settled down over Christendom.
The reality of this Christian fellowship was shown
in the protection the Church afforded to the
Christianity r , 1 ,- i ,
in Business weak or the unfortunate from the fraud and
Relations. vi0lence which had long known no restraint
The Serl- °
coioni, or except that of force. The Church be-
Hereditary Heved in justice in business relations. The
Tenants. sou, in many places, was tilled by tenants
whose interest passed from father to son, and who

Christian Life and Society. 351
were called colonii but who were practically serfs.
With these tillers of the land every sort of fraud was
used to get as much out of them as possible, as they
were too poor to obtain the protection of the law.
Extracts gathered by Uhlhorn show clearly their con
dition and the work of the Church.
"How they ill use the poor farmers!" exclaims
Chrysostom. " Do they treat them more humanely
than the barbarians do ? They do not hesitate to im
pose insupportable burdens, daily heavier, upon those
who are perishing with hunger, who are toiling away
their lives. Whether the land yields anything or
nothing, they always demand the same." In them,
too, the Church took an interest. Theodoret, in a
letter (Ep. 23), entreats a land-owner for some in
dulgence toward the coloni of his flock : " Have pity
on the laborers who have labored in the fields and
have gained but little. Let the scanty harvest be an
occasion to thee of a plentiful spiritual harvest."
Augustine seriously appeals to the conscience of one
Romulus, concerning his oppression oi coloni, on whom
double supplies were about to be imposed, and threat
ens him with eternal judgment : " They toil for a
short time ; but do thou look to it that thou heap not
up treasure against the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God." Gregory the Great's
letters (Epist. i, 51, I, 56) show how careful he was
about the welfare of the common people, and contain
a number of directions to his defensores (agents) for
the alleviation of their condition. He writes to his
Subdeacon Anthemius: "Not only by frequent in
junctions, but also personally, have I, as I remember,
exhorted thee to have less in view, in thy deportment

352 The New Society.
as our vicar, the temporal profit of the Church, than the
alleviation of the miseries of the poor, and, on the
contrary, to protect them against whatever oppression
may be inflicted on them." To the Subdeacon Peter,
too, who administered the Church property in Sicily,
he gives this excellent advice : "I desire that the
noble and respectable may honor thee for thy hu
mility, and not loathe thee for thy pride. But if thou
shouldest see them commit an injustice against the
poor, then quickly raise thyself up from thy humility,
so that thou mayest be submissive to them as long as
they act justly, but their opponent as soon as they
do evil." Gregory, having learned that many farm
ers, constrained to pay their taxes before selling their
harvests, were having recourse to loans, and thus fall
ing into the hands of usurers, commissions Peter, the
subdeacon, to make them an advance out of the
Church resources, which they may repay by install
ments. Thus the Deacon Cyprian receives a like
commission. He is to make advances to the farmers,
that they may not get money elsewhere, since they
will then have either to pay interest or have their
produce undervalued. " For these neither will the
Church treasury be ruined nor the prosperity of the
farmers destroyed."
"The Church opposed whatever violence was ex
ercised by the rich and noble against the poor and
Resistance humble, and, as Ambrose says, protected
"ofthe™06 the Naboths against the Ahabs, of whom
Powerful, a new one rose up every day." One of the
circumstances by which Chrysostom drew down upon
himself the wrath of the Empress Eudoxia was this :
The empress, relying upon a certain law, desired

Christian Life and Society. 353
to possess herself of the vineyard of a poor widow
for a payment in money. Chrysostom protected the
widow in her possessions, uninfluenced by the
wealth of the empress. The property of widows and
orphans was frequently intrusted to the Church for
preservation and management. Augustine once men
tions this, and adds: "The bishops protect the orphans
that they may not be oppressed by strangers after the
death of their parents." In Pavia, a respectable man
had surreptitiously obtained an imperial rescript, by
which the property of an orphan, held as a deposit by
the Church, was adjudged to him. Nevertheless,
Ambrose refused to deliver it up, withstood all the
threats and annoyances of the corrupted officials, and
at last effected a withdrawal of the rescript. Many of
Augustine's letters treat of the proposed marriage of
an orphan girl who had been intrusted to the Church,
and the care of whom the bishop, notwithstanding
his numerous cares and labors, did not neglect. He
writes to Felix: "For your piety knows what care
the Church and the bishops should take for the pro
tection of all men, but especially of orphan children."
The charity of the early Church was as marked
as the fellowship from which it sprang, and the joy
ous spirit with which it was administered, christian
Paul insists on the necessity of labor, not charity.
Necessity
only for self-support , but that Christians and Dignity
may have to give to the needy. He taught °* Labor°
the dignity of labor by working with his own hands.
The apostle whose Lord worked as a carpenter, recog
nized the value of labor, the independence which it
confers, and the curse and moral degradation of idle
ness. The rule he gave was that " if any would not
23

354 The New Society.
work, neither should he eat." The charity of the
Church did not rest on the great gifts of the wealthy,
or on vast endowments for the relief of social need,
but on the self-denial and the spirit of Christian love
and brotherhood of the laboring classes. The first
duty of the Church in regard to social relations was
to find work for the unemployed, a much harder task
in days of slavery than in ours ; but which it was
forward to do. From the beginning the Church took
care of its own poor, its sick, widows, and orphans.
The poor at Jerusalem were specially remembered, as
were always the widows and the desolate, widows
above sixty years of age having a life pension from
the Church.
The fruits of labor were not for selfish enjoyment.
The Christian spirit prompted to large and generous
The Service hospitality; letters of Christian fellowship
of Wealth. were Qf substantial value. Covetousness
Hospitality. 1,1 1 , 1 .,
Care ot the was rebuked, and on every hand aid com-
Poor and manflgd to be given to the poor. This was
Distressed. & r .
illustrated and enforced in every service for
worship. The Lord's Supper, observed each week in
the smallest Christian assembly, always had an obla
tion or presentation of gifts for the poor. This char
ity, in its method, was as considerate and Christian as
it was unceasing and abundant. The membership of
the Church gave to the Lord as a part of divine wor
ship, and the poor received it from the Lord as min
istered through his Church. For this congregational
care of the poor were set apart the deacons, the dea
conesses, and the widows of the Church. There did
not fail personal investigation and ministration to the
suffering and distressed. The ardent love which

Christian Life and Society. 355
prompted thank-offerings to God in compassion for
human need, brought as well personal service. In
the capital of the world, in the early part of the third
century, the Roman bishop could boast there was no
Christian beggar in that vast population. Twenty-
five years later another bishop reckoned one thousand
five hundred widows and poor under the care of the
Church. The heathen Emperor Julian renders un
willing testimony to the continued and unbounding
charity of the Christian Church.
When Christianity became the religion of the
State, the Church care of the poor, instead of being
the relief of those in need in Christian con- The congre-
gregations, became that of the poor of the c^u.i°nabe.
entire community, under the charge of the comes that of
bishop. Basil himself attended to the sick f*r thTc^m-
and the leprous. Chrysostom lived a life munity.
of simplicity and self-denial in the midst of Byzantine
luxury, while filling the most splendid ecclesiastical
station of the age. At Antioch his Church cared for
three thousand widows and virgins, while at Constan
tinople he fed daily seven thousand poor. At Alex
andria seven thousand five hundred received the care
of the Church. Ambrose takes special care of the
poor ; and Augustine desires no other garment than
such as he can give to a poor brother. Gregory I
had every month carts full of provision driven
through the city for the relief of the poor, and dis
tributed among them grain, oil, wine, and meat.
Every one in distress expected relief from the
bishop , the poor Roman, homeless through the rav
ages of the barbarians, and the wild German, when
suffering or in need, equally sought his aid, and never

356 The New Society.
found refusal. Yet this beneficence was subject to
such impositions, when there could be no longer the
close personal supervision of congregational care, that
it is the burden of the complaint of Basil, Gregory
Nazianzen, Ambrose, and Chrysostom. It seemed
impossible to deal with it amid the appalling distress
whose reality was unquestioned.
The necessity for this more careful discrimination,
and the rise of monasticism, caused the care of the
The Care of poor to become institutional. The indi-
the church vidual Christian no longer felt it his duty
for the Poor . . ~ . J
becomes in- to minister to the suffering and afflicted
stitutionai. through the weekly offerings which were
distributed by those having charge of the dependent
members of the flock, the offering and the ministra
tion, both a work of Christian love. Now an order of
men and women performed this service. One-fourth
of the revenues of the Church which came into
the hands of the bishop were devoted to the care of
the poor and the needy. Not only the current rev
enues from the offerings of the faithful, but the in
come of the large landed estates of the Church, were
used for this purpose.
Personal solicitations did not cease, but the motive
was no longer the warm Christian love moved to
The compassion by a brother's need. From
Bertowin" 25° *t was taught that alms purged away
Aims. sin. Leo thus expresses the thought :
" Alms destroy sins, abolish death, extinguish the
penalty of eternal fire." The great influence of Au
gustine extended the merit of alms beyond death:
"It is not to be doubted that the dead are assisted by
the prayers of the Church, by the saving sacrifice, and

Christian Life and Society. 357
by alms which are offered for their souls, and that
the Lord deals more mercifully with them than their
sins have deserved." This teaching was elaborated
into the doctrine of purgatory by Gregory the First,
and was the motive for the abundant gifts of the suc
ceeding ages.
This charity of the Church developed forms of
wider usefulness after Christianity became the re
ligion of the empire. Basil was the pio- charitable
neer in this work. He established the first ""tItuti0M« Hospitals,
Christian hospital at Neo-Caesarea, in 370. etc.
It was a new thing in the heathen world. About it
were grouped houses for strangers and for widows
and orphans. The example of Basil found quick im
itation. In 375, Ephrem Syrus established one at
Edessa; Chrysostom founded one at Antioch, and
two at Constantinople. They were commended by
the Council of Chalcedon, 451. They were first es
tablished in Rome, 398, by friends of Jerome. They
became prevalent in the West from 500 to 550. Un
der Gregory I, 590-604, there were a large number
in Italy, and thirty-five in Constantinople. Institu
tions were also established for the care of orphans,
foundlings, and the aged ; and asylums for the in
sane, the blind, deaf and dumb, and for magdalens.
These institutions were at first under the oversight of
the bishop, but were afterward confided to a separate
monastic order.
The self-sacrificing love of the Christians did not
stop with fellow-believers. Cyprian, 248-258, tells of
the devastating plague at Carthage, and caring for
how the Christians buried the dead left by the Dead-
the heathen in the streets and the homes, and so saved

358 The New Society.
the city from further infection. The same service
was rendered at Alexandria amid like circumstances
One form of beneficence peculiar to those times
was the redemption of Christians taken into captivity
Release of the and slavery. For the purchase of the free-
Captives. dom of the Numidian captives Cyprian
collected in a few days $3,500. The great bishops of
the time, and those under them, again and again sold
the sacramental vessels of the Church to ransom cap
tives. Gregory I says : " It would be a sin and a
crime to esteem the furniture of the Church above
the prisoners." Candidus, Bishop of Sergiopolis, on
one occasion ransomed 12,000 prisoners for $45,000.
Prices were sometimes much higher. The Lombards
demanded $350 for a clergyman, while $45,000 was
paid as the ransom of two Cilician bishops. The
Church and individuals were zealous in the work.
On the gravestone of a Christian woman, Eugenia,
we read : " With her treasures she delivered the pris
oners from unjust fetters." Thus the Christian Church
ministered to the overwhelming distress of the times.
Well may Ulhorn say: "What would have become of
the Roman Empire without Christianity? What num
bers has the Church assisted ; how much misery it
alleviated ; how many tears it dried ! It ministered
comfort and consolation to a dying world."
If Pompeii revealed to the modern world what
heathenism was, the catacombs made a revelation
The equally marvelous and irrefragable in re-
catacombs. gard to t^e jjfe 0f the early Christian
Church. The inscriptions — more than ten thousand
in number — represent the life of the Christian soci
ety from the first century until the fall of Rome, in

Christian Lipe and Society. 359
410. In the rooms used as places of worship, and as
family burial-places, and in the hundreds of miles of
the tombs of the Christian community, are made clear
the theology, the Christian usages, the cycle of Chris
tian thoughts, and, above all, the conceptions of the
life beyond. The prominent elements of the Christian
life, as there depicted, are purity, fellowship, family
affection, and serene cheerfulness. Though a ceme
tery, there are revealed only abiding peace and joyful
hope. No examples are found in the inscriptions of
prayer for the dead, clerical celibacy, or the worship
of Mary.

Chapter III
THE MONASTIC LIFE
The fourth century saw the rise and rapid spread
of that ideal of Christian life which has largely af-
MonasticLife fected the life of the Chuich since. It
the' NewnTes- dominates the Roman and Greek Catholic
tament. Churches. There is no mention of it in
the New Testament, and its life and ideals are the far
thest possible from the teachings of our Lord, or of
St. John or St. Paul. In the life of the early Church
there was, on account of the present distress, a ten
dency toward celibacy. But there is only one passage,
and that highly figurative (Rev. xiv, 4), which inti
mates that the celibate is superior to the married state,
though it may be iess burdensome, and afford greater
opportunities for the performance of Christian work.
The influence of St. James and the example of John
the Baptist were in its favor ; but with Paul, according
to his own testimony _ it was a matter of expediency:
while Peter, certainly living in marriage, has been
honored as the chief of the apostles by the Churches
most exalting celibacy.
The monastic ideal was : First, a withdrawal from
the world ; second, a mortification of the flesh through
The Monastic severe fastings, denials of comforts, punish-
ldeai. ments like the wearing of haircloth or
chains the neglect of the body; third, the life of
contemplation and prayer, dwelling solely upon God,
360

The Monastic Life. 361
his Word, and the future life. This ideal, realized in
a community of men or of women living in common,
under rule, and bound by vow to chastity, poverty,
and obedience, under a superior as the head of the
community, forms the monastery. The ideal of such
a life has never been better expressed than by St.
Bernard: "To occupy one's self with God is not to
be idle; it is the occupation of all occupations."
The power of this ideal must not be undervalued. To
do so is to fail to understand a large and influential
portion of the history both of civilization and of the
Church. There is need in Christian life for detach
ment from the world ; there is need for the denial
and subjection of the body; there is need, if there is
to be strength in the Christian soul and saving health
in the Christian Church, for converse with God and
dwelling upon his great thoughts for men. If these
things are forgotten, or die out of the life of the
Church at large, God will raise up, and believing
hearts will find a refuge where they may perpetuate
themselves ; and so the life of Christ may not fade
from the vision of any generation of men. We need,
for our own spiritual culture as well as understand
ing, to read sympathetically the record of this age-long
striving after holiness, which preserved the power of
the Christian life and the graces of the Christian
spirit in ages of ignorance and violence, and of the
secularization and sale of the holiest and most sacred
offices of the Christian religion. It was a refuge
from oppression, the abode of boundless kindness and
charity to the poor, the wretched, and suffering, and
a realm of quietude of spirit in a wild and stormy
world.

362 The New Society.
But this element of truth and this service of
righteousness and charity must not blind us to the
The Reverse reality of things, to the facts of history.
Monastic6 The monastic ideal and life is but a partial
Ufe. and one-sided development of the Christian
ideal, Christian teaching, and Christian life. Instead
of endeavoring so to preach and apply the gospel of
Jesus Christ as to save the whole man and the whole
realm of society, it devotes itself to a part of our
nature and a part of society, neglecting or suppressing
the rest. The nature thus distorted had its own re
venge. The age of the greatest sunremacv of mo
nastic institutions was an age when Christianity must
be reformed or die. No corruptions of a corrupt age
and Church equaled the corruptions of the monas
teries. The tendency toward celibacy and poverty in the
early Church did not result in the formation of a class
No Monasti- of ascetics. The earliest notice ol such is
C'S Early * n°t before 150. At the same time it may
church. be that the apostles and teachers mentioned
in the " Teaching of the Twelve," in their life of
wandering and evangelization, had no ties of family
and home. This seems to be tne state ot things pre
sented to us in the so-called " Letter of Clement,"
about 300, where, also, the abuses to which it led point
to the monastic life as a remedy.
There were many contributing causes to the de
velopment of the monastic life. Among them may
Causes of the be mentioned the idea of two standards of
^rl^"da"d holiness and moral obligation, — one for the
Monasticism ordinary Christian, and another for the " re
ligious " or more devout: the teaching of Greek phi-

The Monastic Life. 363
losophy adopted by Origen, that the mind is purified
and strengthened by the denial and ascetic treatment
of the body ; the insistence upon the opposition be
tween the flesh and the spirit by the heretical sects,
and the influence of those rigoristic ideals of Monta
nism which, being cast out of the Church, found refuge
in the monastic circles ; and the contemplative spirit
of the Eastern races. With these wrought the po
litical revolutions of the third century, the licentious
ness and luxury of heathen society, the persecutions
of Decius and Diocletian, and the ruin brought upon
the empire by the barbarian invasions. To these
were added the sorrows, sufferings, and disappoint
ments which so often turn the course of the life of
individuals. But the chief causes which determined the Chris
tian spirit toward this ideal were two, — the seculariza
tion of the Church, and the opportunity The Two
afforded by the physical and social condi- chief Causes.
The Seculari-
tion of the population of Egypt for begin- zation of the
ning such a life. The Church of Cyprian church.
is no longer the Church of denial, purity, humility,
and the spiritual gifts of the first two centuries. The
narrative of Eusebius shows the Church largely secu
larized before the Diocletian persecutions. This, which
was the green tree before Constantine, became the dry
when heathenism pressed into the State Church. The
Christian ideal could not be realized in the established
Church of the fourth century. That ideal could not
die. It fled to the deserts and the retreats far from
the world, society, and the great but secularized
Church. In these at least, poverty, humility, and
self-conquest should not die out of Christianity, while

364 The New Society.
opportunity should be given for dwelling upon the
eternal things of God, in whose presence the changes
of human life and the revolutions in the history of the
State and the Church are of so little importance.
Egypt gave the opportunity for the development
of this spirit of discontent with the great Church ot
Physical and the empire, in the direction of a flight from
social Condi- the world and the formation of monastic
tion of Egypt. socjetjes a severe pestilence, which deci
mated the population, may have given an initial im
pulse. The climate allowed the reduction of the ne
cessities of human existence to a minimum. The
warmth and even temperature, the bright and clear
atmosphere, made necessary onlv the smallest amount
and the simplest food. The soil in such a climate al
lowed the raising of the amount required with the
least care and exertion, while the poor Coptic popula
tion had lived for ages with so little of the external
conveniences or ornaments of life that the simplicity
of the barest cell could scarcely impose an unaccus
tomed hardship, nor the fasts of the most rigorous
self-denial distress them.
The way for this, like all great changes, was gradu
ally prepared. From 200 to 250 there were ascetic
Hermits and virgins and widows in the Church. From
Anchorites. 250j members of the lower classes went
into the desert and led a solitary life. A representa
tive of this class is St. Symeon Stylites, who lived,
423-460, on the top of a pillar whose summit was only
three feet in diameter, surrounded by a balustrade,
and whose height was raised at different times from
twelve to sixty feet. He fasted, taking but one meal
a week, and less in Lent. About his neck he wore a

The Monastic Life. 365
heavy iron chain. Three Christian emperors came to
see him — Theodosius II, Marcian, and Leo — and
crowds of strangers from all lands. By his life and
exhortations he converted multitudes of Saracens and
other nomads of the desert. About 300, Hieracas, a
follower of Origen, at Eeontopolis, gathered around
him a society of ascetics, whom he trained in theo
logical studies and a life of self-conquest. They were
in a position between the ascetics, who did not aban
don family life and society, and those who followed
the monastic life. Though monasticism was known
before Christianity among the devotees of Brahman-
ism and the regular monkish orders of Buddhism,
and there had been in Egypt heathen recluses who
dwelt in the same cell fifteen or twenty years, and the
successive steps in Christianity of ascetics, hermits,
and unorganized bodies of disciples around a single
teacher or guide, yet before 300 there is no trace of
monasticism. Our earliest account is from Egypt,
310. It spread rapidly, and soon after was found in
Palestine and Syria.
All tendencies become crystallized into institu
tions only through some remarkable indi-
_ . , St. Antony.
vidual. Such was St. Antony, who more
than any other was the founder of the monastic life in
Christendom. Antony was an Egyptian, of the Coptic race and
speech, and descended from wealthy parents, who
were Christians. He was born at Coma, u,e „f
near the Thebaid, about 251. From his Anto"y-
parents he received a Christian training, was taught
to read, but had no education in Greek literature or
philosophy. He was pure in life, attended Church,

366 The New Society.
and loved his home. The death of his parents, when
he was about eighteen years old, changed the whole
current of his life, much as the like event did that of
Gregory the Great, and the loss of his child the career
of Paulinus of Nola. Six months later, while dwell
ing upon the apostolic example of sharing temporal
goods, recorded in the second chapter of Acts, he
entered the church, and heard read from the Gospel
the words of our Lord to the rich young ruler : " If
thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou hast, and give to
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;
and come and follow me." He regarded it as a voice
from God. His lands he gave to his native village,
on condition that he should be relieved from the taxes;
all his personal property he sold, and gave the pro
ceeds to the poor, except a small amount which he
reserved for the support of a little sister, left in his
charge by the death of his parents. Soon after he
heard read in the church, " Take no thought for the
morrow.' In compliance with the admonition, he
placed his sister under the charge of the virgins of the
Church to care for and educate ; and selling the rem
nant of his property and distributing it to the needy,
he entered upon an ascetic and contemplative life.
In a place not far from his home he began his career.
He labored with his hands; part of his earnings he
spent for bread; the rest he gave away. He was
much in prayer, and gave such attention to reading
the Scriptures that what he learned he remembered,
so that his memory was his library. He fasted, and
slept on the ground. His inward temptations became
so great that he went to a tomb near a neighboring
village, probably in a cave or grotto, and, taking with

The Monastic Life. 367
him a supply of bread, shut himself in alone. The
next day a friend went by, and, looking in, found him
insensible on the ground. He took him to the village,
where he revived, but went back to renew the combat.
In the ascetic life, where outward temptations are
escaped, inward ones are never wanting. Antony
found himself pursued by obscene thoughts Antony's
and surrounded by visions of nude women. Temptations.
He believed that demons filled the air about him,
sometimes as savage beasts, and sometimes as devils.
Not content with assailing his thoughts and defiling
his imagination, he was assured that they set upon
him with physical violence, the wounds and bruises
of which remained after the vision had passed. Con
fiding in the Divine protection, he rebuked the evil
spirits, when they gnashed their teeth upon him and
withdrew. There is no question that the austeri
ties weakening his body, with the conflict in his mind,
well-nigh unsettled his reason.
After this severe conflict, when about thirty-four
years of age, he withdrew to a deserted castle in the
mountains. He took with him a sufficient Retirement
supply of bread for six months. For this and counsel.
necessary provision he returned twice a year. For
twenty years, in this place, he led a strictly ascetic
and contemplative life, tempted again by visions of
devils, but comforted by visions of angels. He had
now acquired that conquest over self, tranquillity of
mind, and large knowledge of human nature, which
made him a help and guide to others. So many re
sorted to him that, at length, to secure the needful re
tirement, he withdrew still further into the interior,
some of the desert tribes showing him a high moun-

368 The New Society.
tain, with a limpid stream flowing at its base, sweet,
cold, and healthful. There were near it a few wild
palm-trees. Not far away he found a small tract of
ground, which he watered, and upon which he raised
the grain and vegetables he required.
He seldom left his retreat ; but when he did, the
effect was remarkable. Twice he visited Alexandria,
His visits to once at the time of the Maximian persecu-
Aiexandria. \\orij 37 1, when he was sixty years of age.
He ministered to the confessors in their chains; when
before the tribunal he exhorted them to readiness to
suffer, and accompanied them to their death. So
great was his influence that the judge ordered no
monk to appear in court, but all to withdraw from
the city. The others concealed themselves ; but An
tony remained. He showed himself openly to the
governor, and continued his ministration to the con
fessors and martyrs. At the age of one hundred
years he again visited Alexandria. The Arians had
falsely reported that he agreed with them. Acced
ing to the request of the bishops and brethren, he
came from his mountain home, and preached publicly
against the Arians. All the citizens, the heathen, and
even their priests, flocked to the church to see and
hear him whom all called the man of God. As many
heathen are said to have become Christians in the
days of his visitation as previously in the same num
ber of years. Finally, at the age of one hundred and
five, the time of his departure drew near. In the
prevalent mania for the veneration of relics he had
no share. He thought himself no better than the pa
triarchs, prophets, and Christ himself, who were
buried. He commanded his disciples so to bury him

The Monastic Life. 369
that no man might know the place where rested his
remains, which was faithfully done. He ordered gifts
of his clothing — his only possessions — to be made to
Athanasius and to another bishop who was a long-time
friend. Then he kissed the brethren, blessed them,
and was peacefully gathered to his fathers.
Antony, through his experience, attained to great
practical wisdom. He said: 'The weapons against
evil spirits are an upright life and faith in wisdom of
God. Prayer, fasting, contempt of money Antony.
and reputation, love for the poor, with mildness and
humility, aie the means." This wisdom is evinced by
his sayings: "It is our duty to guard against evil
thoughts, to keep the soul for the Lord as if a charge
accepted from him, so that he may recognize his
work as made by him." "Man's great work is to
to take his guilt upon himself before God, and expect
temptations until his latest breath. Without tempta
tions, none can enter into the kingdom of heaven."
To an abbot he gave this advice : '' Trust not in your
own righteousness, and regret not what is already
past." Antony attained to such quiet confidence in God,
and self-conquest, as became manifest in his counte
nance. The purity and serenity of his serenity of
mind gave a composure of manner and a Antony.
countenance never sad, but so joyful as to diffuse
cheerfulness. His life knew neither boasting nor mur
muring, but he always gave thanks to God. "God
only could heal afflictions, and whenever and to whom
he would, he bestowed his benefits."
Antony impressed his own age. His life, written
by Athanasius, and the influence of Athanasius uoon
24

370 The New Society.
Jerome, gave such an impetus to the monastic life,
both in the East and West, that he appears as the
The Founder rea* f°under of monasticism. In Antony,
ofMonasti- that life is seen in its fairest colors; for
he had a peculiar vocation to a contempla
tive Ufe, and that sound understanding which pre
served him from the extravagances so soon to appear
in the monastic life.
The monastic life spread with great rapidity in the
East. The earliest form of rule for a monastic com-
Deveiopment munity is that of Pachomius, 350. It has
of Eastern one hundred and ninety-four heads or di-
onas icism. visjonSi and fts minute regulations and
scrupulosity would drive mad an ordinary man. In
Jerome's time — fifty years later — it numbered fifty
thousand adherents.
The rule of the greatest repute in the East was
that of St. Basil, 330-390. An intimate knowledge of
Rule of human nature, common sense, and high-
Basil, toned piety characterize this rule. The
whole life was given to prayer. The canonical hours
were observed, the midda}- hour being divided into
two, so as to make seven times a day. Work was not
neglected for pra}-er ; for while the tongue was em
ployed in petition and praise, the hands were busy.
The food was such as should nourish the body, and
whatever was placed upon the table should be eaten.
The clothing of the monk should show humility,
simplicity, and cheapness. He was to wear the same
garment day and night, and never to change it for
work or rest. Weaving and shoemaking were the
vocations preferred, and above all agriculture. Broth
ers working at a distance were to keep the hours of

The Monastic Life. 371
prayer in the field. No one was to call anything,
either shoe, or vestment, or any necessary of life, his
own. Silence was strictly observed, and no woman
was allowed in the precincts of the monastery. Med
icine should not be rejected under the false notion
that it is an interference with the will of God. No
one was to leave the convent without the license of
the superior. Such a monastery had its oratory, refec
tory, and other monastic offices, and orderly rows of
contiguous cells inclosed in a high, protecting wall;
and without were often straggling groups of cabins
for the anchorites. From these their inmates repaired
every Saturday and Sunday to the monastery for wor
ship and instruction, bringing with them the mats and
baskets and other articles they had finished, and tak
ing back materials for the work of the next week, to
gether with a supply of bread and water, after having
partaken of a little cooked food and wine in the gen
eral refectory.
The monastery of Santa Laura, on Mount Athos, is
the type of the monasteries of the East. Its fortified
inclosure includes between three and four Santa Laura.
acres, comprising two courts, m the center
of which stands the catholicon, or church, surrounded
by an open cloister, on which, from three sides, the
cells open. The refectory, which opens from the
west cloister facing the church, is a cruciform hall,
the arms about one hundred feet in length and
rounded at the ends. The monks in the East were
orthodox and realistic. Their partisanship was igno
rant, fierce, and cruel, as was experienced by Flavian
and Hypatia. They felt the corrupting influence of
the prevalent saint and angel worship, and the ven-

372 The New Society.
eration of relics. The monasteries were under the
jurisdiction of the bishops. As the Greek clergy
marry, the monastic life has never affected the Hfe of
the clergy as in the West; but from it always came
the incumbents of the bishoprics and the higher offices
of the Church. Eastern monasticism was never as
active or industrious, or exerted as great an influence
upon learning and civilization, as the Western monas
tic institutions; still it is the complement and neces
sary support of the great secular Byzantine Church.
The monastic life was commended to the West by
the visit of Athanasius, the influence of the institu-
Monastic tions of Basil upon the bishops banished to
ufe in the the East during the Arian controversy, and
the exhortations of Ambrose, Chrysostom,
and Augustine. But the real founder of Western
monasticism was Eusebius Hieronymus, better known
as St. Jerome.
The place of his birth was Strido, not far from
Aquileia, in the year 346. His parents were ortho-
st. Jerome, dox Christians. The}* were not wealthy,
His Life. \m^_ owned houses and slaves. They prob
ably perished in the Gothic invasions of 377. Paul-
inian, a brother, twenty years younger, lived con
stantly with Jerome after 385 ; a sister also, after a
wayward life, embraced asceticism. Jerome was
brought up in comfort, and had a good education.
At about seventeen years of age he went to Rome for
its completion. Professing the Christian faith, he was
baptized before 366. Afterward he visited Gaul, stay
ing most of the time at Treves. From 370 to 373
he lived an ascetic life with Rufinus and other friends
at Aquileia. In 374 he traveled through Thrace,

The Monastic Life. 373
Pontus, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia, to
Antioch. For five years, 374-379, he lived as a her
mit among other monks in the desert of Chalcis, near
Antioch. He was ordained presbyter at Antioch in
379, and then studied under the celebrated Apollina-
ris of Laodicea. In 380-381 he was at Constantino
ple, and enjoyed the tuition of Gregory of Nazianzen ;
he was also acquainted with Gregory of Nyssa. At
that time weakness of his eyes made dictation neces
sary, and this was henceforth his usual method of
composition. Here he translated into Latin Eusebius
and Origen. From 382 to 385 he was in Rome, the
secretary of Pope Damasus, and acknowledged to be
the most learned man of his time. He was not chosen
Pope, as he had some expectation, and journeyed to
Antioch, Jerusalem, and Egypt in 386. While in
Egypt he studied with Didymus the Blind, the last
great catechetical teacher of Alexandria. After visit
ing the Egyptian monasteries, he came to Bethlehem
in the fall of 386. There he founded a monastery, in
which he lived until his death, twenty-four years
later, in 420. In this monastery he gave himself to
Biblical studies and expounded the Scripture daily.
The excitable, vain, and somewhat arrogant dispo
sition of Jerome involved him in abundant contro
versy. He wrote against Jovinian in defense of celib
acy; against his former friend Rufinus, in condem
nation of Origen ; and against Vigilantius, in favor of
the veneration of martyrs, celibacy, and asceticism.
He contended with his bishop, John of Jerusalem,
and, through a misunderstanding for which he was
not to blame , with Augustine.
Jerome was not a theologian; but his wide and

374 The New Society.
accurate knowledge, versatile talent, literary style, and
his indefatigable industry were used for the advance
ment of Biblical learning, and his services were sur
passed by Origen alone, whom he excelled in a more
sober and rational exegesis. He was the best He
brew scholar among the fathers. His great achieve
ment, to which he devoted twenty- three years of his
life, was the translation of the Greek and Hebrew
Scriptures into the Latin language. This is the Vul
gate Version, a translation never surpassed except by
the English Version of 1611, and the German of Lu
ther. In his studies on the canon, he drew the
marked distinction between the Old Testament Scrip
tures and the Apocrypha, which has been insisted
on by Protestants. He rejected purgatory and mil-
lenariauism, and held to the original equality of bish
ops and presbyters. In his " Commentaries " he
endeavored to develop the literal and historic sense.
On this account, and the wide range of his information,
he is more helpful to the expositor than any other of
the fathers. Jerome was passionate and bitter, vehe
ment and vacillating, full of prejudice and abusive in
controversy, with a nervous dread of heresy that de
prived him of high moral courage. He was credulous
and superstitious; but he was a man, through all sick
ness, disappointment, and disaster, of indomitable in
dustry, thorough scholarship, and self-denial, and a
literary style which gives interest to all he wrote. In
that nature, so stormy and so long disciplined, there
must have been a rare power of attraction to gather
around him such a circle of friends as those of which
he was the center. These friends were mainly women,
and women of the highest circles of the Roman aris-

The Monastic Life. 375
tocracy. Through them and their friends he exerted
that influence which so powerfully promoted the mo
nastic life in the West. The times were those of the
dissolution of Roman society and the overthrow of
the Roman rule and civilization; no other source
gives so vivid a picture of this period as the Letters
of Jerome, from which these details are drawn. We
see clearly the influences which promoted the monas
tic life, and the refuge it proved amid the throes of a
dying world.
The first Roman lady to begin the ascetic life was
Marcella. She was decended from the family of the
Marcelli, and had great wealth. Her mother, Albina,
was left a widow by her father's early M
death. She entertained Athanasius when
he came to Rome, in 340. Marcella married, and
seven months later was left a widow, which she re
mained during life. She lived with her mother, in
her palace on the Aventine and at her country seat
near Rome. She began an ascetic life in 374. She
lived simply, giving her wealth to the poor, but was
moderate in her austerities, following the counsels of
her mother, whom she never left. She met Jerome
in 382. Her house became a center where a circle
of wealthy ladies gathered around her for the study
of the Scriptures, and for singing and prayer. After
her mother's death, in 387, she lived in a little house
outside the city, with her friend Principia, and de
voted her whole time to good works. In the sack of
Rome, 410, she was injured by the Goths, and died a
few days afterward.
The first of the aristocratic ladies of Rome to
make a pilgrimage to Palestine, and there begin an

376 The New Society.
ascetic life, was Melania. She was the daughter
of the consular Marcellinus, and was born about 350.
She married, but was left a widow at
Melania. . ~ - , -
twenty-two years of age. Two of her three
children died soon after their father. She placed her
son in the charge of the urban praetor, and sailed for
Palestine in 372. She had met Jerome and his friend
Rufinus, the translator of Origen into Latin. Rufinus
was in her company in Egypt in 374, and within six
months was imprisoned, in the persecution under
Valens. Melania went to Palestine, where, upon the
Mount of Olives, in 375, she founded a community of
fifty virgins. Her house was open to all. She was ac
quainted with John, Bishop of Jerusalem, with Je
rome, and with Paula, while Rufinus made his home
there after his release. In 397, after an absence of
twenty-five years, she returned to Rome to persuade
her granddaughter, Melania the younger, to embrace
an ascetic life. She found her married, and failed to
separate her from her husband. On her way Rufinus
traveled with her. They visited Augustine in Africa,
and Paulinus at Nola. For the next two years she
lived at Rome with her son, his two children, and his
son-in-law. In 408 her son died, and the family left
Rome. They traveled to Sicily and Africa, where
she had estates. Rufinus accompanied them, and died
in Sicily. They passed over to Africa, where her
widowed daughter-in-law remained. Melania left
them, and went on to Jerusalem, where she died
forty days after her arrival, in 410.
Melania, her granddaughter, was born in 383.
When about thirteen she married a husband who
was seventeen years of age. They were tenderly at-

The Monastic Life. 377
tached to each other. When the elder Melania re
turned to Jerusalem, she remained at Sagaste, in Africa,
where her brother died. The wealth of neiania
the grandmother came into her hands. She the Younger.
gave away the estates she inherited in Gaul and Italy,
but retained those in Spain and Africa. She is said
to have liberated eight thousand slaves. Robbed of
her property by Count Heraclian, she traveled with
her husband and mother to Egypt, and settled in
Bethlehem in 414. They attached themselves to Je
rome and the younger Paula. She reconciled the fol
lowers of Rufinus and Jerome. From her husband,
Pisanius, she separated that he might become the
head of a monastery, while she entered a convent.
In 437 she is said to have visited Constantinople.
The lives of two other noble women show the
same tendency. Perhaps these details may be par
doned if they make the conditions of the puriaand
time more real, and clearer the forces im- Fabioia.
pelling to the monastic life. Furia was of the oldest
Roman aristocracy, and possessed a vast fortune.
Her father and father-in-law were both consulars.
Her husband died early, leaving her with a family of
young sons and an infirm father. Through the influ
ence of her deceased mother and that of Jerome, she
remained a widow. Fabioia was extremely wealthy,
and of aristocratic descent. The vices of her first hus
band forced her to divorce him. For protection, she
married a second husband while the first was still
alive; hence she was excluded from the Church.
After the death of her second husband she went
through a public penance, and was restored to its
communion. She sold all her possessions, and sup-

378 The New Society.
ported monasteries in Italy and the islands ; she min
istered personally to the wants of the poor. In 395
she visited Bethlehem, and was greatly attached to
Jerome. She returned, when — with the aid of Pam-
machius, the son-in-law of Paula — she established a
hospital at Pontus, near Rome. In this she minis
tered personally to the worst and most offensive cases
of disease and suffering until her death, in 399.
By far the most interesting of this group of
wealthy, intelligent, and pious women, was Paula
and her family. Her mother and hus-
Paula. band were descended from the greatest
names in the history of Rome, while her father traced
his descent to Agamemnon. She possessed great
wealth, owning the whole town of Actium, called,
from the victory of Augustus, Nicopoli. She was
born in 347. She married early, and her husband
died in 380, leaving her, at thirty -three 3-ears of age,
with a family of four daughters and a son. In 382
she entertained Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, and
Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch. Through them she be
came acquainted with Jerome, and received an im
pulse toward the ascetic life. Her married daughter,
Bbesilla, lost her husband, and died in 384, in conse
quence, as it was thought, of ascetic severities. An
other daughter, Paulina, married, in 3S5, the Senator
Pammachius, the cousin of Marcella, a man of learn
ing, ability, and eloquence, the friend of Jerome and
Augustine. Paulina, his wife, died in 397. After his
wife's death he became a monk, while retaining his
position as senator. He gave munificently to the
poor, and, with Fabioia, established a hospital at
Pontus of world-wide fame. He died in the siege of

The Monastic Life. 379
Rome by Alaric, in 409. In 386, Paula took her
daughter Eustochium with her, leaving behind her
daughter Rufina — who died soon after — and her son
Toxatius, and sailed for the East. She visited Epi
phanius at Cyprus, and met Jerome at Antioch. They
went to Egypt, and returned and settled in Bethle
hem in 386. This was her home until her death,
eighteen years later, in 404. Paula knew Greek and
Latin, and learned Hebrew. She had great love for
the Scriptures, and read through the whole Bible with
Jerome. She managed a convent for women with
patience and tact. Once one of the wealthiest
women of Rome, she gave away all her own and
much of her children's property. She dressed in a
coarse garb, and presented a sordid appearance while
performing all sorts of menial duties in the relief of
distress. She was slight in body and weak in health;
her mortifications and illnesses wore her away.
' Her affection for Jerome and his love for her are as
touching as any literary fellowship on record.
Eustochium, her daughter, who was the first noble
lady to take on the vow of perpetual celibacy, went
with her mother to the East, and lived Eustochium.
with her until her death. She took her
mother's place at the head of the convent and in
caring for Jerome, until her death in 418. Like her
mother, she knew Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.
Though small in stature, she possessed great cour
age and decision of character.
The son of Paula married Leta, the daughter of a
heathen priest. Leta became a Christian.
r Toxatius.
She wrote to Jerome in regard to the train
ing of her daughter Paula, in 401. While still a child,

380 The New Society.
but not until after her grandmother's death, she was
sent to Bethlehem for her education. She was there
in 416. Of this circle was Paulinus of Nola, visited by
Melania and her family. His father was the Roman
Paulinus governor of Gaul, and he was born at Bor-
ofNoia. deaux, 353. He was Roman consul be
fore 379. His wealth was so great that Ambrose calls
his possessions kingdoms, and Augustine styles him
" the richest of the rich." He was liberally educated.
The poet Ausonius was his tutor. He reckoned
Martin of Tours, Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome
among his friends. He was baptized when about
thirty years of age. Some six years later he married.
Within the following year his son and brother died.
He was ordained presbyter in 393. He determined
to lead a monastic life, and retired to Nola, with his
wife Therasia, in 394. There he was made bishop,
in 409, and lived until his death, in 431. At Nola he
built a monastery and three churches, while he and
his wife lived in a humble dwelling. Paulinus grad
ually distributed his whole property. Uranius, his
disciple, says: "He opened his barns to the poor, his
storehouses to strangers who arrived. It was too
small a thing for him to feed whole provinces ; he
invited from all quarters those whom he fed and
clothed. How many prisoners did he not ransom ;
how many debtors oppressed by their creditors did
he not liberate by pa3'ing off their debts, by the same
pious deed drying the tears of the debtor and rejoic
ing the creditor!" His self-sacrifice and devotion
are equaled by his humility and affection, and en
livened by a cheerful, playful humor. He was like

The Monastic Worship. 381
his time in his veneration of relics and worship ot
saints. No one reading the sources can doubt that the re
lations of these noble women with Jerome were pure ;
but there is a sensuousness in his language as he
writes to them, which prejudices against the mo
nastic life more 'than attacks of its foes. Such rela
tions are always hazardous, and often corrupt. Purity
of thought and purity of expression are found rather
in the life of the Christian home than in that of the
convent or monastery.
Western monasticism differed necessarily from
that of the East. On account of the climate, differ
ent buildings, furniture, dress, and fare Benedict
were essential. Monasticism first flourished of Nurs'a-
in Southern Gaul in monasteries founded by Greek
monks, who studied Greek theology and Christian
literature. In the rest of Gaul the bishops opposed
monasticism as dualistic in teaching and practice.
St. Martin of Tours first turned the tide in favor of
the monks. Before long, bishops were taken from
the monastery, and proved themselves pure in life
and shepherds of the flock, who could neither be
forced nor bribed. Jovinian and Vigilantius, adver
saries of Jerome, opposed the principles of the monas
tic life, the merit of good works, asceticism, and cel
ibacy, but were before their time, and the current
was too strong for them. The name most influential
in Western monasticism was Benedict of Nursia. He
was born at Nursia, in the Umbria, about 480. His
parents were of the higher class. He was sent to
Rome to complete his education. The immorality of
his companions drove him to the life of a hermit ; for

382 The New Society.
many years he lived in a cave near Subiaco. At the
request of the monks he undertook the government
of their monastery, but found the vices of the monks
too much for him. He withdrew, probably about
530, to Monte Cassino, where, on the site of an old
temple of Apollo, he founded his monastery and pub
lished his rule. He was tenderly attached to his
sister Scholastica, who became the head of a convent
of nuns. He met and rebuked Totila in 542, and
died at Monte Cassino in 543.
The Benedictine order was his great achievement.
It spread quickly, and, though reformed again and
The Order of again, prevailed over all Western Europe.
Benedict. At the outbreak of the Reformation, there
were twelve thousand Benedictine monasteries. It
was a great advance over all previous orders. It
had a stronger organization, but avoided severe aus
terities. It divided the daity life between work, stud}-,
and prayer. In the summer, Easter to October 1st,
work lasted from 6 o'clock to 10 A. M. ; then reading,
from 10 to 12 ; the midday meal and a siesta or read
ing until 2.30; then work until evening. In the
winter, October 1st to Lent, the monks read until 7
A. M*. ; then worked until 3 P. M. In Lent they
worked from 9 A. M. until 7 P. M. Every one had to
draw a book from the library, and read it through
during Lent. The monks always observed the seven
canonical hours of prayer (see Hours, p. 278). Eight
hours were allowed for sleep. On Sundays and holy
days the monks partook of holy communion. The
Benedictines were allowed but two meals a day. At
each meal two cooked dishes were served ; but all
flesh-meat was prohibited, though poultry, eggs, and

The Monastic Worship. 383
fish were allowed. Occasionally a third dish of fruit
or young vegetables was provided. A pound of bread
was given daily for each monk, which the abbot
might increase to those who had hard work to do. A
pint of wine was served daily to each member of the
community, though Benedict recommends voluntary
abstinence as the best course. This fare was better
than that of the lower classes of any European peas
antry of that day. The dress, aside from the outer
garb of the order, was allowed to be varied by the
abbot, according to the exigencies of the climate and
the weather. They did not glory in dirt, but had a
change of raiment, and another dress when they went
abroad from the monastery. The rule shows knowl
edge of human nature and strong common sense.
They were a refuge from violence, and could pro
tect both their inmates and those seeking their aid.
They represented the moral order of so- The Value f
ciety, the protection of the Almighty God. the Monas-
The prior of Solmes, having offended the ere8'
Eord of Sable, the latter met him on the bridge of
the town, and exclaimed: "Monk, if I did not fear
God, I would throw you into the Sarthe." " Monsig-
neur," replied the monk, "if you fear God, I have
nothing to fear." They afforded both place and pro
tection to women in an age of violence and fraud. A
woman could avoid a hateful marriage by recourse to
a convent. There she enjoyed consideration. The
abbess of a great Benedictine house held a high po
sition among the proudest nobility of the land. So
in the days of invasion, the strong monastery walls
not only sheltered the neighboring inhabitants, but
preserved them from starvation, when the rapine of

384 The New Society.
marauding bands left nothing for their sustenance.
In the famine in Campania, Benedict himself distrib
uted all the stores of the monastery of Monte Cassino
to the poor, trusting in God for their renewal. The
greatest benefit to civilization of the Benedictine rule
was that it restored in Europe the dignity of labor.
The free middle class of Rome, which had once been
the strength of her armies and the State, had disap
peared, and manual labor was performed only by
slaves. When the barbarians came in, the prejudice
of a strong military class against labor was almost as
great as that of the Roman population. But Bene
dict " taught the world again to work." It was work
sanctified by prayer, by quiet contemplation, by the
reading of the Scriptures, and by daily worship.
Work and worship went hand in hand.
The nearest task for the monastery was the clear
ing of the forest, the drainage of morass and fen, con
struction of good roads, and the erection of substan
tial and noble buildings. The monks not only taught
agriculture, preserving the science of the old world
which had passed away, but they taught the children
of the community in the school. Any bright lad
could, through them, come to command all the learn
ing of the time. The taste for literature and learning
first shown in the monasteries of Southern Gaul was
greatly promoted, immediately after the death of Ben
edict, by the former Minister of State, Cassiodorus.
He was a man of noble family, born in Calabria, a
senator, and from 493 until 540, with the exception of
a short interval, the minister, first, of Odoacer, and
then of Theodoric and his descendants. He then re
tired to a monaster}- which he erected at Vivarium.

The Monastic Worship. 385
There he founded a library and a school of copyists,
busied with Christian science and classical learning.
He lived in this beautiful retreat, and amid congenial
occupations, until his ninety-third year. Through his
influence, the Benedictine libraries preserved the
treasures of the old culture, the masters of Christian
theology, and the Latin tongue. The Scriptorium
was used daily to copy and illustrate manuscripts of
the Scriptures, of the fathers, and of classical liter
ature. The indebtedness of European literature and
learning to the monasteries is beyond estimate.
But, nevertheless, the curse of the monastic life
followed the Benedictines. Reformed by Bruno and
Bernard, they had sunk into idleness and The Curse of
sloth at the founding of the Mendicant theMonastfc
Orders, 12 15, and were worse than useless
at the time of the Reformation. The always-present
source of monastic degeneration was its false and
perverted view of life and " moral conduct. Monks
were under the vow of chastity; therefore woman
was a venomous serpent. All natural instincts, such
as ties of relationship and friendship, were killed out
right. A sick brother was waited upon year after
year, and yet never spoke a kind word to the at
tendant monk lest it should injure his humility. A
brother, to keep from idle words, carried a large
stone in his mouth for years. The loneliness and
silence wrought an overscrupulousness, and some
times insanity. Spiritual pride was seldom absent
from the monastery, and ambition and covetousness
were frequent guests. The abbot had unlimited
power, the power of an Oriental despot, and generally
for life. If he were an oppressor, there was usually

386 The New Society.
uo redress. Events of our day prove how cruel
monkish punishments can be. A universal system
of spying and reporting was inculcated as a religious
duty. The monastery walls were prison walls as
well. Yet if the abbot was slack in discipline, and
wealth increased, in came idleness and sensuality.
The most famous epicure of the century, the author
of " The Physiology of Taste," relates how his first
ideas of the gratification of the appetite were received,
when, a boy at a feast of monks in a monastery.
Coarseness and grossness were not far off, as Chaucer
testifies in his " Canterbury Tales." An Italian
author, writing a century later, 1476, declares that he
has several times been present at the marriage of
monks and nuns, and that " the well of the nunneries
has as many little bones as in Bethlehem at Herod's
time. Therefore," he says, "may the earth open and
swallow up the wretches alive, with those who protect
them!" He adds the following wish: " The best pun
ishment for them would be for God to abolish purga
tory; they would then receive no more alms, and
would be forced to go back to their spades." Monta-
lembert, the brilliant historian and defender of monas
ticism, says of its abuses: "They have been pointed
out and stigmatized, from the origin of the monastic
institution, by those saints and doctors who were its
most ardent apologists, by Chrysostom as by Augus
tine. Combated, pursued, and repressed by the au
thors of all the rules and of all reforms, from St. Bene
dict to St. Bernard, these abuses and scandals peri
odically renewed themselves, like the heads of the
hydra." Aside from all abuses, the social loss caused by

The Monastic Worship. 387
the monastic life was great. The hundreds of thou
sands of monks in Egypt and Syria, withdrawn from
all productive employment and the defense of the
land, greatly facilitated the conquests of the Saracens.
The withdrawal of the purest aud best spirits from
the active life of the community lowered the moral
tone of the whole. This was progressively weakened
as the gentler and more refined members of the com
munity took vows of celibacy, and reared no families;
so the succeeding generations were the children of
the coarser and more violent. In the circumstances
of modern life, the well-trained families of devoted
Christian pastors outweigh the moral and spiritual
influence of any monastery. From them children go
to positions of honor and responsibility in the various
callings of life, in the professions, in the walks of
learning and the pursuits of science, and in high
office in Church and State. On the other hand, the
age rejects the spiritual selfishness of the monastic
life. In the century following 1789, more of such
institutions have been suppressed and destroyed in
Roman Catholic countries than in all Protestant
lands through the Reformation.

Chapter IV.
TURNING POINTS AND RESULTS.
No Six centuries of human history or the history
of institutions or society pass with an even flow.
Change, advance, or retrogression marks each century
of the record of the life of man. These changes, as
they affected the different parts of the life of the
Church and its development, have been related. We
look now for the great events which affected the
whole course of the life and work of the Church.
Such was the reign of Constantine ; such was the
fall of Rome.
The reign of Constantine made an epoch in
Church history. The State and society became out-
Reign of wardly Christian. Christianity entered into
Constantine. legislation to ameliorate the lot of the pris
oner and the slave, and to elevate woman. The first
great Council of the Church was held, and the first
great Conciliar Creed was formulated. The heathen
sacrifices, priests, and religion vanished when once
the support of the State was withdrawn. Nor can it
be said that the Church failed to respond to the great
demand made upon her. The great names of her
early history are in the century following the con
version of Constantine. But the Church of the en
tire community, established, paid, and responsible to
the State, is always and necessarily different from
the voluntary societies under the pagan empire. No
38S

Turning Points and^ Results. 389
longer worshiping in secret or in cheap and tempo
rary structures, the temples of the heathen gods, the
basilicas of the civil administration, and the splendid
erections of the emperors were dedicated to purposes
of Christian worship. The great, the wealthy, the
noble, crowded to the worship of the crucified Naza
rene. The beneficial change wrought in society and
the State was great. Granted that the century suc
ceeding was one of theological controversy, we must
bear in mind how great and how beneficial the change
was from the revolutions of the previous century,
when the sole motive was the acquisition of political
power. Well has Findlay said: " Theological studies
(which then engaged the attention of all classes) cer
tainly exercised a favorable influence on general moral
ity, if not on the temper of mankind; and the tone of
society was characterized by a purity of manners and
a degree of charitable feeling to inferiors which have
probably never been surpassed." The changes, how
ever, were not all gain to the Church. The love-
feast and the holy kiss in worship, which had been
the expression of an ardent and enduring Christian
affection, died out. So did the expectation of the
speedy second advent of our Lord, which was univer
sal in the Church at the time of Justin Martyr. The
generous hospitality and weekly offerings of gifts to
the poor ceased. The age of great prelates and of
the monastic life had come.
No one individual marks the greatness of this
transition and the magnitude of its results more
clearly than Eusebius Pamphilius, Bishop Eusebius of
of Csesarea. He was born, probably about c^sarea.
260, at Csesarea. He lived through the forty years

390 The New Society.
of peace which the Church enjoyed between the per
secutions of Decius and his successors and that of
Diocletian. At Csesarea, on the foundation of Origen,
Pamphilius had gathered the best and amplest library
in Christendom. That of Alexander, Bishop of Jeru
salem only a few miles distant, in easy reach, and
used by Eusebius, was only second to it. Having
been ordained a presbyter, he used these years and
opportunities to acquire a vast erudition. Like thun
der from a clear sky, broke upon these quiet occupa
tions and laborious studies the Diocletian persecution.
Of its horrors, Eusebius was an eye-witness. The
friendship and instruction of Pamphilius had been as
profitable to Eusebius as the use of his great library.
He saw one after another of the Christian Church
suffer martyrdom, the church-edifices torn down, the
Scriptures thrown into the flames, and the presbyters
hunted from place to place before his eyes. His
friend and benefactor, whose name he adopted, was
taken to prison. He ministered to him for years, and
then saw him, with eleven others, led away to die.
He beheld Christians tortured and martyred in Tyre
and in Egypt, where he himself was imprisoned for
the faith. Seven long years, with unforeseen intervals
of cessation and of fury, the persecution endured.
Then came the peace a,nd the magnificent triumph of
the religion of Christ. Eusebius estimated well the
momentous nature of the change, aud set himself to
the work of composing the first history of the Church.
All but the last book was probably written between
313 and 315. The last book was added ten years
later. Eusebius also conceived, on a grand scale, his
"Chronicle," and his "Preparation," and "Demon-

Turning Points and Results. 391
stration of the Gospel." He was the author of nu
merous other works as well. From 325 to the death
of Constantine, 337, he was the chaplain, the intimate
and confidential friend of the emperor, though re
siding mostly at Csesarea, and declining the See of
Antioch. He lived until his eightieth year, having
the love and respect of the city where he had exer
cised his long and useful ministry, and of which he
had been bishop for thirty-five years. Eusebius was
a scholar and a man of peace, distinguished for his
fairness and moderation. In the Arian controversy
he was not at home. He bore a prominent and
creditable part at Nicsea; but he was a theological
conservative; he could not advance beyond the po
sition of Origen, and did not understand the deeper
thoughts of Athanasius. His part in the Synods of
Tyre and Jerusalem in 335, and Constantinople in
336, where he was led by the Arians under Eusebius
of Nicomedia, though probably not sharing in their
intrigues and injustice, did not add to his reputation.
His tone of adulation in his Life and Orations on Con
stantine also deserves criticism. But the change from
the scenes of Christian suffering to the table of the
emperor and intimate friendship of a great man, a
wise ruler, and one who had been the means of work
ing so great a change in Christian history, was too
much for the susceptible nature of Eusebius. If he
was too courtly a prelate for a Christian bishop, he
at least did not pervert the truth. As a historian he
is authentic. He preserves more to us from the early
writers of Christianity, from the ancient history of
the empires of the world, and from the philosophers,
than almost any other writer of ancient times. He

392 The New Society.
quotes one hundred authors for his ecclesiastical
history alone, and is equally abundant in citations in
his other great works. His was not a creative mind.
He did not know how to use his materials or to tell
a story; but he gave us in authentic form the facts.
To few men does the Church owe a greater debt.
He rescued her early history from oblivion, and wrote
the most learned of the Apologies.
The zeal of Constantine for the unity of the
Church as a support of the State was manifested in
Donatist the Donatists' schism. In 311 Mensurius,
Schism. Bishop of Carthage, died. His successor,
Csecilian, was elected by a part of the bishops of the
provinces of the metropolitanate, and consecrated by
Felix of Aptunga. The bishops not consulted de
clared the consecration illegal, because Felix, the
consecrator, had, as they affirmed and the Catholics
denied, been a traditor ; that is, had delivered up the
Christian Scriptures to be burned in the Diocletian
persecution. They held that the faults of the admin
istrator rendered all ecclesiastical acts performed by
him null and void. Hence, Caecilian was not a
bishop, because consecrated by Felix ; nor his clergy
able to administer the sacraments, because ordained
by him ; nor were those who were baptized by his
clergy Christians. Hence arose a division through
out the African Church, which has hardly been sur
passed for sectarian bitterness. The Donatists assem
bled in 330 in one Synod 270 bishops. In spite of
the endeavors of Constantine, who ordered an inves
tigation on the spot, and two hearings of the parties —
at Aries, 314, and Milan, 316 — the schism continued.
The Catholics held that the Holy Spirit was in tho

Turning Points and Results. 393
Church and its ordinances irrespective of the faults
of the individual administrator, and the Donatists
that a Church which did not exclude known sinners
was not holy and not a Church. One hundred years
later they were as strong as ever. Augustine argued
against them, and finally procured against them an
imperial decree, 415 ; but both parties were over
whelmed in the common ruin of the Vandal invasion
which their divisions had promoted. Schisms had be
fore arisen on account of the lapsed and their treat
ment, and in opposition to episcopal power; such
were those of Felicissimus at Carthage, 250-300;
Meletius, in Egypt, 305-365 ; and Novatian, at Rome,
251-500. The material evidence of the great change made
in the circumstances of Christianity are seen in Chris
tian art. Art is the last expression, the christian
beautiful and enduring flower of a society Art-
and civilization. There must be stability to the social
order, somewhat of leisure, refinement, and wealth,
before there can be character and impressiveness in
art. The Christian art of this period has left its me
morials in frescoes, mosaics, a few examples of sculp
ture, the beginning of miniature-painting, and in
architecture. The frescoes which have come down to us are from
the walls of the catacombs. They were generally
wrought in haste, and by artists of no
0 Frescoes.
great skill. There are some examples of
rare beauty in wall decoration in the ornamental use
of vine, foliage, and flowers, but the figures have
usually little grace or beauty. The representations
are largely of the events recorded in the Old and New

394 The New Society.
Testaments. The Christian feeling is everywhere
evident in the treatment, which is so symbolical as to
have little relation to reality, and the drawings do not
require or show great artistic ability. Their value is
very great, but more historical than aesthetic.
" Mosaic decoration is the art of arranging small
cubes of different substances and various colors, so as
to present an ornamental pattern or an
Mosaics. , . . , ,,.,.„_ ,
historical or symbolical picture. In eccle
siastical art pastes of glass artificially colored were
used. The gilt cubes, or tesserce, so abundantly used
to give gold back or foregrounds, were " formed by
applying two thin plates of glass, with a film of gold-
leaf between them, to a cube of earthenware, and then
vitrifying the whole in a furnace." Such mosaics
may be said to be a Christian art, and used on a grand
scale only from the fourth century. The indestructi- ,
ble nature of the material, which made the Italian
artist Ghirlandajo call it the only painting for eter
nity ; the subdued richness of its coloring ; its grand
and solemn character when used in large masses. —
make it most appropriate for ecclesiastical use. The
finest examples of this work for the period are at
Rome, Ravenna, Thessalonica, and in St. Sophia at
Constantinople concealed by the whitewash of the
Moslems. A fine specimen of Mosaic work at Ra
venna shows the figure drawing of Byzantine art.
Only three or four examples of Christian sculpture
of the human figure for this period are known. They
sculpture and on^" hnitate the classic models. The other
Miniature- sculptures of this age, of Christian origin,
ne' are the relief around the sarcophagi, or
stone coffins, in which the most wealthy interred their

Turning Points and Results. 395
dead. At this time began the practice of indenting
squares into the text of Christian MSS., or service
books, and painting in them some appropriate scene,
and also the elaborate ornament of the text through
the artistic illustration of the borders, the beginning
and end of the sections, and the capital letters begin
ning the sections, as well as beautiful writing, and
the use of gold or silver letters on the parchments.
A few of these from this period, some of them very
beautiful, have come down to us.
The main field of Christian art in this period, and
the scene of its triumphs, is in architecture, and
mainly in the erection of Christian churches. The
motive and the occasion were such as to make an
epoch in the history of art. The realization of Chris
tian conceptions and aspirations through the art of
the architect is an edifice suitable for Christian wor
ship. Structural art can have no higher theme. The
opportunity was the greatest. An immense empire had
been won to the Christian faith, and was to be pro
vided with places of worship. From whatever source
the ruling motives came, the churches of the period
may be divided into three classes,— the basilicas; the
round churches, an adaptation of the secular memorial
or tomb ; and the churches of the Byzantine style.
The basilicas were adaptations of the secular basil
ica, or building for the imperial adminis- BasiIicas
tration, whether judicial or civil. Sketches
of the ground-plans show the original idea and their
adaptation to Christian use.
The circular churches were found over a wide area,
but were never numerous. St. George's, Thessalonica,
and the ancient Pantheon at Rome, now converted

396 The New Society.
into a Christian temple, convey some idea of their
appearance and use.
By far the greatest triumph of the builder's art of
this period is the Byzantine style of architecture, of
Byzantine which the finest example is St. Sophia, at
style. Constantinople, completed 563. In this
style the building is nearly square, on the model of
a Greek cross, with a large central dome. This dome
first rested on piers or pillars ; but the success of the
effort at St. Sophia to clear the space below of sup
ports by placing the great dome on two lesser ones,
and so securing an audience-room one hundred feet
wide and two hundred feet long without an interven
ing pier or column, found frequent imitation. Such
a room, one hundred and seventy feet from the pave
ment to the ceiling of the dome, made it a most mag-
ificent place for Christian assemblage, though, alas !
for more than four hundred years, a place of worship
for the followers of Mohammed. A view of the inte
rior of this temple accompanies these pages. The
exterior of the churches was not remarkable. Towers
and spires were of later date — and St. Sophia was
never finished — but the interior was often lavishly
adorned and richly furnished. The description of
Mr. Nesbit will enable us to realize the interior of a
Christian church in a great city of the empire in this
period. "A stately gateway gave admittance to a large
court surrounded by covered colonnades, in the center
interior of of which was a fountain or vase containing
u Basilica. water, so that ablutions might be performed
before the church was entered. On one side of this
court and entering from it was the baptistery. The

Turning Points and Results. 397
basilica was usually placed on the western side of the
court, so that the rising sun shone on its front. This
front was pierced by three or five doorways, accord
ing to the number of the aisles, and in that part
which rose above the colonnade of the court windows
of immense size admitted light to the interior. The
wall between and above these windows was covered,
sometimes in parts, with mosaic of glass in gold
and color, but usually with plates of richly-colored
marbles and porphyries, arranged so as to form pat
terns ; sometimes, however, stucco painting was the
cheaper substitute. When the building was of brick,
the same decoration, by means of marble slabs or
stucco, was designed for the whole exterior of the
building. The doors were of bronze, adorned with
sculptures in relief, and frequently gilt; or of wood,
richly inlaid or carved. Curtains of the richest stuffs,
often of purple or scarlet embroidered with gold, hung
at the doors to exclude the heat of summer or the cold
of winter, while the doors stood open.
" In the interior, the whole floor was covered with
tesselated pavement, or with slabs of many-colored
marbles arranged in beautiful patterns. The aisles
were separated from the nave by ranges of marble
columns, whose 'capitals supported either arches or
horizontal architraves. The great width of the nave —
in a first-class basilica frequently more than eighty
feet — and the forest of columns on either hand (one
of the colonnades often containing twenty-four or
more columns), when there were double aisles, pro
duced an architectural effect of great magnificence.
The clerestory wall, above the first colonnade of pillars
in the nave, was pierced by numerous immense win-

398 The New Society.
dows with arched heads, one of which was over each
intercolumniation. These windows were, no doubt,
divided by columns or pilasters and architraves, and
the divisions fitted with slabs of marble pierced in a
variety of patterns, and fitted with either alabaster or
plain or colored glass. The roof was flat and of
wood; where magnificence was sought, it was richly
adorned with carving and gilt. The semi-dome, which
covered the apse, was covered with mosaic pictures,
the subject being mainly Christ, either seated or
standing, with his apostles ranged on either hand.
Where a transept was built, it was usually divided
from the nave by an arch, the face of which, fronting
the nave, was often also covered with mosaics; a co
lossal bust of Christ was often the central object of the
picture, being placed above the crown of the arch,
while on either side and below are represented the
seven candlesticks, the symbols of the evangelists,
and the twenty-four elders.
" The apse was furnished with a bench following its
circumference, for the higher clergy, in the center of
which was a raised seat (cathedra) for the bishop ; the
altar was usually placed on the chord of the apse on
the top of a flight of steps, and parted off from the
nave by railings (cancelli). Below it was often a plat
form or space, and this a quadrangular, usually ob
long, iuclosure (chorus), in which the singers and
readers were stationed. This inclosure was formed
by railings, or dwarf walls, and connected with these
was the ambo, or reading desk. In this space proba
bly benches were provided; but the rest of the Church
was left altogether open aud free. The seats in the
chorus for the men of rank on the right, and women

Turning Points and Results. 399
of the same degree on the left, were either of marble
or of carved wood, in many instances gilded, the rail
ings of the same material or bronze. Over the altar
was a lofty and richly-decorated canopy (ciborium),
from the arches of which hung curtains of stuffs of the
richest colors, interwoven with gold. Curtains like
these often depended from the arches of the nave, and
hung at the doors. Vases, crowns, and lamps of sil
ver or. gold hung from the arches, or were placed
upon the dwarf walls, or partitions, which separated
the various divisions of the edifice."
The second turning point was the fall of Rome.
One thing could have averted it. In the East it was
averted, and the mightiest contributing The Fail
cause was that Christianity became the re- of R°me.
ligion of the entire population — of the higher classes
as well as of the lower orders. Thus all were united
in resisting the onset of the invaders. In the West
the aristocracy and the governing classes remained
heathen until the overthrow of the State. There was
no union of the entire population to preserve the em
pire ; but the barbarians were hired as mercenaries,
and their chiefs given great offices and commands, in
hope that they would protect those incapable of rally
ing the natural defenders of the country against their
foes. Then the virus of the Roman heathenism had
so corrupted society that the real heathenism was not
changed by a nominal profession of Christianity.
After Treves, the capital of Eastern Gaul, had been
taken and burned by the Franks, the first building
re-erected was the theater, which was soon filled with
the crowds of idle, worthless spectators. " The world
laughs and dies," said Salvian. So great was the cor-

4oo The New Society.
ruption in North Africa that the Romans themselves
said that only the Vandal invaders restored chastity.
The fall of the empire brought the overthrow
of the old culture and civilization in the West and
its limitation in the East. Arts, literature, and
learning necessarily _ decayed. Not only
through the was no advance possible, but there was
Barbarian £ retrogression for centuries. The rude-
onques . ness Qf barbarism, slowly groping to
ward civilization, covered all the lands of the
West. Only the remnants of culture and the arts of
life remained. These were preserved by the Church,
but purged, of course, from the old leaven of idolatry,
cruelty, and licentiousness. In the East the splendid
reign of Justinian displayed a remarkable development
of architecture, and secured the codification of the
Roman law. The Church, which had overthrown
the heathen civilization, had now to undertake the
training of the new races who were to form the new
world. She did not fail in her task, but she herself
suffered grievous loss. The ignorance, superstition,
the violence and crudeness of those ages, left its mark,
not only on society, but on the Church. The Chris
tian life, the worship, and the theology, were
coarsened and materialized by it. From Augustine,
354-429, to Anselm, 1033-1109, is a longdistance; but
in that time arose no great theological thinker of emi
nence, and very few men of the learning of Bede or
Alcuin appeared in the intervening centuries. This
influence became marked in the time from Chrysos
tom to Gregory. Prof. Harnack has pointed out the
change between the Church of Eusebius, 260-340,
free from the worship of saints and intercessions with

Turning Points and Results. 401
God, from the use of amulets and other heathen prac
tices, and that of Sozomen's day, one hundred years
later, which had already become brutish, monkish,
and superstitious. A superstition was always ready,
and deceptions were often knowingly furthered by the
priests, or at least not rebuked, for fear of injuring
the faith of the people. If practice or belief were
deemed pious, they did not inquire whether it were
true. There were no decisions of the Oecumenical Coun
cils of this period which go beyond the faith held in
common by Protestants and Roman Catholics; but
there were popularly-accepted doctrines and practices
which we can not but regard as perversions of the
simplicity and purity of the gospel. Such were the
doctrines of the transformation, if not transubtantia-
tion of the elements in the Lord's Supper ; the sacer
dotal office and power of the priest ; the jurisdiction
of the Pope; the teaching of purgatory and the merit
of good works. Such were the usages of an elaborate
and priestly liturgical worship, the worship of saints
and angels, the veneration of relics, the practices of
pilgrimages, and, above all, the celibacy of the clergy
and the monastic orders, with the usurpation and
moral corruption which accompany it. All these come
in after 250. Above all, the old joy of Christian life
had fled. Gregoria, a lady in waiting to the empress
at Constantinople, wrote to Gregory I that he must
assure her by revelation of the forgiveness of her sins.
In his reply he wrote : " Thou must not surrender tl , -
self to full security on account of thy sins, till on the
day of thy death thou canst weep for them no more.
Till that day comes, thou must ever fear and tremble
26

402 The New Society.
on account of thy sins." How different from the
words of the Savior: "Thy sins, which are many,
are all forgiven thee;" from the words of St. Paul:
" In whom we have redemption, even the forgiveness
of sins! " How different from the faith and joy of the
early Church !
Yet in spite of these declensions, there were im
mense gains, which civilization has never lost. Idola
try and bloody sacrifices perished from the
The Gain to . ,.„...
civilization vast domain conquered by Christianity.
through the This was the first and greatest achieve-
Church. & ,
ment. Bloody spectacles and games, pub
lic licentiousness, and nameless vice disappeared with
heathenism. Marriage had a sanction and a sacred-
ness, the home a purity, and woman a position of honor
before unknown. Mercy came into the public law
and civil society through the Church. She had been
a stranger to the heathen civilization. The children,
widows, orphans, slaves, prisoners, the sick and the
maimed, the wretched debtor, and the outcast, felt
her blessed presence, and rejoiced in her healing, help
ful ministry. Christianity brought in the public wor
ship of the congregation. The worship of the heathen
is always private, or state or tribal function. Chris
tian worship of the Heavenly Father and the com
mon hope of immortality formed the most universal,
profound, and permanent of social ties. The Chris
tian doctrine of universal brotherhood was the source
of all social amelioration and political advance.
Christians should always remember that we owe to
the Church of this age the collection and preserva
tion of the writings of the New Testament, and its
use as a standard both of life and doctrine. No other

Turning Points and Results. 403
service can exceed this. We owe to it the heroism
of martyrdom and the faith that faced the world and
conquered it. We owe to it the shaping of those doc
trines of the nature of God and of the Redeemer, of
sin and redemption, which are distinctively Christian.
We owe to it the discipline, first of the Church, and
then of the monastery which preserved moral stand
ards and exalted moral purity. We can not but be
touched by the spirit that left all that men hold dear
to draw near and converse with God; that shrunk
from no sacrifice to minister to human suffering and
distress. Prayer and mercy have their lessons for
every age.
With what a company of noble men and saintly
women we have journeyed through these change
ful centuries ! What national history can The Nob|e
show men of higher character, loftier Company of
achievements ! Athanasius and Ambrose, Wom"na"ho
Leo and Gregory, would rank as great Founded the
statesmen in any age. Origen, Eusebius, ew
and Jerome have rarely been equaled among scholars.
Irenseus and Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augus
tine, traced the paths in which, during the ages since,
the Christian thinkers have walked. What orator has
surpassed Chrysostom in persuasiveness, or Tertul
lian in impassioned advocacy? In practical philan
thropy few have wrought so effectively as Basil and
Benedict ! Women like Monica and Anthusa glorify
motherhood. Scholastica, the sister of Benedict, and
Olympias, the friend of Chrysostom, are types of
women whose love and service in every age have
made pure and strong the Church. How high is the
average of moral character and attainment ! Men

404 The New Society.
like Cyprian and Augustine, Leo and Gregory— the
influence of many of whose opinions we deplore —
were men of pure motives and exalted character.
The very heretics, like Marcion and Arius, command
our respect. If the style in which the Christian
fathers wrote is often not as attractive as the thought
conveyed, and we are repelled by diffuseness or lack
of form, or, as is sometimes the case, turgid orna
ment, let us remember that they wrote in the decline
of letters, and apply Macaulay's test of comparing
these authors with their contemporaries, and we shall
not need to defend them, even upon the score of
style. No Latin authors of the time surpass Tertul
lian, Augustine, or Jerome, and the same is true of
the Greek fathers, like Athanasius, the Gregorys,
and Chrysostom.
The violence of prelates like Cyril and Dioscurus
of Alexandria ; the weakness of those like Liberius
Darker and Vigilius of Rome; the bitterness of
shades, theological controversy, the ignorance and
sordidness of the monks, the heathenism in life and
worship, which in the last two centuries crowded out
the sermon and the Scriptures, and brought in the
saints and magic, are the dark spots in the picture.
But what age has ever surpassed the Church of
fellowship and martyrdom ; of spiritual gifts and con
quest? What religious ideas have ever
Conclusion. ^ . ° ,,_..,
wrought such immense and beneficial
changes in human society ? We who have stood at
the fountain-head and traced the stream from its
source, may well be assured of the supreme might
and majesty of those spiritual forces which Christian
ity has made the possession of mankind ; that no ex-

Turning Points and Results. 405
ternal foe can check her career of universal conquest ;
that the only foes that can endanger her are inward
ones ; that while she needs to be abreast, if not leading
the intellectual advance, the conquests of truth, and
the material forces of each age ; yet the symbol of her
unity as the seal of her conquest is the abiding Christ
in the human heart, in human life, and in human so
ciety. By this sign she conquers. As we close our
survey, Western Christendom is slowly emerging from
barbarism, and yet for six hundred years successive
attacks of heathen invaders are to be repelled, and
heathen nations — Saxons, Danes, Scandinavians, and
the Slavic people — are to be converted to the Christian
faith. Above lowers the cloud of the Mohammedan
conquests, which are to wrest the fairest provinces from
the Eastern Empire and the holy places of the faith
from Christendom. Yet we sing with Cromwell's
charging pikemen the words of the Hebrew psalmist,
" God is in the midst of her, God shall help her, and
that right early;" and, in the words of the old Byzan
tine motto, pray, " Eight of Christ, shine on all." Yea,
in the full assurance of faith, we join in the prayer of
all Christians, of every name, of every age, and all
lands, the holy Church alike in earth and heaven,
"Thy kingdom come."

Thb End.

APPENDIX.

Note a, pp. 57, 206. — residence of St. Peter in
Rome. — The Roman Catholic tradition of a twenty-five
years' residence and rule of St. Peter in Rome is certainly
false. On the other hand, the tradition as to his death in
Rome is uncontradicted by any evidence in favor of any
other city or place. It is traced back to the first century, as
it is referred to in a letter of Clement of Rome, between
90 and 100. The archaeological evidence, though of a latter
date, is altogether in its favor. From all the evidence now at
hand, the author regards the tradition that St. Peter was
martyred at Rome under Nero, in spite of the lack of any
reference to him in the letters of St. Paul, as historically true.
Note B, p. 276. — Mode of Baptism. — The usual mode of
baptism was by immersion. This is the mode in use in the
Greek Church from the earliest times, and in the Roman
Catholic Church ordinarily, until the latter part of the
thirteenth century. On the other hand, in all probability,
other modes of baptism were in use from the beginning.
The baptisms recorded in the sixteenth of Acts, were more
probably by pouring or sprinkling than by immersion. If the
early Church baptized for the dead, there is no probability
that the sick died unbaptized when the}- could not be im
mersed. A choice of modes is given in the Teaching of the
Twelve, dating from no. So one mode at that date, and
probably from the first, was not essential to the sacrament.
To this agrees the representation of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Most of the representations of baptism, which
the author has seen in the Catacombs, represent pouring
rather than immersion. Yet a drawing on a pontifical in
Rome of the ninth century represents baptism, both adult
and infant, by immersion.
406

Appendix. 407
No denomination of Christians at the present day bap
tizes as did the early Church. Then the candidates im
mersed themselves three times in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, standing in water up to the waist, and
dipping the head under water three times. This shows how
the multitudes of barbarians were baptized in the rivers in
Germany and Russia.
Note C, p. 316.— The Population op Rome.— The latest
researches, notably those of Professor Lanciani, show that at
the height of its power, the population of ancient Rome was
not more than one million. While the numbers given in the
text are thus reduced, the slave was probably greater, rather
than less, than the free population.

NOTE.

Professor Harnack gives the following chronology
of Paul's life and writings :
Paul's conversion, 29 or 30 A. D., within a year or year
and a half of the death of our Lord.
Paul in Arabia until 33 A. D.
Finished the First Missionary Journey, 47 A. D.
Council at Jerusalem, 47 A. D.
Second and Third Missionary Journeys of Paul, from
47 to 54 A. D.
1 and 2 Thessalonians were written, 48 or 49 A. D.
Galatians, 53 A. D.
1 and 2 Corinthians, 53 A. D.
Romans, winter 53 and 54 A. D.
Paul leaves Corinth, 54 A. D.
He is in Jerusalem and arrested, spring of 54 A. D.
Paul in prison at Cffisarea, from 54 to 56 A. D.
Arrives in Rome, spring of 57 A. D.
In prison at Rome, from 57 to 59 A. D.
Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians writ
ten, 57-59 A. D.
From the end of the Acts until Paul's death, 59-64
A. D., five years. This gives ample time for the pastoral
epistles, Titus and 1 and 2 Timothy.
408

INDEX.

ACOI.YTHS, 227.
Administration, Provincial, 40.
Adrianople, Battle of, 91.
Advent, 278.
^Gdiles, 35, 37.
Agabus, 182.
Agriculture, Roman, 45.
Agrippina, 33, 306.
Alaric, 78, 85, 87.
Alb, 290.
Alboin, 92.
Alexander, of Jerusalem, 73.
Alexander Severus, 70.
Alms, 356.
Ambrose, 195.
Ammonius Saccas, 326.
Amusements, 329.
Anastasius, 82.
Anaxagoras, 320.
Anaximander, 319.
Anaximines, 319.
Anchorites, 364.
Ancyra, Council of, 229.
Anthusa, 403.
Antinous, 308.
Antoninus Pius, 33, 66.
Antony, Saint, 365^
Appius Silanus, 306.
Apollinaris of Laodicea, 155.
Apollos, 182.
Apologists, 71.
Apostles' Creed, 122; consti
tutions, 256.
Apostolic Church, 55, 181 ; Fa
thers, 114; succession, 189.
Arbitration, 231.
Arcadius, 82, 293.
Archdeacons, 228.
Archpresbyters, 228.
Architecture, 395!?.
Arianism, 146,

Arians, 93.
Aristocracy, Roman, 43.
Aristotle, 322.
Arius, 145.
Arria, 312.
Art, Christian, 393.
Assumption, 290.
Asylum, 231.
Athanasius, 146-151.
Augustales, 44, 39.
Augustine, 72, i66ff., 172, 340;
of Canterbury, 102.
Augustus, 32.
Aurelian, 73.
Auxentius, 195.
Babylas, 73.
Baptism, 275.
Baradeus, Jacob, 164.
Barbarians, 90, 93; conquest,
209,400; conversion, 93 ; in
vasion, 80.
Barnabas, 115.
Basil, 154, 370.
Basilicas, 395.
Belisarius, 85, 87.
Benedict of Nursia, 381.
Bennett, Dr. C. W., 272, 276.
Bible, 288.
Birth and growth of Church,
55-
Bishops, 187, 191, 219.
Britannicus, 33, 306.
British Empire, 28, 31.
Bystanders, 284.
C^ESARIUS OF ARLES, 292.
Caesars, 32.
Caligula, 32, 64.
Callistus, 211.
Calixtus of Rome, 280. 409

410

Index.

Candidus of Sergiopolis, 358.
Cappadocians, The three,
154-
Captives, 96, 358.
Caracalla, 70.
Cardinals' robes, 290.
Carneades, 324.
Carus, 73.
Cassianus, John, 171.
Cassiodorus, 384.
Catechumens, 349.
Catacombs, 358.
Catholic worship, 266.
Celibacy, 229.
Censors, 35.
Cerinthus, 118.
Chalcedon, 161.
Charity, 353.
Children, Roman, 313; Chris
tian, 343.
Christmas, 278.
Chrysostom, 211, 291.
Church, Birth, 55 ; Apostolic,
55, 181 ; Greek, 61 ; Syriac,
61 ; Western, 62.
Cicero, 318.
Circus, 330.
Cities of Rome, 36.
Citizens of Rome, 44.
Claudius, 32, 33, 64, 73, 304.
Clement, of Rome, 115; of
Alexandria, 130.
Clementine Homilies, 59.
Clergy, Minor, 227 ; celibacy,
229; exemption, 227.
Clotilda, 94.
Clovis, 92, 94, 101.
Coliseum, 103, 334.
Collection of taxes, 42.
Columba, 100.
Commerce, Roman, 45.
Commodus, 33, 66.
Communion, Hoi}', 244ff. ; with
God, 34S.
Concubinage, 342.
Confession, 285ff.
Conquest, Christian, 77 ; Bar
barian, 209, 400; lessons,
105.
Constantine the Great, 34, 76,

78, 388 ; Chlorus, 76 ; dona
tion, 224.
Constantinople, 78; Creed, 155;
First Council, 155; Second
Council, 165.
Constantius, 149, 150, 151.
Consuls, 35.
Continuity, 104.
Controversies with heretics,
207; Theological, 210.
Copiatae, 228.
Corbulo, 308.
Cornelius Silius, 305.
Corruption, 288, 310, 337.
Creeds, Apostles', 122; Nicean,
153 ; Constantinople, 155 ;
Chalcedon, 163.
Currency, Roman, 45.
Cyprian, 192, 255, 273, 282.
Cyril of Alexandria, 159, 161 ;
of Jerusalem, 259.
Dalmatic, 290.
Deaconesses, 184.
Deacons, 185.
Dead, Caring for the, 357.
Decian persecution, 73.
Decius, 33, 72.
Decline, Causes of, 46.
Decurionate, 38.
Democritus, 320.
Didymus the Blind, 157.
Diocletian, 33, 73.
Diodorus, 157, 165.
Dioscurus, 158, 160.
Discipline, 279, 350.
Divine Order, 104.
Divorce, 310.
Dissoluteness, 310.
Doctrines, n6ff. ; God, 52; for
giveness, 52; love, 53; im
mortality, 53.
Domitia Lepida, 307.
Domitian, 33, 65, 308.
Domitilla, 62.
Donation of Constantine, 224.
Donatist Schism, 392.
Duumviri, 37.
Dynamistic Monarchianism,
144.

Index.

411

Easter, 277.
Ebionites, 59, 117.
Economic conditions of Em
pire, 44.
Education, 325.
Egypt, 364.
Elagabalus, 70, 308.
Elders, Jewish, 182.
Elealic philosophy, 321
Elkasites, 59.
Elvira, Council of, 229.
Empedocles, 320.
Emperors, Eastern, S2 ; wor
ship, 41.
Empire of the East, 791F.
Ephesian liturgy, 272.
Epictetus, 324.
Epicureanism, 323.
Epiphanius, 158, 294.
Epiphany, 278.
Episcopate, 123, 193.
Epistles, 115.
Ephesus, Council of, 159.
Ethelbert, of Kent, 102.
Eucharist, 244, 249, 252, 255.
Eudoxia, 293.
Eusebius, 38911.
Eustochium, 379.
Eutropius, 293.
Eutyches, 160, 162.
Exemption of clergy, 231.
Exorcists, 227.
Fabianus, 73.
Fabioia, 377.
Faith of the early Church, 114.
Fall of Rome, 79, S7, 399.
Famine, 86.
Fannia, 313.
Fasting, 255, 257.
Fausta, 308.
Felicitas, 69.
Fellowship, 347.
Fiudlay, 389.
Flavian, 160, 292, 371.
Flavian Emperors, 33.
Flavius Clemens, 62.
Forged Decretals, 224.
Forgiveness of sin, 280.

Franks, 72.
Freeman, E. A., 2S.
Frescoes, 393.
Friedlander, 311.
Furia, 377.
Gainas, 293.
Galba, 33.
Galen, 340.
Galerius, 73, 74.
Gallienus, 73.
Gallus, 73.
Games of amphitheater, 331.
Gangra, Council of, 229.
Genseric, S7.
Gibbon, 33, 74.
Gladiators, 331.
Gnosticism, 119, 117.
Gods, 327.
Gordians, The three, 70.
Gore, Canon, 162.
Goths, 87, 91.
Government, Roman, 34 ; of
cities, 37.
Gratian, 197.
Greek Church, 60, 61, 82 ; wor
ship, 259.
Gregory, the Great, 87, 217-222;
the Illuminator, 61 ; Nazian-
zen, 155; of Nyssa, 155.
Hadrian, 33, 66, 308.
Harnack, Adolf, 156, 264, 400,
406.
Heathen, elements,29o; Rome;
3°4-
Heraclitus, 319.
Hearers, 283.
Heresies, 61, 119, 124, 142, 144,
146.
Hennas, 116.
Hermits, 97, 364.
Hieracas, 365.
Hilary of Poitiers, 230.
Hippo, 169.
Hippolytus, 124, 126, 212.
Home, Christian, 341.
Homer, 317.
Honorius, 78, 88.

412

Index.

Hooker, 151,
Horace, 318.
Hosius, 151.
Hospitality, 354.
Hospitals, 357.
Hours of prayer, 278.
Hypatia, 371.
Ibas of Edessa, 158, 165.
Ideal, Christian, 234.
Idolatry, 327.
Ignatius, 66, 115.
Immersion, 276.
Incense, 291.
Innocent I, 158, 212.
Instruction, 349.
Iona, 100.
Irenaeus, 124, 125.
Isidore of Pelusium, 158.
Italy, its fate, 85.
Jacobites, 164.
James, 57, 59.
Jerome, 212, 372fF.
Jerusalem, center of Church,
206.
Jesus Christ, 50.
Jews, 50, 59.
John, 58, 113; of Damascus,
323-
Jovian, 151.
Jovinian, 381.
Julia, 305.
Julia Mammea, 70.
Julian, Apostate, 34, 78, 151.
Julius Caasar, 32, 91; Catouius,
305 ; Silanus, 307.
Justin I, 82; Justin II, 83;
Justin Martyr, 66, 72, 250.
Justinian, 83.
KEBLE, 286.
Kiss, holy, 246, 251, 389.
Kneelers, 284.
Labor, dignified, 353, 384.
Laurentius, 73.
Lecky, 74.
Lectors, 227.

Lent, 277,
Leo I, 82, 213.
Leonidas, 69.
Lessons of the conquest, 105.
Leta, 379.
Libanius, 292.
Liberius, Pope, 211.
Lightfoot, Bishop, 233.
Literature, 319.
Liturgy, 261, 269, 270, 272, 275.
Livy, 318.
Logos, 145.
Lollia Paullina, 307.
Lombards, 92.
Lord's Prayer, 271.
Lord's Supper, 242, 244, 249,
251, 255.
Love-feast, 242, 244.
Lucian, 308.
Lucius, 182.
Maecenas, 317.
Magistrates, 34 ; of cities, 37.
Manaen,i82.
Mani, 120.
Manichaeism, 120.
Manufactures, Roman, 45.
Marcella, 375.
Marcia, 68.
Marcian, 82, 119.
Marcus Aurelius, 33, 66.
Marriage, 342.
Martin of Tours, 99, 381.
Martyrs, 77m; at Lyons, 67;
at Carthage, 69 ; their wor
ship, 289.
Massala, 317.
Maurice, 83.
Maximinus, 70.
Mediterranean, 29.
Melania, 376.
Menon of Ephesus, 159.
Messalina, 304.
Metropolitans, 201.
Miter, 290.
Military emperors, 33.
Miniature painting, 394.
Ministry, 233.
Missions, 95.

Index.

413

Moller, Prof., 147.
Mommsen, Prof., 345.
Monarchianism, 142; dynamis
tic, 144.
Monasticism, 3601!., 370, 383ff.
Monica, 403.
Monophysite sect, 6r.
Montanus, 124.
Montanism, 124, 280.
Morals of Roman Empire, 310,
337-
Mosaics, 394.
Motives of martyrdom, 75.
Monks, 99.
Mourners, 283.
Municipalities, 36.
Narcissus, 305.
Narses, 85.
Nazarenes, 59.
Neander, 323.
Neo-Platonism, 326.
Nero, 32, 64, 307.
Nerva, 65.
Nesbit, 396.
Nestorian sect, 61.
Nestorius, 158.
New Testament Canon, 123.
Nicasa, 153.
Novatian, 212.
Oak, Council of, 294.
Oblation, 271.
Octavia, 308.
Odoacer, 85.
CEcumenical Councils, 151.
Olympias, 403.
Order of worship, 252, 257.
Origen, 130-141.
Origin of Church, 50.
Orosius, 170.
Ostiaries, 227.
Otho, 33.
Pachomius, 370.
Paetus, 308, 312.
Painting, 394.
Pallium, 223.
Palm Sunday, 277.

Papias, 116.
Parabolani, 228.
Parmenides, 320.
Passover, 277.
Patriarchs, 203.
Patrick, St., 96.
Paul, 39, 40, 55, 406; of Samo
sata, 203, 208.
Paula, 37S.
Paulinus of Nola, 158, 380.
Pelagian controversy, 169m
Pelagius, 169.
Penitence, 28off., 287.
Pentecost, 55, 277.
Periods, development of wor
ship, 241 ; development of
theology, 116
Perpetua, 69.
Persecutions, 64; Decian, 73;
Diocletian, 73 ; Summary,
74; effect, 75; issue, 76.
Person of Christ, doctrine, 157.
Pertinax, 68.
Peter, 57, 59.
Philip the Arabian, 71.
Philo, 196.
Philosophy, 3i8fF., 321, 324.
Phocas, 83.
Pillage of Rome, 103.
Plato, 46, 320.
Plotinus, 46.
Pliny, 312; letter to Trajan,
247.
Plumptre, Dr., 245.
Poetry, 318.
Pollio, 317.
Polybius, 305.
Polycarp, 66, 116.
Pontiffs, College of, 35.
Poor, 354.
Pope, See of, 205.
Poppoaa Sabina, 308.
Praefects, 40.
Praetors, 35.
Preaching, no, 276.
Presbyters, 185, 191.
Primacy, of Rome, 205.
Probus, 73.
Proconsuls, 39

414

Index.

Procurators, 39.
Prophecy, New Testament, 243 ;
of Rome's destruction, 88.
Prophets, 182.
Propraetors, 39.
Provincial Assemblies, 44.
Public life, Christian, 347.
Pulcheria, 161.
Purification of Virgin, 290.
Pusey, Dr. E. B., 2S6.
Pyrrho, 323.
Pythagoras, 319.
Qu^iSTORS, 35.
Quinet, 109.
Ramsay, 189.
Recared, 94.
Reform, social, 341.
Relics, 290.
Religion, 109; Roman, 46, 326.
Remigius of Rheims, 101.
Resurrection, 51.
Revolutionary Emperors, 33.
Ritual, 264, 288.
Roads, Roman, 45.
Robber Synod, 160.
Rome 27, 206; its lands, 29;
compared with Great Brit-
tain, 30.
Roman philosophy, 324.
Rufinus, 293.
Ruin of old world, 84.
Rulers of the Empire, 32.
Sacerdotal, ideal, 226.
Sacrament, 273.
Sacrifice, 291.
Saints, 289.
Santa Laura, 371.
Saracen conquests, 224.
Sardica, Council of, 210.
Savonarola, 298.
Saxon invaders, 84.
Schleiermacher, 323.
Scholastica, 403.
Schultze, 290.
Sculpture, 394.
Secularization, 363.

Semi-Pelagianism, 170.
Senate, Roman, 36.
Seneca, 308, 324.
Septimius Severus, 33, 68.
Severa, 71.
Severinus, 97.
Sextus II of Rome, 73.
Sidonius, 84, 199.
Silvanus, 182.
Simon Magus, 118.
Skepticism, 324.
Slavery 44, 3148"., 344.
Society, Roman, 43; Christian,
54-
Socrates, 320.
Sozomen, 284.
St. Sophia, 83, 396.
Stephen of Corinth, 182.
Stoicism, 323.
Sub-deacons, 227.
Subordinationism, 144.
Succath, 96.
Sulpicius Severus, 158.
Sunday, 278.
Symeon, 59, 66; Stylites, 364.
Synesius of Cyrene, 158, 230.
Synods, 201 ; Jerusalem, 171 ;
Diospolis, 171 ; Carthage, 171 ;
Milan, 392; Aries, 210, 392;
Orange, 171; Turin, 230;
Valence, 171.
Syriac Christianity, 61.
Tacitus, 64; Emperor, 73.
Taxes, Roman, 4if.
Teachers, 182.
Teaching of the early Church,
109; of the Twelve, 115, 24S.
Telemachus, 336.
Tertullian, 69, 72, 127, 253, 256,
281.
Thales, 319.
Theaters, 329.
Theodore of Mopsuesta, 158,
165.
Theodoret, 158, 161, 351.
Theodoric, 85.
Theodosius I, 78, S2; Theo
dosius II, 82.

Index.

4i5

Theology, no.
Theophilus, 186, 211, 294.
Tiberius I, 32, 64 ; Tiberius II,
83-
Timothy, 182.
Titus, 33, 65, 182, 308.
Tongues, gift of 243.
Totila, 85, 87.
Toxatius, 379.
Trades and professions, 346.
Trajan, 33, 65.
Tribunes, 35.
Tribute, 41.
Trinity, 153.
Turning point, 70 A. D., 113.
Ulfilas, 93, 96.
Ulhorn, 351, 358.
Uranius, 380.
Valens, 91.
Valentinian I, 336; Valentin
ian II, 197; Valentinian III
- 215.
Valentinus, 119.
Valerian, 73.
Valerius Atticus, 305.
Vandals, 92.

Vespasian, 33, 65, 30S.
Victor, Pope, 211.
Victoria, Queen, 40.
Vigilantius, 230, 381.
Vigilius, 211.
Vincent of Lerius, 158.
Virgil, 318.
Virgin Mary, 290.
Visigoths, 85.
Vitellius, 33.
Vitiges, 85, 87.
Week, 27S.
Western Church, 62.
Women of Rome, 310; Chris
tian, 341.
Worship, 239-246, 253, 259, 262,
266, 349.
Xenophanes, 320.
Year, Church, 277.
Zeno, 46, 82 ; Citium, 323.
Zephyrinus, Pope, 211.
Zosimus, -171, 211; heathen
historian, 330.

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