THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



soon they had forgotten the sufferings which their 

 fathers had so laiely endured, under the reign of 

 the heathen emperors. 



About this period, loo, vain speculations about 

 abstruse and incomprehensible subjects, occupi 

 ed the attention of theologians, and engendered 

 religious quarrels and disputes, which burst asun 

 der the bonds of affection and concord. A play 

 of words and vain subtleties, were substituted in 

 pja.ce of clear conceptions and substantial know 

 ledge, which, instead of directing the faculties 

 of the human mind to their proper objects, tend 

 ed only to darken the light of reason, and to in 

 troduce the long night of ignorance which soon 

 succeeded. It was a prevailing madness among 

 the Greek theologians, who were intractable in 

 their opinions, and it is too much the case with 

 certain modern divines, to dispute about incom 

 prehensible mysteries, to render them more ob 

 scure by their attempts to explain them, an 1 per 

 petually to revive the most dangerous conten 

 tions. The Arians rejected the Divinity of th,e 

 Word, in order to maintain the unity of God ; 

 the Nestorians denied that Mary is the mother 

 of God, and gave two persons to Jesus Christ, 

 to support the opinon of his having two natures ; 

 the Eutychians, to maintain the unity of the 

 person, confounded the two natures into one. 

 This heresy became divided into ten or twelve 

 branches ; some of the sections maintaining that 

 Jesus Christ was merely a phantom, or appear 

 ance of flesh, but no real flesh. The Monolho- 

 lites maintained, that there was only one will in 

 Christ, as they could not conceive two free wills 

 to exist in the same person. Another sect main 

 tained, that the body of Christ was incorruptible) 

 and that from the moment of his conception, he 

 was incapable of change, and of suffering. This 

 chimera Justinian attempted to establish by an 

 edict. He banished the Patriarch Eutychius, 

 and several other prelates, who opposed his sen 

 timents; and was proceeding to tyrannize over the 

 consciences of men with more violence than ever, 

 when death interposed, and transported him to 

 another scene of existence. Tn such vain and 

 preposterous disputes as these, were the minds 

 of professed Christians occupied, notwithstand 

 ing the perils with which they were then envi 

 roned. Councils were held, to determine the 

 orthodox side of a question ; anathemas were 

 thundered against those who refused to acquiesce 

 in their decisions ; princes interposed their au 

 thority, and the civil sword was unsheathed to 

 compel men to believe what they could not un 

 derstand ; while the substantial truths of reli 

 gion were overlooked, and its morality disregard 

 ed. &quot; Religion,&quot; says Millot, &quot; inspires us 

 with a contempt of earthly vanities, a detestation 

 of vice, and indulgence for the frailties of our 

 neighbour ; invincible patience in misfortunes, 

 ind compassion for the unhappy ; it inspires us 

 &amp;gt;vith charity and heroic courage ; and tends to 



sanctity every action in common and social life, 

 How sublime and comforting the idea it gives of 

 the Divinity! What confidence in his justice 

 and infinite mercy ! What encouragement for the 

 exercise of every virtue ! Wherefore, then, such 

 errors and excesses on religious pretences ? It is 

 because heresy, shooting up under a thousand dif 

 ferent forms, incessantly startles the faith by sub 

 tleness and sophistry, by which almost the whole 

 energy of men s minds is absorbed in the contest 

 Disputes engender hatred ; from hatred springs 

 every excess ; and virtue, exhausted with words 

 and cabals, loses her whole power.&quot; How 

 happy would it be, and how glorious for the cause 

 of genuine Christianity, were the present gene 

 ration of Christians to profit by the sad experi 

 ence of the past! 



As we advance in the history of the Christian 

 church, through the middle ages, the prospect 

 appears still more dark and gloomy. The human 

 mind, at that period, appeared to have lost its 

 usual energy, and its powers of discrimination ; 

 the light of reason seemed almost extinguished ; 

 sophisms, and absurdities of all kinds, were 

 greedily swallowed ; and superstition displayed 

 itself in a thousand diversified forms. Morality 

 was in a manner smothered under a heap of cere 

 monies and arbitrary observances, which acquir 

 ed the name of devotion. Relics, pilgrimages, 

 offerings, and pious legacies, were thought capa 

 ble of opening the gate of heaven to the most 

 wicked of men. The virgin Mary, and the souls 

 of departed saints, were invoked; splendid 

 churches were erected to their honour ; their as 

 sistance was entreated with many fervent prayers ; 

 while the mediation of Jesus Christ was thrown 

 into the shade, ami almost disregarded. An 

 irresistible efficacy was attributed to the bones ot 

 martyrs, and to the figure of the cross, in defeat 

 ing the attempts of Satan, in removing all sorts 

 of calamities, and in healing the diseases Doth of 

 the body and of the mind. Works of piety and 

 benevolence were viewed as consisting chiefly in 

 building and embellishing churches and chapels 

 in endowing monasteries ; in hunting after the 

 relics of martyrs ; in procuring the intercession of 

 saints, by rich oblations ; in worshipping images , 

 in pilgrimages to holy places ; in voluntary acts 

 of mortification; in solitary masses ; and in a 

 variety of similar services, which could easily be 

 reconciled with the commission of the most 

 abominable crimes. So that the worship of&quot; the 

 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,&quot; was 

 exchanged for the worship of bones, hair, frag 

 ments of fingers and toes, tattered rags, images of 

 saints, and bits of rotten wood, supposed to be 

 the relics of the cross. The dubbing of saints 

 became a fruitful source of frauds and abuses 

 throughout the Christian world ; lying wonders 

 were invented, and fabulous histories composed v 

 to celebrate exploits that were never performed, 

 and to glorify persons that never had a bdng , 



