HISTORY 363 



worship, to arrive at a distinct, well-defined, and general 

 consent concerning it ; (2) the moral advance made 

 under Paganism was considerable, but eo long as the 

 legends of the gods were tolerated, and certain of their 

 rites practised, any approach to a perfect system of 

 morality was unattainable ; (3) popular devotion, however 

 stimulated by introduction from the East, remained 

 essentially material and devoid of exalted aspirations ; 

 (4) philosophy, though appealing to the cultured few, 

 made no sufficient efforts to attain the popular ear and 

 reach the masses ; (5) it was impossible to avoid a pro- 

 found distinction between the ideas and convictions which 

 actuated the well-disposed men of education, and those 

 which acted upon the bulk of the population-; (6) 

 need was felt for a religion consisting not of external 

 forms, but of distinct and definite dogmas, funda- 

 mentally identical in their claim upon the assent and 

 obedience of rich and poor, and accompanied by distinct 

 unequivocal precepts. The Christian religion, so un- 

 compromising and distinct in its commands and dogmas, 

 coupled a lofty morality with the foundation of its faith ; 

 its enunciation of the unity of God was plain and 

 unequivocal, and its theology was free from all admixture 

 with gross and criminal fables. It appealed both to the 

 cultured and the uneducated, and it commanded obedience 

 of the will, while it incited the emotions to aspire after the 

 loftiest conceivable ideals. Its spread was greatly aided 

 by that freedom accorded to associations for performing 

 funeral rites, before noticed. In this character Chris- 

 tians were easily able to assemble for worship and 

 mutual edification, and we may see abundant evidnces 

 of this in the Catacombs of Rome to-day. Christianity 

 had already spread far and wide in the time of Decius. 

 It became socially predominant under Constantine by 

 whose authority the well-known Council of Nice was 



