ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.' 189 



from the creation of the world ; and the follow- 

 ing chapter will contain the hiftory of Chrifti- 

 anity, or of the church of Chrift in particular. 



III. Adam, and the firft patriarchs after him, 

 followed, doubtlefs, the religion of nature -, the 

 lights of reafon, enforced by thofe which God 

 had vouchfafed them in Paradife, and in the fuc- 

 ceeding ages ; as we find in the book of Genefis, 

 wrote by Mofes. But this worfhip, fo pure in 

 itfelf, fcems to have been fometimes corrupted 

 by a propenfity to idolatry, which infedted man- 

 kind from the beginning of the world. The fa- 

 crifices of animals, and even of innocent men, 

 are not certainly according to the religion of na- 

 ture, but have a near relation to paganifm. For 

 all facrifices are diametrically repugnant to the 

 religion of nature, as no man can pofiibly prove, 

 by the light of reafon, that the Supreme Being, 

 all-wife .tnd good, can find pleafure in the (laugh- 

 ter of his creatures, and what is more, of man- 

 kind-, whom his wifdom has created, and whom 

 his goodnefs fupports. The little houfhold gods 

 of Laban, the father-in-law of Abraham, clearly 

 prove that idolatry reigned in the firft ages of 

 the world. Mofes purged the worfhip of 

 the Hebrews entirely from it; it was he 

 who, by the cxprefs order of God, edablifhed 

 the true principles of religion among the chil- 

 dren of Ifra^l , their dogmas and their religious 

 :re therefore here to con- 



fidcr : 



IV. ,. 



