PROGRESS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 645 



Here appears another characteristic of the present conception of 

 ecclesiastical history. It is no longer a history above the common 

 run, of a nature different from all others, and which requires special 

 treatment. Formerly the history of Christianity seemed generally to 

 be fpart, as a special compartment cut off from the rest of history, 

 a sacred territory separated from the profane world. Now the progress 

 of our general historical knowledge makes us recognize ever better 

 that the history of Christianity of Christian religion as well as of 

 Christian Church is intimately bound with the economical, moral, 

 social, and religious history of the surrounding world. The water- 

 tight bulkhead which separated the so-called "profane" from the 

 so-called " sacred " studies has been removed, even for the period of 

 the New Testament. Not only is the same method to be used in both 

 branches, but there is no one to-day who may contest that early 

 Christianity is connected, not only with biblical Judaism, but also 

 with a Judaism quite permeated with Chaldsean, Iranian, and Jewish 

 Alexandrian survivals. Every one must recognize how large is the 

 influence of Hellenism and of Roman pagan tradition in Christianity 

 as it became by conquering the ancient world. Nobody can over- 

 look the eminent contribution of Germanic religion and morals in 

 the Christian world of the Middle Ages. Christianity did not evolve 

 of itself, by its sole proper principles, with only internal logic and 

 without the influence of the surrounding world: its evolution was 

 continually determined by the nature of the different societies 

 among which it was developing and by the precedents of the people 

 among whom it was operating. 



This characteristic of our present conception of ecclesiastical 

 history seems to me so decided that I dare to say it is plainly dis- 

 tinctive of our scientific situation to-day. For it implies a deep 

 transformation of the ancient idea of revelation, even much deeper 

 than most of the theologians think, who practice this modern histor- 

 ical method, although they maintain more or less of traditional doc- 

 trines of the special origins and the particular fate of the Christian 

 religion. 1 It is not in our province here to elaborate this dogmatic 

 side of the problem. We have only to notice it. 



Thus the history of Christianity becomes a section of the general 

 history of religions. 2 It becomes secularized. This is a capital point, 



1 When enumerating the periodicals devoted to ecclesiastical history, we 

 observe that the distinction between Catholic and Protestant publications is still 

 widespread. The reason is that most of these periodicals are connected with 

 faculties or schools preparing ministers for the different ecclesiastical denomina- 

 tions. But their essays may claim historical authority only in the measure in 

 which they are free from any confessional character or any theological or philoso- 

 phical prejudice. 



2 We must notice the large development of the general history of religions in 

 the last twenty years: foundations of new lectureships devoted to general religious 

 history in Dutch! and, in Switzerland, in France, in Sweden, and especially in the 

 United States, where this movement was from the first welcomed (Everett 



