82 Life and Matter [chap. v. 



he goes further and abuses some of its more 

 primitive forms, and to some extent its 

 practical fruits also. For instance : 



" Primitive Christianity preached the worthless- 

 ness of earthly life, regarding it merely as a 

 preparation for an eternal life beyond. Hence it 

 immediately followed that all we find in the life of 

 a man here below, all that is beautiful in art and 

 science, in public and in private life, is of no real 

 value. The true Christian must avert his eyes 

 from them ; he must think only of a worthy 

 preparation for the life beyond. Contempt of 

 nature, aversion from all its inexhaustible charms, 

 rejection of every kind of fine art, are Christian 

 duties ; and they are carried out to perfection 

 when a man separates himself from his fellows, 

 chastises his body, and spends all his time in 

 prayers in the cloister or the hermit's cell. . . . 

 A Christian art is a contradiction in terms " 

 (p. 120). 



I think it may without offence be said 

 that if he means by " Primitive Christianity " 

 the teachings of Christ, he is mistaken, and 

 has something to learn as to what those 

 teachings really were. If he means the 

 times of persecution under the Roman 

 empire, he could hardly expect much con- 



