322 THE RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 



to many important aspects of his life) the views of 

 conflicting theologians diverge more and more, as 

 historical criticism (Strauss, Feuerbach, Bam*, Renan, 

 etc.) puts the accessible facts in their true light, and 

 draws impartial conclusions from them. Two things, 

 certainly, remain beyond dispute — the lofty principle 

 of universal charity and the fundamental maxim of 

 ethics, the " golden rule," that issues therefrom ; 

 both, however, existed in theory and in practice 

 centuries before the time of Christ (cf. chap. xix.). 

 For the rest, the Christians of the early centuries 

 were generally pure Communists, sometimes " Social 

 Democrats," who, according to the prevailing theory 

 in Germany to-day, ought to have been exterminated 

 with fire and sword. 



II. — PAPAL CHRISTIANITY. 



Latin Christianity, variously called Papistry, 

 Romanism, Vaticanism, Ultramontanism, or the 

 Roman Catholic Church, is one of the most remark- 

 able phenomena in the history of civilised man ; in 

 spite of the storms that have swept over it, it still 

 exerts a most powerful influence. Of the 500,000,000 

 Christians who are scattered over the earth the 

 majority — that is, more than 250,000,000 — are Roman 

 Catholics. During a period of 1,200 years, from the 

 fourth to the sixteenth century, the Papacy has 

 almost absolutely controlled and tainted the spiritual 

 life of Europe ; on the other hand, it has won but 

 little territory from the ancient religions of Asia and 

 Africa. In Asia Buddhism still counts 503,000,000 

 followers, the Brahmanic religion more than 

 100,000,000, and Islam 120,000,000. 



