{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_56650/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_56650","id":"gutenberg_56650","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56650","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Christianity and other religions","Paganism"],"text":"Produced by Turgut Dincer, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), and text\nenclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=).\n\nAdditional Transcriber\u2019s Notes are at the end.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nPAGANISM SURVIVING IN CHRISTIANITY\n\n\n BY ABRAM HERBERT LEWIS, D.D.\n\n AUTHOR OF \u201cBIBLICAL TEACHINGS CONCERNING THE SABBATH AND THE SUNDAY,\u201d\n \u201cA CRITICAL HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND THE SUNDAY IN THE CHRISTIAN\n CHURCH,\u201d \u201cA CRITICAL HISTORY OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION FROM 321 TO 1888,\n A.D.,\u201d ETC.\n\n G. P. PUTNAM\u2019S SONS\n\n NEW YORK\n 27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET\n\n LONDON\n 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND\n\n The Knickerbocker Press\n\n 1892\n\n * * * * *\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1892\n\nBY ABRAM HERBERT LEWIS\n\n Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by\n The Knickerbocker Press, New York\n G. P. PUTNAM\u2019S SONS\n\n * * * * *\n\nTO GEORGE H. BABCOCK\n\nCO-WORKER IN HISTORIC RESEARCH AND FRIEND THROUGH MANY YEARS, THIS\nVOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\nTHE AUTHOR\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nHe who judges the first century by the nineteenth will fall into\ncountless errors. He who thinks that the Christianity of the fourth\ncentury was identical with that of the New-Testament period, will go\nwidely astray. He who does not look carefully into the history of\nreligions before the time of Christ, and into the pagan influences\nwhich surrounded infant Christianity, cannot understand its subsequent\nhistory. He who cannot rise above denominational limitations and\ncredal restrictions cannot become a successful student of early Church\nhistory, nor of present tendencies, nor of future developments. History\nis a series of results, not a medley of happenings. It is the story of\nthe struggle between right and wrong; the record of God\u2019s dealing with\nmen. The \u201chistoric argument\u201d is invaluable, because history preserves\nGod\u2019s verdicts concerning human choices and actions. Events and epochs,\ntransitions and culminations, are the organized causes and effects\nwhich create the never-ceasing movement, and the organic unity called\nhistory. Hence we learn that ideas and principles, like apples, have\ntheir time for development and ripening; that the stains of sin, the\nweakness of error, and the influence of truth commingle and perdure\nthrough the centuries; that good and evil, sin and righteousness,\npersist, or are eliminated, in proportion as men heed God\u2019s voice, and\nlisten to His verdicts.\n\nThe scientific study of history reveals the norm by which ideas,\ncreeds, movements, and methods are to be tested. Such a standard, when\ncontrasted with the speculations of philosophy, is granite, compared\nwith sand. God\u2019s universal law, enunciated by Christ, is: \u201cBy their\nfruits ye shall know them.\u201d\n\nThe efforts of partisans to manipulate early history in the interest\nof special views and narrow conceptions, have been a fruitful\nsource of error. Equally dangerous has been the assumption that the\nChristianity of the third, fourth, and fifth centuries was identical\nwith that of the New Testament, or was a fair representative of it.\nThe constant development of new facts shows that at the point where\nthe average student takes up the history of Western Christianity, it\nwas already fundamentally corrupted by pagan theories and practices.\nIts unfolding, from that time to the present, must be studied in the\nlight of this fact. The rise, development, present status, and future\nhistory of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, cannot be justly\nconsidered, apart from this fact. The fundamental principles, and the\nunderlying philosophy of these divisions of Christendom originated in\nthe paganizing of early Christianity. This fact makes the re-study\nof the beginnings of Christianity of supreme importance. The pagan\nsystems which ante-dated Christ, exercised a controlling influence on\nthe development of the first five centuries of Western Christianity,\nand hence, of all subsequent times. This field has been too nearly \u201can\nunknown land,\u201d to the average student, and therefore correct answers\nhave been wanting to many questions which arise, when we leave Semitic\nsoil, and consider Christianity in its relation to Greek and Roman\nthought. \u201cEarly Christianity\u201d cannot be understood except in the light\nof these powerful, pre-Christian currents of influence; and present\nhistory cannot be separated from them.\n\nThis book presents a suggestive rather than an exhaustive treatment\nof these influences, and of their effect on historic Christianity.\nThe author has aimed to make a volume which busy men may read,\nrather than one whose bulk would relegate it to the comparative\nsilence of library shelves. The following pages treat four practical\npoints in Christianity, without attempting to enter the field of\nspeculative theology, leaving that to a future time, or to the pen\nof another--viz.: The influence of pagan thought upon the Bible, and\nits interpretation; upon the organized Church, through the pagan\nwater-worship cult; upon the practices and spiritual life of the Church\nby substituting pagan holidayism for Christian Sabbathism, through the\nsun-worship cult; and upon the spiritual life and subsequent character\nof the Church, by the union of Church and State, and the subjugation\nof Christianity to the civil power, according to the pagan model.\nFacts do not cease to be facts, though denied and ignored. They do not\nwithdraw from the field of history, though men grow restive under their\ncondemnation. I have dealt mainly with facts, giving but brief space to\n\u201cconclusions.\u201d I have written for those who are thoughtful and earnest;\nwho are anxious to know what the past has been, that they may the\nbetter understand the duties of the present and the unfolding issues\nof the future. Such will not read the following pages with languid\ninterest nor careless eyes.\n\nThe issues involved are larger than denominational lines, or the\nboundaries of creeds. They are of special interest to Protestants,\nsince they involve not only the reasons for the revolt against\nRoman Catholicism, but the future relations of these divisions of\nChristendom, to each other, and to the Bible. The supreme source of\nauthority in religion is directly at issue in the questions here\ntreated. That is a definite and living question which cannot be\nwaived aside. At this threshold, the author extends the welcome which\neach searcher after facts and fundamental truths gives to fellow\ninvestigators.\n\nABRAM HERBERT LEWIS.\n\nRoom 100, Bible House, New York City, May, 1892.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAPTER I. REMAINS OF PAGANISM IN CHRISTIANITY 1\n\n Preliminary Survey--An Imaginary Past--Issue between\n Protestantism and Romanism--General Testimony Relative to\n Pagan Elements in Christianity, from Dyer, Lord, Tiele,\n Baronius, Polydore Virgil, Fauchet, Mussard, De Choul,\n Wiseman, Middleton, Max M\u00fcller, Priestley, Thebaud,\n Hardwick, Maitland, Seymore, Renan, Killen, Farrar,\n Merivale, Westropp and Wake, and Lechler.\n\n CHAPTER II. PAGAN METHODS OF INTERPRETING THE SCRIPTURES 31\n\n Contrast between the Christianity of the New Testament and\n That of the Later Centuries--Gnosticism and Allegorical\n Interpretation--Testimony of Harnack and Bauer Concerning\n the \u201cHellenization of Christianity\u201d--Hatch on \u201cPagan\n Exegesis\u201d--The \u201cFathers\u201d as Allegorists; Justin, Clement of\n Alexandria, Barnabas, and Others--Examples: \u201cThe Red Heifer\n a Type of Christ\u201d; \u201cSpiritual Circumcision\u201d; \u201cScriptural\n Significance of Foods\u201d; \u201cThe Cross in the Old Testament\u201d;\n \u201cWhy Are There One Hundred and Fifty Psalms?\u201d; \u201cThe Ph\u0153nix\n a Type of the Resurrection\u201d; \u201cGnostic Exposition of the\n Decalogue\u201d; \u201cTypes of Christ\u201d; Various Examples from\n Augustine.\n\n CHAPTER III. ASIATIC PAGAN WATER-WORSHIP 71\n\n Fundamental Corruption of Christian Baptism through\n Pagan Water-Worship--\u201cBaptismal Regeneration,\u201d the\n Product of Paganism--Spiritual Purity Sought through\n Pagan Baptism--Testimonies from Jamblicus, Virgil,\n Ovid, Herodotus, Juvenal, and Others--Baptism and\n Serpent-Worship--Baptism and Egyptian Sun-Worship--The\n Sacred Nile--The Prevalence of Water-Worship in\n India--Sacred Wells--Sacred Rivers--Modern Buddhistic and\n Modern Hindu Baptism.\n\n CHAPTER IV. WATER-WORSHIP IN NORTHERN EUROPE AND IN MEXICO 98\n\n Water-Worship Prominent in Many Ways, and Associated with\n Holy Seasons--Infant Baptism among the Scandinavians and\n Teutons--Pagan \u201cChristening of Children\u201d--Sacred Water as a\n Safeguard against Disease, etc.--Virtue of Water Used for\n Mechanical Purposes--Water Sprites--Similarity between Roman\n Catholicism and Paganism of Mexico--Aztec Baptism--Prayer\n for \u201cBaptismal Regeneration\u201d of Child by Mexican Midwife.\n\n CHAPTER V. GREEK WATER-WORSHIP 112\n\n Sprinkling and Immersion Both Used--Prominence of \u201cBaptismal\n Regeneration\u201d--Lustral Water at Temple Doors--Baptism of\n Animals--Influence of \u201cThe Greek Mysteries\u201d on Christian\n Baptism--Initiatory Baptisms--Scenic Illustrations--Mithraic\n Baptism Engrafted on Grecian--\u201cCreed,\u201d \u201cSymbol,\u201d Drawn from\n Grecian Water-Worship Cult--Identity of Grecian and Roman\n Catholic Forms--The Use of Spittle in Pagan Baptism.\n\n CHAPTER VI. PAGAN WATER-WORSHIP TRANSFERRED TO CHRISTIANITY 128\n\n Testimony from Tertullian, Barnabas, Justin, Methodius,\n the Apostolic Constitutions, etc.--Holy Water, or Repeated\n Baptism, Borrowed without Change--Magical Effects of Holy\n Water, the Same in Christian as in Pagan Cult--Baptism of\n Animals by Holy Water, to Produce Magical Results--Holy\n Water Prepared after the Pagan Method--Consecration of\n Baptismal Waters Borrowed from Pagan Combination of Sun-\n and Water-Worship--The Church Filled with Baptized but\n Unconverted Pagans, and so Passed under Pagan Control.\n\n CHAPTER VII. PAGAN SUN-WORSHIP 156\n\n Sun-Worship the Oldest and Most Widely Diffused\n Form of Paganism--Gnostic Antinomianism or\n Lawlessness--Anti-Judaism, Mainly of Pagan\n Origin--Anti-Sabbathism and Sunday Observance\n Synchronous--Anti-Lawism and Anti-Sabbathism\n Unscriptural--Christ\u2019s Teachings Concerning the Law of God;\n Paul\u2019s Teachings on the Same--Destructive Effect of Pagan\n Lawlessness on Christianity.\n\n CHAPTER VIII. SUNDAY OBSERVANCE UNKNOWN TO CHRISTIANITY\n BEFORE THE MIDDLE OF THE SECOND CENTURY 171\n\n Mistaken Notions Concerning the Beginning of\n Sunday Observance--No Sunday Observance in the New\n Testament--Sunday Directly Referred to but Three Times--It\n is Never Spoken of as a Sabbath, nor as Commemorative of\n Christ\u2019s Resurrection--The Bible does Not State that Christ\n Rose on Sunday--Christ and His Disciples Always Observed\n the Sabbath--The Change of the Sabbath Unknown in the\n New Testament--The Sabbath Never Called \u201cJewish\u201d in the\n Scriptures, nor by Any Writer until after Paganism had\n Invaded the Church--Origin of Sunday Observance Found in\n Paganism--First Reference to Sunday Observance about 150\n A.D.--No Writer of the Early Centuries Claimed Scriptural\n Reasons for Its Observance--Pagan Reasons and Arguments\n Adduced in Its Support; a Day of \u201cIndulgence to the\n Flesh\u201d--Pretended Scriptural Reasons, _ex post facto_.\n\n CHAPTER IX. STATE RELIGION A PAGAN INSTITUTION 188\n\n Christ\u2019s Attitude toward the State--The Roman Conception\n of Religion as a Department of the State--Roman Civil Law\n Created and Regulated All Religious Duties--Effect of the\n Pagan Doctrine of Religious Syncretism on Christianity--The\n Emperor a Demi-God, Entitled to Worship, and, _ex officio_,\n the Supreme Authority in Religion--The Deep Corruption of\n Roman Morals and Social Life under Pagan State Religion.\n\n CHAPTER X. THE CONTROL OF CHRISTIANITY BY THE STATE UNDER\n CONSTANTINE AND HIS SUCCESSORS 203\n\n A New Epoch in the Paganizing of Christianity--Paganism\n Seeking a New God, Strong Enough to Save the\n Empire--Constantine Not a \u201cChristian Emperor,\u201d but\n Superstitious, Time-Serving, and Ambitious--Murdering His\n Kindred while Promoting Christianity as a Rising Political\n Influence--Seeking Christianity Mainly for Ambitious\n Ends--Professing Christianity Only on his Death-Bed--Making\n the Most of Both Worlds--Constantine Corrupted and Perverted\n Christianity More than He Aided It.\n\n CHAPTER XI. CONSTANTINE\u2019S LEGISLATION CONCERNING THE PAGAN\n SUNDAY 217\n\n All His Tolerative Legislation Essentially Pagan--Christians\n did Not Seek for Sunday Laws--The First Sunday Law, 321\n A.D., Pagan in Every Particular--Essentially Identical with\n Existing Laws Concerning Other Days--Legislation against\n Heathen Religions Feeble and Unenforced--Constantine Not a\n \u201cChristian Prince.\u201d\n\n CHAPTER XII. OTHER FORMS OF PAGAN RESIDUUM IN CHRISTIANITY 231\n\n A Low Standard of Religious Life--Faith in Relics--The Cross\n an Ancient Pagan (Phallic) Symbol--A \u201cCharm\u201d borrowed from\n Paganism--Constantine\u2019s Use of the Composite Symbol as a\n Military Standard--Prevalence of Faith in \u201cCharms\u201d--Sign\n of the Cross in Baptism--Baptism and Holy Water as\n \u201cCharms\u201d--Stupendous Miracles, like Pagan Prodigies, through\n Baptism--Delayed Baptism--Orientation at Baptism, etc.\n\n CHAPTER XIII. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED 263\n\n Lights in Worship--Worshipping \u201ctoward the East\u201d--Easter\n Fires--Beltane or Baal Fires--Penance--Mariolatry--The\n Mass--Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead--Peter\u2019s\n Keys--Christmas--Easter--Lent, etc.\n\n CHAPTER XIV. FIVE CONCLUSIONS. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF\n PROTESTANTISM INVOLVED IN PRESENT ISSUES 282\n\n Protestants must Accept the Bible _in Fact_, as well as in\n Theory, or be Overthrown--The Bible must be Reinterpreted\n in the Light of \u201cHigher Criticism\u201d and Deeper Spiritual\n Life--The Present Tendencies in Bible Study Mark the Opening\n of the Second Stage of the Protestant Movement--Baptism\n must Cease to be the Foot-Ball of Denominational Polemics\n and be Raised to a Question of Obedience to the Example\n of Christ--Protestants must Return to the Sabbath,\n Christianized by Christ, and to True Sabbathism, Which Is\n as Undenominational as Faith--Such Sabbathism, and God\u2019s\n Sabbath, must be Restored to the Place from Which Pagan\n No-Sabbathism and the Pagan Sunday Drove Them--\u201cSabbath\u201d\n Legislation Is Unchristian--All Union of Christianity with\n the State must Yield before the Normal Development of True\n Protestantism.\n\n INDEX 301\n\n * * * * *\n\nPAGANISM IN CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. REMAINS OF PAGANISM IN CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\n Preliminary Survey--An Imaginary Past--Issue between Protestantism\n and Romanism--General Testimony Relative to Pagan Elements in\n Christianity, from Dyer, Lord, Tiele, Baronius, Polydore Virgil,\n Fauchet, Mussard, De Choul, Wiseman, Middleton, Max M\u00fcller,\n Priestley, Thebaud, Hardwick, Maitland, Seymore, Renan, Killen,\n Farrar, Merivale, Westropp and Wake, and Lechler.\n\nA preliminary survey is the more necessary lest the general reader\nfail to grant the facts of history a competent hearing and a just\nconsideration. Unconsciously men think of the earliest Christianity as\nbeing like that which they profess. They measure the early centuries\nby their own. Their Church, its doctrines, forms, creeds and customs,\nstands as the representative of all Christianity. It seems like a \u201crude\nawakening\u201d to ask men to believe that there is a \u201cpagan residuum\u201d in\ntheir faith, or in the customs of their fathers. The average Christian\nmust pass through a broadening process, before he can justly consider\nsuch a question. Unhappily, there are too many who are unwilling to\nundergo such an enlargement of their religious and historical horizon\nas will make them competent to consider those facts which every earnest\nstudent of history must face. But the Christian who believes in the\nimmortality of truth, and in the certainty of its triumph, will welcome\nall facts, even though they may modify the creed he has hitherto\naccepted.\n\nA writer in the _Edinburgh Review and Critical Journal_, commenting on\nthe revised volumes of Bishop Lightfoot on _Ignatius_ and _Polycarp_,\nspeaking of the tendency to judge the early centuries by our own, thus\nvitiating our conclusions, says:\n\n \u201cThe danger of such inquiries lies in the difficulty of resisting the\n temptation to frame pictures of an imaginary past; and the passion\n for transferring to the past the peculiarities of later times may be\n best corrected by keeping in view the total unlikeness of the first,\n second, or third centuries to anything which now exists in any part\n of the world.\u201d\n\nProtestants in the United States are poorly prepared to consider so\ngreat a question as that which this book passes under review, because\nthey have not carefully considered the facts touching their relations\nto Roman Catholicism. The Anglo-Romish controversy, in England, in the\nearlier part of the present century made the question of paganism in\nChristianity prominent for a time. But the discussion was so strongly\npartisan and controversial that it could not produce the best results.\nTruth was much obscured by the determined effort of Protestant writers\nto show that the pagan residuum was all in the Catholic Church; whereas\nthe facts show that there could have been no Roman Catholic Church had\nnot paganism first prepared the way for its development by corrupting\nthe earliest Christianity. The facts show, with equal vividness,\nthat Protestantism has retained much of paganism, by inheritance.\nProtestantism, theoretically, means the entire elimination of the\npagan residuum; practically, that work is but fairly begun. It must be\npushed, or the inevitable backward drift, the historical \u201cundertow\u201d\nwill re-Romanize the Protestant movement. The expectations and purposes\nof Roman Catholicism all point towards such a result.\n\nThis chapter will make a general survey of the field, as it is seen by\nmen of different schools, that the reader may be the better prepared\nfor a more specific treatment of the subject.\n\nDYER says:\n\n \u201cThe first Roman converts to Christianity appear to have had very\n inadequate ideas of the sublime purity of the gospel, and to have\n entertained a strange medley of pagan idolatry and Christian truth.\n The emperor Alexander Severus, who had imbibed from his mother,\n Mamm\u00e6a, a singular regard for the Christian religion, is said to have\n placed in his domestic chapel the images of Abraham, of Orpheus, of\n Apollonius, and of Christ, as the four chief sages who had instructed\n mankind in the methods of adoring the Supreme Deity. Constantine\n himself, the first Christian emperor, was deeply imbued with the\n superstitions of paganism; he had been Pontifex Maximus, and it was\n only a little while before his death that he was formally received\n by baptism into the Christian Church. He was particularly devoted to\n Apollo, and he attempted to conciliate his pagan and his Christian\n subjects by the respect which he appeared to entertain for both. An\n edict enjoining the solemn observance of Sunday was balanced in the\n same year[1] by another directing that when the palace or any other\n public building should be struck by lightning, the haruspices should\n be regularly consulted.\u201d[2]\n\nIn a similar strain Professor LORD speaks yet more strongly:\n\n \u201cBut the church was not only impregnated with the errors of pagan\n philosophy, but it adopted many of the ceremonials of Oriental\n worship, which were both minute and magnificent. If anything marked\n the primitive church it was the simplicity of worship, and the\n absence of ceremonies and festivals and gorgeous rites. The churches\n became in the fourth century as imposing as the old temples of\n idolatry. The festivals became authoritative; at first they were\n few in number and voluntary. It was supposed that when Christianity\n superseded Judaism, the obligation to observe the ceremonies of\n the Mosaic law was abrogated. Neither the apostles nor evangelists\n imposed the yoke of servitude, but left Easter and every other\n feast to be honored by the gratitude of the recipients of grace.\n The change in opinion, in the fourth century, called out the severe\n animadversion of the historian Socrates, but it was useless to stem\n the current of the age. Festivals became frequent and imposing. The\n people clung to them because they obtained a cessation from labor,\n and obtained excitement. The ancient rubrics mention only those of\n the Passion, of Easter, of Whitsuntide, Christmas, and the descent of\n the Holy Spirit. But there followed the celebration of the death of\n Stephen, the memorial of St. John, the commemoration of the slaughter\n of the Innocents, the feasts of Epiphany, the feast of Purification,\n and others, until the Catholic Church had some celebration for some\n saint and martyr for every day in the year. They contributed to\n create a craving for outward religion, which appealed to the sense\n and the sensibilities rather than the heart. They led to innumerable\n quarrels and controversies about unimportant points, especially in\n relation to the celebration of Easter. They produced a delusive\n persuasion respecting pilgrimages, the sign of the cross, and the\n sanctifying effects of the sacraments. Veneration for martyrs ripened\n into the introduction of images--a future source of popular idolatry.\n Christianity was emblazoned in pompous ceremonies. The veneration of\n saints approximated to their deification, and superstition exalted\n the mother of our Lord into an object of absolute worship. Communion\n tables became imposing altars typical of Jewish sacrifices, and the\n relics of martyrs were preserved as sacred amulets....\n\n \u201cWhen Christianity itself was in such need of reform, when Christians\n could scarcely be distinguished from pagans in love of display, and\n in egotistical ends, how could it reform the world? When it was a\n pageant, a ritualism, an arm of the state, a vain philosophy, a\n superstition, a formula, how could it save if ever so dominant?\n The corruptions of the Church in the fourth century are as well\n authenticated as the purity and moral elevation of Christianity in\n the second century. Isaac Taylor has presented a most mournful view\n of the state of Christian society when the religion of the cross had\n become the religion of the state, and the corruptions kept pace with\n the outward triumph of the faith, especially when the pagans had\n yielded to the supremacy of the cross.\u201d[3]\n\nMany of the corrupting elements which entered into early Christianity\ncame from the Orient, by way of Greece and Rome. TIELE speaks of the\ninflux of these in the following words:\n\n \u201cThe Greek deities were followed by the Asiatic, such as the Great\n Mother of the gods, whose image, consisting of an unhewn stone, was\n brought at the expense of the state from Pessinus to Rome. On the\n whole, it was not the best and loftiest features of the foreign\n religions that were adopted, but rather their low and sensual\n elements, and these too in their most corrupt form. An accidental\n accusation brought to light in the year 186 B.C. a secret worship of\n Bacchus which was accompanied by all kinds of abominations, and had\n already made its way among thousands....\n\n \u201cThe eyes of the multitude were always turned toward the East, from\n which deliverance was expected to come forth, and secret rites\n brought from there to Rome were sure of a number of devotees. But\n they were only bastard children, or at any rate the late misshapen\n offspring of the lofty religions which once flourished in the East,\n an un-Persian Mithra worship, an un-Egyptian Serapis worship, an Isis\n worship which only flattered the senses and was eagerly pursued by\n the fine ladies, to say nothing of more loathsome practices. And yet\n even these aberrations were the expression of a real and deep-seated\n need of the human mind, which could find no satisfaction in the\n state religion. Men longed for a God whom they could worship, heart\n and soul, and with this God they longed to be reconciled. Their own\n deities they had outgrown, and they listened eagerly therefore to\n the priests of Serapis and of Mithra, who each proclaimed their God\n as the sole-existing, the almighty, and the all-good, and they felt\n especially attracted by the earnestness and strictness of the latter\n _cultus_. And in order to be secure of the eradication of all guilt,\n men lay down in a pit where the blood of the sacrificial animal\n flowed all over them, in the conviction that they would then arise\n entirely new-born.\u201d[4]\n\nMany Roman Catholic writers, with an honesty which all classes might\nwell emulate, openly recognize the paganizing of the Church, which\ntook place before the organization of the papacy.\n\nBARONIUS says:\n\n \u201cIt was permitted the Church to transfer to pious uses those\n ceremonies which the pagans had wickedly applied in a superstitious\n worship, after having purified them by consecration; so that,\n to the greater contumely of the devil, all might honor Christ\n with those rites which he intended for his own worship. Thus the\n pagan festivals, laden with superstition, were changed into the\n praiseworthy festivals of the martyrs; and the idolatrous temples\n were changed to sacred churches, as Theodoret shows.\u201d[5]\n\nPOLYDORE VIRGIL says:\n\n \u201cThe Church has borrowed many customs from the religion of the Romans\n and other pagans, but it has meliorated them and applied them to a\n better use.\u201d[6]\n\nFAUCHET says:\n\n \u201cThe bishops of this kingdom employ all means to gain men to Christ,\n converting to their use some pagan ceremonies, as well as they did\n the stones of their temples to the building of churches.\u201d[7]\n\nPIERRE MUSSARD says:\n\n \u201cWilliam de Choul,[8] counsellor to the king and bailiff of the\n mountains, composed, an age ago, a treatise of the religion of the\n ancient Romans, wherein he shows an entire conformity between old\n Rome and new. On the point of religion he closes with these words[9]:\n \u2018If we consider carefully,\u2019 says he, \u2018we shall see that many\n institutions in our religion have been borrowed and transferred from\n Egyptian and Pagan ceremonies, such as tunics and surplices, priestly\n ornaments for the head, bowing at the altar, the solemnity at mass,\n music in churches, prayers, supplications, processions, litanies, and\n many other things. These our priests make use of in our mysteries,\n and refer them to one only God, Jesus Christ, which the ignorance of\n the heathen, their false religion, and foolish presumption perverted\n to their false gods, and to dead men deified.\u2019\u201d[10]\n\nDuring the Tractarian controversy in England, John Poynder wrote\n_Popery in Alliance with Heathenism_, to show that Roman Catholicism is\nessentially pagan. Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, then a professor in the\nUniversity at Rome, replied under the title: _Letters to John Poynder,\nEsq., upon his Work Entitled \u201cPopery in Alliance with Heathenism_,\u201d\nLondon, 1836.\n\nIn Letter Second, WISEMAN says:\n\n \u201cI will, for a moment, grant you the full extent of your assumptions\n and premises; I will concede that all the facts you have brought\n forward are true, and all the parallels you have established between\n our rites and those of paganism, correct; and I will join issue with\n you on your conclusions, trying them by clearly applicable tests....\n The first person who argued as you have done was Julian the Apostate,\n who said that the Christians had borrowed their religion from the\n heathens. This proves at once that even then the resemblance existed,\n of which you complain as idolatrous. So that it is not the offspring\n of modern corruption, but an inheritance of the ancient church. It\n proves that the alliance between Christianity and heathenism existed\n three hundred years after Christ, and that consequently so far popery\n and ancient Christianity are identical. The Manichees also are\n accused by St. Augustine, writing against Faustus, of having made the\n same charge.\u201d\n\nDr. Wiseman enumerates many items of resemblance which Poynder does\nnot, and retorts by showing that the English Church yet retains the\npaganism which it inherited from papacy. He emphasizes the pagan\ncharacteristics which appear in the building, adornment, and services\nof St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral, London, claiming that if a Roman pagan were\nto be resurrected and brought to St. Paul\u2019s he would recognize the\nlikeness to his ancient faith on every hand. Dr. Wiseman\u2019s testimony is\nof great value, since, as a defender of Romanism, he also defends the\npolicy which corrupted early Christianity in the West, by conforming it\nto the popular paganism in order to secure a nominal conversion of the\npagans.\n\nCONYERS MIDDLETON, whose _Letter from Rome_ forms one of the standard\nauthorities concerning the paganism of the early Church, says:\n\n \u201cAringhus, in his account of _Subterraneous Rome_, acknowledges\n this conformity between the pagan and popish rites, and defends the\n admission of the ceremonies of heathenism into the service of the\n Church, by the authority of their wisest popes and governors, who\n found it necessary, he says, in the conversion of the Gentiles, to\n dissemble and wink at many things, and yield to the times; and not\n to use force against customs which the people were so obstinately\n fond of; nor to think of extirpating at once everything that had\n the appearance of profane; but to supersede in some measure the\n obligation of the sacred laws, till these converts, convinced by\n degrees, and informed of the whole truth by the suggestions of the\n Holy Spirit, should be content to submit in earnest to the yoke of\n Christ.\u201d[11]\n\nFurther important testimony is found in the following. Writing of the\nfirst three centuries after Christ, MAX M\u00dcLLER says:\n\n \u201cThat age was characterized far more than all before it, by a\n spirit of religious syncretism, an eager thirst for compromise.\n To mould together thoughts which differed fundamentally, to grasp,\n if possible, the common elements pervading all the multifarious\n religions of the world, was deemed the proper business of philosophy,\n both in the East and West. It was a period, one has lately said, of\n mystic incubation, when India and Egypt, Babylonia and Greece, were\n sitting together and gossiping like crazy old women, chattering with\n toothless gums and silly brains about the dreams and joys of their\n youth, yet unable to recall one single thought or feeling with that\n vigor which once gave it light and truth.\n\n \u201cIt was a period of religious and metaphysical delirium, when\n everything became everything, when Maya and Sophia, Mithra and\n Christ, Viraf and Isaiah, Belus, Zarvan, and Kronos were mixed up in\n one jumbled system of inane speculation, from which at last the East\n was delivered by the positive doctrines of Mohammed, the West by the\n pure Christianity of the Teutonic nations.\u201d[12]\n\nDr. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY says:\n\n \u201cThe causes of the corruptions were almost wholly contained in\n the established opinions of the heathen world, and especially the\n philosophical part of it; so that when those heathens embraced\n Christianity, they mixed their former tenets and prejudices with\n it.... The abuse of the _positive institutions_ of Christianity,\n monstrous as they were, naturally arose from the opinions of the\n purifying and sanctifying virtue of rites and ceremonies, which was\n the very basis of all the worship of the heathens.\u201d[13]\n\nTHEBAUD says:\n\n \u201cTherefore this same \u2018high civilization,\u2019 as it is called, in the\n midst of which Christianity was preached, was a real danger to the\n inward life of the new disciple of Christ.\n\n \u201cHow could it be otherwise, when it is a fact, now known to all,\n that, even at the beginning of the fifth century, Rome was almost\n entirely pagan, at least outwardly and among her highest classes; so\n that the poet Claudian, in addressing Honorius at the beginning of\n his sixth consulship, pointed out to him the site of the Capitol,\n still crowned with the temple of Jove, surrounded by numerous pagan\n edifices, supporting in air an army of gods; and all around, temples,\n chapels, statues without number; in fact, the whole Roman and Greek\n mythology, standing in the city of the catacombs and of the pope.\n\n \u201cThe public calendars, preserved to this day, continued to note the\n pagan festivals, side by side with the feasts of the Saviour and his\n apostles. Within the city and beyond, throughout Italy and the most\n remote provinces, idols and their altars were still surrounded by the\n thronging populace, prostrate at their feet.\u201d[14]\n\nHARDWICK describes the tendency to reproduce pagan theories and customs\nin the early Church as follows:\n\n \u201cOr take again the swarm of heresies that soon invaded almost\n every province of the early Church. Abandoning, as they did, the\n more essential of the supernatural truths of revelation, they were\n virtually and in effect revivals of paganism, and family likenesses\n may accordingly be traced among the older speculations current in the\n schools of heathen philosophy. In discussing, for example, the nature\n of the divine Son-ship, Sabellius and his party taught a doctrine\n very similar to that already noticed in the Trimurrti of India;\n while Docetism, starting from a notion that the spiritual and the\n material cannot permanently co-exist, had merely reproduced the Hindu\n doctrine of Avataras. The inward correspondence in the texture of\n ideas had issued in a similar deprivation of revealed truth. Or if,\n penetrating below the surface, we investigate the elementary thoughts\n and feelings that hereafter found utterance in monastic institutions\n of the Church, we find that on one side those ideas are alien from\n the spirit of primitive Christianity, and on the other that they had\n long been familiar in the East, before they were appropriated or\n unconsciously reproduced among one class of Christians in Syria and\n Egypt. India was the real birthplace of monasticism, its cradle being\n in the haunts of earnest _yogins_, and self-torturing devotees, who\n were convinced that evil is inherent not in man only, but in all the\n various forms of matter, and accordingly withdrew as far as possible\n from contact with the outer world. At first, indeed, the Christian\n hermit, like the earliest of his Hindu prototypes, had dwelt alone on\n the outskirts of his native town, supporting himself by manual labor,\n and devoting all the surplus of his earnings to religious purposes.\n\n \u201cBut during the fourth century of the present era many such\n hermits began to flock together in the forest, or the wilderness,\n where regular confraternities were organized upon a model more or\n less derived from the Egyptian Therapeut\u00e6, and the old Essenes\n of Palestine; the members in their dress and habits most of all\n resembling those of the religious orders who still swarm in Thibet\n and Ceylon.\u201d[15]\n\nMAITLAND bears important testimony touching many points in which\nChristianity was paganized. He sums up the general results in the\nfollowing concerning the worship of martyrs:\n\n \u201cThe degrees of worship and adoration, since defined with fatal\n precision by the Romish Church, were not then fixed; and the heathen,\n even less willing than the Christian laity to enter into refinements\n on the subject, saw no distinction between one form and another. The\n consequences were disastrous in the extreme; the charge of idolatry,\n mutually urged by the contending parties, lost the force, or rather\n was effectively employed by the pagans, after it had become powerless\n in Christian hands. Thus it was that, although the pure doctrines of\n our faith speedily displaced the profligate polytheism of the empire,\n the after conflict was long doubtful, being maintained by a religion\n enfeebled by admixture with foreign elements, against one that had\n profited by adversity, and had not scrupled to borrow largely from\n its rival. We read in fable of the struggle between the man and the\n serpent, in which at length the combatants become transformed into\n the shapes of each other. In the last contest between paganism and\n Christianity we find the sophist contending for the unity of God, and\n accusing the Christian of undisguised polytheism; and on the other\n side the Christian insisting on the tutelary powers of glorified\n mortals, and the omniscience of departed spirits.\u201d[16]\n\nSimilar testimony is borne by SEYMORE, who says:\n\n \u201cThe apostasy of the Church of Rome will be more apparent when we\n reflect that the character of the mediation which Romanism ascribes\n to its saints is precisely the same as that which heathenism ascribes\n to its demi-gods. It was believed among the heathen that when a man\n became illustrious for his deeds, his conquests, his inventions,\n or aught else that distinguished him as a benefactor of mankind,\n he could be canonized and enrolled among inferior deities. He thus\n became a mediator whose sympathies with his fellow-men on the one\n hand, and whose merits with the gods on the other fitted him for\n the mediatorial office of bearing the prayers and wants of mortals\n to the presence of the gods. The heathen philosophers, Hesiod,\n Plato, and Apuleius, all thus speak of those persons. The last named\n philosopher says: \u2018They are intermediate intelligences, by whom our\n prayers and wants pass unto the gods. They are mediators between the\n inhabitants of the earth and the inhabitants of heaven, carrying\n thither our prayers, and drawing down their blessings. They bear\n back and forwards prayers for us, and supplies for them; or they\n are those that explain between both parties, and who carry our\n adorations.\u2019 This was the creed of heathenism, and in nothing but\n the name does it differ from the corresponding creed of Romanism.\n When the Church of Rome finds members of her communion whom she\n regards as signally pious, or illustrious for supposed miraculous\n powers, she holds that they be canonized and enrolled among her\n saints; that they can mediate between God and man; that they have\n sufficient favor or influence with God to obtain compliance with\n our prayers, and therefore they are fitting objects to whom our\n confessions, invocations, and prayers may be offered; or, as she\n expresses it in her creed, \u2018that the saints reigning with Christ\n are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God\n for us.\u2019 The principle of heathen Romanism, and the principle of\n Christian Romanism are one and the same, the only difference is\n in the details of the names. And the origin of the practice is\n demonstrative of this; for when it was found, after the establishment\n of Christianity in the times of Constantine, when the great object\n of the court was to promote uniformity of religion, that many of the\n heathen would outwardly conform to Christianity if allowed to retain\n in private their worship of their guardian or tutelar divinities,\n they were so allowed, merely on changing the names of Jupiter to\n Peter, or Juno to Mary, still worshipping their old divinities under\n new names, and even retaining old images that were baptized with\n Christian names. This is apparent in the writings of those times,\n and was thought a measure of wisdom, a stroke of profound policy, as\n tending to produce a uniformity of religion among the unthinking\n masses. The invocations of Juno have been transferred to Mary; the\n prayers to Mercury have been transferred to Paul. We see not how the\n substitution of the names of Damian or Cosmo, for those of Mercury\n or Apollo, or how the substitution of the names of Lucy or Cecelia,\n for those of Minerva or Diana, can alter the idolatrous character of\n the practice. In some instances they have not even changed the names,\n and Romulus and Remus are still worshipped in Italy, under the more\n modern names of St. Romulo and St. Remugio. The simple people believe\n them to have been two holy bishops. I have myself witnessed this\n near Florence, and even Bacchus is not without his votaries, under\n the ecclesiastical name of St. Bacco. The principle and practice of\n papal Rome are identical with the principle and practice of pagan\n Rome. Every argument to justify one may be equally urged to justify\n or extenuate the other. And if the principle and practice of pagan\n Rome are to be pronounced as idolatrous, I see not why the very same\n principle and practice in papal Rome should not be pronounced as\n idolatrous likewise.\u201d[17]\n\nIn the light of all the facts Mr. Seymore cannot fasten the pagan\nresiduum upon Romanism alone. The controlling trend into paganism\nwas established before the papacy was developed; and if new forms of\nexpression appeared afterward, they were but the fruitage of earlier\ntendencies.\n\nRENAN, speaking of the relation between the religious _cultus_ of the\nOrient and early Christianity, says:\n\n \u201cThis is the explanation of the singular attraction which about the\n beginning of the Christian era drew the population of the ancient\n world to the religions of the East. These religions had something\n deeper in them than those of Greece and Rome; they addressed\n themselves more fully to the religious sentiment. Almost all of them\n stood in some relation to the condition of the soul in another life,\n and it was believed that they held the warrant of immortality. Hence\n the favor in which the Thracian and Sabasian mysteries, the _thiasi_,\n and confraternities of all kinds, were held. It was not so chilly in\n these little circles, where men pressed closely together, as in the\n great icy world of that day. Little religions like the worship of\n Psyche, whose sole object was consolation for human mortality, had\n a momentary prevalence. The beautiful Egyptian worship, which hid a\n real emptiness beneath a great splendor of ritual, counted devotees\n in every part of the empire. Isis and Serapis had altars even in\n the ends of the world. A visitor to the ruins of Pompeii might be\n tempted to believe that the principal worship which obtained there\n was that of Isis. These little Egyptian temples had their assiduous\n worshippers, among whom were many of the same class as the friends of\n Catullus and Tibullus. There was a morning service; a kind of mass,\n celebrated by a priest, shorn and beardless. There were sprinklings\n of holy water; possibly benediction in the evening. All this\n occupied, amused, soothed. What could any one want more?\n\n \u201cBut it was above all the Mithraic[18] worship which, in the second\n and third centuries, attained an extraordinary prevalence. I\n sometimes permit myself to say that, if Christianity had not carried\n the day, Mithraicism would have become the religion of the world.\n It had its mysterious meetings, its chapels, which bore a strong\n resemblance to little churches. It forged a very lasting bond of\n brotherhood between its initiates; it had a Eucharist, a supper so\n like the Christian mysteries that good Justin Martyr the Apologist\n can find only one explanation of the apparent identity, namely, that\n Satan, in order to deceive the human race, determined to imitate the\n Christian ceremonies, and so stole them. A Mithraic sepulchre in the\n Roman catacombs is as edifying, and presents as elevated a mysticism,\n as the Christian tombs.\u201d[19]\n\nDescribing the earliest Christianity, KILLEN bears valuable testimony\nto the fact that the features of paganism which became prominent at a\nlater period were wholly wanting in the earliest Christianity. He shows\nthat the Church was Judaistic in forms and practice.\n\nThese are his words:\n\n \u201cA Roman citizen, when present for the first time at the worship\n of the Church, might have remarked how profoundly it differed\n from the ritual of paganism. The services in the great heathen\n temples were but an imposing scenic exhibition. The holy water for\n lustration, the statues of the gods with wax tapers burning before\n them, the officials robed in white surplices, and the incense\n floating in clouds and diffusing perfume all around, could only\n regale the sense or light up the imagination. No stated time was\n devoted to instruct the assembly; and the liturgy--often in a dead\n language--as it was mumbled over by the priest, merely added to\n the superstition and the mysticism. But the worship of the Church\n was, in the highest sense, a \u2018reasonable service.\u2019 It had no parade,\n no images, no fragrant odors; for the first hundred years it was\n commonly celebrated in private houses or the open fields; and yet it\n addressed itself so impressively to the understanding and the heart\n that the congregations of the faithful frequently presented scenes\n incomparably more spirit-stirring and sublime than anything ever\n witnessed in the high places of Greek or Roman idolatry....\n\n \u201cNo individual or church court is warranted to tamper with symbolic\n ordinances of divine appointment; for as they are the typical\n embodiment of great truths, any change essentially vitiates their\n testimony. But their early administrators overlooking this grave\n objection, soon ceased to respect the integrity of baptism and\n the Lord\u2019s Supper. In the third century a number of frivolous and\n superstitious ceremonies--such as exorcism, unction, the making of\n the sign of the cross on the forehead, and the kiss of peace--were\n already tacked to baptism; so that the beautiful significance of\n the primitive observance could not be well seen under these strange\n trappings. Before the middle of the second century the wine of\n the Eucharist was mixed with water; fifty years afterwards the\n communicants participated standing; and at length the elements\n themselves were treated with awful reverence. The more deeply to\n impress the imagination, baptism and the Eucharist began to be\n surrounded with the secrecy of the heathen mysteries, and none save\n those who had received the ordinances were suffered to be present at\n their dispensation. The ministers of the Church sadly compromised\n their religion when they thus imitated the meretricious decorations\n of the pagan worship. As might have been expected, the symbols so\n disfigured were misunderstood and misrepresented. Baptism was called\n regeneration, and the Eucharist was designated a sacrifice. Thus\n a door was opened for the admission of a whole crowd of dangerous\n errors.\u201d[20]\n\nThe tendency to religious syncretism, during the early centuries, was a\nprolific source of corruption to New Testament Christianity. Speaking\nof the results of this tendency, and of the composite character of\nthe religious _cultus_ at Alexandria, in the time of Hadrian (117-138\nA.D.), Canon FARRAR says:\n\n \u201cThere was no city in the empire in which a graver task was assigned\n to the great scholars and teachers of Christianity than the city of\n Alexandria. It was the centre of the most energetic intellectual\n vitality; and there, like the seething of the grapes in the vine\n cluster, the speculations of men of every religion and every\n nationality exercised a reciprocal influence on each other.\n\n \u201cA single letter of Hadrian presented by Vopiscus will show the\n confusion of thought and intermixture of religions which prevailed\n in that cosmopolitan city, and the aspect presented by its religious\n syncretism to a cool and cynical observer. \u2018Those who worship\n Serapis,\u2019 he says in a letter to a friend, \u2018are Christians, and those\n who call themselves Bishops of Christ are votaries of Serapis. There\n is no ruler of a synagogue there, no Samaritan, no presbyter of the\n Christians, who is not an astrologer, who is not a soothsayer, who\n is not a gymnast. The patriarch of the Jews himself when he comes to\n Egypt is forced by one party to worship Serapis, by the other Christ.\n They have but one God who is no God; him Christians, him Jews, him\n all races worship alike.\u2019 To the disdainful and sceptical mind of\n the emperor, who deified his own unhappy minion, Christianity,\n gnosticism, Judaism, paganism were all forms of one universal\n charlatanry and sham.\u201d[21]\n\nIn writing of Leo the Great (440-461) founder of the papacy, Dean\nMERIVALE gives a graphic picture of the state of Christianity at that\ntime. Space is here taken for a copious extract that the weight of\nMerivale\u2019s name and words may add force to the facts. He says:\n\n \u201cIt will be admitted, I trust, without entering upon disquisitions\n which would be inappropriate to this occasion, that the corruptions\n of Christian faith against which our own national Church and many\n others rose indignantly at the Reformation had for the most part\n struck their foundations deep in the course of the fifth century;\n that though they had sprung up even from an earlier period, and\n though they developed more in some directions, and assumed more\n fixity in the darker times that followed, yet the working of the\n true Christian leaven among the masses was never more faint, the\n approximation of Christian usage to the manners and customs of\n paganism never really closer, than in the age of which we are now\n speaking. We have before us many significant examples of the\n facility with which the most intelligent of the pagans accepted the\n outward rite of Christian baptism, and made a nominal profession of\n the faith, while they retained and openly practised, without rebuke,\n without remark, with the indulgence even of genuine believers, the\n rites and usages of the paganism they pretended to have abjured. We\n find abundant records of the fact that personages high in office,\n such as consuls and other magistrates, while administering the laws\n by which the old idolatries were proscribed, actually performed\n pagan rites, and even erected public statues to pagan divinities.\n Still more did men, high in the respect of their fellow-Christians,\n allow themselves to cherish sentiments utterly at variance with the\n definitions of the Church. Take the instance of the illustrious\n Bishop Synesius. Was he a Christian, was he a pagan; who shall say?\n He was famous in the schools of Alexandria as a man of letters, a\n teacher of the ancient philosophies, an admirer of the pagan Hypatia.\n The Christian people of Ptolemais, enchanted with his talents,\n demanded him for their bishop. He protests not indeed that he is an\n unbeliever--but that his life and habits are not suitable to so high\n an office. He has a wife whom he cannot abandon, as the manners of\n the age might require of him; whom he will not consort with secretly,\n as the manners of the age would, it seems, allow. \u2018But further I\n cannot believe,\u2019 he adds, \u2018that the human soul has been breathed\n into flesh and blood; I will not teach that this everlasting world\n of matter is destined to annihilation; the resurrection, as taught\n by the Church, seems to me a doubtful and questionable doctrine. I\n am a philosopher, and cannot preach to the people popularly.\u2019 In\n short, he maintains to all appearance that if he is a believer in\n Jesus Christ, he is a follower of Plato; and such doubtless were\n many others. The people leave him his wife and his opinions, and\n insist that he shall be their bishop. He retains his family ties,\n his philosophy, his Platonism, his rationalism, and accepts the\n government of the Church notwithstanding. Again we ask, was Synesius\n a Christian or a pagan? The instance of such a bishop, one probably\n among many, is especially significant; but the same question arises\n with regard to other men of eminence of the period. Was Bo\u00ebthius,\n a century later, the imitator of Cicero, Christian or pagan? Was\n Simplicius, the commentator on Plato? Was Ausonius, the playful\n poet and amiable friend of the Bishop Paulinus, who celebrates\n Christ in one poem, and scatters his allusions to pagan mythology\n indiscriminately in many others? We know that Libanius, the intimate\n friend and correspondent of Basil, was a pagan of the pagans; but he\n did not on that account forfeit the confidence of a sainted father of\n the Christian Church. So indifferent as Christians seem to have been\n at this period to their own creed, so indifferent to the creed of\n their friends and associates, we cannot wonder if it has left us few\n or but slight traces of a vital belief in the principles of divine\n redemption.\n\n \u201cWe must make, indeed, large allowance for the intellectual trials\n of an age of transition when it was not given to every one to see\n his way between the demands urged upon an intelligent faith by the\n traditions of a brilliant past on the one hand, and the intimations\n of an obscure and not a cheerful future on the other. We hardly\n realize, perhaps, the pride with which the schools of Athens\n and Alexandria still regarded their thousand years of academic\n renown, while the Christian Church was slowly building up the\n recent theological systems on which its own foundations were to be\n secured for the ages to follow. We need not complain of Leo, and\n other Christian doctors, if they shrank, as I think they did, from\n rushing again into polemics with the remnant of the philosophers,\n whose day, they might think, was sure to close at no distant date.\n But the real corruption of the age was shown in the unstinted\n adoption of pagan usages in the ceremonial of the Christian Church,\n with all the baneful effects they could not fail to produce on the\n spiritual training of the people. There are not wanting, indeed,\n passages in the popular teachings of St. Leo, in which he beats the\n air with angry denunciations of auguries, and sortilege, and magic,\n stigmatizes idolatry as the worship of demons, and the devil as the\n father of pagan lies. But neither Leo, nor, I think, the contemporary\n doctors of the Church, seem to have had an adequate sense of the\n process by which the whole essence of paganism was throughout their\n age constantly percolating the ritual of the Church and the hearts\n of the Christian multitude. It is not to these that we can look for\n a warning that the fasts prescribed by the Church had their parallel\n in the abstinence imposed by certain pagan creeds, and required\n to be guarded and explained to the people in their true Christian\n significance; that the monachism they extolled so warmly, and which\n spread so rapidly, was in its origin a purely pagan institution,\n common to the religions of India, Thibet, and Syria, with much,\n no doubt, to excuse its extravagance in the hapless condition of\n human life at the period, but with little or nothing to justify it\n in the charters of our Christian belief; that the canonizing of\n saints and martyrs, the honors paid them, and the trust reposed in\n them, were simply a revival of the old pagan mythologies; that the\n multiplication of formal ceremonies, with processions and lights and\n incense and vestments, with images and pictures and votive offerings,\n was a mere pagan appeal to the senses, such as can never fail to\n enervate man\u2019s moral fibre; that, in short, the general aspect of\n Christian devotion, as it met the eye of the observer, was a faint\n and rather frivolous imitation of the old pagan ritual, the object\n of which, from first to last, was not to instruct, or elevate man\u2019s\n nature, but simply to charm away the ills of life by adorning and\n beautifying his present existence.\u201d[22]\n\nWitness also the following from WESTROPP and WAKE:\n\n \u201cIn popular customs, and even in religious institutions, these things\n are as plainly perceived to-day as when Adonis and Astarte were the\n Gods of the former world. The sanctities, the powers, the symbols,\n and even the utensils of the ancient faith have been assumed, if not\n usurped or legitimately inherited, by its successors. The two holies\n of the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists, Sophia and Eirene--Wisdom and\n Peace--were adopted as saints in the calendar of Constantinople.\n Dionysius, the god of the mysteries, reappears as St. Denys in\n France, St. Liberius, St. Eleutherius, and St. Bacchus; there is\n also a St. Mithra; and even Satan, prince of shadows, is revered as\n St. Satur and St. Swithin. Their relics are in keeping. The holy\n virgin Astr\u00e6a or Astarte, whose return was announced by Virgil in the\n days of Augustus, as introducing a new golden age, now under her old\n designation of Blessed Virgin and Queen of Heaven, receives homage as\n \u2018the one whose sole divinity the whole orb of the earth venerates.\u2019\n The Mother and Child, the latter adorned with the nimbus or aureole\n of the ancient sun-gods, are now the objects of veneration as much\n as were Ceres and Bacchus, or Isis and Horus, in the mysteries.\n Nuns abounded alike in Christian and Buddhist countries, as they\n did formerly in Isis-worshipping Egypt; and if their maidenhood is\n not sacrificed at the shrine of Baal-Peor, or any of his cognate\n divinities, yet it is done in a figure; they are all \u2018brides of\n the Saviour.\u2019 _Galli_ sing in the churches, and consecrated women\n are as numerous as of old. The priestly vestments are like those\n formerly used in the worship of Saturn and Cybele; the Phrygian\n cap, the pallium, the stole, and the alb. The whole Pantheon has\n been exhausted, from the Indus, Euphrates, and the Nile, to supply\n symbolic adornment for the apostles\u2019 successors. Hercules holds the\n distaff of Omphale. The Lily has superseded the Lotus, and celibacy\n is exalted above the first recorded mandate of God to mankind....\n\n \u201cIt is true, doubtless, that there is not a fast or festival,\n procession or sacrament, social custom or religious symbol, that did\n not come \u2018bodily\u2019 from the previous paganism. But the pope did not\n import them on his own account; they had already been transferred\n into the ecclesiastical structure, and he only accepted and perhaps\n took advantage of the fact. Many of those who protest because of\n these corruptions are prone to imitate them more or less, displaying\n an engrafting from the same stock.\u201d[23]\n\nA late German writer of note and authority, LECHLER, thus states the\nrelative influence of paganism and Judaism on early Christianity:\n\n \u201cPutting together all that has been said, we get the impression\n that, in respect to the Gentile Christians in the second half of\n the Apostolic age, heathenism was the vastly predominant power that\n partly from without threatened the Church, and partly from within\n prepared the most hazardous disputes. It was an anti-Christian gnosis\n proceeding from heathen ideas; frequently also a moral error stained\n with heathen licentiousness, that became dangerous to souls. On the\n other hand, according to all the documents of that later apostolic\n time that we possess, Judaism, broken as a political power, was no\n longer a dangerous opponent of the Church of Christ as a spiritual\n power; the time in which Judaizing errorists possessed a powerful\n influence over spirits was visibly passed.\u201d[24]\n\nWith such a preview, made up from writers of such authority and\nability, the fact of the existence of an immense amount of pagan\nresiduum in Christianity is placed beyond question. The reader may be\nsurprised; may shrink from such facts. But shrinking from facts, or\ndenying them, does not remove or destroy them. Facts are immortal. He\nwho will take the trouble to follow through the successive chapters\nwill see by what means, and in what ways, Christianity was corrupted,\nand whence came the pagan residuum that yet remains. Suggestions in\noutline will also be found, as to how the remaining residuum can be\nremoved.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] It was the next day.\n\n[2] _History of Rome_, by Thomas H. Dyer, LL.D., p. 295, New York and\nLondon, 1877.\n\n[3] _The Old Roman World_, by John Lord, LL.D., chap. xiii., p. 558\nff., New York, 1873.\n\n[4] _Outlines of the History of Religions_, by Prof. C. P. Tiele,\ntranslated from the Dutch by J. E. Carpenter, pp. 242, 244. London and\nBoston, 1877.\n\n[5] _Epitome Annalium Cardinalis Baronii, a Spondano._ In Dues Partes.\np. 79, Lugduni, 1686.\n\n[6] _De Inventore Rerum_, lib. v., cap. i., Venetus, 1490.\n\n[7] _Antiquities of France_, lib. 2, cap. 1.\n\n[8] _Faux Visage de l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9._\n\n[9] Which are to be found in the edition printed with the king\u2019s\nprivilege, at Lyons, by William Rouille, anno 1556.\n\n[10] _Conformity between Ancient and Modern Ceremonies_, Leyden, 1677,\npp. 4, 5.\n\nFor the original, see _Veterum Romanorum Religio_, Guilielmo du Choul,\nAmstel\u00e6dami, 1685, p. 216.\n\n[11] _Middleton\u2019s Works_, vol. iii., pp. 117, 118, London, 1752. See\nalso Aringhus, _Rom. Subter._, tom. 1, lib. i., c. 21.\n\n[12] _Last Results of Persian Research_, in _Outlines of the Philosophy\nof History_, by C. C. J. Bunsen, chap. 3, sec. 1, part 1, of First\nPart, London, 1854.\n\n[13] _History of the Corruption of Christianity_, vol. ii., pp. 441,\n442, Birmingham, 1782.\n\n[14] _The Irish Race in the Past and the Present_, by Rev. Aug.\nThebaud, S. J., p. 63, New York, 1876.\n\n[15] _Christ and Other Masters_, by Charles Hardwick, M.A., part 2, p.\n183, Cambridge, 1857.\n\n[16] _The Church in the Catacombs_, etc., by Chas. Maitland, M.D., p.\n306, London, 1846.\n\n[17] _Evenings with the Romanists_, pp. 221-223, London, 1854.\n\n[18] Eastern sun-worship.\n\n[19] _Influence of Rome on Christianity_, Hibbert Lectures for 1880, p.\n33 ff.\n\n[20] _The Old Catholic Church_, etc., W. D. Killen, D.D., pp. 44-6,\nEdinburgh, 1871.\n\n[21] _Lives of the Fathers_, vol. i., pp. 350-1, Edinburgh, 1889.\n\n[22] _Four Lectures on Some Epochs of Early Church History_, by Charles\nMerivale, D.D., Dean of Ely, pp. 149-155, New York, Randolph; no date.\n\n[23] _Ancient Symbol Worship_, Westropp and Wake, pp. 94, 96, New York,\n1874.\n\n[24] _Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Times_, G. V. Lechler, D.D., pp.\n262, 263.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. PAGAN METHODS OF INTERPRETING THE SCRIPTURES.\n\n\n Contrast between the Christianity of the New Testament and\n That of the Later Centuries--Gnosticism and Allegorical\n Interpretation--Testimony of Harnack and Bauer Concerning the\n \u201cHellenization of Christianity\u201d--Hatch on \u201cPagan Exegesis\u201d--The\n \u201cFathers\u201d as Allegorists; Justin, Clement of Alexandria, Barnabas,\n and Others--Examples: \u201cThe Red Heifer a Type of Christ\u201d; \u201cSpiritual\n Circumcision\u201d; \u201cScriptural Significance of Foods\u201d; \u201cThe Cross in\n the Old Testament\u201d; \u201cWhy Are There One Hundred and Fifty Psalms?\u201d\n \u201cThe Ph\u0153nix a Type of the Resurrection\u201d; \u201cGnostic Exposition of the\n Decalogue\u201d; \u201cTypes of Christ\u201d; Various Examples from Augustine.\n\nThe student of history cannot fail to note the wide difference between\nthe Christianity of the New Testament period and that of the fourth\ncentury. The religion which Christ taught was a direct outgrowth of\nJudaism. His mission was \u201cnot to destroy but to fulfil.\u201d This He did\nby giving a higher conception and a broader view of all which Judaism\nhad held hitherto. He gave a new meaning to the fatherhood of God.\nHe explained and enforced the moral precepts of the Old Testament,\ndeveloping their deeper spiritual sense, and giving them a new\napplication to the inner life of men. He enlarged Judaism without\ndestroying it. He clarified and intensified the ten commandments. He\ndiscarded the outward formalities of the Jews, and \u201creached the heart\nof things\u201d by His interpretation of the ancient Scriptures, by His new\nprecepts, and by His example. He developed Christianity within the\nJewish Church, making it the efflorescence of all that was best in the\nancient dispensation.\n\nChrist presented love for God, for truth, and for man, as the\nmainspring of action in all religious living. Under His teachings\nChristianity arose as a new life, springing from the law of God,\nwritten in the hearts of men. New Testament Christianity was a life\nborn of love, and finding expression in loving obedience. It was a\nsystem of right living, as in the divine presence, and by the help of\nthe divine Spirit. Men were drawn to each other and to Christ by the\npower of this love. Such was Christianity at its birth.\n\nThe earliest Christian congregations were communities for holy living,\nupon the ground of a mutual faith in Christ. They expected still\ngreater revelations of Him, and through Him, in the near future. The\nfacts connected with His life and the memory of His teachings formed\nthe soil in which Christianity had its earliest roots. A common\nhope and the struggle for holy living according to the law of God\nbound these communities together. They were made up of Jews alone,\nor of Jews and those Gentiles who had been converts to Judaism.\nBeyond this common hope there was no settled doctrine, no formal\necclesiastical organization. There were no written scriptures except\nthe Old Testament. As the history of Christianity progressed, its\nenlarging spirit brought about a conflict with the narrower phases of\nJudaism, and hence more or less antagonism towards certain Judaistic\ninterpretations of the Old Testament.\n\nThe Christianity of the third and fourth centuries presents the\nstrongest possible contrast when placed alongside of that which existed\nduring the New Testament period. The Sermon on the Mount was the\npromulgation of a new law of conduct. \u201cThe Nicene Creed is a statement\npartly of historical facts, and partly of dogmatic inferences.\u201d[25]\nSome adequate reason must be found for this difference. How did this\nchange in the central character of Christianity come to pass? By what\ninfluences was it transformed from a system of right living to a system\nof metaphysical belief; to right thinking rather than right doing?\nThe answer is suggested by the fact that this change in character is\ncontemporaneous with the transferring of Christianity from Semitic\nto Greek influence. Thus we are brought to face the fact that the\nreligion of a given people at a given time bears certain definite\nrelations to the mental attitude of that time. Religion is a part of\ncommon life which cannot be separated from its surroundings. While we\nmay consider religious problems as distinct from other questions, they\ncan never be understood except as a part of the complex life with which\nthey are interwoven.\n\nWe therefore must commence by inquiring after the characteristics of\nthe pagan world into which the infant Christianity passed when the\nstream of its history left the soil of Palestine and entered the field\nof Greek and Roman influences.\n\n\nGnosticism.\n\nLong before the time of Christ the Oriental religions had developed a\nsystem of philosophy in which were the seeds of that which in later\ntimes was known as gnosticism. This claimed to hold within itself \u201cthe\nknowledge of God and of man, of the being and the providence of the\nformer, and of the creation and destiny of the latter.\u201d[26] In its\njourney westward this system had mingled with Jewish thought and given\nrise to the Kabbalists or Jewish Gnostics. In the Oriental religions\nall external phenomena expressed a hidden meaning. Applying this\ndoctrine to the Scriptures, the Jewish Gnostics taught that a hidden\nmeaning was to be found in all laws, ceremonies, and rituals. They\ninvented the theory that a secret tradition had been handed down from\nthe time of Moses; the interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures had been\ngreatly perverted in this way. Gnosticism said: \u201cNothing is what it\nseems to be; everything tangible is the symbol of something invisible.\nBy this means the history of the Old Testament was sublimated into a\nhistory of the emancipation of reason from sense.\u201d[27] This application\nof the allegorical method of interpretation to the Old Testament\nenabled pagan philosophers to draw from it whatever fancies they chose.\nThis method also favored a tendency among the early Christians to\ninterpret the Old Testament so as to find upon every leaf of the book\nsome reference to Christ and the Christian religion. Thus gnosticism\nhad prepared the way for the obliteration of the concrete positiveness\nof the Old Testament, and destroyed its authority in a great degree.\n\nThe entire Grecian world was thoroughly permeated as to its literature\nand philosophy with the spirit and practice of gnosticism. It formed\nthe bridge between Judaism on its intellectual side, and the Oriental,\nGrecian, and Egyptian cults. When the infant Christianity came in\ncontact with Greek thought, gnostic influences and tendencies assailed\nit on every hand. Thus, through a gnostic element already within the\nJewish Church, and the cultured, powerful gnostic influences in the\npagan world, nascent Christianity was like the traveller from Jerusalem\nto Jericho who fell among thieves. The intellectual unrest of the age\nfavored the process of corruption which went rapidly forward.\n\n\nBiblical Exegesis.\n\nWhatever touches the Bible and its interpretation touches Christianity\nat a vital point. The fundamental difference between the pagan\ngnosticism and Christianity lay in the fact that Christianity was a\nrevealed religion, finding its beginning and end in the divine love and\nlife unfolded in Christ Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. On the contrary,\ngnosticism found its source in human reasoning, human philosophy, and\nspeculations.\n\nDr. SCHAFF describes its influence when he says:\n\n \u201cIt exaggerates the Pauline view of the distinction of Christianity\n from Judaism, sunders Christianity from its historical basis,\n resolves the real humanity of the Saviour into a doketistic\n illusion, and perverts the freedom of the Gospel into Antinomian\n licentiousness. The author or first representative of this baptized\n heathenism, according to the uniform testimony of Christian\n antiquity, is Simon Magus, who unquestionably adulterated\n Christianity with pagan ideas and practices, and gave himself out, in\n pantheistic style, for an emanation of God. Plain traces of [of the\n existence of] this error appear in the later epistles of Paul to the\n Colossians, to Timothy, and to Titus, the second epistle of Peter,\n and the first two epistles of John, the epistle of Jude, and the\n messages of the Apocalypse to the seven churches.\u201d[28]\n\nThis rapid survey of the field shows us that gnostic influences\nrepresent what Professor HARNACK calls \u201c_The acute vulgarization of\nChristianity, or its Hellenization_.\u201d We are therefore prepared to\naccept his testimony relative to the influence of the Gnostics as\nformulators of Christian doctrine. The following are his words:\n\n \u201cUnder this view the Gnostics should be given their place in the\n history of dogmas as has not been done hitherto. They are simply\n the theologians of the first century; they were the first to\n transform Christianity into a system of doctrines. They were the\n first to elaborate tradition systematically; they undertook to prove\n Christianity to be the absolute religion, and by it to hunt down\n all other religions, including Judaism; but to them the absolute\n religion, so far as its content was concerned, was identical with\n the results of religious philosophy, for which a revelation was to\n be sought as a foundation. Thus they became Christians who tried by\n quick measures to win Christianity for the Hellenic culture, and the\n Hellenic culture for Christianity. To this end they would surrender\n the Old Testament that they might make it more easy to establish\n the union between the two powers, and to gain the possibility of\n proclaiming the absoluteness of Christianity....\n\n \u201cWe may also consider the majority of the gnostic efforts as efforts\n to transform Christianity into a theosophy, or, so to say, into a\n system of revealed metaphysics, with a complete disregard for the\n Jewish Old Testament foundation, on which it originated, and by the\n use of the Pauline ideas. We can also compare later writers, such\n as Barnabas and Ignatius, with the so-called Gnostics, by which the\n latter will be seen to possess a well formulated theory, and the\n former to be in possession of fragments which bear a remarkable\n likeness to said theory.\u201d[29]\n\nBAUER, a careful student of gnosticism, gives a description of\nits mission and methods which shows how it was prepared to exert\nsuch a controlling influence on the history of early Christianity,\nand how destructive that influence was in the matter of biblical\ninterpretation. He says:\n\n \u201c_Gnosis_ and allegory are essentially allied conceptions; and this\n affords us a very marked indication of the path which will really\n lead us to the origin of gnosticism; for we shall find that allegory\n plays an important part in most of its systems, especially in those\n which exhibit its original form.\n\n \u201cIt is well known that allegory is the soul of the Alexandrian\n religious philosophy. Nothing else, indeed, can enable us to\n understand the rise of the latter, so closely is allegory interwoven\n with its very nature. Allegory is in general the mediator between\n philosophy and the religion which rests upon positive tradition.\n Wherever it is seen on a large scale, we notice that philosophical\n views have arisen side by side with, and independently of, the\n existing religion; and that the need has arisen to bring the ideas\n and doctrines of philosophy into harmony with the contents of the\n religious belief. In such circumstances, allegory appears in the\n character of mediator. It brings about the desired conformity by\n simply interpreting the belief in the sense of the philosophy.\n Religious ideas and narratives are thus clothed with a figurative\n sense, which is entirely different from their literal meaning. It\n was thus that allegory arose before the Christian time among the\n Greeks. The desire was felt first by Plato, and afterward still more\n strongly by the Stoics, to turn the myths of the popular religion\n to account on behalf of their philosophical ideas, and so to bridge\n over the gulf between the philosophical and the popular mind; and\n with this view they struck out the path of allegory, of allegorical\n interpretation of the myths. It is well known what extensive use the\n Stoics made of allegory when they wished to trace their own ideas\n of the philosophy of nature in the gods of popular belief, and the\n narratives concerning them.\n\n \u201cBut in Alexandria, this mode of interpretation assumed still greater\n importance. Here it had to solve the weighty problem, how the new\n ideas that had forced their way into the mind and consciousness of\n the Jew, were to be reconciled with his belief in the authority\n of his sacred religious books. Allegory alone made it possible to\n him, on the one hand, to admire the philosophy of the Greeks, and\n in particular of Plato, and to make its ideas his own; and, on the\n other, to reverence the Scripture of the Old Testament as the one\n source of divinely revealed truth. The sacred books needed but to be\n explained allegorically, and then all that was wished for, even the\n boldest speculative ideas of the Greek mind, could be found in the\n books themselves. How widely this method was practised in Alexandria,\n may be judged from the writings of Philo, in which we see the most\n extensive use made of allegorical interpretation, and find the\n contents of the Old Testament blended intimately with everything that\n the systems of Greek philosophy could offer. But it would be quite\n erroneous to think that it was nothing but caprice and the unchecked\n play of fancy, that called forth this allegorical explanation of\n the Scriptures, which came to exercise such influence. For to the\n Alexandrian Jew, at the stage of scriptural development which he had\n now reached, with his consciousness divided between his ancestral\n Hebraism and modern Hellenism, this allegorizing was a necessary form\n of consciousness; and so little did he dream that the artificial link\n by which he bound together such diverse elements was a thing he had\n himself created, that all the truth which he accepted in the systems\n of Greek philosophy seemed to him to be nothing but an emanation from\n the Old Testament revelation.\n\n \u201cNow the gnostic systems also, for the most part, make very free\n use of the allegorical method of interpretation; and this is enough\n to apprise us that we must regard them under the same aspect as the\n Alexandrian religious philosophy. As far as we are acquainted with\n the writings of the Gnostics, we see them to have been full of\n allegorical interpretations, not indeed referring, as with Philo, to\n the books of the Old Testament (for their attitude toward the Old\n Testament was entirely different from his); but to those of the New,\n which were for the Gnostics what the books of the Old Testament were\n for Philo.\n\n \u201cIn order to give their own ideas a Christian stamp, they applied\n the allegorical method, as much as possible, to the persons and\n events of the Gospel history, and especially to the numbers that\n occur in it. Thus for the Valentinians the number thirty in the New\n Testament, especially in the life of Jesus, was made to signify the\n number of their \u00e6ons; the lost wandering sheep was for them their\n Achamoth; and even the utterances of Jesus, which contain a perfectly\n simple religious truth, received from them a sense referring to the\n doctrines of their system.\n\n \u201cThe lately discovered _Philosophoumena_ of the pseudo-Origen who\n undertook the task of refuting all the heresies show us even more\n clearly than before what an extensive use the Gnostics made of\n allegory.\n\n \u201cThey applied it not merely to the books of the Old and New\n Testaments, but even the products of Greek literature, for instance,\n to the Homeric poems; their whole mode of view was entirely\n allegorical.\n\n \u201cThe whole field of ancient mythology, astronomy, and physics, was\n laid under contribution to support their views. They thought that the\n ideas that were the highest objects of their thought and knowledge\n were to be found expressed everywhere.\u201d[30]\n\nHATCH offers important testimony as to the pagan elements in early\nexegesis, in these words:\n\n \u201cThe earliest methods of Christian exegesis were continuations of the\n methods which were common at the time to both Greek and Gr\u00e6co-Jud\u00e6an\n writers. They were employed on the same subject-matter. Just as\n the Greek philosophers had found their philosophy in Homer, so\n Christian writers found in him Christian theology. When he represents\n Odysseus as saying,[31] \u2018The rule of many is not good; let there be\n one ruler,\u2019 he means to indicate that there should be but one God;\n and his whole poem is designed to show the mischief that comes of\n having many gods.[32] When he tells us that Heph\u00e6stus represented\n on the shield of Achilles \u2018the earth, the heaven, the sea, the sun\n that rests not, and the moon full-orbed,\u2019[33] he is teaching the\n divine order of creation which he learned in Egypt from the books\n of Moses.[34] So Clement of Alexandria interprets the withdrawal of\n Oceanus and Tethys from each other to mean the separation of land and\n sea.[35] And he holds that Homer when he makes Apollo ask Achilles,\n \u2018Why fruitlessly pursue him, a god,\u2019 meant to show that the divinity\n cannot be apprehended by the bodily powers.[36]\n\n \u201cSome of the philosophical schools which hung upon the skirts of\n Christianity mingled such interpretations of Greek mythology\n with similar interpretations of the Old Testament. For example,\n the writer to whom the name Simon Magus is given, is said to have\n \u2018interpreted in whatever way he wished both the writings of Moses and\n also those of the Greek poets\u2019[37]; and the Ophite writer, Justin,\n evolves an elaborate cosmogony from a story of Herakles narrated in\n Herodotus,[38] combined with the story of the Garden of Eden.[39]...\n\n \u201cA large part of such interpretation was inherited. The coincidences\n of mystical interpretation between Philo and the _Epistle of\n Barnabas_ show that such interpretation were becoming the common\n property of Jews and Jud\u00e6o-Christians. But the method was soon\n applied to new data. Exegesis became apologetic. Whereas Philo and\n his school had dealt mainly with the Pentateuch, the early Christian\n writers came to deal mainly with the prophets and poetical books;\n and whereas Philo was mainly concerned to show that the writings of\n Moses contained Greek philosophy, the Christian writers endeavored to\n show that the writings of the Hebrew preachers and poets contained\n Christianity; and whereas Philo had been content to speak of the\n writers of the Old Testament, as Dio Chrysostom spoke of the Greek\n poets, as having been stirred by a divine enthusiasm, the Christian\n writers soon came to construct an elaborate theory that the poets\n and preachers were but as the flutes through which the breath of God\n flowed in divine music into the soul.\u201d[40]\n\n\nThe Fathers as Allegorists.\n\nBeginning with Justin, the leaders of thought in the Church, from the\nmiddle of the second century, were men who had been brought up as pagan\nphilosophers, or educated under pagan influence. It was therefore\nunavoidable that this corrupting system of exegesis should be applied\nto the books of the New Testament. This was done by the Gnostics,\naccording to their theory that the true meaning of all writings was\nhidden. Christ\u2019s life presented many difficulties to the philosophers.\nTo explain its seeming contradiction, they resolved the mission of\nChrist into a series of superhuman movements, and the New Testament\ninto a sort of hieroglyphic record of those movements. Instance:\nSimeon, taking the young Christ in his arms in the temple,\n\n \u201cwas a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the Saviour,\n learned his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus. They also\n assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the Gospel as a prophetess,\n and who, after living seven years with her husband, passed all\n the rest of her life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and\n recognized Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most plainly indicated\n Achamoth, who, having for a little while looked upon the Saviour\n with his associates, and dwelling all the rest of the time in the\n intermediate place, waited for Him till He should come again and\n restore her to her proper consort. Her name, too, was indicated by\n the Saviour when he said, \u2018Yet wisdom is justified by her children.\u2019\n This, too, was done by Paul in these words, \u2018But we speak wisdom\n among them that are perfect.\u2019 They declare also that Paul has\n referred to the conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth\n by means of one; for, when writing of the conjugal union in this\n life, he expressed himself thus: \u2018This is a great mystery, but I\n speak concerning Christ and the Church.\u2019\u201d[41]\n\nAnother instance is found in the interpretation which they made of the\nraising of Jairus\u2019 daughter:\n\n \u201cThey maintain further, that that girl of twelve years old, the\n daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, whom the Lord approached\n and raised from the dead, was a type of Achamoth, to whom their\n Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and whom he led anew\n to the perception of that light which had forsaken her. And that\n the Saviour appeared to her when she lay outside of the Pleroma\n as a kind of abortion, they affirm Paul to have declared in his\n _Epistle to the Corinthians_ (in these words): \u2018And last of all, He\n appeared to me also, as to one born out of due time.\u2019 Again, the\n coming of the Saviour with His attendants, to Achamoth is declared\n in like manner by him in the same epistle, when he says: \u2018A woman\n ought to have a veil upon her head, because of the angels.\u2019 Now that\n Achamoth, when the Saviour came to her, drew a veil over herself\n through modesty, Moses rendered manifest when he put a veil upon his\n face. Then, also, they say that the passions which she endured were\n indicated by the Lord upon the cross. Thus, when He said, \u2018My God,\n my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u2019 he simply showed that Sophia\n was deserted by the light, and was restrained by Horos from making\n any advance forward. Her anguish again was indicated when He said,\n \u2018My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death\u2019; her fear by the\n words, \u2018Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me\u2019; and\n her perplexity, too, when He said, \u2018And what I shall say, I know\n not.\u2019\u201d[42]\n\n\nThis Method Opposed by Some.\n\nSome of the early Fathers, those who were least tinctured with Greek\nthought, especially Tertullian, opposed this method at the first.\nHe declared that it was one of the arts of Satan, against which\nChristians must wrestle. But the system was too deep-seated in all the\nprevailing currents of influence to be displaced. Even while Tertullian\nwas opposing it, it was tightening its grasp upon the Christian\ncommunities; a grasp which is by no means yet removed. Starting first\nat Alexandria and strengthened by the union of Greek philosophy and\nHebrew theology, it gathered force like an increasing tide, and\noverwhelmed all other forms of exegesis. A pertinent example is found\nin Clement of Alexandria, in a philippic against the Sophists:\n\n \u201cLook to the tongue and to the words of the glozing man,\n But you look on no work that has been done;\n But each one of you walks in the steps of a fox,\n And in all of you is an empty mind.\u201d\n\nCLEMENT of Alexandria comments on this as follows:\n\n \u201cThis, I think, is signified by the utterance of the Saviour, \u2018The\n foxes have holes, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.\u2019\n For on the believer alone, who is separated entirely from the rest,\n who by the Scripture are called wild beasts, rests the head of the\n universe, the kind and gentle Word, \u2018Who taketh the wise in their\n own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that\n they are vain\u2019; the Scripture calling those the wise (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2) who are\n skilled in words and arts, sophists (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u1f70\u03c2).\u201d[43]\n\nIn another place the story of the feeding of the multitude by Christ is\nexplained in these words:\n\n \u201cAnd the Lord fed the multitude of those that reclined on the grass\n opposite to Tiberias with the two fishes and the five barley loaves,\n indicating the preparatory training of the Greeks and Jews previous\n to the divine grain, which is the food cultivated by the law. For\n barley is sooner ripe for the harvest than wheat; and the fishes\n signified the Hellenic philosophy that was produced and moved in the\n midst of the Gentile billow, given, as they were, for copious food to\n those lying on the ground, increasing no more, like the fragments of\n the loaves, but having partaken of the Lord\u2019s blessing, had breathed\n into them the resurrection of God-head through the power of the Word.\n But if you are curious, understand one of the fishes to mean the\n curriculum of study, and the other the philosophy which supervenes.\n The gatherings point out the word of the Lord.\u201d[44]\n\nChristianity, according to the New Testament, could not be developed\nunder such exegesis. These pagano-Christian leaders had still greater\nlove for the allegorical method because it enabled them to \u201cexplain\naway\u201d the difficulties which they found in considering Christianity--as\nthey conceived of it--to be the product of the Old Testament. From\nthe first they had identified the God of the Old Testament with the\nDemiurge, the creator of the world and of matter, in which was only\nevil. They claimed that Jehovah could not make a revelation for all\ntime, nor one worthy of their confidence. Hatch, speaking of the Old\nTestament, says:\n\n \u201cAn important section of the Christian world rejected its authority\n altogether; it was the work, not of God, but of His rival, the god\n of this world; the contrast between the Old Testament and the New\n was part of the larger contrast between matter and spirit, darkness\n and light, evil and good. This was the contention of Marcion, whose\n influence upon the Christian world was far larger than is commonly\n supposed.\u201d[45]\n\n\nFurther Examples.\n\nStill further examples of the fanciful perversions of the Scriptures,\nby the Fathers, are presented in order that the reader may be left\nwithout a doubt as to the ruinous effects which the pagan allegorizing\nmethods produced upon the infant Church.\n\n_The Epistle of Barnabas_, falsely attributed to the companion of Paul,\nis a notable example of unmeaning allegories which totally pervert the\nScriptures. Take the following examples:\n\n \u201cTHE RED HEIFER A TYPE OF CHRIST.[46]\n\n \u201cNow what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command was\n given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness should offer\n a heifer, and slay and burn it, and that then boys should take the\n ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick purple wool\n along with hyssop, and that thus the boys should sprinkle the people\n one by one, in order that they might be purified from their sins?\n Consider how he speaks to you with simplicity. The calf is Jesus; the\n sinful men offering it are those who led Him to the slaughter. But\n now the men are no longer guilty, are no longer regarded as sinners.\n And the boys that sprinkle are those that have proclaimed to us\n the remission of sins and purification of heart. To these He gave\n authority to preach the gospel, being twelve in number, corresponding\n to the twelve tribes of Israel. But why are there three boys that\n sprinkle? To correspond to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, because\n these were great with God. And why was the wool [placed] upon the\n wood? Because by wood Jesus holds His kingdom, so that [through the\n cross] those believing on Him shall live forever. But why was hyssop\n joined with the wool? Because in His kingdom the days will be evil\n and polluted in which we shall be saved, [and] because he who suffers\n in body is cured through the cleansing efficacy of hyssop. And on\n this account the things which stand thus are clear to us, but obscure\n to them, because they did not hear the voice of the Lord.\u201d[47]\n\nChapter ix. discusses the spiritual meaning of circumcision. The\nclosing portion of the chapter is as follows:\n\n \u201cYea, the Egyptians also practise circumcision. Learn then, my\n children, concerning all things richly, that Abraham, the first who\n enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit to Jesus, practised\n that rite, having received the mysteries of the three letters. For\n [the Scripture] saith, \u2018And Abraham circumcised ten and eight and\n three hundred men of his household.\u2019 What then was the knowledge\n given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three\n hundred. The ten and the eight are thus denoted--ten by I, and eight\n by H. You have [the initials of] Jesus, and because the cross was\n to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says\n also, \u2018three hundred.\u2019 He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters,\n and the cross by one. He knows this, who has put within us the\n engrafted gift of His doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a\n more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that ye are\n worthy.\u201d[48]\n\nThe tenth chapter, which treats of the _Spiritual Significance of\nthe Precepts of Moses Respecting Different Kinds of Food_, can be\nquoted only in part; portions of it are unfit for the public eye, and\nyet these portions, gross as they are, are solemnly set forth as an\nexegesis of Scripture. The chapter follows here, except the grosser\nsentences:\n\n \u201cNow, wherefore did Moses say, \u2018Thou shalt not eat the swine, nor\n the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not\n possessed of scales?\u2019 He embraced three doctrines in his mind [in\n doing so]. Moreover, the Lord saith to them in Deuteronomy, \u2018And I\n will establish my ordinances among this people.\u2019 Is there then not\n a command of God that they should not eat [these things]? There is;\n but Moses spoke with a spiritual reference. For this reason he named\n the swine, as much as to say, \u2018Thou shalt not join thyself to men who\n resemble swine,\u2019 for when they live in pleasure they forget their\n Lord; but when they come to want they acknowledge the Lord. And [in\n like manner] the swine, when it has eaten, does not recognize its\n master; but when hungry it cries out, and on receiving food is quiet\n again. \u2018Neither shalt thou eat,\u2019 says he, \u2018the eagle, nor the hawk,\n nor the kite, nor the raven.\u2019 \u2018Thou shalt not join thyself,\u2019 he\n means, \u2018to such men as know not how to procure food for themselves by\n labor and sweat, but seize on that of others in their iniquity, and,\n although wearing an aspect of simplicity, are on the watch to plunder\n others.\u2019 So these birds, while they sit idle, inquire how they may\n devour the flesh of others, proving themselves pests [to all] by\n their wickedness. \u2018And thou shalt not eat,\u2019 he says, \u2018the lamprey,\n or the polypus, or the cuttle-fish.\u2019 He means, \u2018Thou shalt not join\n thyself or be like to such men as are ungodly to the end, and are\n condemned to death.\u2019 In like manner as those fishes above accursed,\n float in the deep, not swimming [on the surface] like the rest, but\n make their abode in the mud which lies at the bottom....\n\n \u201cMoses then issued three doctrines concerning meats with a spiritual\n significance; but they received them according to fleshly desire\n as if he had merely spoken of [literal] meats. David, however,\n comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines, and speaks in like\n manner: \u2018Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of\n the ungodly,\u2019 even as the fishes [referred to] go in darkness to the\n depths [of the sea], \u2018and hath not stood in the way of sinners,\u2019 even\n as those who profess to fear the Lord, but go astray like swine; \u2018and\n hath not sat in the seat of the scorners\u2019 even as those birds that\n lie in wait for prey. Take a full and firm grasp of this spiritual\n knowledge. But Moses says still further, \u2018Ye shall eat every animal\n that is cloven-footed and ruminant.\u2019 What does he mean? [The ruminant\n animal denotes him] who on receiving food recognizes Him that\n nourishes him, and being satisfied by Him, is visibly made glad. Well\n spake [Moses] having respect to the commandment. What then does he\n mean? That we ought to join ourselves to those that fear the Lord,\n those who meditate in their heart on the commandment which they have\n received, those who both utter the judgments of the Lord and observe\n them, those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who\n ruminate upon the word of the Lord. But what means the cloven-footed?\n That the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks forward to\n the holy state [to come]. Behold how well Moses legislated. But how\n was it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things?\n We then, rightly understanding his commandments, explain them as\n the Lord intended. For this purpose He circumcised our ears and our\n hearts, that we might understand these things.\u201d[49]\n\nChapter xii. is a meaningless discussion of the cross as prefigured in\nthe Old Testament. A part of the chapter will suffice.\n\n \u201cIn like manner he points to the cross of Christ in another prophet,\n who saith, \u2018And when shall these things be accomplished?\u2019 And the\n Lord saith, \u2018When a tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and\n when blood shall flow out of wood.\u2019[50] Here again you have an\n intimation concerning the cross and Him who should be crucified.\n Yet again he speaks of this in Moses, when Israel was attacked by\n strangers. And that He might remind them, when assailed, that it was\n on account of their sins they were delivered to death, the Spirit\n speaks to the heart of Moses, that he should make a figure of the\n cross, and of Him about to suffer thereon; for unless they put their\n trust in Him they shall be overcome forever. Moses, therefore, placed\n one weapon above another in the midst of the hill, and standing upon\n it, so as to be higher than all the people, he stretched forth his\n hands, and thus again Israel acquired the mastery. But when again he\n let down his hands, they were again destroyed. For what reason? That\n they might know that they could not be saved unless they put their\n trust in Him. And in another prophet he declares, \u2018All day long I\n have stretched forth my hands to an unbelieving people, and one that\n gainsays my righteous way.\u2019 And again Moses makes a type of Jesus\n [signifying] that it was necessary for him to suffer, [and also] that\n He would be the author of life [to others] whom they believed, to\n have destroyed on the cross when Israel was falling.\u201d[51]\n\nJUSTIN MARTYR is an eminent example of one who perverted the Scriptures\nwhile claiming to explain them. Witness the following from the account\nof his conversion to Christianity:\n\n \u201cAnd when I had quoted this, I added, \u2018Hear then how this man, of\n whom the Scriptures declare that He will come again in glory after\n His crucifixion, was symbolized both by the tree of life, which was\n said to have been planted in paradise, and by those events which\n should happen to all the just.\u2019 Moses was sent with a rod to effect\n the redemption of the people; and with this in his hands, at the head\n of the people, he divided the sea. By this he saw the water gushing\n out of the rock; and when he cast a tree into the waters of Marah,\n which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob, by putting rods into\n the water troughs, caused the sheep of his uncle to conceive, so that\n he should obtain their young. With his rod the same Jacob boasts that\n he had crossed the river. He said that he had seen a ladder, and the\n Scripture has declared that God stood above it.\n\n \u201cBut that this was not the Father we have proved from the Scriptures.\n And Jacob having poured oil on a stone in the same place is testified\n to by the very God who appeared to him, that he had anointed a pillar\n to the God who appeared to him. And that the stone symbolically\n proclaimed Christ, we have also proved by many Scriptures; and that\n the unguent, whether it was of oil or of stacte, or of any other\n compounded sweet balsams, had reference to Him we have also proved,\n inasmuch as the word says, \u2018Therefore God, even thy God, hath\n anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.\u2019 For indeed\n all kings and anointed persons obtained from Him their share in the\n names of kings and anointed; just as he himself received from the\n Father the titles of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel, and\n such like other titles which He bears or did bear. Aaron\u2019s rod which\n blossomed, declared him to be the high priest. Isaiah prophesied\n that a rod would come forth from the root of Jesse [and this was]\n Christ. And David says that the righteous man is \u2018like the tree that\n is planted by the channels of waters, which should yield its fruit\n in its season, and whose leaf should not fade.\u2019 Again, the righteous\n is said to flourish like the palm tree. God appeared from a tree to\n Abraham, as it is written, near the oak in Mamre. The people found\n seventy willows and twelve springs after crossing the Jordan. David\n affirms that God comforted him with a rod and staff. Elisha, by\n casting a stick into the river Jordan, recovered the iron part of the\n axe with which the sons of the prophets had gone to cut down trees\n to build the house, in which they wished to read and study the law\n and commandments of God; even as our Christ, by being crucified on\n the tree, and by purifying [us] with water, has redeemed us, though\n plunged in the direst offences, which we have committed, and has\n made [us] a house of prayer and adoration. Moreover, it was a rod\n that pointed out Judah to be the father of Tamar\u2019s sons by a great\n mystery.\u201d[52]\n\nStill more confusing fancies, under the name of exegesis, appear near\nthe close of the _Dialogue_. Witness the following:\n\n \u201c\u2018You know then, sirs,\u2019 I said, \u2018that God has said in Isaiah to\n Jerusalem, \u201cI saved thee in the deluge of Noah.\u201d[53] By this, which\n God said, was meant that the mystery of saved men appeared in the\n deluge. For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the\n deluge, _i.\u00a0e._, with his own wife, his three sons, and their wives,\n being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day wherein Christ\n appeared when He rose from the dead, forever the first in power. For\n Christ being the first-born of every creature, became again the chief\n of another race regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and\n wood, containing the mystery of the cross; even as Noah was saved by\n wood when he rode over the waters with his household. Accordingly,\n when the prophet says, \u201cI saved thee in the times of Noah,\u201d as I have\n already remarked, he addresses the people who are equally faithful\n to God, and possess the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in\n his hands he led your nation through the sea. And you believe that\n this was spoken to your nation only, or to the land. But the whole\n earth, as the Scripture says, was inundated, and the water rose in\n height fifteen cubits above all the mountains; so that it is evident\n this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who obeyed Him,\n for whom also He had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem, as\n was previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I mean\n that by water, faith, and wood, those who are afore prepared, and who\n repent of the sins which they have committed, shall escape from the\n impending judgment of God.\u2019\u201d[54]\n\nAnother illustration of the utterly unmeaning and fanciful\ninterpretations of Scripture is found in _Fragments from Commentaries\non Various Books of Scripture_, by HIPPOLYTUS, Bishop of Rome. He is\nexplaining why there are one hundred and fifty psalms. The main reason\nadduced is that fifty is a sacred number, and the Psalms, on account\nof the destruction of God\u2019s enemies, should contain not only one set\nof fifty, but three such, for the name of the Father, and Son, and\nHoly Spirit. The sacred character of the number fifty is explained as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cThe number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a Sabbath\n of Sabbaths, and also over and above these full Sabbaths, a new\n beginning in the eighth, of a really new rest that remains above the\n Sabbaths. And let any one who is able observe this [as it is carried\n out] in the Psalms with more, indeed, than human accuracy, so as to\n find out the reasons in each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus,\n for instance, it is not without a purpose that the eighth Psalm\n has the inscription, _on the wine presses_, as it comprehends the\n perfection of fruits in the eighth; for the time for the enjoyment\n of the fruits of the true vine could not be before the eighth. And\n again, the second Psalm inscribed, _on the wine presses_, is the\n eightieth, containing another eighth number, viz., in the tenth\n multiple. The eighty-third again is made up by the union of two holy\n numbers, viz., the eighth in the tenth multiple, and the three in the\n first multiple. And the fiftieth Psalm is a prayer for the remission\n of sins, and a confession. For, as according to the Gospel, the\n fiftieth obtained remission confirming thereby that understanding of\n the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions in full confession\n hopes to gain remission in no other number than the fiftieth. And\n again there are also certain others which are called _songs of\n degrees_, in number fifteen, as was also the number of the steps of\n the temple, and which show thereby, perhaps, that the _steps_ (or\n _degrees_) are comprehended within the number seven and the number\n eight. And these songs of degrees begin after the one hundred and\n twentieth Psalm, which is called simply a _Psalm_, as the more\n accurate copies give it. And this is the number of the perfection of\n the life of man. And the hundredth Psalm, which begins thus, _I will\n sing of mercy and judgment, O Lord_, embraces the life of the saint\n in fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with\n these words, _Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord_.\u201d[55]\n\nCLEMENT OF ROME, one of the earliest Fathers from whom anything genuine\nhas come to our time, presents other prominent examples of myth and\nallegory, as follows:\n\n \u201cLet us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which\n takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia, and the countries\n round about. There is a certain bird which is called a ph\u0153nix. This\n is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And\n when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it\n builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices,\n into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as\n the flesh decays, a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being\n nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then\n when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the\n bones of its parent, and, bearing these, it passes from the land of\n Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. And in open day,\n flying in the sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the\n sun, and, having done this, hastens back to its former abode. The\n priests then inspect the registers of the dates, and finds that it\n has returned exactly as the five hundredth year was completed.\u201d[56]\n\nHere is a pagan sun-myth gravely set forth as fact, and made to\nillustrate a Christian truth; an example of what was common in the\nwritings and theories of those who became leaders in the Church.\n\nThe Bible, with its simple truths and plain ethical teachings, was an\ninsipid book to men whose tastes had become abnormal and perverted\nthrough feeding on such pagan fancies and superstitions.\n\nOne more example from CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. It must be remembered\nthat the \u201cChristian\u201d writers who condemn gnosticism as a heresy still\nclaimed that there was a \u201ctrue Christian gnosticism\u201d; the difference\nbetween them and those whom they condemned was in degree more than in\nkind. The following extracts are from Clement\u2019s _Gnostic Exposition of\nthe Decalogue_. It needs little to show that when the law of God was\nthus expounded, its power and authority were practically destroyed.\nSuch expositions were part and parcel of the lawlessness which was the\nunavoidable fruitage of gnosticism. Clement says:\n\n \u201cAnd the Decalogue, viewed as an image of heaven, embraces sun and\n moon, stars, clouds, light, wind, water, air, darkness, fire. This is\n the physical Decalogue of the heaven.\n\n \u201cAnd the representation of the earth contains men, cattle, reptiles,\n wild beasts; and of the inhabitants of the water, fishes and whales;\n and again of the winged tribes, those that are carnivorous, and those\n that use mild food; and of plants likewise, both fruit-bearing and\n barren. This is the physical Decalogue of the earth.\n\n \u201cAnd there is a ten in man himself: the five senses and the\n power of speech, and that of reproduction; and the eighth is the\n spiritual principle communicated at his creation; and the ninth,\n the ruling faculty of the soul; and tenth, there is the distinctive\n characteristic of the Holy Spirit, which comes to him through faith.\n\n \u201cBesides, in addition to these ten human parts, the law appears to\n give its injunctions to sight and hearing, and smell and touch and\n taste, and to the organs subservient to these, which are double the\n hands and the feet. For such is the formation of man. And the soul\n is introduced, and previous to it the ruling faculty, by which we\n reason, not produced in procreation; so that without it there is made\n up the number ten, of the faculties by which all the activity of man\n is carried out....\n\n \u201cIs not man, then rightly said \u2018to have been made in the image of\n God\u2019?--not in the form of his [corporeal] structure; but inasmuch\n as God creates all things by the Word (\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u1ff3) and the man who has\n become a Gnostic performs good actions by the faculty of reason (\u03c4\u1ff7\n \u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03b9\u03ba\u1ff7) properly therefore the two tables are also said to mean\n the commandments that were given to the twofold spirits--those\n communicated before the law to that which was created, and to the\n ruling faculty; and the movements of the senses are both copied in\n the mind, and manifested in the activity which proceeds from the\n body.\u201d[57]\n\nEven TERTULLIAN, who inveighed so strongly against certain phases of\ngnosticism, as represented in the Alexandrian schools, has given\ninterpretations which are no less unreliable and fanciful than those\nwhich he condemns.\n\nHear him on \u201cTypes.\u201d\n\n \u201c_Types of the Death of Christ: Isaac, Joseph; Jacob against Simeon\n and Levi; Moses praying against Amalek; the Brazen Serpent._\n\n \u201cOn the subject of his death, I suppose you endeavor to introduce\n a diversity of opinion, simply because you deny that the suffering\n of the cross was predicted of the Christ of the Creator, and\n because you contend, moreover, that it is not to be believed that\n the Creator would expose His son to that kind of death on which He\n had Himself pronounced a curse. \u2018Cursed,\u2019 says he, \u2018is every one\n who hangeth on a tree.\u2019 But what is meant by this curse, worthy as\n it is of the simple prediction of the cross, of which we are now\n mainly inquiring, I defer to consider, because in another passage,\n we have given the reason of the thing preceded by proof. First,\n I shall offer a full explanation of the types. And no doubt it\n was proper that this mystery should be prophetically set forth by\n types, and indeed chiefly by that method; for in proportion to its\n incredibility would it be a stumbling block, if it were set forth in\n bare prophecy; and in proportion, too, to its grandeur, was the need\n of obscuring it in shadow, that the difficulty of understanding it\n might lead to prayer for the grace of God. First, then, Isaac, when\n he was given up by his father, as an offering, himself carried the\n wood for his own death. By this act he even then was setting forth\n the death of Christ, who was destined by his Father as a sacrifice,\n and carried the cross whereon he suffered. Joseph, likewise, was a\n type of Christ, not, indeed, on this ground (that I may not delay my\n course) that he suffered persecution for the cause of God from his\n brethren, as Christ did from his brethren after the flesh, the Jews;\n but when he is blessed by his father in these words, \u2018His glory is\n that of a bullock; his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them\n shall he push the nations to the very ends of the earth,\u2019--he was\n not, of course, designated as a mere unicorn with its one horn, or\n a minotaur with two; but Christ was indicated in him--a bullock in\n respect of both His characteristics; to some as severe as a judge,\n to others gentle as a Saviour, whose horns were the extremities of\n his cross. For of the antenna, which is a part of a cross, the ends\n are called horns; while the midway stake of the whole frame is the\n unicorn. By this virtue, then, of His cross, and in this manner\n horned, He is both now pushing all nations through faith, bearing\n them away from earth to heaven; and will then push them through\n judgment, casting them down from heaven to earth. He will also,\n according to another passage in the same Scripture, be a bullock\n when he is spiritually interpreted to be Jacob against Simeon and\n Levi, which means against the scribes and the pharisees; for it was\n from them that these last derived their origin. [Like] Simeon and\n Levi, they consummated their wickedness by their heresy, with which\n they persecuted Christ. \u2018Into their counsel let not my soul enter;\n to their assembly let not my heart be united; for in their anger\n they slew men,\u2019 that is, the prophets; \u2018and in their self-will they\n hacked the sinews of a bullock,\u2019 that is, of Christ. For against\n Him did they wreak their fury, after they had slain His prophets,\n even by affixing Him with nails to the cross. Otherwise it is an\n idle thing, when, after slaying men, he inveighs against them for\n the torture of a bullock. Again, in the case of Moses, wherefore did\n he at that moment particularly, when Joshua was fighting Amalek,\n pray in a sitting posture with outstretched hands, when in such a\n conflict it would surely have been more seemly to have bent the\n knee, and smitten the breast, and to have fallen on the face to the\n ground, and in such prostration to have offered prayer? Wherefore,\n but because in a battle fought in the name of that Lord who was one\n day to fight against the devil, the shape was necessary of that very\n cross through which Jesus was to win the victory? Why, once more, did\n the same Moses, after prohibiting the likeness of everything, set up\n the golden serpent on the pole, and, as it hung there, propose it as\n an object to be looked at for a cure? Did he not here also intend\n to show the power of our Lord\u2019s cross, whereby that old serpent,\n the devil, was vanquished--whereby also to every man who was bitten\n by spiritual serpents, but who yet turned with an eye of faith to\n it, was proclaimed a cure from the bite of sin, and health for\n evermore?\u201d[58]\n\nThe allegorizing method continued with great pertinacity. AUGUSTINE,\nthe master mind of the fifth century, whose influence yet abounds\nin the doctrines of both Catholics and Protestants, was under its\nsway. With him, as with those who preceded him, this allegorical\ninterpretation perverted the Scriptures and obscured truth. A single\ninstance must suffice:\n\n \u201cHence, also, in the number of the large fishes which our Lord, after\n His resurrection, showing this new life, commanded to be taken on\n the right side of the ship, there is found the number fifty, three\n times multiplied with the addition of three more [the symbol of the\n Trinity] to make the holy mystery more apparent; and the disciples\u2019\n nets were not broken, because in that new life there shall be no\n schism, caused by the disquiet of heretics. Then [in this new life]\n man, made perfect and at rest, purified in body and in soul, by\n the pure words of God which are like silver purged from its dross,\n seven times refined, shall receive his reward, the denarius. So that\n with that reward the numbers ten and seven meet in Him. For in this\n number seventeen [there is found] as in other numbers representing a\n combination of symbols, a wonderful mystery. Nor is it without good\n reason that the seventeenth Psalm is the only one which is given\n complete in the Book of Kings, because it signifies that kingdom in\n which we shall have no enemy. For its title is, \u2018A Psalm of David in\n the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies\n and from the hand of Saul.\u2019 For of whom is David the type, but of\n Him who, according to the flesh, was born of the seed of David? He,\n in His church, that is, in His body, still endures the malice of\n enemies. Therefore the words which from heaven fell upon the ear of\n that persecutor whom Jesus slew by His voice, and whom He transformed\n into a part of His body (as the food which we use becomes a part\n of ourselves), were these: \u2018Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?\u2019\n And when shall this His body be finally delivered from enemies?\n Is it not when the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed? It is\n to that time that the number of the one hundred and fifty-three\n fishes pertains. For if the number seventeen itself be the side of\n an arithmetical triangle, formed by placing above each other rows\n of units, increasing in number from one to seventeen, the whole sum\n of these units is one hundred and fifty-three: since one and two\n make three; three and three, six; six and four, ten; ten and five,\n fifteen; fifteen and six, twenty-one; and so on: continue this up to\n seventeen, the total one hundred and fifty-three.\u201d[59]\n\nThe foregoing examples are neither isolated nor peculiar. They\nrepresent fully and fairly the prevailing methods of exegesis, falsely\nso called. Such men shaped the faith and governed the thought of\nChristianity west of Palestine after the middle of the second century.\nOther fruitage of their system will be found in another chapter, in the\nAntinomian and anti-Sabbath doctrines by which the authority of Jehovah\nand His word were still further undermined. A careful examination of\nthe entire group of \u201cChristian writings\u201d of the first five centuries\nshows that the age was uncritical and utterly wanting in the learning\nand habits of thought which prepare men to interpret the Bible. It\nwas brought down to the level of the pagan books with which these men\nwere familiar, both as to its authority and as to the methods by which\nits meaning was sought. Indeed, its real meaning was not sought; the\nmain effort was to show how it accorded with pagan books, and with\nthe philosophical speculations which were popular. If, in any case,\nit was recognized as the supreme authority, the prevailing methods of\ninterpretation obscured and perverted its meaning, so that men were\nnot governed by what it really taught. Men who did not have clear and\ncorrect views of the Bible could not impart them to others. The masses\ndid not possess copies of the Bible, and could not have interpreted it\ncritically had it been in their hands. KILLEN declares these Fathers to\nbe untrustworthy and incompetent interpreters of the Bible. These are\nhis words:\n\n \u201cEarlier writers, such as Origen or Clement of Alexandria, frequently\n expounded the word of God in the way in which Neo-Platonists\n explained the pagan mythology--that is, they regard it as an allegory\n from which they extract whatever meaning happens to be most agreeable\n to themselves--and too many continued to adopt the same system\n of interpretation. But among the Fathers of the fourth century\n there were some who followed sounder principles of exegesis, and\n carefully investigated the literal sense of the holy oracles. Still,\n comparatively few of the Christian writers even of this period are\n very valuable as biblical interpreters. These authors occasionally\n contradict themselves, and, without acknowledgment, copy most\n slavishly from each other. Jerome argues that the great duty of an\n expositor is, not so much to exhibit the mind of the Spirit, as to\n set before the reader the conflicting sentiments of interpreters....\n\n \u201cBut though we discover in these Fathers so many traces of human\n infirmity, we must make allowance for the time in which they lived,\n and for the prejudices in which they were educated. Christianity\n passed through a terrible ordeal when it suddenly became the religion\n of the Empire. Society was by no means prepared for so vast a change.\n Already the Gospel had suffered sadly from adulteration, and now\n it was more rapidly deteriorated. Many who were quite uninstructed\n became pastors of the Church; pagan forms and ceremonies were\n incorporated with its ritual; pagan superstitions were recognized\n as principles of action; and pagan philosophy corrupted theological\n science. A dense cloud of errors soon overspread the whole spiritual\n firmament.\u201d[60]\n\nThis chapter may well close with the following quotation from UHLHORN,\nwhich shows how nearly Christianity was ruined through the prevalence\nof this gnostic allegorizing system, which obscured or perverted the\nmeaning of the Scriptures, and destroyed their authority. He says:\n\n \u201cI have already called gnosticism the antipode of montanism. Such\n indeed it was. If montanism was over-narrow, here we find an\n all-embracing breadth. Gnosticism knew how to utilize every mental\n product of the age. Elements, Oriental and Occidental, in a curious\n medley, philosophy and popular superstition--all were collected and\n used as materials for the building of gnostic systems. The myths of\n the heathen may be found side by side with the Gospel histories,\n which were only myths to the gnostic. One proof text is taken from\n the Bible, and the next from Homer or Hesiod, and both alike are used\n by an allegorical exegesis to support the ready-made creations of the\n author\u2019s fancy. Breadth enough, too, in morality; no trembling fear\n of pollution, no anxious care to exclude the influence of heathenism.\n It was no fiction inspired by the hatred of heresy, when the gnostics\n were said to be very lax in their adhesion to the laws of morality.\n Many of them expressly permitted flight from persecution.\n\n \u201cGnosticism extended far and wide in the second century. There was\n something very imposing in those mighty systems which embraced\n heaven and earth. How plain and meagre in comparison seemed simple\n Christianity! There was something remarkably attractive in the\n breadth and liberality of gnosticism. It seemed completely to have\n reconciled Christianity with culture. How narrow the Christian Church\n appeared! Even noble souls might be captivated by the hope of winning\n the world over to Christianity in this way; while the multitude was\n attracted by the dealing in mysteries with which the gnostic sects\n fortified themselves by offering mighty spells and amulets, thus\n pandering to the popular taste. Finally some were no doubt drawn in\n by the fact that less strictness of life was required, and that they\n could thus be Christians without suffering martyrdom.\n\n \u201cBut the victory of gnosticism would have been the ruin of\n Christianity. Christianity would have split into a hundred sects, its\n line of division from heathenism would have been erased, its inmost\n essence would have been lost, and instead of producing something\n really new, it would have become only an element of the melting mass,\n an additional ingredient in the fermenting chaos of religions which\n characterized the age.\u201d[61]\n\nWhen the fountain of formative Christianity was thus widely and early\ncorrupted, what wonder that the banks of the stream are covered with\npagan _d\u00e9bris_, and that the waters are yet turbid from its sediment?\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[25] _Cf._ Hibbert Lectures for 1888, by Edwin Hatch, D.D., Lecture i.\n\n[26] See _The Gnostics and Their Remains_, by C. W. King, M.A., p. 5,\nLondon, 1887.\n\n[27] See Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_, vol. i., chap. 4.\n\n[28] _Church History_, vol. i., p. 566, N. Y., 1882.\n\n[29] _Dogmengeschichte_, vol. i., chap. 4.\n\n[30] Bauer, _Church Hist._, vol. i., p. 191, London, 1878.\n\n[31] Hom., _Il._, ii., 204.\n\n[32] _Ps. Justin._ (probably Apollonius, see Dr\u00e4seke, in the _Jahrb. f.\nprotestant. Theologie_, 1885, p. 144), chap. xvii.\n\n[33] Hom., _Il._, xviii., 483.\n\n[34] _Ps. Justin._, chap. xxviii.\n\n[35] Hom., _Il._, xiv., 206; also Clem. Alex., _Stroma._, v., 14.\n\n[36] _Il._, xxii., 8; Clem. Alex., _Stroma._, v., 14.\n\n[37] Hippol., _Philosophoumena_, vi., 14.\n\n[38] Herod., iv., 8-10.\n\n[39] Hippol., v., 21.\n\n[40] Hibbert Lectures for 1888, Lecture iii., pp. 69, 70, 72.\n\n[41] Iren\u00e6us, _Against Heresies_, book i., chap. viii.\n\n[42] Iren\u00e6us, _Against Heresies_, book i., chap. viii.\n\n[43] _Stroma._, book i., chap. iii.\n\n[44] _Strom._, bk. vi., ch. xi.\n\n[45] _Influence of Greek Thought_, etc., p. 77.\n\n[46] In quotations from the Fathers, words and clauses in brackets are\nthus printed as \u201csupplied words\u201d in the Ante-Nicene Library of T. & T.\nClark, Edinburgh.\n\n[47] _Epistle_, ch. viii.\n\n[48] _Epistle_, ch. ix.\n\n[49] _Epistle_, chap. x.\n\n[50] This is a real or pretended quotation from some unknown\nApochryphal book.\n\n[51] _Epistle_, chap. xii.\n\n[52] _Dialogue with Trypho_, chap. lxxxvi.\n\n[53] Isaiah liv., 9, may be referred to here, but there is nothing in\nIsaiah or elsewhere in the Bible like what Justin here asserts.\n\n[54] _Dialogue_, etc., chap. cxxxviii.\n\n[55] _Ante-Nicene Library_, T. & T. Clark, vol. vi., p. 500.\n\n[56] _Epistle of Clement_, chap. xxv.\n\n[57] _Stromata_, bk. vi., ch. xvi.\n\n[58] _Against Marcion_, book iii., chapter xviii.\n\n[59] Letter lv., chapter xvii., par. 31.\n\n[60] _The Old Catholic Church_, by W. D. Killen, D.D., pp. 99, 100,\nEdinburgh, 1871.\n\n[61] _Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism_, pp. 346, 347.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. ASIATIC PAGAN WATER-WORSHIP.\n\n\n Fundamental Corruption of Christian Baptism through Pagan\n Water-Worship--\u201cBaptismal Regeneration,\u201d the Product of\n Paganism--Spiritual Purity Sought through Pagan Baptism--Testimonies\n from Jamblicus, Virgil, Ovid, Herodotus, Juvenal, and others--Baptism\n and Serpent-Worship--Baptism and Egyptian Sun-Worship--The Sacred\n Nile--The Prevalence of Water-Worship in India--Sacred Wells--Sacred\n Rivers--Modern Buddhistic and Modern Hindu Baptism.\n\n\nCorrupting Influence of Pagan Water-Worship.\n\nThe work of corrupting Christianity went forward systematically, as\nthough an enemy planned to undermine its fundamental truths and ruin\nthe Church through internal errors. When allegorical methods had shorn\nthe Bible of authority, and pushed God, as represented in his word, far\naway from men, the next important step was to corrupt the developing\nChurch by a false standard of membership, thus planting a sure seed of\ndecay in its heart. In New Testament Christianity, baptism--submersion\nin water--was the outward symbol of a new spiritual life, beginning\nthrough faith and repentance. As such it had a specific meaning, and\nfrom the earliest times formed the door to membership in the Christian\ncommunities. He who accepted Christ as the Messiah, testified such\nacceptance by being \u201cburied with him in baptism.\u201d This was the sign\nof an inward purity which entitled the believer to a place in the\ncommunity, and to the fellowship of \u201cthose who believed.\u201d\n\nIt was not the agent by which purity was produced, nor the source\nfrom which the new spiritual life sprung. All this was changed by\nintroducing the pagan idea. The materials for such a corrupting process\nwere fully developed in the pagan world.\n\nVarious forms of baptism, and the doctrine of baptismal regeneration,\nwere common characteristics of pagan religion before the birth of\nChrist.\n\nThe pagan water-worship cult is secondary only to sun-worship, in age\nand extent. Its native home was in the East, but it appears in all\nperiods and on both hemispheres. It had two phases: water as an object\nof worship, and as a means of inspiration; and water used in religious\nceremonies to produce spiritual purity. These phases often mingle with\neach other.\n\nThis reverence for water, and faith in its cleansing efficacy, arose\nfrom the idea that it was permeated by the divine essence, from which\nit had supernatural power to enlighten and purify the soul, without\nregard to the spiritual state of the candidate. This doctrine of\nbaptismal regeneration was transferred to Christianity before the close\nof the second century, and through it the Church was filled rapidly\nwith baptized but unconverted pagans.\n\nSun-worship and water-worship were closely united in the pagan\n_cultus_, as they were in the corrupted Christian baptism. For\ninstance, one fountain noted by Jamblicus is described thus, by BRYANT:\n\n \u201cFrom this history of the place we may learn the purport of the name\n by which this oracular place was called. Colophon is Col-Oph-On,\n Tumulus Dei Solis Pythonis, and corresponds with the character given.\n The river into which this fountain ran was sacred, and named Halesus;\n it was called Anelon, An-El-On, Fons Dei Solis. Halesus is composed\n of well known titles of the same God.\u201d[62]\n\nThe following are the words of JAMBLICUS:\n\n \u201cIt is acknowledged then by all men that the oracle in Colophon gives\n its answers through the medium of water. For there is a fountain\n in a subterranean dwelling from which the prophetess drinks; and\n on certain established nights after many sacred rites have been\n previously performed, and she has drunk of the fountain, she delivers\n oracles, but is not visible to those that are present. That this\n water, therefore, is prophetic is from hence manifest. But how it\n becomes so, this, according to the proverb, is not for every man\n to know. For it appears as if a certain prophetic spirit pervaded\n through the water. This is not, however, in reality the case. For\n a divine nature does not pervade through its participants in this\n manner, according to interval and division, but comprehends, as it\n were, externally, and illuminates the fountain, and fills it from\n itself with a prophetic power. For the inspiration which the water\n affords is not the whole of that which proceeds from a divine power,\n but the water itself only prepares us, and purifies our luciform\n spirit, so that we may be able to receive the divinity; while in\n the meantime, there is a presence of divinity prior to this, and\n illuminating from on high.\u201d[63]\n\nOf another oracle Jamblicus says:\n\n \u201cThe prophet woman too, in Branchid\u00e6, whether she holds in her hand a\n wand, which was at first received from some God, and becomes filled\n with a divine splendor, or whether seated on an axis, she predicts\n future events, or dips her feet, or the border of her garment in the\n water, or receives the God by imbibing the vapor of the water; by all\n these she becomes adapted to partake externally of the God.\u201d[64]\n\nJamblicus also states that baths were a part of the preparation for\nbeing thus inspired. The same combination is shown by VIRGIL, in the\nfollowing:\n\n \u201cHe started up, and viewing the rising beams of the ethereal sun, in\n his hollow palms with pious form he raised water from the river, and\n poured forth to heaven these words: \u2018Ye nymphs, ye Laurentine nymphs,\n whence rivers have their origin; and Thou, O Father Tiber, with thy\n sacred river, receive \u00c6neas and defend him at length from dangers.\n In whatever source thy lake contains thee, compassionate to our\n misfortunes, from whatever soil thou springest forth most beauteous,\n hornbearing river, monarch of the Italian streams, ever shalt thou be\n honored with my veneration, ever with my offerings. O grant us thy\n present aid, and by nearer aid confirm thy divine oracles.\u2019\u201d[65]\n\nOVID, describing the feast of Pales, held in May, exhibits the same\ncombination of sun and water-worship:\n\n \u201cOften in truth have I leaped over the fires placed in three rows,\n and the dripping bough of laurel has flung the sprinkled waters....\n Shepherd, purify the full sheep at the beginning of twilight, let\n the water first sprinkle them, and let the broom made of twigs sweep\n the ground.... Protect thou alike the cattle, and those who tend the\n cattle, and let all harm fly afar, repelled from my stalls. Let that\n happen which I pray for, and may we at the close of the year offer\n cakes of goodly size to Pales, the mistress of the shepherds. With\n these words must the goddess be propitiated; turning to the East,\n do you repeat these words three times, and in the running stream\n thoroughly wash your hands.\u201d[66]\n\nIn another place Ovid tells us of Deucalion and Pyrrha, resolving\nto seek the sacred oracles, in prayer, at the temple of the goddess\nThemis; he says:\n\n \u201cThere is no delay; together they repair to the waters of Cephissus,\n though not yet clear, yet now cutting their wonted channel. Then\n when they had sprinkled the waters poured on their clothes and their\n heads, they turn their steps to the temple of the sacred goddess,\n the roof of which was defiled with foul moss, and whose altars were\n standing without fires.\u201d[67]\n\nThe same combination appears among the Persians. HERODOTUS, describing\nthe crossing of the Hellespont by Xerxes on his way to the invasion of\nGreece, says:\n\n \u201cThat day they made preparations for the passage over; and on the\n following they waited for the sun, as they wished to see it rising,\n in the meantime burning all sorts of perfumes on the bridges, and\n strewing the road with myrtle branches. When the sun rose, Xerxes,\n pouring a libation into the sea out of a golden cup, offered up a\n prayer to the sun, that no such accident might befall him as would\n prevent him from subduing Europe, until he had reached its utmost\n limits. After having prayed, he threw the cup into the Hellespont,\n and a golden bowl and a Persian sword, which they call _acinace_. But\n I cannot determine with certainty, whether he dropped these things\n into the sea as an offering to the sun, or whether he repented of\n having scourged the Hellespont and presented these gifts to the sea\n as a compensation.\u201d[68]\n\n\nPurity Sought through Baptism.\n\nThe pagan conception that water produced spiritual purity was expressed\nin many ways. JUVENAL describes the custom of Roman women who sought to\nexpiate their sins, committed in licentious revelries, as follows:\n\n \u201cShe will break the ice and plunge into the river in the depth of\n winter, or dip three times in the Tiber at early dawn, and bathe\n her timid head in its very eddies, and thence emerging, will crawl\n on bending knees, naked and shivering, over the whole field of the\n haughty kings [the Campus Martius]. If white Io command, she will\n go to the extremity of Egypt, and bring back water fetched from\n scorching Meroe, to sprinkle on the temple of Isis, that rears itself\n hard by the sheep-fold. For she believes that the warning is given\n her by the voice of the goddess herself.\u201d[69]\n\n\nMithraic and Gnostic Baptism.\n\nThe conception that water cleansed from sin was a prominent feature in\nMithraicism and in gnosticism. KING, who is authority on all gnostic\nquestions, says:\n\n \u201cIn my account of Mithraicism, notice has been taken of the very\n prominent part that sacraments for the remission of sin play in the\n ceremonial of that religion; the following extracts from the grand\n Gnostic text-book will serve to show how the same notions, (and\n probably forms) were transferred to the service of Gnosticism.\n\n \u201c\u2018_Baptism Remitting Sins._\u2019--(_Pistis-Sophia_) (298).\n\n \u201c\u2018Then came forth Mary and said: Lord, under what form do _baptisms_\n remit sins? I have heard thee saying that the Ministers of\n Contentions (\u1f10\u03c1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9)[70] follow after the soul, bearing witness\n against it of all the sins that it hath committed, so that they may\n convict it in the judgments. Now, therefore, Lord, do the mysteries\n of Baptism blot out the sins that be in the hands of the Receivers\n of Contention, so that they shall utterly forget the same? Now,\n therefore, Lord, tell us in what form they remit sins; for we desire\n to know them thoroughly. Then the Saviour answered and said: Thou\n hast well spoken; of truth those Ministers are they that testify\n against all sins, for they abide constantly in the places of\n judgment, laying hold upon the souls, convicting all the souls of\n sinners who have not received the mystery, and they keep them fast in\n chaos tormenting them. But these contentious ones cannot pass over\n chaos so as to enter into the courses that be above chaos; in order\n to convict the souls therefore receiving the mysteries, it is not\n lawful for them to force so as to drag them down into chaos, where\n the Contentious Receivers may convict them. But the souls of such as\n have not received the mysteries, these do they desire and hail into\n chaos; whereas the souls that have received the mysteries, they have\n no means of convicting, seeing that they cannot get out of their own\n place, and even if they did come forth, they could not stop those\n souls, neither shut them up in their chaos. Hearken, therefore, I\n will declare to you in truth in what form the mystery of Baptism\n remitteth sins. If the souls when yet living in the world have been\n sinful, the Contentious Receivers verily do come, that they may bear\n witness of all the sins they have committed, but they can by no means\n come forth out of the regions of chaos, so as to convict the soul\n in the places of judgment that be beyond chaos. But the counterfeit\n of the spirit testifies against all the sins of the soul, in order\n to convict it in the places of judgment that be beyond chaos. Not\n only doth it testify, but also sets a _seal_ upon all the sins of\n the soul, so as to print them firmly upon the soul, that all the\n Rulers of the judgment place of the sinners may know that it is the\n soul of a sinner, and likewise know the _number_ of sins which it\n hath committed from the seals that the counterfeit of the spirit\n hath imprinted upon it, so that they may punish the soul according\n to the number of its sins; this is the manner in which they treat\n the soul of a sinner. (300) Now, therefore, if any one hath received\n the mysteries of Baptism, _those mysteries become a great fire_,\n exceeding strong and wise, so as to burn up all the sins; and the\n Fire entereth into the soul secretly, so that it may consume within\n it all the sins which the counterfeit of the spirit hath printed\n there. Likewise it entereth into the body secretly, that it may\n pursue all its pursuers, and divide them into parts--for it pursueth\n within the body, the counterfeit of the spirit, and Fate--so that\n it may divide them apart from the Power and the Soul, and place them\n in one part of the body--so that the fire separates the counterfeit\n of the spirit, Fate, and the Body into one portion, and the Soul and\n the Power into another portion. The mystery of Baptism remaineth in\n the middle of them, so that it may perpetually separate them, so that\n it may purge and cleanse them in order that they may not be polluted\n by _Matter_. Now, therefore, Mary, this is the manner whereby the\n mystery of Baptism remitteth sins and all transgressions.\n\n (301) \u201c\u2018And when the Saviour had thus spoken, he said to his\n disciples: Do ye understand in what manner I speak with you? Then\n came forth Mary saying: Of a truth, Lord, I perceive in reality all\n the things that thou hast said. Touching this matter of the Remission\n of Sins, thou speaketh aforetime to us in a parable, saying: I am\n come to bring fire upon the earth, nay more; let it burn as much as\n I please. And, again thou hast set it forth openly, saying: I have a\n baptism wherewith I will baptize and how shall I endure until it be\n accomplished? Ye think that I am come to bring peace upon the earth?\n By no means so, but dissension, which I am come to bring. For from\n this time forth there shall be five in one house; three shall be\n divided against two, and two against three. This, Lord, is the word\n that thou speakest openly. But concerning the word that thou spakest:\n I am come to bring fire upon the earth, and let it burn so much as\n I please; in this thou hast spoken of the mystery of Baptism in the\n world, and let it burn as much as thou pleasest for to consume all\n the sins of the soul, that it may purge them away. And again thou\n hast shewn the same forth openly, saying: I have a baptism wherewith\n I will baptize, and how shall I endure until it be accomplished? The\n which is this: Thou wilt not tarry in the world until the baptisms\n be accomplished to purify all the perfect souls. And again what thou\n spakest unto us aforetime: \u201cDo ye suppose I am come to bring peace\n upon earth,\u201d etc. (302) This signifieth the mystery of Baptism which\n thou hast brought into the world, because it hath brought about\n dissension in the body of the world, because it hath divided the\n Counterfeit of the spirit, the Body, and the Fate thereof, into one\n party, and the Soul and the Power into the other party. The same\n is, \u201cThere shall be three against two, and two against three.\u201d And\n when Mary had spoken these things the Saviour said: Well done thou\n spiritual one in the pure light, this is the interpretation of my\n saying.\u2019\u201d[71]\n\nThe opinion of Simon Magus, a representative Gnostic, concerning\nbaptism is expressed by King thus:\n\n \u201cThe Kabbalists, or Jewish Gnostics, like Simon Magus, found a\n large portion of apostolic teaching in accordance with their own,\n and easily grafted upon it so much as they liked. Again the Divine\n power of working miracles possessed by the Apostles and their\n successors, naturally attracted the interest of those whose chief\n mystery was the practice of magic. Simon the Magician was considered\n by the Samaritans to be \u2018the great Power of God\u2019; he was attracted\n by the miracles wrought by the Apostles, and no doubt he sincerely\n \u2018believed\u2019--that is, after his own fashion. His notion of Holy\n Baptism was probably an initiation into a new mystery, with a higher\n Gnosis than he possessed before, and by which he hoped to be endued\n with higher powers; and so likewise many of those who were called\n Gnostic Heretics by the Christian Fathers, were not Christians at\n all, only they adopted so much of the Christian doctrine as accorded\n with their system.\u201d[72]\n\n\nBaptism of Blood.\n\nThe importance which the sun-worship cult attached to baptism is\nfurther shown in the baptism of blood, which formed a prominent feature\nin the Mithraic system of atonement and spiritual enlightenment. This\nis commented upon by King as follows:\n\n \u201cThe \u2018Taurobolia,\u2019 or _Baptism of Blood_, during the later ages\n of the Western Empire, held the foremost place, as the means of\n purification from sin, however atrocious. Prudentius has left a\n minute description of this horrid rite, in which the person to be\n regenerated, being stripped of his clothing, descended into a pit,\n which was covered with planks pierced full of holes; a bull was\n slaughtered upon them whose hot blood, streaming down through these\n apertures (after the fashion of a shower-bath) thoroughly drenched\n the recipient below. The selection of the particular victim proves\n this ceremony in connection with the Mithraic, which latter, as\n Justin says, had a \u2018baptism for the remission of Sins\u2019; and the Bull\n being in that religion the recognized emblem of _life_, his blood\n necessarily constituted the most effectual laver of regeneration.\n No more conclusive evidence of the value then attached to the\n Taurobolia can be adduced, than the fact mentioned by Lampridius\n that the priest-emperor Heliogabalus thought it necessary to submit\n to its performance; and a pit, constructed for the purpose as late\n as the fourth century, has lately been discovered within the sacred\n precincts of the Temple at Eleusis, the most holy spot in all\n Greece.\u201d[73]\n\n\nBaptism at Death, and for the Dead.\n\nThe following throws light upon the pagan origin of baptism as a saving\nact, at death, and after death. Describing the nature of the mystic\nformul\u00e6 which the Gnostics used, King says:\n\n \u201cThe motive for placing in the coffin of the defunct _illuminato_\n these \u2018words of power\u2019 graven on scrolls of lead, plates of bronze,\n the gems we are considering, and doubtless to an infinitely greater\n extent on more perishable materials, derives much light from the\n description Epiphanius gives of the ceremony whereby the Heracleonit\u00e6\n prepared their dying brother for the next world. They sprinkled his\n head with water, mingled with oil, and opobalsamum, repeating at\n the same time the form of words used by the Marcosians in baptism,\n in order that his _Inner Man_, thus provided, might escape the\n vigilance of the Principalities and Powers whose domains he was about\n to traverse, and mount up unseen by any to the Pleroma from which\n he had originally descended. Their priests therefore instructed the\n dying man that as he came before these Powers he was to address them\n in the following words: \u2018I, the son from the Father, the Father\n pre-existing, but the son in the present time, am come to behold all\n things, both of others and of my own, and things not altogether of\n others, but belonging unto Achamoth (_Wisdom_) who is feminine, and\n hath created them for herself. But I declare my own origin from the\n Pre-existing One, and I am going back unto my own from which I have\n descended.\u2019 By the virtue of these words he will elude the Powers and\n arrive at the Demiurgus in the eighth sphere, whom again he must thus\n address: \u2018I am a precious vessel, superior to the female power who\n made thee, inasmuch as thy mother knoweth not her own origin, whereas\n I know myself, and I know whence I am; and I invoke the Incorruptible\n Wisdom who is in the father and in the mother of your mother who\n hath no father--nay, not even a male consort, but being a female\n sprung from a female that created thee, though she herself knows\n not her mother, but believes herself to exist alone. But I invoke\n the mother.\u2019 At this address the Demiurgus is struck with confusion\n (as well he might be) and forced to acknowledge the baseness of his\n origin; whereupon the inner man of the Gnostic casts off his bondage\n as well as his own _angel_ or soul, which remains with the Demiurgus\n for further use, and ascends still higher into his proper place.\u201d[74]\n\nWe shall find that this pagan conception became very prominent in the\nearly Church. The \u201cbeing baptized for the dead,\u201d of which Paul speaks,\nand which was much practised after the second century, sprang from this\nsource; also delaying baptism until the moment of death.\n\n\nBaptism and Serpent-Worship.\n\nThe serpent worshippers formed a prominent branch of the Gnostics,\nif they were not the originators of the system. Water-worship was a\nspecial and fundamental idea in their creed. Witness the following from\nKing.\n\n \u201cThe well-informed and temperate Hippolytus, writing at the most\n flourishing period of these transitional theosophies, thus opens his\n actual \u2018Refutation of All Heresies,\u2019 and his Fifth Book with the\n description \u2018of that sect which hath dared to boast the _Serpent_\n as the author of their religion, as they prove by certain arguments\n wherewith _he_ hath inspired them. On this account the apostles\n and priests of this creed have been styled \u201cNaaseni,\u201d from \u201cNaas\u201d\n the Hebrew word for _serpent_; but subsequently they entitled\n themselves \u201cThe Gnostics,\u201d because they alone understood the deep\n things of religion. Out of this sect sprung many other teachers,\n who, by diversifying the original doctrines through inventions of\n their own, became the founders of new systems.\u2019 Further on he has\n a passage bearing immediately upon this subject. \u2018This _Naas_ is\n the _only thing_ they worship, for which reason they are called\n \u201cNaaseni,\u201d (_i.\u00a0e._, Ophites, or Serpent-worshippers). From this\n same word _Naas_, they pretend that all the temples (\u03bd\u03b1\u03bf\u03af) under\n Heaven derive the name. And unto this Naas are dedicated every rite,\n ceremony, mystery, that is; in short, not one rite can be found under\n Heaven into which this Naas does not enter. For they say the Serpent\n signifies the element Water; and with Thales of Miletus contend that\n nothing in the Universe can subsist without it, whether of things\n mortal or immortal, animate or inanimate. All things are subject unto\n him; and he is good, and hath all good things within himself as in\n the horn of a unicorn, so that he imparts beauty and perfection unto\n all that is, inasmuch as he pervades all things, as flowing out of\n Eden, and divided into four heads.... This Naas is the \u201cwater above\n the firmament\u201d and likewise \u201cthe living water\u201d spoken of by the\n Saviour. Unto this _Water_ all Nature is drawn, and attracts out of\n the same whatever is analogous to its own nature, each thing after\n its own kind, with more avidity than the loadstone draws the iron,\n the ray of the sea-hawk, gold, or amber straws. Then they go on to\n boast: We are the _Spiritual_, who have drawn our own portion out of\n the living water of the Euphrates that flows through the midst of\n Babylon; and who have entered in through the True Gate, the which\n is Jesus the Blessed. And we of all men are the _only Christians_\n in the Third Gate, celebrating the Mystery, being anointed with the\n ineffable ointment out of the _horn_, like David, not out of the\n _earthen vessel_, like Saul who conversed with the Evil Spirit of\n carnal concupiscence.\u2019\u201d[75]\n\nThe conception of water as a life-producing agent appears prominently\nin the religion of the Egyptians. They associated it with Osiris, the\nlife-producing god of the sun. Speaking of this King says:\n\n \u201cThe _symbols_ of the same worship have been to some extent explained\n by persons writing at a time when they were still a living though\n fast expiring language. Of such writers the most valuable is\n Plutarch, who in his curious treatise _De Iside et Osiride_, has\n given the meaning of several of these symbols, and, as it would\n appear, upon very good authority. According to him, Isis sometimes\n signifies the Moon, in which sense she is denoted by a Crescent:\n sometimes the Earth as fecundated by the waters of the Nile. For this\n reason water, as the seed of Osiris, was carried in a vase in the\n processions in honor of this goddess.\u201d[76]\n\nJAMES BONWICK, F.R.G.S., says:\n\n \u201cThe baptism of Egypt is known by the hieroglyphic terms of \u2018waters\n of purification.\u2019 In Egypt, as in Peru, the water so used in\n immersion absolutely cleansed the soul, and the person was said to be\n _regenerated_. The water itself was holy, and the place was known,\n as afterwards by the Eastern Christians, by the name of _holy bath_.\n The early Christians called it being \u2018brought anew into the world.\u2019\n The ancients always gave a new name at baptism, which custom was\n afterwards followed by moderns. The Mithraic font for the baptism of\n ancient Persians is regarded as of Egyptian origin. Augustine may,\n then, well say that \u2018in many sacrilegious rites of idols, persons are\n reported to be baptized.\u2019\u201d[77]\n\n\nThe Sacred Nile.\n\nPagan water-worship everywhere was closely associated with sacred\nrivers. HARDWICK speaks of the Nile as follows:\n\n \u201cAs the Nile, for instance, was a sacred river and as such was\n invoked in the Egyptian hymns among the foremost of the national\n gods, whatever bore directly on the culture of the soil, and the\n succession of the crops in every district of the Nile valley, was\n enforced among the duties claimed from husbandmen by that divinity.\n To brush its sacred surface with the balance bucket at a forbidden\n time was a crime equal in atrocity to that of reviling the face of a\n king or of a father.\u201d[78]\n\n\nWater-Worship in India.\n\nSir MONIER-WILLIAMS describes water-worship in India as follows:\n\n \u201cRivers as sources of fertility and purification were at an early\n date invested with a sacred character. Every great river was supposed\n to be permeated with the divine essence, and its waters held to\n cleanse from all moral guilt and contamination, and as the Ganges was\n the most majestic, so it soon became the holiest and most sacred of\n all rivers. No sin was too heinous to be removed, no character too\n black to be washed clean by its waters. Hence the countless temples\n with flights of steps lining its banks; hence the array of priests,\n called \u2018Sons of the Ganges,\u2019 sitting on the edge of its streams,\n ready to aid the ablutions of conscience-stricken bathers, and stamp\n them as whitewashed when they emerge from its waters. Hence also the\n constant traffic carried on in transporting Ganges water in small\n bottles to all parts of the country.\u201d[79]\n\nSacred wells abound in India, especially in and around the city of\nBenares. Mr. Williams describes some of these as follows. The one first\nnoted is said to be sacred, because when a certain temple was destroyed\nby the Mohammedans the outraged god took refuge in this well; thus it\nbecame a sacred shrine. Mr. Williams says:\n\n \u201cThither, therefore, a constant throng of worshippers continually\n resort, bringing with them offerings of flowers, rice and other\n grain, which they throw into the water thirty or forty feet below the\n ground. A Brahman is perpetually employed in drawing up the putrid\n liquid, the smell or rather stench of which, from incessant admixture\n of decaying flowers and vegetable matter, makes the neighborhood\n almost unbearable. This he pours with a ladle into the hands of the\n expectant crowds, who either drink it with avidity, or sprinkle it\n reverentially over their persons. A still more sacred well, called\n the Manikarnika, situated on one of the chief Ghats leading to\n the Ganges, owes its origin, in popular belief, to the fortunate\n circumstance that one of Siva\u2019s earrings happened to fall on the\n spot. This well is near the surface and quite exposed to view. It\n forms a small quadrangular pool, not more than three feet deep. Four\n flights of steps on the four sides lead to the water, the disgusting\n foulness of which, in the estimation of countless pilgrims, vastly\n enhances its efficacy for the removal of sin. The most abandoned\n criminals journey from distant parts of India to the margin of this\n sacred pool. There they secure the services of Brahmans, appointed\n to the duty, and descending with them into the water are made to\n repeat certain texts and mutter certain mystic formul\u00e6, the meaning\n of which they are wholly unable to understand. Then, while in the act\n of repeating the words put into their mouths, they eagerly immerse\n their entire persons beneath the offensive liquid. The longed-for dip\n over, a miraculous transformation is the result; for the foul water\n has cleansed the still fouler soul. Few Hindus venture to doubt that\n the most depraved sinner in existence may thus be converted into an\n immaculate saint, worthy of being translated at once to the highest\n heaven of the god of Benares.\n\n \u201cBut to return to the temple of Visvesvara. I found when I visited it\n a constant stream of worshippers passing in and out. In fact, Siva,\n in his character of the lord of the universe, is the supreme deity\n of Benares. Not that the pilgrims are prohibited from worshipping\n at the shrines of other gods, but that Siva is here paramount, and\n claims the first homage. Yet this supreme god has no image; he is\n represented by a plain conical stone, to wit, the Linga or symbol\n of male generative power. The method of performing worship in this\n great central and confessedly typical temple of Hinduism, appeared\n to me very remarkable in its contrast with all Christian ideas of\n the nature of worship. All that each worshipper did was to bring\n Ganges water with him, in a small metal vessel, and pour the water\n over the stone Linga; at the same time ringing one of the bells\n hanging from the roof, to attract the god\u2019s attention towards\n himself, bowing low in obeisance and muttering a few texts, with the\n repetition of the god\u2019s name. In this way the god\u2019s symbol was kept\n perpetually deluged with water, while the crowds who passed in and\n out lingered for a time close to the shrine, talking to each other\n in loud tones. Nor did any idea of irreverence seem to be attached\n to noisy vociferation in the interior of the sanctuary itself. Nor\n was any objection made to an unbeliever, like myself, approaching and\n looking inside; whereas in the south of India I was strictly excluded\n from all the avenues to the inner Linga sanctuaries.[80] In the\n courts adjacent to the Linga were other shrines dedicated to various\n deities, and in a kind of cloister or gallery which encircled the\n temple, were thousands of stone Lingas crowded together carelessly,\n and apparently only intended as votive offerings. I noticed the coil\n of a serpent carved around one or two of the most conspicuous symbols\n of male generative energy, and the combination appeared to be very\n significant and instructive.\u201d[81]\n\nIn another work Mr. Williams says:\n\n \u201cPassing on to the worship of water, especially running water, it\n is to be observed that river-water is everywhere throughout India\n held to be instinct with divinity. It is not merely holy, it is\n especially pervaded by the divine essence. We must, however, be\n careful to distinguish between the mere sacredness of either fire or\n water, and their worship as mere personal deities. In _Rig-Veda_, X.,\n 30, X., 9, VII., 47, and other passages of the _Veda_, the Waters\n are personified, deified and honored as goddesses, and called the\n Mothers of earth. In X., 17, 10, their purifying power, and in\n VI., 50, 7, their healing power, is celebrated. They cleanse their\n worshippers from sin and untruthfulness (I., 6, 22, 23).... The river\n Sarasvati--called the purifier in _Rig-Veda_, I., 3, 10--was to the\n earlier Hindus what the Ganges was to the later. She was instinct\n with divinity, and her influence permeated the writers of the Vedic\n hymns. Sometimes she is identified with the Vedic goddess, vac,\n speech, and invoked as the patroness of Science.\u201d[82]\n\nThe confluence of the Ganges with the Jumna and Sarasvati is one of\nthe most hallowed spots in India. Many other rivers are held as being\nespecially sacred. The river Narboda is deemed by some to surpass all\nothers. The mere sight of it cleanses the soul from all guilt. It\nmakes all other waters sacred for thirty miles northward and eighteen\nsouthward. The banks of all the chief rivers in India are considered\nholy ground from their source to the sea. Pilgrimages, which continue\nfor six years, are undertaken, the pilgrim going down one bank of the\nGanges, and returning by another. Many hardships are incidental to such\npilgrimages, but are counted light, and the greater the difficulties\nthe greater the resultant merit.\n\nIn a still later work, Sir Williams describes the present baptismal\ncustom in Thibet and Mongolia, as follows:\n\n \u201cIt is noticeable that a kind of baptism is practised in Tibet and\n Mongolia. It is usual to sprinkle children with consecrated water,\n or even to immerse them entirely on the third or tenth day after\n birth. This is called Khrus-sol (according to J\u00e4schke). The priest\n consecrates the water by reciting some formula, while candles and\n incense are burning. He then dips the child three times, blesses it,\n and gives it a name. After performing the ceremony he draws up the\n infant\u2019s horoscope. Then, as soon as the child can walk and talk,\n a second ceremony takes place, when prayers are said for its happy\n life, and an amulet or little bag is hung around its neck, filled\n with spells and charms against evil spirits and diseases.\u201d[83]\n\nOther writers support the foregoing, though Sir Williams is too high an\nauthority to need confirmation. ALABASTER says:\n\n \u201cBaptism was a religious rite from very ancient times, the Brahmins\n holding that if any one who had sinned went to the banks of the\n Ganges and saying: \u2018I will not sin again,\u2019 plunged into the stream,\n he would rise to the surface free of sin, all his sins floating away\n with the water; hence it is called baptism, or the rite of washing\n off offences, so that they floated away. Sometimes where any one was\n sick unto death, his relatives would place him by the river, and give\n him water to drink, and pour water over him till he died, believing\n that he would thus die holy and go to heaven.\u201d[84]\n\nMr. WILKINS says:\n\n \u201cDasahara: this festival commemorates the descent of the Ganges\n from heaven to earth, and is called Dasahara, because bathing at\n this season is said to remove all the sins committed in ten births,\n _i.\u00a0e._, during ten different lives. This is a most interesting\n ceremony. Thousands upon thousands of the people bring their\n offerings of flowers, fruits and grain to the river-side, and then\n enter the sacred stream. It is a thing worthy of note that although\n in many places men and women bathe together, the men having simply a\n cloth around their loins, and the women often having the upper part\n of their bodies exposed, I have never seen the slightest impropriety\n of gestures on these occasions. In some festivals, as previously\n noticed, the grossest impropriety of language and gesture are freely\n indulged in: but at bathing festivals I have never noticed anything\n indecent. It is proper to bathe in the Ganges, for those who live\n near enough; but other rivers may take the place of the Ganges, and\n legends have been manufactured to show that their virtues are even\n greater than those of the Ganges; if there is no river convenient,\n then a tank can be substituted.\u201d[85]\n\n\nModern Buddhistic Baptism.\n\nThe modern water-worship connected with Buddhism is described by Sir\nMonier-Williams in his latest book[86] as follows:\n\n \u201cIn Burmah, where a good type of southern Buddhism is still to be\n found, the New Year\u2019s festival might suitably be called a \u2018water\n festival.\u2019 It has there so little connection with the increase of the\n New Year\u2019s light that it often takes place as late as the early half\n of April.[87] It is, however, a movable feast, the date of which is\n regularly fixed by the astrologers of Mandalay, who \u2018make intricate\n calculations based on the position of various constellations.\u2019 The\n object is to determine on what precise day the king of the Naths will\n descend upon the earth and inaugurate the new year. When the day\n arrives all are on the watch, and just at the right moment, which\n invariably occurs at midnight, a cannon is fired off, announcing the\n descendant of the Nath king upon earth. Forthwith (according to Mr.\n Scott) men and women sally out of their houses, carrying pots full of\n water, consecrated by fresh leaves and twigs of a sacred tree, repeat\n a formal prayer, and pour out the water on the ground. At the same\n time all who have guns of any kind discharge them, so as to greet the\n new year with as much noise as possible.\n\n \u201cThen, \u2018with the first glimmer of light\u2019 all take jars full of fresh\n water and carry them off to the nearest monastery. First they present\n them to the monks, and then proceed to bathe the images. This work\n is usually done by the women of the party, \u2018who reverently clamber\n up\u2019 and empty their goblets of water over the placid features of the\n Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Then begins the Saturnalia. All along the\n road are urchins with squirts and syringes, with which they have been\n furtively practising for the last few days. The skill thus acquired\n is exhibited by the accuracy of their aim. Cold streams of water\n catch the ears of the passers-by. Young men and girls salute one\n another with the contents of jars and goblets. Shouts of merriment\n are heard in every quarter. Before breakfast every one is soaked,\n but no one thinks of changing his garments, for the weather is warm\n and \u2018water is everywhere.\u2019 The girls are the most enthusiastic, as\n they generally go in bands and carry copious reservoirs along with\n them; \u2018unprotected males\u2019 are soon routed. Then a number of \u2018zealous\n people\u2019 go down to the river, wade into the water knee-deep, splash\n about, and drench one another till they are tired. No one escapes.\n For three days no one likes to be seen with dry clothes. The wetting\n is a compliment.\u201d[88]\n\n \u201cIn Tibet there is a water festival in the seventh or eighth month\n (about our August and September). At this festival the Lamas go\n in procession to rivers and lakes and consecrate the waters by\n benediction or by throwing in offerings. Huts and tents are erected\n on the banks, and people bathe and drink to wash away their sins. It\n concludes with dancing, buffoonery, and masquerading.\u201d[89]\n\nLYDIA MARIA CHILD thus describes\n\n\nBaptism among the Hindus:\n\n \u201cWater is supposed to cleanse the soul and guard from evil. When a\n child is born priests sprinkle it, and sprinkle the dwelling, and\n all the inmates of the house bathe. They do this from an idea that\n it keeps off evil spirits. People perform ablutions before they eat;\n and priests purify themselves with water, accompanied with prayers,\n on innumerable occasions. When a man is dying, Brahmins hasten to\n plunge him into a river, believing that the departing soul may be\n thus freed from impurities before it quits the body. Some rivers are\n deemed more peculiarly holy and efficacious than others, such as the\n Ganges, the Indus, and the Chrishna; the water of the Ganges is used\n on all the most solemn occasions. Images of the deities are washed\n with it, and Brahmins are sprinkled with it, when inducted into the\n priestly office. Happy above other men is he who is drowned in that\n sacred stream. Once in twelve years the waters of Lake Cumbhacum are\n supposed to be gifted with power to cleanse from all sin. As this\n period approaches, Brahmins send messengers in every direction to\n announce when the great day of ablution will take place. The shores\n are crowded with a vast multitude of men, women, and children from\n far and near. They plunge, at a signal from the officiating Brahmin,\n and in the universal rush many a one is suffocated or has his limbs\n broken. Water from the Ganges is kept in the temples, and when the\n people are dying they often send from a great distance to obtain some\n of it. Before devotees put their feet into a river they wash their\n hands and utter a prayer.\u201d[90]\n\nThese witnesses show us that water-worship and baptism, the water being\nvariously employed, by immersion, sprinkling, pouring, etc., has formed\na prominent feature in Oriental paganism from the earliest time until\nnow. It passed from the Orient to Greece and Rome. Perhaps the stream\nfrom Egypt was an independent one, which came from the south. Before\nconsidering the immediate contact of pagan water-worship with early\nChristianity, it is necessary to note its existence outside of the\nOrient and Egypt.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[62] _Analysis of Ancient Mythology_, by Jacob Bryant, third edition,\nsix vols. London, 1807, vol. i., page 255.\n\n[63] Jamblicus--Taylor\u2019s translation,--_The Mysteries of the Egyptians,\nChaldeans, and Assyrians_, p. 141, Chiswick, 1821.\n\n[64] _Ibid._, p. 144.\n\n[65] _\u00c6neid_, book viii., lines 70-82.\n\n[66] _Fasti_, book iv., between lines 728 and 779.\n\n[67] _Metamorphoses_, book i., fable 10, line 651 f.\n\n[68] Herodotus, book vii., section 54, page 431, N. Y., 1848.\n\n[69] _Satire_ vii., lines 520-30, page 59, Evans\u2019 translation, Bohn,\nLondon, 1852.\n\n[70] The Cabiri, \u201cpunishers of the ancient mythology, performing their\nformer duties under the new dispensation.\u201d\n\n[71] _The Gnostics and Their Remains_, pp. 141 ff.\n\n[72] _Ibid._, p. 6.\n\n[73] _Ibid._, p. 154.\n\n[74] _Ibid._, pp. 329, 330.\n\n[75] _The Gnostics and Their Remains_, p. 224.\n\nThe references to Hippolytus, made by King may be found in vol. vi.,\nAnte-Nicene Library, Edinburgh, 1877, pp. 126-194, especially 150, 151.\nOne should read the fifth book of his \u201cRefutation of All Heresies\u201d\nto see how much water, as a divine agency and power, entered into\nvarious phases of the gnostic system. The original of the quotations\nfrom the gnostic gospel, _Pistis-Sophia_, may be found in the London\nedition--Latin--of 1856.\n\n[76] _Ibid._, p. 106.\n\n[77] _Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought_, p. 416, London, 1878.\n\n[78] _Christ and Other Masters_, part iv., p. 84.\n\n[79] _Brahmanism and Hinduism_, by Sir Monier-Williams, M.A., D.C.L.,\nLondon, 1887, p. 172.\n\n[80] See p. 447.\n\n[81] _Ibid._, p. 437 ff.\n\n[82] _Religious Thought and Life in India_, p. 346, London, 1883.\n\n[83] _Buddhism_, etc., p. 356, 357, New York, 1889.\n\n[84] _The Wheel of the Law; Buddhism, Illustrated from Siamese\nSources_, by Henry Alabaster, London, 1871, pp. 30, 31.\n\n[85] _Modern Hinduism_, by W. J. Wilkins, p. 219, New York, 1887.\nConsult also, _Religions of India_, by A. Barth, p. 278 ff., New York,\n1882.\n\n[86] _Buddhism in its Connection with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in\nits Contrast with Christianity_, second edition, London, 1890.\n\n[87] See Mr. Scott\u2019s _Burmah_, ii., 48.\n\n[88] Pp. 341, 342.\n\n[89] P. 344.\n\n[90] _The Progress of Religious Ideas_, New York, 1853, vol. i., p. 124.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. WATER-WORSHIP IN NORTHERN EUROPE AND IN MEXICO.\n\n\n Water-Worship Prominent in Many Ways, and Associated with Holy\n Seasons--Infant Baptism among the Scandinavians and Teutons--Pagan\n \u201cChristening of Children\u201d--Sacred Water as a Safeguard against\n Disease, etc.--Virtue of Water Used for Mechanical Purposes--Water\n Sprites--Similarity between Roman Catholicism and Paganism of\n Mexico--Aztec Baptism--Prayer for \u201cBaptismal Regeneration\u201d of Child\n by Mexican Midwife.\n\nThe existence of a widespread system of water worship in Northern\nEurope is attested by the direct history of paganism, by the history\nof Christianity at its first introduction, by the decrees of councils,\ncapitularies, and similar documents. These sources show that the\nAllamanns, Franks, and others worshipped rivers and fountains, and\nused water in various ways for sacred purposes. They prayed upon the\nbanks of sacred rivers and at sacred fountains. Springs which gushed\nfrom the earth were considered especially sacred, as being produced\ndirectly by divine agency. Lighted candles were used in the worship of\nfountains and wells. This custom continues until the present day in\nthe semi-religious habits of the people, who gaze into wells by the\nlight of a candle on Christmas and Easter nights. Sacred brooks and\nrivers were believed to have been produced from the pouring of water by\nthe gods out of bowls and urns.\n\nWater drawn at holy seasons, such as midnight and sunrise, has always\nbeen known as \u201choly water.\u201d Running spring-water gathered on holy\nChristmas night, while the clock strikes twelve is yet known as\n_heilway_, and is believed to be good for certain diseases. At the\npresent time the common people of Northern Europe believe that between\neleven and twelve on Christmas night, and on Easter night, _spring\nwater changes into wine_. A similar faith is found as far back as the\nlatter part of the fourth century, which is noted by Chrysostom in an\nEpiphany sermon preached at Antioch.\n\nThe following quotation will show that pagan water-worship was\nindigenous in Northern Europe as well as in the Orient:\n\n \u201cIt is no less remarkable that a kind of infant baptism was practised\n in the North, long before the dawning of Christianity had reached\n those parts. Snorri Sturlason, in his chronicle, speaking of a\n Norwegian nobleman who lived in the reign of Harald Harfagra, relates\n that he poured water on the head of a new-born child, and called him\n Hakon, from the name of his father. Harald himself had been baptized\n in the same manner, and it is noted of King Olaf Tryggvason, that his\n mother, Astrida, had him thus baptized and named as soon as he was\n born. The Livonians observed the same ceremony, which also prevailed\n among the Germans, as appears from a letter which the famous Pope\n Gregory the third sent to their Apostle Boniface directing him\n expressly how to act in this respect. It is probable that all these\n people might intend, by such a rite, to preserve their children from\n the sorceries and evil charms which witched spirits might employ\n against them at the instant of their birth. Several nations of Asia\n and America have attributed such a power to ablutions of this kind;\n nor were the Romans without such a custom, though they did not wholly\n confine it to new-born infants.\u201d[91]\n\nS. BARING GOULD testifies concerning pagan baptism in Scandinavia as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cAmong the Scandinavians, infant baptism was in vogue long before the\n introduction of Christianity, and the rite accompanied the naming of\n the child. Before the accomplishment of this rite, the exposition\n of the babe was lawful, but after the ceremony it became murder. A\n baptism in blood seems to have been practised by the Germans and\n Norsemen in remote antiquity; to this the traditions of the horny\n Sigfrid, or Sigurd, and Wolfdietrich point. Dipping in water, and\n aspersion with water, or with blood of a victim, was also customary\n among the Druids, as was also the baptism of fire, perhaps borrowed\n by them from the Ph\u0153nicians. This was that passing through the fire\n to Molech alluded to repeatedly in the Jewish Scriptures.\u201d[92]\n\nThere is an excellent picture of baptism among the pagan Teutons, by\nKonrad Maurer, in which the author shows, in detail, the relation\nbetween infant baptism among the Greeks, Romans, Teutonic pagans, and\nTeutonic Christians. _The Nation_ for September 22, 1881, speaks of Mr.\nMaurer\u2019s work as follows[93]:\n\n \u201cA large portion of Maurer\u2019s monograph is devoted to showing how\n the ceremonies connected with heathen baptism were adopted by the\n Christian Church, and in tracing to a heathen source the rights and\n privileges secured to children by baptism in the Church. The author\n suggests that the laying at the breast was a recognition of the child\n on the mother\u2019s part, and that the granting of the right of baptism\n was a recognition of the child on the part of the father, and that\n this was the chief significance of the latter ceremony; although it\n would seem from Havamal, in the Elder Edda, that spiritual blessings\n were also secured to the infant by the sprinkling of holy water.\n Baptism made the child an _heir_ both among the heathen and among\n the old Teutonic Christians, and the fact that among both it had so\n many things in common, that it took place soon after the birth of\n the child, and was connected with the naming of it; that there were\n god-fathers and god-mothers, and that presents were given, makes\n the question an exceedingly interesting one. But the author goes\n farther, and proves from ancient laws of the Germans, Visigoths, and\n Anglo-Saxons, that the rite of baptism is to be performed within\n the ninth day after the birth of the child; and here he calls\n attention to the ancient Roman custom of giving the name to a female\n infant on the eighth, and to a male infant on the ninth day after\n birth, and quotes Roman law to show that this naming day was of\n legal importance to the child. A similar custom is also found among\n ancient Greeks, where the seventh day after the birth of the child\n was celebrated with _cleansing_, gifts, sacrifices, banqueting, and\n other ceremonies. Maurer suggests that this seventh day of cleansing\n among the heathen Greeks was of the same legal value to the child\n as the day of sprinkling with water among the Teutons, and that it\n determined whether the child should live or be exposed. Roman law\n establishes the fact that the eighth day after birth for girls,\n and the ninth for boys was a _Dies lustricus_--that is, a day on\n which a religious rite (_lustratio_) for infants took place, and on\n which names were given to them, whence it was called _solonnitas\n nominalium_. The day was observed by bringing the infants to the\n temple, by banquets, etc.[94] We find, therefore, among the old\n Greeks, and what is of vastly more importance, in the old Roman laws,\n a day set apart for infants on which they get their names, and this\n naming connected with the observation of certain ceremonies. What\n the precise nature of these rites was, we are not told; but inasmuch\n as the Roman documents designate thereby the term _lustratio_,\n there can scarcely be room for doubt that it must have been a\n symbolic cleansing by means of water. And since the _Dies lustricus_\n confessedly secured legal rights to the infant, the question lies\n near at hand whether the old Teutonic heathen borrowed the baptismal\n right from the ancient Romans, or whether baptism was an original\n institution among the Aryans before they became divided into Teutons,\n Romans, etc. There can be no doubt, on the one hand, that the _Dies\n lustricus_ of the Romans obtained among the Christians in fixing the\n day for baptism, especially since it corresponded so nearly with the\n Mosaic day for circumcision; and on the other hand, that just as many\n of the old Teutonic feasts were turned into festivals, so the form\n of the Teutonic baptism was largely adopted by the Christians in\n Northern Europe.\u201d\n\nBaptism was undoubtedly an ancient Aryan rite, which existed before the\ndivision of the race, of which Mr. Maurer speaks. For supplementary\nproof of the lustration and naming of infants among the Greeks and the\nRomans, consult Smith\u2019s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_,\npp. 800, 801. Also, for lustration, by holy water, of children and\nadults, see _The Life of Greeks and Romans_, by E. Guhl and W. Koner,\np. 282, London (no date, but since 1862). See also Tertullian,\n_Concerning Idolatry_ (chap. xvi.), for reference to pagan \u201cNaming\nFestivals.\u201d\n\nJACOB GRIMM (_Teutonic Mythology_, 4 vols., London, 1883), a most\npainstaking and scholarly authority, shows that the Christianity of\nthe present century is yet deeply imbued with the residuum of the\nancient pagan water-worship. He says:\n\n \u201cSuperstitious Christians then believed two things: a hallowing of\n the water at midnight of the day of baptism, and a turning of it into\n wine at the time of the bethphania. Such water the Germans called\n _heilaw\u00e2c_, and ascribed to it a wonderful power of healing diseases\n and wounds, and of never spoiling.\n\n \u201cPossibly even in Syria an old pagan drawing of water became veiled\n under new Christian meanings. In Germany other circumstances point\n undisguisedly to a heathen consecration of water: it was not to be\n drawn at midnight, but in the morning _before sunrise down stream_\n and _silently_, usually on _Easter Sunday_, to which the above\n explanations do not so well apply: this water does not spoil, it\n restores youth, heals eruptions, and makes the young cattle strong.\n Magic water, serving for unchristian divination, is to be _collected\n before sunrise on a Sunday_ in one glass from _three flowing\n springs_; and _a taper is lighted_ before a glass, as before a divine\n being. Here I bring in once again the Hessian custom mentioned at\n page 58: On Easter Monday youths and maidens walk to the Hollow\n Rock in the mountains, draw _water from the cool spring in jugs to\n carry home_, and throw flowers in as an offering. Apparently this\n water-worship was Celtic likewise. The water of the rock spring\n Karnant makes a broken sword whole again. Curious customs show us\n in what manner young girls in the Pyrenees country _tell their own\n fortunes in the spring water_ on May-day morning.\u201d[95]\n\n\nWater Securing Immunity from Disease.\n\nSacred water as a means of lustration and of immunity from disease is\nyet a prominent characteristic of Northern European water-worship.\nGRIMM thus describes it:\n\n \u201cIn a spring near Nogent men and women bathed on St. John\u2019s eve:\n Holberg\u2019s comedy of _Kilde-reisen_ is founded on the Copenhagen\n people\u2019s practice of pilgriming to a neighboring spring on _St.\n Hans aften_ to heal and invigorate themselves in its waters. On\n Midsummer-eve the people of Osterg\u00f6tland journeyed according to\n ancient custom to Lagman\u2019s bergek\u00e4lla near Skeninge, and drank of\n the well. In many parts of Germany some clear fountain is visited at\n Whitsuntide, and the water drunk in jugs of a peculiar shape. Still\n more important is Petrarch\u2019s description of the annual bathing of\n the women of Cologne in the Rhine; it deserves to be quoted in full,\n because it plainly proves that the cult prevailed not merely at\n here and there a spring, but in Germany\u2019s greatest river. From the\n Italian\u2019s unacquaintance with the rite, one might infer that it was\n foreign to the country whence all Church ceremonies proceeded, and\n therefore altogether unchristian and heathenish. But Petrarch may\n not have had a minute knowledge of all the customs of his country;\n after his time, at all events, we find even there a lustration on\n St. John\u2019s Day (described as ancient custom then dying out). And\n long before Petrarch, in Augustine\u2019s time, the rite was practised\n in Libya, and is denounced by that Father as a relic of paganism.\n Generally sanctioned by the Church it certainly was not, yet it might\n be allowed here and there, as a not unapt reminder of the Baptizer\n in the Jordan, and now interpreted of him, though once it had been\n heathen. It might easily come into extensive favor, and that not as\n a Christian feast alone: to our heathen forefathers St. John\u2019s Day\n would mean the festive middle of the year, when the sun turns, and\n there might be many customs connected with it. I confess, if Petrarch\n had witnessed the bathing in the river at some small town, I would\n the sooner take it for a native rite of the ancient Germani; at\n Cologne, the holy city so renowned for its relics, I rather suspect\n it to be a custom first introduced by Christian tradition.\u201d[96]\n\nWater used for mechanical purposes was also looked upon as possessing\npeculiar virtues. Down to the present time the Servians catch the water\nwhich rebounds from the paddles of mill wheels. Women go early on St.\nGeorge\u2019s day, April 23d, to catch such water for bathing purposes.\nSome carry it home on the evening before the twenty-third and sprinkle\nbroken bits of green herbs and boughs upon it. They believe that\nall evil and harm \u201cwill then glance off their bodies like water off\nthe mill wheel,\u201d as the result of such bathing. A trace of the same\nsuperstition remains in Servia in the popular warning, \u201cNot to flirt\nthe water off your hands after washing in the morning,\u201d else you flirt\naway your luck for the day.\n\nMany religious and superstitious practices are prevalent in Northern\nEurope in times of drouth, in order to propitiate the divinities,\neither good or evil, and secure a rainfall. Certain goddesses which\nwere prominent in the Northern European mythologies, especially Nerthus\nand Holda, were closely connected with water-worship. The former\nrepresented the earth and is spoken of as \u201cthe bath-loving Nerthus.\u201d\nHolda lived in wells. She was identical with the Roman Isis. \u201cWhen\nit snows, she is making her bed, and the feathers fly. She stirs up\nsnow as Donar does rain.\u201d In Prussia when it snows the people say:\n\u201cThe angels are shaking their beds, and the flakes of down drop to the\nearth.\u201d It was believed that Holda haunted the lakes and fountains and\nmight be seen bathing at the hour of noon. Mortals could reach her\ndwelling by passing through a well. She was supposed to pass through\nthe land at Christmas time, bringing fertility by her presence.[97]\n\nOn the fifth of August the lace-makers of Brussels pray to Mary that\ntheir work \u201cmay keep as white as snow.\u201d It was believed that Holda\nappeared as an ugly old woman, long-nosed, big-toothed, with bristling\nand thick-matted hair. The common people still say of a man whose hair\nis tangled and in disorder: \u201cHe has had a jaunt with Holda.\u201d\n\nThe pagan fear of water sprites still exists in Sweden. On crossing\nany water after dark it is thought advisable to _spit three times_, as\na safeguard against their evil influences.[98] It is also thought to\nbe dangerous to draw water from a well without saluting the divinity\nwhich governs it. This custom remains among modern Greeks. A thief\nis supposed to be safe in his evil course if he sacrifices to the\nwater sprites, by throwing a little of that which he has stolen into\na stream. In Esthonia, the newly married wife drops a present into\nthe well of the house where she is to reside. In 1641, Hans Ohm, of\nSommerpahl in Esthonia, built a mill upon a sacred stream. Bad harvests\nfollowed for several years until the peasants fell upon the mill, burnt\nit down and destroyed the piles in the water. Ohm went to law and\nobtained a verdict against the peasants. But to rid himself of new and\ngrievous persecutions, he induced pastor Gutslaff to write a treatise\nespecially combating this superstition. The Esthonians replied, when\nasked how good or bad weather could depend upon springs and brooks: \u201cIt\nis our ancient faith: the men of old have so taught us. Mills have been\nburnt down on this brook before now.\u201d They called it \u201cHoly Brook,\u201d and\nbelieved that when they wanted rain it could be produced by throwing\nsomething into the stream.[99]\n\nMany similar stories abound in the modern literature of Esthonia.\nAlthough less refined, the water-worship mythology of Northern Europe\nwas as widespread and persistent in its influence as that of Southern\nEurope or of Asia. Its influence upon Christianity was not less\nstrongly marked, and the modifications which it produced in Christian\nbaptism continue in a great degree to the present day. The universal\nsway of pagan baptism and its essential unity are shown by turning\nfrom Northern Europe to the extreme point of another continent and\nconsidering\n\n\nWater-Worship in Mexico.\n\nPRESCOTT speaks of the amazement with which the early Spaniards beheld\nthe points of similarity between the customs of the pagan Mexicans and\nthe Roman Catholic Church; he says:\n\n \u201cWith the same feelings they witnessed another ceremony, that of the\n Aztec baptism; in which, after a solemn invocation, the head and lips\n of the infant were touched with water, and a name given to it; while\n the goddess Cioacoatl, who presided over childbirth, was implored\n that the sin which was given to us before the beginning of the world\n might not visit the child, but that, cleansed by these waters, it\n might live and be born anew.\u201d[100]\n\nA full account of this pagan baptism in Mexico is given by\nSAHAGUN-DE-BERNARDINO, as follows:\n\n \u201cWhen everything necessary for the baptism had been made ready, all\n the relations of the child were assembled, and the midwife, who was\n the person that performed the rite of baptism, was summoned. At early\n dawn they met together in the court-yard of the house. When the sun\n had risen the midwife, taking the child in her arms, called for a\n little earthen vessel of water, while those about her placed the\n ornaments which had been prepared for the baptism in the midst of the\n court. To perform the rite of baptism, she placed herself with her\n face towards the west, and immediately began to go through certain\n ceremonies.... After this she sprinkled water on the head of the\n infant, saying: \u2018O my child! take and receive the water of the Lord\n of the world, which is our life, and is given for the increasing and\n renewing of our body. It is to wash and to purify. I pray that these\n heavenly drops may enter into your body and dwell there; that they\n may destroy and remove from you all the evil and sin which was given\n to you before the beginning of the world; since all of us are under\n its power, being all the children of Chalchivitlycue\u2019 (the goddess of\n water). She then washed the body of the child with water and spoke\n in this manner: \u2018Whencesoever thou comest, thou that art hurtful to\n this child, leave him and depart from him, for he now liveth anew\n and is born anew; now he is purified and cleansed afresh, and our\n Mother Chalchivitlycue again bringeth him into the world.\u2019 Having\n thus prayed, the midwife took the child in both hands, and lifting\n him towards heaven, said: \u2018O Lord, thou seest here thy creature, whom\n thou hast sent into this world, this place of sorrow, suffering, and\n penitence. Grant him, O Lord, thy gifts and thine inspiration, for\n thou art the great God, and with thee is the great goddess.\u2019 Torches\n of pine were kept burning during the performance of these ceremonies.\n When these things were ended, they gave the child the name of some\n one of his ancestors, in hope that he might shed a new lustre over\n it. The name was given by the same midwife or priestess who baptized\n him.\u201d[101]\n\nA full discussion of baptismal ceremonies among the pagans of Mexico\nmay be found in H. H. Bancroft\u2019s works,[102] which discussion fully\nsupports the foregoing from Prescott and Sahagun.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[91] _Northern Antiquities of the Ancient Scandinavians_, translated\nfrom the French of P. H. Mallet by Bishop Percy, edition revised by J.\nA. Blackwell, London, 1847, p. 206.\n\n[92] _The Origin and Development of Religious Belief_, by S. Baring\nGould, M.A., London, 1869, p. 393.\n\n[93] For details see _Ueber die Wasserweihe des Germanischen\nHeidenthumes_, von Konrad Maurer, as found in the Transactions of the\nBavarian Academy of Science for 1880.\n\n[94] See on this point Marquardt, _Das Privat-leben der Romer_, i., pp.\n81, 82.\n\n[95] Vol. ii., pp. 586, 587.\n\n[96] Vol. ii., pp. 588, 590.\n\n[97] Several attributes of the heathen goddess Holda passed over to the\nworship of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church.\n\n[98] Compare this with what is said by Pliny, and with the use of\nspittle by the Roman Catholics in baptism. Chapter V. of this book.\n\n[99] See _A Short Account of the Holy Brook_, etc., by John Gutslaff,\nPastor at Urbs in Liefland, Dorpt, 1644, pp. 25, 258.\n\n[100] _Conquest of Mexico_, vol. iii., p. 369 f., Philadelphia, J. B.\nLippincott.\n\n[101] _Hist. de Nueva Espana_, lib. vi., cap. xxxvii.\n\n[102] _The Native Races, Myths, and Languages_, vol. iii., p. 369\n_seq._, San Francisco, 1882.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. GREEK WATER-WORSHIP.\n\n\n Sprinkling and Immersion Both Used--Prominence of \u201cBaptismal\n Regeneration\u201d--Lustral Water at Temple Doors--Baptism of\n Animals--Influence of \u201cThe Greek Mysteries\u201d on Christian\n Baptism--Initiatory Baptisms--Scenic Illustrations--Mithraic\n Baptism Engrafted on Grecian--\u201cCreed,\u201d \u201cSymbol,\u201d Drawn from Grecian\n Water-Worship Cult--Identity of Grecian and Roman Catholic Forms--The\n Use of Spittle in Pagan Baptism.\n\nIn our survey of the wide field, we now come to a still more specific\nview of the pagan cult, along the line of Hellenic thought, where it\nimpinged most strongly upon Christianity.\n\nPOTTER writes learnedly of water-worship among the Greeks, in the\nfollowing:\n\n \u201cAt least every person who came to the solemn sacrifices was\n purified by water. To which end at the entrance to the temples\n there was commonly placed a vessel full of holy water. This water\n was consecrated by putting into it a burning torch taken from the\n altar. The same torch was sometimes made use of to sprinkle those\n who entered into the temple. Thus we find in Euripides, and also\n in Aristophanes, where the scholiast observes that this torch was\n used because of the quality of fire, which is thought to purify\n all things. Instead of the torches, they sometimes used a branch\n of laurel, as we find in Pliny. Thus Sozomen, where he speaks of\n Valentinian following Julian into a pagan temple, relates that when\n they were about to enter, a priest holding certain green boughs\n dropping water besprinkled them after the Grecian manner. Instead of\n laurel, olive was sometimes used. Thus we find in Virgil:\n\n \u2018Old Corian\u00e6us compassed thrice the crew,\n And dipped an olive branch in holy dew.\u2019\n\n \u201cThis custom of surrounding here expressed, was so constant in\n purifying that most of the terms which relate to any sort of\n purification are compounded with \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9, around, thus: \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd,\n \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9, \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd, \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1\u03b3\u03bd\u03af\u03b6\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, etc.\n\n \u201cThe vessel which contained the water of purification was termed,\n \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd. And the Latin word _lustrare_, which signifies to\n purify or expiate, came hence to be a general word for any sort of\n surrounding or encompassing. Thus it is used by Virgil, _... dum\n montibus umbr\u00e6 lustrabunt convexo_. Spondanus tells us that before\n the sacrifices of the celestial gods, the worshippers had their whole\n bodies washed, or if that could not be, at least their hands; but for\n those that performed the sacred rites to the infernal gods, a small\n sprinkling was sufficient. Sometimes the feet were washed as well as\n the hands; whence came the proverbs, \u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03c0\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c7\u03b5\u03c1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd and \u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03c0\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2\n \u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd. In Latin _illotis manibus_, and _illotis pedibus_,--which are\n usually applied to men who undertake anything without due care and\n preparation. Porphyry tells us there was a programme fixed up, that\n no man should go beyond the \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd till he had washed his\n hands; so great a crime was it counted to omit this ceremony, that\n Timarchides hath related a story of one Asterius, who was struck dead\n with thunder because he had approached the altar of Jupiter with\n unwashed hands. Nor was this custom only used at solemn sacrifices,\n but also at the smallest parts of their worship. Hector tells us that\n he was afraid to make so much as a libation to Jupiter before he had\n washed.\n\n \u2018I dread with unwashed hands to bring,\n My incensed wine to Jove, an offering.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd Telemachus is said, in Homer\u2019s _Odysseis_, to have washed his\n hands before he ventured to pray to the gods. This they did out of a\n conceit that thereby they were purified from their sins; and withal\n signifying that nothing impure ought to approach the deities. On the\n same account, they sometimes washed their clothes, as Homer relates\n of Penelope, before she offered prayers to the gods. The water used\n in purification was required to be clear, and without mud and all\n other impurities. It was commonly fetched from fountains and rivers.\n The water of lakes or standing ponds was unfit for this purpose.\n So also was the purest stream if it had been a considerable time\n separated from its source.\u201d[103]\n\nBARING GOULD gives another picture of baptism and lustration among the\nGreeks:\n\n \u201cAmong the Greeks, the mysteries of Cotys commenced with a\n purification, a sort of baptism, and the priests of the Thracian\n Goddess derived from this their title of \u03b2\u03ac\u03c0\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9. But Apollo, from\n a supposed derivation of his name from \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03cd\u03c9 to purify, was the\n special god of expiation by baptismal acts. In Thessaly was yearly\n celebrated a great festival of cleansing. A work bearing the name of\n _Mus\u00e6us_ was a complete ritual of purifications. It distinguished the\n ceremonies into two orders, \u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03af and \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03bf\u03af. The latter were\n purifications and expiations accomplished by special sacrifices. The\n former resembled the purifications performed in the Mysteries. The\n usual mode of purification was dipping in water, or it was performed\n by aspersion. The baptism of immersion was called \u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, the other\n \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03af\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2. These sacraments were held to have virtue independent\n of the disposition of the candidate, an opinion which called forth\n the sneer of Diogenes when he saw some one undergoing baptism by\n aspersion: \u2018Poor wretch! do you not see that, since these sprinklings\n cannot repair your grammatical errors, they cannot repair either the\n faults of your life?\u2019\n\n \u201cLustral water was placed at the temple doors, with which the profane\n were purified by the priests. Usually, before entering a temple, the\n hands and feet were washed. At Athens, when the pr\u0153drai had opened\n the assembly, the peristiarch offered a sacrifice, and then with the\n blood of the victim sprinkled the seats. The herald then took the\n place of the peristiarch, and continued the lustration by burning\n incense; for fumigations (\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03ce\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2), constituted another means of\n purification. In default of water, sand was used, and salt, which, as\n a symbol of incorruption, was regarded as possessed of purificatory\n virtue. Every impure act, murder, the touch of a corpse, illegitimate\n commerce, even the conjugal act, demanded purification. In like\n manner, baptism was practised by the Romans, and Juvenal satirizes\n those who washed away their sins by dipping the head thrice in the\n morning into the waters of the Tiber.[104]\n\n \u201cOn the feast of Pales, the goddess of flocks, the shepherds\n purified themselves by washing their hands thrice in new fallen\n dew; or a lustration was effected by aspersion with consecrated\n water shaken from a branch of laurel or olive; in reference to\n which rite Propertius prays, much as once did David: \u2018_Spargite me\n lymphis._\u2019\u201d[105]\n\nThe Grecian idea of baptism is well set forth by OVID, in the following\nlines:\n\n \u201cFrom Greece the custom came, for Greece esteems\n Those free from guilt who bathe in sacred streams.\n Thus did old Pelius once Patroclus lave,\n And free from stain in the H\u00e6monian wave:\n As, in that same H\u00e6monian stream before,\n Acastus, Pelius freed from Phocus\u2019 gore.\n The Phasian sorceress, in her fiery car,\n Borne by yoked dragons through the liquid air,\n To credulous \u00c6geus supplication made,\n And from him won an undeserv\u00e8d aid.\n In Naupactoan Achelous\u2019 flood,\n His horrid hands stained with his mother\u2019s blood,\n Alc\u00e6mon bathed; \u2018Cleanse me from crime,\u2019 he cried,\n Nor by the stream was his request denied.\n Ah, vain the hope, and far too easy they,\n Who think the water takes such guilt away.\u201d\n _Fasti_, book ii., line 58 ff.\n\n\nInfluence of the \u201cGreek Mysteries.\u201d\n\nThe influence of the Greek mysteries in corrupting Christian baptism\nis more plainly seen than that of any other specific department of the\npagan cult. These mysteries were the remnant of the oldest religion\nknown to the Greeks. They embodied the worship of the gods of the\nproductive forces in nature, and of the gods of death. The most\nimportant centre of this cult was at Eleusis, where the worship was\ncelebrated in the largest temple in Greece. The chief elements in the\ncult were initiation, sacrifice, and scenic representations of the\ngreat facts in the processes of nature and in human life. The main\nconception in the initiation was that the candidate must be purified\nbefore he could approach God. The initiated, being thus purified,\nwere inducted to a divine life and to the hope of a resurrection. The\nceremonial began with the proclamation: \u201cLet no one enter whose hands\nare not clean, and whose tongue is not prudent.\u201d[106]\n\nConfession was followed by a kind of baptism.[107] The candidates for\ninitiation bathed in the pure waters of the sea. The manner of bathing\nand the number of immersions varied with the degree of guilt which\nthey had confessed. They came from the bath new men. It was a \u03ba\u03ac\u03b8\u03b1\u03c1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2,\na \u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03c4\u03c1\u1f78\u03bd, a \u201claver of regeneration.\u201d Certain forms of abstinence were\nimposed; they had to fast; and when they ate they had to abstain from\ncertain kinds of food.[108]\n\nAfter this purification came a \u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1, \u201ca great public sacrifice\nof salvation\u201d; also personal sacrifices. After an interval of two\ndays still more sacrifices, shows, and \u201cprocessions\u201d followed. The\ninitiated carried lighted torches and sang \u201cloud peans in honor of the\nGod.\u201d[109] Then came the scenic representations at night. The initiated\nstood outside the temple in deep darkness. Suddenly the door opened,\nand in a blaze of light the drama of Demeter and Kore appeared--in\nwhich the loss of the daughter, the wanderings of the mother, and the\nbirth of the child, were enacted. This symbolized the earth in its\ngreat experiences, as well as the corresponding experiences in human\nlife. All this was enacted in silence. Each man saw and meditated\nfor himself. It was believed that this gave purity to the initiated,\nchanged their relations to the gods, and made them \u201cpartakers of a\nlife to come.\u201d[110] Mithraicism had a similar form of initiation, a\nprominent feature of which was a sacred meal, upon a \u201choly table,\u201d of\nwhich the initiated took part after they were purified. The societies\nwhich practised these mysteries existed on a large scale during the\nearliest centuries of our era, and had a marked influence upon the\nearliest Christian communities, and upon the subsequent church. HATCH\nthus describes these effects:\n\n \u201cIt was inevitable when a new group of associations came to exist\n side by side with a large existing body of associations, from which\n it was continually detaching members, introducing them into its own\n midst, with the practices of their original societies impressed upon\n their minds, that this new group should tend to assimilate, with the\n assimilation of their members, some of the elements of these existing\n groups.\n\n \u201cThis is what we find to have been in fact the case. It is possible\n that they made the Christian associations more secret than before.\n Up to a certain time there is no evidence that Christianity had any\n secrets. It was preached openly to the world. It guarded worship by\n imposing a moral bar to admission. But its rites were simple and its\n teaching was public. After a certain time all is changed; mysteries\n have arisen in the once open and easily accessible faith, and there\n are doctrines which must not be declared in the hearing of the\n uninitiated.\u201d[111]\n\nThe effect of these pagan mysteries upon Christian baptism, and upon\nthe Lord\u2019s Supper also, will be more clearly seen when we remember how\nsimple a ceremony New Testament baptism was. It followed immediately\nupon confession of faith in Christ. There was no preparatory ceremony,\nno ritual, only the simple formula. There was no confusion or\ncontroversy concerning the \u201cmode,\u201d for submersion alone was known\nwithin Christian circles.\n\nWhen the current of history emerges at and after the middle of the\nsecond century, marked changes appear which are so identical with\ngnosticism and the Greek mysteries that there can be no question as to\ntheir source.[112] Among these changes were the following:\n\nThe name is changed, and the new terms used come directly from\nthe familiar mysteries. Justin calls it \u03c8\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2, \u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9,\n\u201cenlightenment.\u201d[113] Those who had passed the tests were \u201csealed,\u201d\n\u03c6\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03b9\u03c2--a term from the mysteries.[114] It was also called\n\u03bc\u03c5\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd,[115] \u201cMysteries\u201d and many other terms, all of which sprung\nfrom the \u201cmysteries of Greek paganism, rather than from the New\nTestament.\u201d\n\nThe time of baptism of adults was changed to meet the pagan conception\nof it as a purifying and saving act. A long preparation was demanded,\nand, to meet the pagan idea that it removed sins, it was often\ndeferred until near the close of life in order to make the most of\nboth worlds.[116] The initiated in the Greek mysteries were given a\npassword: \u03c3\u03cd\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd or \u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b8\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1. \u201cSo the catechumens had a formula which\nwas only entrusted to them in the last days of their catechumenate,\nthe baptismal formula itself, and the Lord\u2019s Prayer.\u201d[117] A special\nrite accompanied the giving of this formula. Otherwise both the Lord\u2019s\nPrayer and the Creed were kept as \u201cmysteries\u201d; the technical name for\ncreed remains to this day as \u03c3\u03cd\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd \u201csymbol.\u201d[118]\n\nHatch quotes a description of baptism in the Roman Catholic Church,\nwhich shows every essential feature of the Eleusinian mysteries\ntransferred to \u201cChristian baptism,\u201d falsely so called. The account is\ntaken from Mabillon.[119] He writes thus:\n\n \u201cI will abridge the account which is given of the practice at Rome\n so late as the ninth century. Preparation went on through the\n greater part of Lent. The candidates were examined and tested; they\n fasted; they received the secret symbols, the Creed and the Lord\u2019s\n Prayer. On Easter eve, as the day declined towards afternoon, they\n assembled in the Church of St. John Lateran. The rites of exorcism\n and renunciation were gone through in solemn form, and the rituals\n survive. The Pope and his priests come forth in their sacred\n vestments, with lights carried in front of them, which the Pope then\n blesses; there is a reading of lessons and a singing of psalms. And\n then, while they chant a litany, there is a procession to the great\n bath of baptism, and the water is blest. The baptized come forth from\n the water, are signed with the cross, and are presented to the Pope\n one by one, who vests them in a white robe and signs their foreheads\n again with the cross. They are arranged in a great circle, and each\n of them carries a light. Then a vast array of lights is kindled;\n the blaze of them, says a Greek Father, makes night continuous with\n dawn. It is the beginning of a new life. The mass is celebrated--the\n mystic offering on the cross is represented in figure; but for the\n newly baptized the chalice is filled, not with wine, but with milk\n and honey, that they may understand, says an old writer, that they\n have entered already upon the promised land. And there was one more\n symbolical rite in that early Easter sacrament, the mention of which\n is often suppressed--a lamb was offered on the altar, afterwards,\n cakes in the shape of a lamb. It was simply the ritual which we have\n seen already in the mysteries. The purified crowd at Eleusis saw a\n blaze of light, and in the light were represented in symbol life and\n death and resurrection.\u201d[120]\n\n\nAnointing and Baptism.\n\nThe use of anointing oil in baptism was borrowed directly from\npaganism. To economize space, and fortify by the power of a great name,\nwe again quote from Hatch:\n\n \u201cThe general inference of the large influence of the Gnostics on\n baptism, is confirmed by the fact that another element, which\n certainly came through them, though its source is not certain, and\n is more likely to have been Oriental than Greek, has maintained a\n permanent place in most rituals--the element of anointing. There were\n two customs in this matter, one more characteristic of the East, the\n other of the West--the anointing with (1) the oil of exorcism before\n baptism and after the renunciation of the devil, and (2) the oil of\n thanksgiving, which was used immediately after baptism, first by the\n presbyter and then by the bishop, who then sealed the candidate on\n the forehead. The very variety of the custom shows how deep and yet\n natural the action of the Gnostic systems, with the mystic and magic\n customs of the Gnostic societies or associations, had been on the\n practices and ceremonies of the Church.\u201d[121]\n\n\nUse of Spittle in Baptism.\n\nThe pagan doctrine of exorcism was carried still further, and baptism\nwas corrupted yet more by adding the use of human saliva as a \u201ccharm.\u201d\nThis arose from the general use of spittle by the pagans as a talisman\nagainst harm and evil influences. Rev. JOHN JAMES BLUNT says:\n\n \u201cHuman saliva was heretofore very generally used as a charm, and\n was thought particularly efficacious against the venom of poisonous\n animals. Pliny quotes some authorities to prove that the pernicious\n powers of toads and frogs may be disarmed by this means, and that\n serpents may be rendered innoxious by spitting into their mouths. The\n testimony of Varro is also cited by the naturalist to show that there\n were people in the Hellespont, near Pasium, who could cure the bite\n of snakes by their saliva.... It is remarkable that in administering\n the rite of baptism the priest, among other ceremonies, moistens a\n napkin with his own saliva, and then touches with it the eyes and\n nose of the child, accompanying the action by the word _Ephphatha_.\n It was with a similar rite that Roman infants received their names on\n the _Dies Lustricus_.\u201d[122]\n\nThe Satirists were not slow in holding up these various superstitions\nto deserved ridicule. PERSEUS touches the spittle superstition in the\nfollowing stanza:\n\n \u201cLo! from his little crib the grandam hoar,\n Or aunt, well-versed in superstitious lore,\n Snatches the babe; in lustral spittle dips\n Her middle finger, and anoints his lips\n And forehead.\u201d[123]\n\nPLINY supports the statement of Blunt as follows:\n\n \u201cThe Marsi, in Italy, are still in possession of the same power,\n for which it is said they are indebted to their origin from the son\n of Circe, from whom they acquired it as a natural quality. But the\n fact is, that all men possess in their bodies a poison which acts\n upon serpents, and the human saliva, it is said, makes them take\n to flight as though they had been touched with boiling water. The\n same substance, it is said, destroys them as soon as it enters their\n throat, and more particularly so, if it should happen to be the\n saliva of a man who is fasting.\u201d[124]\n\nIn another place Pliny enumerates many uses to which spittle is put:\n\n \u201cBut it is the fasting spittle of a human being that is, as already\n stated by us, the sovereign preservative against the poison of\n serpents: while, at the same time, our daily experience may recognize\n its efficacy and utility in many other respects. We are in the habit\n of spitting, for instance, as a preservative from epilepsy, or, in\n other words, we repel contagion thereby; in a similar manner, too,\n we repel fascinations, and the evil presages attendant upon meeting\n a person who is lame in the right leg. We ask pardon of the gods, by\n spitting in the lap, for entertaining some too presumptuous hope or\n expectation. On the same principle, it is the practice, in all cases\n where medicine is employed, to spit three times on the ground, and to\n conjure the malady as often, the object being to aid the operation\n of the remedy employed. It is usual, too, to mark a boil, when it\n first makes its appearance, three times with fasting spittle. What\n we are going to say is marvellous, but it may easily be tested by\n experiment: if a person repents of a blow given to another, either\n by hand or with a missile, he has nothing to do but to spit at\n once in the palm of the hand which has inflicted the blow, and all\n feelings of resentment will be instantly alleviated in the person\n struck. This, too, is often verified in the case of a beast of burden\n when brought on its haunches with blows; for upon this remedy being\n adopted, the animal will immediately step out and mend its pace. Some\n persons, however, before making an effort, spit into the hand in the\n manner above stated, in order to make the blow more heavy. We may\n well believe, then, that lichens and leprous spots may be removed by\n a constant application of fasting spittle; that ophthalmia may be\n cured by anointing, as it were, the eyes every morning with fasting\n spittle; that carcinomata may be effectually treated by kneading\n the root of the plant known as \u2018apple of the earth\u2019 with human\n spittle; that crick in the neck may be got rid of by carrying fasting\n spittle to the right knee with the right hand, and to the left knee\n with the left; and when an insect has got into the ear it is quite\n sufficient to spit into that organ to make it come out. Among the\n counter-charms, too, are reckoned the practice of spitting into the\n urine the moment it is voided, of spitting into the shoe of the right\n foot before putting it on, and of spitting while a person is passing\n a place in which he has incurred any kind of peril.\n\n \u201cMarcion, of Smyrna, who has written a work on the virtues of\n simples, informs that the sea scolopendra will burst asunder if spit\n upon; and that the same is the case with bramble frogs, and other\n kinds of frogs. Opilius says that serpents will do the same if a\n person spits into their open mouth; and Salpe tells us that when any\n part of the body is asleep the numbness may be got rid of by the\n person spitting into his lap, or touching the upper eyelid with his\n spittle. If we are ready to give faith to such statements as these,\n we must believe also in the efficacy of the following practices:\n upon the entrance of a stranger, or when a person looks at an infant\n while asleep, it is usual for the nurse to spit three times upon the\n ground; and this, although infants are under the special guardianship\n of the god Fascinus, the protector, not of infants only, but of\n generals as well, and a divinity whose worship is entrusted to the\n vestal virgins, and forms a part of the Roman rites.\u201d[125]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[103] _Antiquities of Greece_, by John Potter, D.D., vol. i., pp.\n261-263, Edinburgh, 1832.\n\n[104] See Satire vi., line 522.\n\n[105] _The Origin and Development of Religious Belief_, by S. Baring\nGould, M.A., vol. i., p. 397, London, 1869.\n\n[106] See Keil, _Attische Culte aus Inschriften_, _Philologus_, bd.\nxxiii., 212, 259, 592, 622; also Weingarten, _Histor. Zeitschrift_, bd.\nxlv., 1881, p. 441 ff.\n\n[107] See Tertullian, _De Baptismo_, chap. v.; and Clem. of Alex.,\n_Strom._, book v., chap. iv.\n\n[108] _Cf._ Hatch, _Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the\nChristian Church_.\n\n[109] _Cf._ Clem. of Alex., _Exhortation to the Heathen_, chap. xii.\n\n[110] _Cf._ Hatch as above; and Lenormant, in _Contemporary Review_ for\nSeptember, 1880.\n\n[111] \u201cThe objection which Celsus makes (c. _Cels._, i., 1, Keim, p.\n3) to the secrecy of the Christian associations would hardly have\nheld good in the apostolic age. Origen admits (c. _Cels._, i., 7)\nthat there are exoteric and esoteric doctrines in Christianity, and\njustifies it by (1) the philosophies, (2) the mysteries. On the rise\nof this conception of Christian teaching as something to be hidden\nfrom the mass, _cf._ the Valentians in Tert., c. _Valent._, i., where\nthere is a direct parallel drawn between them and the mysteries; also\nthe distinction of men into two classes--\u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u03c5\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u1f76 and \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u1f76 or\n\u1f51\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03af,--among the Gnostics. Yet this very secrecy was naturalized in\nthe Church. _Cf._ Cyril Hier., _Catech._, vi., 30; Aug. in _Psalm_\nciii.; _Hom._, xcvi., in _Joan_; Theodoret, _Qu\u00e6st._ xv., in _Num._,\nand _Dial._, ii., (_Inconfusus_); Chry., _Hom._, xix., in _Matt._\nSozomen\u2019s (i., 20, 3) reason for not giving the Nicene creed is\nsignificant alike as regards motive and language.\u201d--Hibbert Lectures,\n1888, p. 293 and footnote.\n\n[112] _Cf._ Hatch, p. 294 ff.\n\n[113] _Apol._, i., 61.\n\n[114] _Cf._ Clem. of Alex., _Stroma._, bk. ii., chap. iii.\n\n[115] Chrysostom, _Hom._, 85, in _Joan_, xix., 34.\n\n[116] _Cf._ _Apostol. Const._ and _Bingham Antiq. in loco._\n\n[117] Hatch, p. 298.\n\n[118] _Cf._ _Dic. Chris. Antiq._, \u201cBaptism\u201d and \u201cCreed.\u201d\n\n[119] Com. Praev. Ad. Ord. Rom. Museum, Ital., ii., xcix.\n\n[120] Hatch, p. 299.\n\n[121] Pp. 307-308.\n\n[122] _Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs in Italy and Sicily_, by\nJohn James Blunt, pp. 164, 165, and 167. London, 1823.\n\n[123] Perseus, Satire ii., 31.\n\n[124] _Natural History_, book vii., chap. ii., vol. ii., p. 126.\nLondon, edition 1856.\n\n[125] _Natural History_, book xxviii., chap. vii., vol. v., pp. 288-90.\nLondon, 1856.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. PAGAN WATER-WORSHIP TRANSFERRED TO CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\n Testimony from Tertullian, Barnabas, Justin, Methodius, the\n Apostolic Constitutions, etc.--Holy Water, or Repeated Baptism,\n Borrowed without Change--Magical Effects of Holy Water, the Same\n in Christian as in Pagan Cult--Baptism of Animals by Holy Water,\n to Produce Magical Results--Holy Water Prepared after the Pagan\n Method--Consecration of Baptismal Waters Borrowed from Pagan\n Combination of Sun- and Water-Worship--The Church Filled with\n Baptized but Unconverted Pagans, and so Passed under Pagan Control.\n\n\nBaptism in the Early Church.\n\nTurning to the earlier Church fathers, who formulated much which has\ncome to us as Christian doctrine, we find the pagan idea of baptism\nrepeated in all its essential characteristics. We have seen that the\nGreek fathers came to Christianity by way of Neo-Platonism rather\nthan the New Testament. They accepted Christianity as containing many\nexcellent things, but not as the only authoritative system of faith.\nThey followed the popular syncretic tendency, and combined Christianity\nwith the pagan faith in which they had been educated.\n\nTERTULLIAN wrote a special treatise on the question of baptism, which\nrepresents the pagano-Christian creed in fulness and in detail. I\ntranscribe his words in part, and call attention to the similarity and\nthe points of identity between these and the pagan theories already\npresented. Chapter i. of the treatise opens with these words:\n\n \u201cHappy is the sacrament of our water, in that, by washing away the\n sins of our early blindness, we are set free [and admitted] into\n eternal life!... But we, little fishes, after the example of our\n \u0399\u03c7\u03b8\u03c5\u03c2, Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any\n other way than by permanently abiding in [that] water.\u201d[126]\n\nIn the succeeding chapters Tertullian goes on to show that water was\n\u201cchosen as a vehicle of divine operation\u201d because it was the element\nover which the divine spirit brooded in creation. He says:\n\n \u201c_Why should WATER be chosen as a vehicle of divine operation? Its\n prominence first of all in Creation_.--Mindful of this declaration as\n of a conclusive prescript, we nevertheless [proceed to] treat [the\n question], \u2018How _foolish_ and _impossible_ it is to be formed anew by\n water. In what respect, pray, has this material substance merited an\n office of so high dignity?\u2019 The authority, I suppose, of the liquid\n element has to be examined. This, however, is found in abundance, and\n that from the very beginning. For [water] is one of those things,\n which, before all the furnishing of the world, were quiescent\n with God in a yet unshapen state. In the first beginning, saith\n [Scripture], \u2018God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was\n invisible, and unorganized, and darkness was over the abyss; and the\n Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters.\u2019 The first thing,\n oh man, which you have to venerate, is the _age_ of the waters, in\n that their substance is ancient; the second, their _dignity_, in that\n they were the seat of the Divine Spirit, more pleasing [to him], no\n doubt, than all the other then existing elements. For the darkness\n was total thus far, shapeless, without the ornament of stars;\n and the abyss gloomy; and the earth unfurnished; and the heaven\n unwrought; water alone--always a perfect, gladsome, simple material\n substance, pure in itself--supplied a worthy vehicle to God. What\n [of the fact] that waters were in some way the regulating powers by\n which the disposition of the world thenceforward was constituted by\n God? For the suspension of the celestial firmament in the midst He\n caused by \u2018dividing the waters\u2019; the suspension of \u2018the dry land,\u2019\n He accomplished by \u2018separating the waters.\u2019 After the world had been\n hereupon set in order through [its] elements, when inhabitants were\n given it, \u2018the waters\u2019 were the first to receive the precept, \u2018to\n bring forth living creatures.\u2019 Water was the first to produce that\n which had life, that it might be no wonder in baptism if waters know\n how to give life. For was not the work of fashioning man himself also\n achieved with the aid of waters? Suitable material is found in the\n _earth_, yet not apt for the purpose unless it be moist and juicy;\n which [earth] \u2018the waters\u2019 separated the fourth day before into\n their own place, temper with their remaining moisture to a clayey\n consistency. If, from that time onward, I go forward in recounting\n universally, or at more length [than I have already done] the\n evidences of the \u2018authority\u2019 of this element which I can adduce to\n show how great is its power or its grace; how many ingenious devices,\n how many functions, how useful an instrumentality, it affords the\n world, I fear I may seem to have collected rather the praises of\n water than the reasons of baptism; although I should [thereby] teach\n all the more fully, that it is not to be doubted that God has made\n the material substance which he has disposed throughout all his\n products and works, obey him also in his own peculiar sacraments;\n that [the material substance] which governs terrestrial life acts as\n agent likewise in the celestial.\u201d\n\nThe title of chapter iv. is:\n\n \u201c_The primeval hovering of the Spirit of God over the waters typical\n of baptism. The universal element of water thus made a channel of\n sanctification. Resemblance between the outward sign and the inward\n grace._\u201d\n\nIn this chapter Tertullian teaches that the divine power hovering over\nthe water, in creation, made it \u201choly\u201d as well as life-producing, and\nthat these qualities continue to exist in all water. He says:\n\n \u201cThus the nature of the waters, sanctified by the Holy One, itself\n conceived withal the power of sanctifying. Let no one say, \u2018Why,\n then, are we, pray, baptized with the very waters which then existed\n in the first beginning?\u2019 Not with those very waters, of course,\n except in so far as the _genus_ indeed is one, but the _species_ very\n many. But what is an attribute to the _genus_ reappears likewise in\n the _species_. And accordingly it makes no difference whether a\n man be washed in a sea or a pool, a stream or a font, a lake or a\n trough; nor is there any distinction between those whom John baptized\n in the Jordan and those whom Peter baptized in the Tiber, unless\n withal [it be thought that] the eunuch whom Philip baptized in the\n midst of his journeys with chance water, derived [therefrom] more or\n less of salvation [than others]. All waters, therefore, in virtue\n of the pristine privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of\n God, attain the sacramental power of sanctification; for the Spirit\n immediately supervenes from the heavens, and rests over the waters,\n sanctifying them from himself; and being thus sanctified, they imbibe\n at the same time the power of sanctifying.\u201d\n\nIn chapter v. Tertullian discusses the pagan theory as embodied in\nthe rites of Isis, Mithra, the Apollinarian and the Eleusinian games,\nand attempts to show that cleansing cannot come through these rites,\nbecause idols cannot imbue the water with sanctifying power, and evil\nspirits can impart only evil influences. He expresses faith in their\npower to do this, thus showing that he still held to the fundamental\nfeatures of the pagan system, and made them the basis of his theory of\nChristian baptism.\n\n_The Epistle of Barnabas_ presents a similar combination of fact and\nfancy concerning baptism. The pagan idea of water as a regenerating\npower underlies the theory set forth, and the reader will see\nhow Scripture is misquoted and misapplied in the effort to give a\nscriptural coloring to the pagan theory. Chapter xi. of the epistle is\nentitled:\n\n \u201c_Baptism and the Cross Prefigured in the Old Testament._--Let us\n further inquire whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the\n water [of baptism] and the cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it\n is written, in reference to the Israelites, that they should not\n receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins, but should\n procure another for themselves. The prophet therefore declares: \u2018Be\n astonished, O heaven, and let the earth tremble at this, because\n this people hath committed two great evils; they have forsaken me, a\n living fountain, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns. Is\n my holy hill Zion a desolate rock? For ye shall be as the fledglings\n of a bird, which fly away when the nest is removed.\u2019 And again saith\n the prophet: \u2018I will go before thee and make level the mountains, and\n will break the brazen gates, and bruise in pieces the iron bars; and\n I will give thee the secret, hidden, invisible treasures, that they\n may know that I am the Lord God.\u2019 And, \u2018He shall dwell in a lofty\n cave of the strong rock.\u2019 Furthermore, what saith He in reference to\n the Son? \u2018His water is sure; ye shall see the King in His glory, and\n your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord.\u2019 And again He saith\n in another prophet: \u2018The man who doeth these things shall be like a\n tree planted by the courses of waters, which shall yield its fruit\n in due season; and his leaf shall not fade, and all that he doeth\n shall prosper. Not so are the ungodly, not so, but even as chaff,\n which the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth. Therefore the\n ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of\n the just; for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way\n of the ungodly shall perish.\u2019 Mark how He has described at once both\n the water and the cross. For these words imply, Blessed are they who,\n placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water;\n for, says He, they shall receive their reward in due time; then He\n declares, I will recompense them. But now He saith, \u2018Their leaves\n shall not fade.\u2019 This meaneth that every word which proceedeth out\n of your mouth in faith and love shall tend to bring conversion and\n hope to many. Again, another prophet saith, \u2018And the land of Jacob\n shall be extolled above every land.\u2019 This meaneth the vessel of His\n Spirit, which He shall glorify. Further, what says He? \u2018And there\n was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees;\n and whosoever shall eat of them shall live forever.\u2019 This meaneth\n that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement,\n but come up bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and\n trust in Jesus in our spirit. \u2018And whosoever shall eat of these shall\n live forever.\u2019 This meaneth: Whosoever, He declares, shall hear thee\n speaking, and believe, shall live forever.\u201d[127]\n\nJUSTIN MARTYR combines his theory with his description of the rite of\nbaptism as follows. Note the misquotation of Scripture:\n\n \u201cI will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to\n God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this,\n we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as\n are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and\n undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and\n to entreat God, with fasting, for the remission of their sins that\n are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by\n us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in\n which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the\n Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,\n and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water.\n For Christ also said: \u2018Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter\n into the kingdom of heaven.\u2019 Now, that it is impossible for those who\n have once been born to enter into their mother\u2019s womb, is manifest\n to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their\n sins is declared by Esaias, the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus\n speaks: \u2018Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings\n from your souls; learn to do well; judge the fatherless, and plead\n for the widow; and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord.\n And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool;\n and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But\n if ye refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you; for the mouth of\n the Lord hath spoken it.\u2019 And for this [rite] we have learned from\n the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without\n our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and\n were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we\n may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may\n become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the\n water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced\n over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins,\n the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads\n to the laver the person that is to be washed, calling him by this\n name alone. For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and\n if anyone dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless\n madness. And this washing is called illumination, because they who\n learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. And in\n the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and\n in the name of the Holy Ghost, who, through the prophets, foretold\n all things about Jesus, he who is illuminated is washed.\u201d[128]\n\nThe pagano-Christian theory of baptism and baptismal regeneration,\nvariously expressed, is found in Methodius, _The Banquet of the Ten\nVirgins_, chapter vi; in Clement of Alexandria, _The Instructor_,\nchapter xii; in Tertullian, _Against Marcion_, book i., chapter xxviii;\nin Cyprian, _Epistles_,[129]--1, _To Donatus_; 22, _To Clergy at Rome_;\n51, _To Antonianus_; and 75, _To Magnus_; also _Testimonies against the\nJews_, paragraph 65; also, _A Treatise on Re-baptism_, by an unknown\nauthor, published in connection with Cyprian\u2019s writings, on page 402 of\nClark\u2019s edition Ante-Nicene Library, vol. xiii.\n\nThe Apostolic Constitutions clearly set forth the result of this\nperversion of New Testament doctrines concerning baptism. The\nlate Baron BUNSEN, one of the most eminent of German scholars and\nstatesmen, has grouped the teachings of the _Constitutions_ upon the\nquestion of baptism in such a way as to give the reader a better view\nthan is possible by quoting these writings verbatim. Although these\n_Constitutions_ are not the work of the apostles, they are of great\nhistoric value in presenting a picture of the practices of the early\nChurch. Bunsen thinks that the _Constitutions_ present \u201ca genuine,\nthough not textual, picture of the Ante-Nicene Church.\u201d He says:\n\n \u201cAs soon as we take away what belongs to the bad taste of the\n fiction, all the ethic introductions and occasional moralizing\n conclusions, and, in general, all which manifestly is re-written with\n literary pretension, and lastly, as soon as we expunge some easily\n discernible interpolations of the fourth and fifth centuries, we find\n ourselves unmistakably in the midst of the life of the Church of the\n second and third centuries.\u201d[130]\n\nThe summary made by Bunsen is given below. By analyzing it the reader\nwill see how much that is extra-scriptural, and anti-scriptural, was\nassociated with baptism thus early. By comparison with the pagan water\n_cultus_, the source of these errors is plainly apparent.\n\n \u201cAnd at the time of the crowing of the cock let them first pray\n over the water. Let the water be drawn into the font, or flowing\n into it. And let it be thus if they have no scarcity. But if there\n be a scarcity, let them pour the water which shall be found into\n the font; and let them undress themselves, and the young shall be\n first baptized. And all who are able to answer for themselves, let\n them answer. But those who are not able to answer, let their parents\n answer for them, or one other numbered amongst their relations. And\n after the great men have been baptized, at the last the women, they\n having loosed all their hair, and having laid aside the ornaments of\n gold and silver which were on them. Let not anyone take a strange\n garment with him into the water.\n\n \u201cAnd at the time which is appointed for the baptism, let the bishop\n give thanks over the oil, which, putting into a vessel, he shall\n call the oil of thanksgiving. Again, he shall take other oil, and\n exorcising over it, he shall call it the oil of exorcism. And a\n deacon shall bear the oil of exorcism and stand on the left hand of\n the presbyter. Another deacon shall take the oil of thanksgiving and\n stand on the right hand of the presbyter.\n\n \u201cAnd when the presbyter has taken hold of each one of those who are\n about to receive baptism, let him command him to renounce, saying: \u2018I\n will renounce thee, Satan, and all thy service, and all thy works.\u2019\n And when he has renounced all these, let him anoint him with the oil\n of exorcism, saying: \u2018Let every spirit depart from thee.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd let the bishop or the presbyter receive him thus unclothed,\n to place him in the water of baptism. Also let the deacon go with\n him into the water, and let him say to him, helping him that he may\n say: \u2018I believe in the only true God, the Father Almighty, and\n in his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and\n in the Holy Spirit, the Quickener, [the Consubstantial Trinity].\n One Sovereignty, one Kingdom, one Faith, one Baptism; in the Holy\n Catholic Apostolic Church, in the life everlasting. Amen.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd let him who receives (baptism) repeat after all these: \u2018I\n believe thus.\u2019 And he who bestows it shall lay his hand upon the head\n of him who receives, dipping him three times, confessing these things\n each time.\n\n \u201cAnd afterwards, let him say again: \u2018Dost thou believe in our Lord\n Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the Father; that he became man in\n a wonderful manner for us, in an incomprehensible unity, by his Holy\n Spirit, of Mary, the Holy Virgin, without the seed of man; and that\n he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, died of his own will,\n once for our redemption, rose on the third day, loosening the bonds\n (of death), he ascended up into heaven, sat on the right hand of his\n good Father on high, and he cometh again to judge the living and the\n dead at his appearing and his kingdom? And dost thou believe in the\n Holy Good Spirit and Quickener, who wholly purifieth; and in the Holy\n Church?\u2019\n\n \u201cLet him say again: \u2018I believe.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd let them go up out of the water, and the presbyter shall anoint\n him with the oil of thanksgiving, saying: \u2018I anoint thee with holy\n anointing oil in the name of Jesus Christ.\u2019 Thus he shall anoint\n every one of the rest, and clothe them as the rest, and they shall\n enter into the Church.\u201d[131]\n\nAfter entering the church the candidate was anointed a second time, in\nconnection with the \u201cprayer of blessing\u201d and the \u201ckiss of peace.\u201d This\nwas followed by the service of the communion, which included bread,\nwine, _milk and honey_, showing that the Lord\u2019s Supper, as well as\nbaptism, was corrupted with pagan elements.\n\n\nHoly Water.\n\nThe use of holy water formed an important part of the pagan system.\nIt was a sort of continuous baptism, a succession of baptismal acts.\nThat it is wholly unscriptural, and in every way foreign to Christian\nbaptism, is too obvious to need statement. There are abundant evidences\nof its pagan origin; among them are the following:\n\n \u201cSome persons derive the use of holy water in the churches from the\n Jews; but that it has been derived from the ancient heathens of Rome\n is now very generally believed, and, indeed, is warmly defended\n by the intelligent Ecclesiastics at Rome, on the principle that,\n as the heathen temples have been turned into Christian churches,\n so it was well to lay hold of the heathen practices and turn them\n into Christian customs, thus reconciling the heathen to a change of\n religion, seeing it did not change their favorite rites and customs.\n At the entrance of the heathen temples there were vessels of water\n with which the votaries sprinkled themselves as they entered to\n worship, and as it seemed desirable to make as little difference as\n possible, so as to induce the heathen to conform the more readily to\n Christian worship, similar vessels of water consecrated or made holy,\n were placed at the entrance of the Christian churches, and thus the\n custom has continued. Such at least is the origin generally ascribed\n at Rome to this practice, and such the principle on which it is\n defended by the men of mind and judgment among the priesthood.\u201d[132]\n\nDr. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY thus supplements Mr. Seymore\u2019s statements:\n\n \u201cIn Popish churches the first thing that we are struck with is a\n vessel of what is called _holy water_, into which those who enter dip\n their fingers, and then mark their foreheads with the sign of the\n cross. This holy water, there can be no doubt, came from the _lustral\n water_ of the pagans, as, indeed, learned Catholics allow. This water\n was also placed at the entrance of the heathen temples, and those who\n entered were sprinkled with it.\u201d[133]\n\nCONYERS MIDDLETON attests the pagan origin of holy water:\n\n \u201cThe next thing that will of course strike one\u2019s imagination is their\n use of holy water; for nobody ever goes in or out of a church but\n is either sprinkled by the priest, who attends for that purpose on\n solemn days, or else serves himself with it from a vessel, usually of\n marble, placed just at the door, not unlike to one of our baptismal\n fonts. Now, this ceremony is so notoriously and directly transmitted\n to them from paganism, that their own writers make not the least\n scruple to own it. The Jesuit la Cerda, in his notes on a passage of\n Virgil, where this practice is mentioned, says: \u2018Hence was derived\n the custom of Holy Church to provide purifying or holy water at\n the entrance of their Churches.\u2019 \u2018_Aquaminarium_ or _Amula_,\u2019 says\n the learned Montfaucon, \u2018was a vase of holy water, placed by the\n Heathen at the entrance of their Temples to sprinkle themselves\n with.\u2019 The same vessel was by the Greeks called \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd; two\n of which, the one of gold, the other of silver, were given by Cr\u0153sus\n to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi; and the custom of sprinkling\n themselves was so necessary a part of all their religious offices,\n that the method of excommunication seems to have been by prohibiting\n to offenders the approach and use of the holy water-pot. The very\n composition of this holy water was the same also among the Heathens,\n as it is now among the Papists, being nothing more than a mixture\n of salt with common water; and the form of the sprinkling brush,\n called by the ancients _aspersorium_ or _aspergillum_ (which is much\n the same with what the priests now make use of), may be seen in\n bas-reliefs, or ancient coins, wherever the insignia, or emblems of\n the Pagan priesthood, are described, of which it is generally one.\n\n \u201cPalatina, in his lives of the popes, and other authors, ascribes\n the institution of this holy water to Pope Alexander the First; who\n is said to have lived about the year of Christ 113; but it could not\n have been introduced so early, since, for some ages after, we find\n the primitive fathers speaking of it as a custom purely heathenish,\n and condemning it as impious, and detestable. Justin Martyr says\n that it was invented by demons, in imitation of the true baptism\n signified by the Prophets, that their votaries might also have their\n pretended purifications by water; and the Emperor Julian, out of\n spite to the Christians, used to order the victuals in the markets to\n be sprinkled with holy water, on purpose either to starve, or force\n them to eat what by their own principles they esteemed polluted.\n\n \u201cThus we see what contrary notions the Primitive and Romish Church\n have of this ceremony: the first condemns it as superstitious,\n abominable, and irreconcilable with Christianity; the latter adopts\n it as highly edifying and applicable to the improvement of Christian\n piety: the one looks upon it as the contrivance of the Devil to\n delude mankind; the other as the security of mankind against the\n delusions of the Devil. But what is still more ridiculous than\n even the ceremony itself, is to see their learned writers gravely\n reckoning up the several virtues and benefits, derived from the use\n of it, both to the soul and the body; and to crown all, producing a\n long roll of miracles, to attest the certainty of each virtue, which\n they ascribe to it. Why may we not, then, justly apply to the present\n people of Rome what was said by the Poet of its old inhabitants, for\n the use of this very ceremony?\n\n \u201c\u2018Ah, easy Fools, to think that a whole Flood\n Of water e\u2019er can purge the Stain of Blood!\u2019\n Ovid, _Fasti_, ii., 45.\u201d[134]\n\nMr. Middleton wrote as a polemist against Romanism, and hence he took\nespecial pains to apply these facts to that system of Christianity\nexclusively. Such an application is manifestly unjust, since baptism\nwas fully corrupted before the formal establishment of the Papacy,\nand many corrupt elements are yet retained in Protestantism. Mr.\nMiddleton\u2019s suggestion that men were debarred from the use of holy\nwater as a punishment is sustained by the following from \u00c6SCHINES. In\nhis speech against Ctesiphon he said:\n\n \u201cNow the said law-giver (Solon) excludes as well the fearful, and him\n that refuses to serve in war, as him that deserts his rank in battle,\n from the privilege of holy lustration, and from the assembly of the\n people.\u201d[135]\n\nThe magical virtues which Christians came to ascribe to holy water are\nessentially identical with those which the pagans attributed to it. Mr.\nSeymore, whom we have already quoted, gives a catalogue of the uses\nand virtues of holy water, which he found in the chapel of St. Carlo\nBorromeo at Rome. Similar virtues are still attributed to it by modern\nCatholics.[136] The catalogue is as follows:\n\n \u201cHoly water possesses much usefulness when Christians sprinkle\n themselves with it with due reverence and devotion. The Holy Church\n proposes it as a remedy and assistant in many circumstances, both\n spiritual and corporeal, but especially in these following:\n\n \u201c_Its spiritual usefulness._\n\n \u201c1. It drives away devils from places and persons.\n\n \u201c2. It affords great assistance against fears and diabolical\n illusions.\n\n \u201c3. It cancels venial sins.\n\n \u201c4. It imparts strength to resist temptation and occasions to sin.\n\n \u201c5. It drives away wicked thoughts.\n\n \u201c6. It preserves safely from the passing snares of the devil, both\n internally and externally.\n\n \u201c7. It obtains the favor and presence of the Holy Ghost by which the\n soul is consoled, rejoiced, excited to devotion, and disposed to\n prayer.\n\n \u201c8. It prepares the human mind for a better attendance on the divine\n mysteries, and receiving piously and worthily the most holy sacrament.\n\n \u201c_Its corporeal usefulness._\n\n \u201c1. It is a remedy against barrenness, both in woman and in beast.\n\n \u201c2. It is a preservation from sickness.\n\n \u201c3. It heals the infirmities both of the mind and of the body.\n\n \u201c4. It purifies infected air, and drives away plague and contagion.\n\n \u201cSuch is this document. It is the only authorized one I have seen\n respecting holy water; and this extraordinary statement stands as\n publicly in the church as do the ten commandments in a church in\n England. It is affixed separately over each of the vessels containing\n the Holy Water; and as every member of the congregation must have\n sprinkled himself with the water as he entered the church, so he may\n have seen and read these, its uses.\u201d[137]\n\nHoly water was also used to sprinkle animals. This custom continues in\nthe Roman Church. The counterpart is found in several pagan customs\nwhich are described by Ovid in _Fasti_, as already quoted, and further\nas shown in book i., line 669. Speaking of animals, Mr. Seymore says:\n\n \u201cIt was supposed to guard them [horses] against evil genii as they\n ran the race; and a legend is told of the horses of some Christians\n having outstripped all the horses of the heathen, owing to their\n being sprinkled with holy water. Such a legend serves as a sanction\n of primitive Christianity to horse-races, quite as well as to the\n use of holy water. The pagan custom soon became a papal custom, and\n falling in with the humor of the people, and the patronage of St.\n Anthony, who is usually pictured accompanied by a pig, and being\n conducive to the pecuniary interests of the convent of St. Anthony,\n the custom was continued under a new name, and \u2018St. Anthony\u2019s day\u2019\n and the \u2018blessing of the horses\u2019 are thus identified.\u201d[138]\n\n\nRoman Catholics Defend this Use.\n\nDr. WISEMAN, who stands high as a Roman Catholic authority, in his\nthird letter, in reply to Poynder\u2019s _Pagano-Papismus_ defends the use\nof holy water:\n\n \u201cBut did not the ancient Christians use holy water? Indeed they did,\n and that in a manner to shame us. They did not sprinkle themselves\n with it, to be sure, or help themselves from a vessel at the door,\n as you express it; they did more than either, _they bathed in it_.\n Read Pacciandi, _De Sacris Christianorum Balneis_, Rome, 1758, and\n you will find much to instruct you on this subject. You will see\n how the ancient Christians used to bathe themselves before going to\n church after the commission of any sin. \u2018Why do you run to the bath\n after sin?\u2019 asks St. John Chrysostom. \u2018Is it not because you consider\n yourselves dirtier than any filth?\u2019 And Theophylactus writes in a\n similar strain. An ancient Christian bath was discovered by Ciampini\n among the ruins of Rome. But what is more to our purpose, the ancient\n Christians never went to receive the Eucharist, or even to pray in\n their churches, without washing their hands. \u2018What propriety is\n there,\u2019 says Tertullian, \u2018to go to prayer with washed hands and yet\n with an unclean spirit?\u2019 St. Chrysostom is still stronger: \u2018Thou\n darest not touch the sacred victim with unwashed hands, although\n pressed by extreme necessity; approach not, therefore, with an\n unwashed soul.\u2019 To supply the necessary convenience for this rite,\n a fountain or basin was provided at the church porch at which the\n faithful washed, as St. Paulinus of Nola several times described in\n the churches which he built.... St. Leo the Great built one at the\n gate of St. Paul\u2019s Church which was celebrated by Ennodius of Pavia\n in eight verses.... The same was the practice of the Greek Church;\n for Eusebius tells us with commendation how Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre,\n placed in the porch of a splendid church which he built, the symbols\n of sacred purification, that is, fountains which gave, by their\n abundant supply, means of washing themselves to those who entered the\n temple.[139]\n\n \u201cIn fact, we have several of the old lustral vases with early\n Christian symbols and inscriptions, belonging to both the churches,\n as a celebrated Latin one at Pesaro, and a Greek one at Venice,\n drawings of both of which you will find in Pacciandi\u2019s work with an\n ample description.\u201d\n\n\nPreparing Holy Water.\n\nThe corrupting presence of paganism is shown in the preparation of\nwater for purification and for baptism quite as much as in its use. The\nfollowing description is from FOY, _Romish Rites_, as quoted by BROCK:\n\n \u201cIt appears that there are three kinds of holy water, two of which\n are used for the consecration of churches. Of these two, the first\n is considered to be inferior, since nothing but salt is used in\n its preparation--\u2018salt exorcised for the salvation of those that\n believe.\u2019 It serves for sprinkling the building. The other is made\n up by a mixture of salt, ashes, and wine--all blessed, of course.\n This appears to be the holier of the two, and is used for the\n consecration of the altar. The third class of holy water, that which\n is referred to above as being consecrated on \u2018Holy Saturday,\u2019\n is used for baptisms during the following year; and also, as I\n gather, for sprinkling generally. In its preparation--amid many\n exorcisms of devils and evil spirits, and forms of prayer--the\n following ceremonies are observed: The priest divides the water\n in the font with his hand, in the shape of a cross. In exorcising\n the water he touches it with his hand. In blessing it, he thrice\n makes over it the sign of the cross. In dividing it, he pours it\n toward the four quarters of heaven. He breathes thrice into it in\n the form of a cross. He lets down the great Paschal candle a little\n into it, and says: \u2018The might of the Holy Ghost descend into this\n fountain--plentitude.\u2019 _In hanc plentitudinem fontis._\n\n \u201cThen he takes the candle from the water and again merges it more\n deeply, saying the same words as before, but in a higher tone. The\n third time he plunges it to the bottom, again repeating the formula\n with a still louder voice. Then blowing--_sufflans_--thrice into the\n water in the form of the Greek letter Psi, he says: \u2018Impregnate with\n regenerating efficacy the whole substance of this water\u2019; and so\n takes the candle out of the font. Besides these doings, various oils\n are poured into the water and mixed with the hand; and still more\n strange, spittle is mingled with it, as I have once seen with my own\n eyes in the grand baptistery at St. John Lateran in Rome.\n\n \u201c\u2018_The might of the Holy Ghost descend into this\n fountain--plentitude, and impregnate with regenerating efficacy\n the whole substance of this water._\u2019 Such is the spell. Exorcisms\n first chase all evil spirits from the water, then incantations and\n charms--dividings, oils, crossings, breathings, candle plungings,\n and other things--cause the might of the Holy Ghost to descend\n and impregnate the water with regenerating efficacy. It is no\n longer ordinary water, such as that wherein the eunuch or Cornelius\n and his friends were baptized; but, by the power of charms, it\n has become an ecclesiastical compound, and those to whom it is\n administered are made new creatures and regenerate, not--so far as I\n understand--because they are brought by faith to Christ, but through\n the mere application of the fluid impregnated with virtue by an\n ecclesiastical process. And the only man who can make and apply this\n \u2018Elixir of Life,\u2019--of eternal life,--is the priest.\u201d[140]\n\n\nSun-Worship and Water-Worship.\n\nWe have already shown that the sun-worship _cultus_ and water-worship\nwere united from the beginning. This union was made anterior to Grecian\nor Roman times, and much of the sacredness of water arose from it.\nHISLOP describes this connection in the sanctifying of water, as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cIn Egypt, as we have seen, Osiris, as identified with Noah, was\n represented when overcome by his grand enemy, Typhon, or the \u2018Evil\n One,\u2019 as passing through the waters. The poets represented Semiramis\n as sharing in his distress, and likewise seeking safety in the\n same way. We have seen already that under the name of Astarte she\n was said to have come forth from the wondrous egg that was found\n floating on the waters of the Euphrates. Now, Manilius tells, in his\n _Astronomical Poetics_, what induced her to take refuge in these\n waters. \u2018Venus plunged into the Babylonian waters,\u2019 says he, \u2018to\n shun the fury of the snake-footed Typhon.\u2019 When Venus Urania, or\n Dione, the \u2018Heavenly Dove,\u2019 plunged in deep distress into these\n waters of Babylon, be it observed what, according to the Chaldean\n doctrine, this amounted to. It was neither more nor less than saying\n that the Holy Ghost incarnate, in deep tribulation, entered these\n waters, and that on purpose that these might be fit, not only by\n the temporary abode of the Messiah in the midst of them, but by\n the spirit\u2019s efficacy thus imparted to them, for giving new life\n and regeneration, _by baptism_, to the worshippers of the Chaldean\n Madonna. We have evidence that the purifying virtue of the waters,\n which, in pagan esteem, had such efficacy in cleansing from guilt and\n regenerating the soul, was derived in part from the passing of the\n mediatorial god, the sun-god, and god of fire, through these waters\n during his humiliation and sojourn in the midst of them; and that the\n Papacy at this day retains the very custom which had sprung up from\n that persuasion. So far as heathenism is concerned, the following\n extracts from Potter and Athen\u00e6us speak distinctly enough: \u2018Every\n person,\u2019 says the former, \u2018who came to the solemn sacrifices [of the\n Greeks] was purified by water. To which end, at the entrance of the\n temples, there was commonly placed a vessel full of holy water.\u2019 How\n did this water get its holiness? This water \u2018was consecrated,\u2019 says\n Athen\u00e6us, \u2018by putting into it a Burning Torch taken from the Altar.\u2019\n The _burning torch_ was the express symbol of the god of fire; and by\n the light of this torch, so indispensable for consecrating the \u2018holy\n water,\u2019 we may easily see whence came one great part of the purifying\n virtue of \u2018the water of the loud resounding sea,\u2019 which was held to\n be so efficacious in purging away the guilt and stain of sin,--even\n from the sun-god having taken refuge in its waters. Now this very\n same method is used in the Romish Church for consecrating the water\n for baptism. The unsuspicious testimony of Bishop Hay leaves no doubt\n on this point. \u2018It,\u2019 [the water kept in the baptismal font] says he,\n \u2018is blessed on the eve of Pentecost, because it is the Holy Ghost who\n gives to the waters of baptism the power and efficacy of sanctifying\n our souls, and because the baptism of Christ is with the Holy Ghost\n and with fire.\u2019[141] In blessing the waters a Lighted Torch is put\n into the font.\n\n \u201cHere, then, it is manifest that the baptismal _regenerating_ water\n of Rome is consecrated just as the _regenerating_ and _purifying_\n water of the pagans was. Of what avail is it for Bishop Hay to\n say, with a view of sanctifying superstition and \u2018making apostasy\n plausible,\u2019 that this is done \u2018to represent the fire of divine\n love, which is communicated to the soul by baptism and the light of\n good example, which all who are baptized ought to give.\u2019 This is\n the fair face put on the matter; but the fact still remains that\n while the Romish doctrine in regard to baptism is purely pagan,\n in the ceremonies connected with the papal baptism one of the\n essential rites of the ancient fire-worship is still practised at\n this day, just as it was practised by the worshippers of Bacchus,\n the Babylonian Messiah. As Rome keeps up the remembrance of the\n fire-god passing through the waters and giving virtue to them, so\n when it speaks of the \u2018Holy Ghost _suffering_ for us in baptism,\u2019\n it in like manner commemorates the part which paganism assigned\n to the Babylonian goddess when she plunged into the waters. The\n sorrows of Nimrod, or Bacchus, when in the waters, were meritorious\n sorrows. The sorrows of his wife, in whom the Holy Ghost miraculously\n dwelt, were the same. The sorrows of the Madonna, then, when in\n these waters, fleeing from Typhon\u2019s rage, were the birth-throes by\n which children were born to God. And thus, even in the Far West,\n Chalchivitlycue, the Mexican \u2018goddess of the waters\u2019 and \u2018mother\u2019 of\n all the regenerate, was represented as purging the new-born infant\n from original sin, and \u2018bringing it anew into the world.\u2019\u201d[142]\n\n\nSummary.\n\n1. The worship of water as a divine element or agent, and hence its use\nas a protection against evil, and, in baptism, as a means of producing\nspiritual purity, forms a prominent feature of pagan religions.\n\n2. Pagan water-worship was associated with the higher forms of\nsun-worship in various ways, and notably with that lower phase,\nPhallicism, with the obscene rites of which it is yet closely\nconnected in India. In Mexico the cross was the special symbol of the\nwater-worship cult.\n\n3. In pagan water-worship the sacred fluid was applied in many ways--by\nimmersion, by bathing, by sprinkling; in the latter use, the water was\nsprinkled upon the candidate from a sacred sprinkling-brush, or from a\nbough of some sacred tree; it was sometimes poured upon the candidate\nfrom a cup made from the bark of a sacred tree; trine immersion appears\nin some instances. Inspiration was sought from sacred water, by\ndrinking, by bathing, by sitting over it, and by inhaling its vapors.\n\n4. Water for religious purposes was taken from sacred streams,\nfountains, and wells; or it was made holy by exorcisms and by the use\nof salt; it was carried to remote points and preserved for a long time.\nThe ancient Druids caught rain-water in receptacles on the hill-tops\nand carried it to their altars through necessary aqueducts.\n\n5. The fundamental errors of the pagan water-worship cult appeared in\nWestern Christianity as early as the middle of the second century; this\nresulted in the baptism of the sick, baptism of infants, baptism for\nthe dead, the delaying of baptism until the approach of death in order\nto make the most of both worlds, and the doctrine of penance to atone\nfor sins committed after baptism; all these followed as a legitimate\nresult.\n\n6. As baptism was the door to Church membership, the Church was soon\nfilled with \u201cbaptized pagans,\u201d who were Christians in name only; by\nthis means New Testament Christianity was rapidly perverted.\n\n7. Whoever will seek the ultimate facts must confess that the\nChristianity of the third and the succeeding centuries was far removed\nfrom the New Testament standard. Protestants are returning to that\nstandard all too slowly and unwillingly. Many are drifting farther away.\n\nIt is scarcely necessary to add that every form of baptism except\nsubmersion was borrowed from paganism; that faith in baptism as\nproducing spiritual purity, and hence as a \u201csaving ordinance,\u201d was\nborrowed from paganism: the notion that only the baptized can be saved\nwas borrowed from paganism; the use of oil, of spittle, of the sign\nof the cross, of lights, of white robes, is a remnant of paganism;\nbaptising for the dead, and delaying baptism until near death, are\na part of the pagan residuum; faith in water from the Jordan or\nelsewhere is paganism. The naming of children at baptism was a direct\nimportation from paganism. In so far as any of these false elements are\nyet retained by Roman Catholics, Greeks, or Protestants, thus far does\npaganism dominate Christian thought and practice.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[126] _On Baptism_, Ante-Nicene Library, vol. xi., p. 231 ff.\n\n[127] _Epistle of Barnabas_, chap. xi., Ante-Nicene Library, vol. i.,\npp. 120, 121.\n\n[128] _First Apology_, ch. li., Ante-Nicene Library, vol. ii., p. 59. T.\n& T. Clark.\n\n[129] Numbering as found in vol. viii. of Ante-Nicene Library. Clark\u2019s\nedition.\n\n[130] Vol. ii. of _Hippolytus and His Age_, page 236.\n\n[131] _Hippolytus and His Age_, by C. C. J. Bunsen, D.C.L., vol. ii.,\npp. 321-7. London, 1852.\n\n[132] _A Pilgrimage to Rome_, by Rev. M. Hobart Seymore, M.A., p. 537.\nLondon, 1848.\n\n[133] _History of the Corruption of Christianity_, by Joseph Priestley,\nLL.D., F.R.S., vol. ii., p. 111. Birmingham, 1782.\n\n[134] A letter from Rome, by Conyers Middleton, D.D., _Works_, vol.\niii., p. 71 ff. London, 1752.\n\n[135] _Orations_, etc., p. 115. Oxford, 1755.\n\n[136] See _The Church Progress and Catholic World_, St. Louis, Mo.,\nJuly 5, 1890.\n\n[137] _Pilgrimage_, etc., p. 527.\n\n[138] _Ibid._, p. 535.\n\n[139] Eusebius, _Ecc. Hist._, vi., x.\n\nThis reference to Eusebius should be book x., chap. iv., p. 375 of vol.\ni. Christian Literature Company\u2019s publications, second series. The\ndescription given by Eusebius shows that holy water played an important\npart in the Christian Church at Tyre, as early as 315 A.D. See also\nBingham, _Antiquities_, book viii., chap. iii. The church buildings\ndescribed by Eusebius and Bingham contained many prominent elements of\nsun-worship, associated with the water-worship emblems.\n\n[140] _Rome, Pagan and Papal_, by Mourant Brock, M.A., p. 107 ff.\nLondon, 1883.\n\n[141] Matt. iii., 11.\n\n[142] _The Two Babylons_, by Rev. Alexander Hislop, p. 142 ff., seventh\nedition, London.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. PAGAN SUN-WORSHIP.\n\n\n Sun-Worship the Oldest and Most Widely Diffused Form of\n Paganism--Gnostic Antinomianism or Lawlessness--Anti-Judaism,\n Mainly of Pagan Origin--Anti-Sabbathism and Sunday Observance\n Synchronous--Anti-Lawism and Anti-Sabbathism Unscriptural--Christ\u2019s\n Teachings Concerning the Law of God; Paul\u2019s Teachings on the\n Same--Destructive Effect of Pagan Lawlessness on Christianity.\n\nThe sun-god, under various names, Mithras, Baal, Apollo, etc., was\nthe chief god of the heathen pantheon. A direct conflict between him\nand Jehovah appears wherever paganism and revealed religion came in\ncontact. As \u201cBaal,\u201d \u201cLord\u201d of the universe and of the productive forces\nin nature and in man, this sun-god was the pre-eminent divinity in\nancient Palestine and throughout Ph\u0153nicia. The chosen people of God\nwere assailed and corrupted by this cult, even while they were in the\ndesert,[143] being led away by the women of Moab. During the period\nof the Judges, Baal-worship was the besetting sin of Israel, which\nthe most vigorous measures could not eradicate.[144] A reformation\ncame under Saul and David, only to be followed by a relapse under\nSolomon, which culminated in the exclusion of Jehovah-worship under\nAhab.[145] Jehu broke the power of the cult, for a time, but the people\nsoon returned to it.[146] It also spread like a virus through Judah;\nrepressed by Hezekiah, but continued by Manasseh.[147]\n\nThis worship of the sun-god was a sign of disloyalty to Jehovah, and\nformed the certain road to wickedness and impurity.[148]\n\nIn its lowest forms it was so closely allied to sex-worship,\nPhallicism, that it lent great power to that debasing licentiousness,\nwhich sanctified lust, and made prostitution of virtue a religious\nduty. Sun-worship was both powerful and popular in the Roman Empire\nwhen Christianity came into contact with Western thought. It furnished\nabundant material for the corrupting process. We have seen in a former\nchapter that several minor elements of sun-worship mingled with pagan\nwater-worship: such as turning to the west to renounce evil, and\nturning to the east to promise allegiance to Christ and Light, before\nbaptism; \u201cOrientation\u201d--building churches with the altar so that\nmen should worship toward the east--was another element, while the\nextinguishing of a torch or a candle in the font, in the preparation\nof holy water, was a direct importation from this cult. But these\nwere of little account in extent or influence, when compared with\nthe corruption which came through the introduction of Baal\u2019s and\nApollo\u2019s day, \u201cSunday,\u201d in place of the Sabbath, which had always\nrepresented, and yet represents, Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth.\nThe introduction of Sunday into Christianity was a continuation of the\nold-time conflict between Baal and Jehovah.\n\nThe definite and systematic manner in which the corrupting process was\ncarried forward is clearly seen by the preparatory steps which opened\nthe way for paganism to thrust the sun\u2019s day upon Christianity. We\nhave seen how the foundation of God\u2019s authority was undermined by the\ngnostic opposition to the Old Testament, and by the allegorizing of\nboth Old and New; how a false \u201cbaptismal-regeneration\u201d theory filled\nthe church with baptized but unconverted heathens. These were not\nenough to complete the corrupting process. While men still had regard\nfor the Sabbath, they could not entirely give up the law of Jehovah on\nwhich it was based, and thus the fundamental doctrines of paganism were\nstill held in check.\n\n\nThe Simultaneous Development of Anti-Sabbathism and of Sunday\nObservance.\n\nGnosticism was _antinomian_ from the core. All knowledge, and\nhence all authority, was in the heart of the \u201ctrue Gnostic.\u201d The\n\u201cinitiated\u201d were divinely enlightened, were a law unto themselves.\nThis was doubly true when they came into contact with a law\npromulgated by the \u201cinferior God of the Jews,\u201d the weak Creator of\nmatter, and hence a God in league with evil. Such opposition was\nnatural, was unavoidable, from the gnostic standpoint. Coupled with\nthe allegorical method of interpretation, it was an easy task for\nthis opposition to create a violent anti-Jewish prejudice, and a\ncombined no-lawism, and no-Sabbathism, which became the main factor\nin sundering the Jewish and Gentile churches, and introducing the\nreign of \u201c_lawlessness_,\u201d of which Paul wrote in the second chapter\nof Thessalonians. This anti-lawism and anti-Sabbathism appear in\nJUSTIN, the first pagano-Christian writer of whom we have sufficient\ndefinite knowledge to gain a picture of the incipient results of pagan\ninfluence on Christianity. He accepted Christianity after reaching\nmature life, but retained his \u201cphilosopher\u2019s cloak\u201d as he did many of\nhis pagan ideas. His theories are a compound of pagan philosophy and\nChristianity. He was furiously opposed to all that savored of Judaism.\nHis interpretations of Scripture and his religious opinions are all\nstrongly colored by this anti-Jewish spirit. His _Dialogue with Trypho\nthe Jew_, whether Trypho were a real or an imaginary character, is the\nspecial exponent of anti-Judaism. The following examples show how he\nconfounded the moral laws and the ceremonial code of the Jews, and set\nforth baneful no-lawism and no-Sabbathism, which grew in virulence and\ndestroyed the authority of the Old Testament wherever his influence\nwas felt. His special anti-Jewish treatise is entitled, _Dialogue\nof Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew_. It opens as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cWhile I was going about one morning in the walks of the Xystus, a\n certain man, with others in his company, having met me said, \u2018Hail, O\n Philosopher!\u2019 And immediately after saying this, he turned round and\n walked along with me; his friends likewise followed him. And I, in\n turn having addressed him, said, \u2018What is there important?\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd he replied: \u2018I was instructed,\u2019 says he, \u2018by Corinthus, the\n Socratic in Argos, that I ought not to despise or treat with\n indifference those who array themselves in this dress, but to show\n them all kindness, and to associate with them, as perhaps some\n advantage would spring from the intercourse either to some such man\n or to myself. It is good, moreover, for both, if either the one or\n the other be benefited.\u2019\n\n \u201cOn this account, therefore, whenever I see any one in such costume,\n I gladly approach him, and now, for the same reason, have I\n willingly accosted you; and these accompany me, in the expectation of\n hearing for themselves something profitable from you.\u201d\n\nThis opening shows Justin in his true character, as a philosopher\nwho has united certain elements of Christianity (see _Dialogue_, ch.\nviii.) with his pagan theories, and is now to defend this product as\nChristianity. In chapter x., Trypho states his case against Christians\nin the following words:\n\n \u201cMoreover I am aware that your precepts in the so-called Gospel are\n so wonderful and so great, that I suspect no one can keep them; for\n I have carefully read them. But this is what we are most at a loss\n about; that you, professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves\n better than others, are not in any particular separated from them,\n and do not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that\n you observe no festivals or Sabbaths, and do not have the rite of\n circumcision; and further, resting your hopes on a man that was\n crucified, you yet expect to obtain some good thing from God, while\n you do not obey His commandments. Have you not read, that that soul\n shall be cut off from his people who shall not have been circumcised\n on the eighth day? And this has been ordained for strangers and for\n slaves equally. But you, despising this covenant rashly, reject the\n consequent duties, and attempt to persuade yourselves that you know\n God, when, however, you perform none of those things which they do\n who fear God. If, therefore, you can defend yourself on these points,\n and make it manifest in what way you hope for any thing whatsoever,\n even though you do not observe the law, this we would very gladly\n hear from you, and we shall make other similar investigations.\u201d[149]\n\nJustin answers Trypho in the next chapter, (chapter xi), which is\nentitled: \u201c_The Law Abrogated; The New Testament Promised and Given of\nGod_.\u201d\n\nNote the following from this, and subsequent chapters:\n\n \u201cFor the law promulgated on Horeb is now old, and belongs to\n yourselves alone; but this is for all universally. Now law placed\n against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant\n which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one;\n and an eternal and final law--namely Christ--has been given to us,\n and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law,\n no commandment, no ordinance.\u201d[150]\n\n \u201cYou have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly\n in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual Sabbath,\n and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious,\n not discerning why this has been commanded you; and if you eat\n unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The\n Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances; if there is\n any perjured person, or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if\n any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true\n Sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be\n pure.[151]\n\n \u201cFor we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths,\n and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they\n were enjoined you--namely on account of your transgressions and\n the hardness of your hearts. For if we patiently endure all things\n contrived against us by wicked men and demons, so that even amid\n cruelties unutterable, death and torments, we pray for mercy to those\n who inflict such things upon us, and do not wish to give the least\n retort to any one even as the new Lawgiver commanded us; how is it,\n Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us--I\n speak of fleshly circumcision, and Sabbaths and feasts?\u201d[152]\n\nIn many different forms Justin Martyr repeats his theory, that the ten\ncommandments and the ceremonial economy of the Jews were abrogated,\nand that there is no written law regulating conduct on the part of the\nChristians.\n\nTERTULLIAN also taught the temporary character of the Decalogue, and\nno-lawism, as the following shows:\n\n \u201cWhence we understand that God\u2019s law was anterior even to Moses, and\n was not first [given] in Horeb, or in Sinai, and in the desert, but\n was more ancient; [existing] first in paradise, subsequently reformed\n for the patriarchs, and so again for the Jews, at definite periods;\n so that we are not to give heed to Moses\u2019 law as to the primitive\n law, but as to a subsequent, which at a definite period, God has\n set forth to the Gentiles too, and, after repeatedly promising so\n to do, through the prophets, has re-formed for the better; and has\n premonished [men] that it should come to pass that, \u2018just as the\n law was given through Moses,\u2019 at a definite time, so it should be\n believed to have been temporarily observed and kept. And let us not\n annul this power which God has, which reforms the law\u2019s precepts\n answerably to the circumstances of the times, with a view to man\u2019s\n salvation. In fine, let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to\n be observed as a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth\n day because of the threat of death, teach us that, for the time past,\n righteous men kept the Sabbath, or practised circumcision, and were\n thus rendered \u2018friends of God.\u2019 For if circumcision purges a man,\n since God made Adam uncircumcised, why did he not circumcise him,\n even after his sinning, if circumcision purges? At all events, in\n settling him in paradise, He appointed one uncircumcised as colonist\n of paradise. Therefore since God originated Adam uncircumcised,\n and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also,\n Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the\n Sabbath, was by Him commended; while He accepted what he was offering\n in simplicity of heart, and reprobated the sacrifice of his brother\n Cain, who was not rightly dividing what he was offering. Noah, also,\n uncircumcised,--yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath--God freed from\n the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and\n inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world; [Enoch]\n who did not first taste death, in order that, being a candidate for\n eternal life, he might by this time show us that we also may, without\n the burden of the law of Moses, please God. Melchizedek, also,\n \u2018the priest of the most high God,\u2019 uncircumcised and inobservant\n of the Sabbath, was chosen to the priesthood of God. Lot, withal,\n the brother of Abraham, proves that it was for the merits of\n righteousness, without observance of the law, that he was freed from\n the conflagration of the Sodomites....\n\n \u201cTherefore, since it is manifest that a Sabbath temporal was shown,\n and a Sabbath eternal foretold, and a circumcision carnal foretold,\n and a circumcision spiritual pre-indicated; a law temporal and a law\n eternal formally declared; sacrifices carnal and sacrifices spiritual\n foreshown; it follows that, after all these precepts had been given\n carnally, in time preceding, to the people of Israel, there was to\n supervene a time whereat the precepts of the ancient law, and of\n the old ceremonies would cease, and the promise of the new law, and\n the recognition of spiritual sacrifices, and the promise of the New\n Testament, supervene; while the light from on high would beam upon us\n who were sitting in darkness, and were being detained in the shadow\n of death. And so there is incumbent on us a necessity, binding us,\n since we have premised that a new law was predicted by the prophets,\n and that not such as had been already given to their fathers, at\n the time when He led them forth from the land of Egypt, to show and\n prove, on the one hand, that that old law has ceased, and on the\n other, that the promised new law is now in operation.\u201d[153]\n\nThese examples must suffice, since all who are familiar with\nPatristic literature know that its general trend, and its openly\navowed opposition to Judaism and all things connected with the Old\nTestament and the Decalogue, place it beyond controversy, that\nthe prevailing type of Christianity during the third, fourth, and\nsucceeding centuries, was anti-Sabbatic, and antinomian. There were\npractical exceptions among the more common people, but the prevailing\nthought, and hence the strong tendency, was away from the Sabbath, and\nfrom Sabbathism. He who questions this shows himself ignorant in the\npremises. This growing disregard for the authority of the Sabbath law,\nand the steady development of anti-Sabbathism, prepared the way for a\nvast system of semi-religious pagan days, with the Sun\u2019s day at their\nhead.\n\n\nAntinomianism and Anti-Sabbathism Unscriptural.\n\nBefore we inquire how Sunday was introduced, it will be well to\nconsider the unscriptural and destructive nature of the theories by\nwhich the Decalogue and the Sabbath were dethroned, through false\nteachings.\n\nChrist is the central figure in both dispensations. If new expressions\nof the Father\u2019s will are to be made in connection with the work of\nChrist on earth, they must be made by the \u201cImmanuel,\u201d who is thus\n\u201creconciling the world unto himself.\u201d Did Christ teach the abrogation\nof the Decalogue, of which the Sabbath law is a part? Let His own words\nanswer:\n\n \u201cThink not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I came not\n to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and\n earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away\n from the law, till all things be accomplished. Whosoever, therefore,\n shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men\n so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever\n shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of\n heaven.\u201d[154]\n\nWhen Christ speaks of the law (\u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd) in these emphatic words, He\ncannot mean the ceremonial code, for these ceremonies were typical of\nHim and must pass away with His death. Besides this, the word fulfil\n(\u03c0\u03bb\u03b7\u03c1\u1ff6\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9) means the opposite of destruction (\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u1fe6\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9). Christ\nfulfilled the law by perfect obedience to it. He corrected false\ninterpretations, and intensified its claims. He taught obedience to\nit in the spirit as well as the letter, and urged obedience from love\nrather than fear. Such a work could not have been done in connection\nwith the dying ceremonies of the Jewish system. Such a work Christ did\ndo with reference to the Decalogue. In connection with the passage\nabove quoted Christ immediately refers to two laws from the Decalogue,\nexplains and enforces their meaning in a way far more broad and deep\nthan those who listened to Him were wont to conceive of them.\n\nOn another occasion[155] a certain shrewd lawyer sought to entrap the\nSaviour by asking \u201cwhich is the greatest commandment in the law.\u201d The\nquestion has no meaning unless it be applied to the Decalogue. Christ\u2019s\nanswer includes all the commandments of the Decalogue, and thus avoids\nthe trap designed by the questioner, who sought to lead Him into some\ndistinction between laws known to be equal in their nature and extent.\n\nIn the sixteenth chapter of Luke,[156] Christ again affirms in the\nstrongest language, that \u201cIt is easier for heaven and earth to pass,\nthan one tittle of the law to fail.\u201d Language could not be plainer than\nthat which is used in these statements.\n\nThese sentiments accord fully with the practice of Christ relative to\nthe Sabbath. He boldly condemned the unjust requirements which the Jews\nhad attached to the observance of it, and taught that works of mercy\nwere to be freely done on that day; that it was made for man\u2019s good,\nand not his injury. But He never taught that because it was \u201cmade for\nman\u201d therefore it was to be abrogated, or unsanctified. Neither did\nHe delegate to His disciples any power to teach the abrogation of the\nlaw, or of the Sabbath. On the contrary, their representative writings\ncontain the same clear testimony in favor of the perpetuity of the law,\nand show the same practical observance of the Sabbath. Paul, the great\nreasoner among the Apostles, after an exhaustive discussion concerning\nthe relations between the law and the Gospel, concludes the whole\nmatter in these words:\n\n \u201cDo we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid!\n Nay, we establish the law.\u201d[157]\n\nAgain in the same epistle[158] he presents a conclusive argument,\nstarting from the axiom that \u201cwhere there is no law there is no sin.\u201d\nShowing that since death, which came by sin, reigned from Adam to\nMoses, therefore the law then existed, and, by the same reasoning that\nif there be no law under the Gospel dispensation, there can be no sin;\nif no sin, then no Saviour from sin, and Christ died in vain, if by\nHis death he destroyed the law. In another place Paul contrasts the\nDecalogue with the ceremonial code, and declares the worthlessness of\nthe one and the binding character of the other, in these words:\n\n \u201cCircumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the\n keeping of the commandments of God.\u201d[159]\n\nThus, in a plain and unequivocal way, Paul teaches as his Master taught.\n\nIn view of Christ\u2019s words, and Paul\u2019s sharp logic, the following\nconclusions are unavoidable. They annihilate the no-law theory.\n\n1. If the Decalogue was abolished by the death of Christ, then Christ\nby His death prevented the possibility of sin, to redeem man from which\nHe died.\n\n2. \u201cSin is not imputed where there is no law,\u201d[160] hence the\nconsciousness of sin which men feel under the claims of the Gospel is\na mockery, and all faith in Christ is a farce. It only increases the\ndifficulty to say that the law is written in the hearts of believers.\nIf that be true, then:\n\n3. None but believers in Christ can be convicted of sin, for no others\ncan know the law which convicts of sin. Therefore those who reject\nChrist become, at least negatively, _righteous_ by refusing to come\nwhere they can be convicted of sin. Thus does the no-Sabbath theory\nmake infidelity better than belief, and _rejection of Christ the only\nmeans of salvation_. It leads to endless absurdities, and the overthrow\nof all moral government. It contradicts the plain words of God, and\nputs darkness for light. Its fruitage in human life has been only\nbitterness and ashes.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[143] Numbers xxv.\n\n[144] Judges ii., 13; iii., 7; vi., 25 ff.; x., 6; 1 Sam. vii., 4;\nxii., 10.\n\n[145] 1 Kings xvi., 31 ff., and xix., 10.\n\n[146] 2 Kings x., 18-28, and xvii., 16.\n\n[147] 2 Kings xviii., 4, and xxi., 3.\n\n[148] When Joshua, the servant of Jehovah, commanded the sun to stand\nstill, there was given an ocular demonstration of the power of the God\nwho made the heavens and the earth, over the sun-god, in whom the pagan\nenemies of Israel trusted.\n\n[149] _Dialogue with Trypho_, chap. x.\n\n[150] _Ibid._, chap. xi.\n\n[151] _Ibid._, chap. xii.\n\n[152] _Dialogue_, etc., chap. xviii.\n\n[153] _Against the Jews_, chapters ii. and vi.\n\n[154] Matthew v., 17-19.\n\n[155] Matthew xxii., 35-40.\n\n[156] 17th verse.\n\n[157] Romans iii., 31.\n\n[158] Romans v., 13, 14.\n\n[159] The example of Christ and His Apostles concerning Sabbath\nobservance is discussed in detail in _Biblical Teachings_, etc., by the\nwriter, pp. 26-44.\n\n[160] Romans v., 13.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. SUNDAY OBSERVANCE UNKNOWN TO CHRISTIANITY BEFORE THE\nMIDDLE OF THE SECOND CENTURY.\n\n\n Mistaken Notions Concerning the Beginning of Sunday Observance--No\n Sunday Observance in the New Testament--Sunday Directly Referred\n to but Three Times--It is Never Spoken of as a Sabbath, nor as\n Commemorative of Christ\u2019s Resurrection--The Bible does not State\n that Christ Rose on Sunday--Christ and His Disciples Always Observed\n the Sabbath--The \u201cChange of the Sabbath\u201d Unknown in the New\n Testament--The Sabbath Never Called \u201cJewish\u201d in the Scriptures, nor\n by Any Writer until after Paganism had Invaded the Church--Origin\n of Sunday Observance Found in Paganism--First Reference to Sunday\n Observance about 150 A.D.--No Writer of the Early Centuries Claimed\n Scriptural Reasons for Its Observance--Pagan Reasons and Arguments\n Adduced in Its Support; a Day of \u201cIndulgence to the Flesh\u201d--Pretended\n Scriptural Reasons, _ex post facto_.\n\nThere are few if any questions concerning which popular notions and\nultimate facts are more at variance than the question of the early\nobservance of Sunday. It is not uncommon for men to assert that \u201cSunday\nhas been observed as the Christian Sabbath ever since the resurrection\nof Christ\u201d; while the fact is, that the first authentic and definite\nstatement concerning Sunday observance was made by Justin Martyr\nas late as 150 A.D. Even if we accept the passage quoted from the\n_Didache_, the portion of that document in which the reference occurs\ncannot be placed earlier than 150, and it is probably much later. Since\nthe facts as they appear in the New Testament can be easily obtained, I\nshall take only space enough to state them briefly.\n\n\u201cThe first day of the week,\u201d Sunday, is definitely referred to but\nthree times in the New Testament. Each of the Evangelists speaks of the\nday on which Christ\u2019s resurrection was made known to His disciples.\nThese references are all to the same day.[161] The book of Acts has\nbut one reference to Sunday[162]; and there is but one in all the\nEpistles.[163] Three other passages are quoted in favor of Sunday\nobservance.[164]\n\nIt is so easy for the reader to examine these passages, and to compare\nthem with popular notions and with what is said here, that I shall be\ncontent with the following summary of facts touching Sunday observance\nin the New Testament:\n\nSix passages are quoted in favor of such observance. Only _three_ of\nthese passages mention the first day of the week in any manner. Neither\nof them speaks of it as sabbatic, or as commemorative of any event, or\nsacred, or to be regarded above other days, and it is only by vague\nand illogical inferences that either of them is made to produce a\nshadow of proof for such a change. Concerning the other three, it is\nonly _supposed_ by the advocates of the popular theory, that they in\nsome way refer to the first day. To this, therefore, does the \u201cargument\nfrom example\u201d come, when carefully examined. The New Testament never\nspeaks of, or hints at, a change of the Sabbath; it contains no notice\nof any commemorative or sabbatic observance of Sunday. It does tell of\nthe repeated and continued observance of the Sabbath by Christ and His\nApostles. Will the reader please examine the Bible to see whether these\nthings are so. Sunday is a myth, as far as the Bible is concerned, and\nthe theory of a \u201cchange of the Sabbath by divine authority,\u201d had its\nbirth with English Puritanism less than three hundred years ago.\n\n\nChrist\u2019s Resurrection and Sunday.\n\nAnother popular notion is equally unsupported by New Testament history.\nThe Bible never associates the observance of Sunday, or of any other\nday, with the resurrection of Christ. The Bible does not state that\nChrist rose from the grave on Sunday. The most that can be said on this\npoint is, that when the friends of Christ first came to the tomb it was\nempty. He had risen and gone. Matthew xxviii., 1, shows that the first\nvisit was made \u2018late on the Sabbath,\u2019 _i.\u00a0e._ on Saturday afternoon\nbefore sunset, at which time the tomb was empty.[165]\n\nAll references to Sunday are fully accounted for on other\nconsiderations than that it was a sacred or a commemorative day. New\nTestament arguments in favor of Sunday observance are all _ex post\nfacto_; they were developed after the practice had been initiated for\nother reasons.\n\n\nThe Sabbath in the New Testament.\n\nThe history of the Sabbath in the New Testament is as much at variance\nwith popular notions as is the history of Sunday. The statement\nsometimes made that \u201cThe Sabbath was never observed after the\nresurrection of Christ,\u201d contains as much error as can be put into that\nnumber of words. Since the facts are in the hands of every reader of\nthe New Testament, only a general summary of them is given here.\n\nCollating the facts, and summing up the case as regards the example of\nChrist and His Apostles, it stands as follows:\n\n1. During the life of Christ the Sabbath was always observed by Him and\nby His followers. He corrected the errors and false notions which were\nheld concerning it, but gave no hint that it was to be abrogated.\n\n2. The book of Acts gives a connected history of the recognition and\nobservance of the Sabbath by the Apostles while they were organizing\nmany of the churches spoken of in the New Testament. These references\nextend over a period of eight or nine years, the last of them being at\nleast twenty years after the resurrection.\n\n3. In all the history of the doings and teachings of the Apostles,\nthere is not the remotest reference to the abrogation of the Sabbath.\n\nHad there been any change made or beginning to be made, or any\nauthority for the abrogation of the Sabbath law, the Apostles must\nhave known it. To claim that there was is therefore to charge them\nwith studiously _concealing the truth_. And also, with recognizing and\ncalling a day the Sabbath which _was not the Sabbath_.\n\nAdd to these considerations the following facts:\n\n(_a_) The latest books of the New Testament, including the Gospel of\nJohn, were written about the year ninety-five or later. In none of\nthese is there any trace of the change of the Sabbath, nor is the\nabrogation of the Sabbath law taught in them.\n\n(_b_) The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament sixty times, and\nalways in its appropriate character.\n\nThus the law and the gospel are in harmony, and teach that \u201cthe seventh\nday is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.\u201d\n\nBut some will say, \u201cChrist and His Apostles did all this as Jews,\nsimply.\u201d If this be true, then Christ lived and taught simply as a\n_Jew_ and not as the _Saviour of the world_. On the contrary, He was\nat war with the false and extravagant notions of Judaism concerning\nquestions of truth and duty. If Christ were not a \u201cChristian,\u201d but\na \u201cJew,\u201d what becomes of the system which He taught? If His first\nfollowers, who perilled all for Him and sealed their faith with their\nblood, were only Jews, or worse, were dissemblers, doing that which\nChristians ought not to do, for sake of policy, where shall Christians\nbe found? The assumption dies of its own inconsistency. More than this,\nNew Testament history repeatedly states that the Greeks were taught on\nthe Sabbath the same as the Jews; and in those churches where the Greek\nelement predominated there is no trace of any different teaching or\ncustom on this point. The Jewish Christians kept up their _national_\ninstitutions, for a time, such as circumcision and the passover, while\nall Christians accepted the Sabbath as a part of the law of God.\nThe popular outcry against the Sabbath as \u201cJewish\u201d is unscriptural.\nChrist was in all respects, as regards nationality, a Jew. So were\nall the writers of the Old Testament, and all the writers of the New\nTestament. God has given the world no word of inspiration in the Bible,\nfrom Gentile pen, or Gentile lips. Is the Bible therefore \u201cJewish\u201d?\nThe Sabbath, if possible, is less Jewish than the Bible. It had its\nbeginning long before a Jew was born. It is God\u2019s day marked by His own\nexample, and sanctified by His blessing, for the race of man, beginning\nwhen the race began, and can end only when the race shall cease to\nexist. Christ recognized it under the Gospel as He recognized each of\nthe other eternal laws with which it is associated in the Decalogue;\nrecognized them as the everlasting words of His Father, whose law He\ncame to magnify and fulfil. It is manifestly unjust and unchristian\nto attempt to thrust out and stigmatize any part of God\u2019s truth as\n\u201cJewish,\u201d when all of God\u2019s promises and all Bible truths have come to\nus through the Hebrew nation.[166]\n\nAs we were compelled to go outside the Bible to find the influences\nwhich undermined the Decalogue and the Sabbath, so we must seek for\nthe origin of Sunday observance outside of that book. We find the\nfirst mention of such observance, and of reasons therefor, in the\nsame author, Justin, who we have seen was the first to formulate\nthe anti-law and anti-Sabbath doctrines which have already been\nexamined.[167]\n\nThis earliest reference to Sunday observance is found in Justin\u2019s\n_Apology_ as follows:\n\n \u201cOn the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the Country,\n gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the\n writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits; then when\n the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs and exhorts\n to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together\n and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread,\n and wine, and water are brought, and the president in like manner\n offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the\n people assent saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and\n a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to\n those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who\n are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is\n collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans\n and widows, and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are\n in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning\n among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday\n is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is\n the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness\n and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same\n day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that\n of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn which is\n the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples,\n He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for\n your consideration.\u201d[168]\n\nThere is nothing scriptural in the reasons given by Justin; the first\nis purely fanciful, and is in accord with the prevailing gnostic\nspeculations of those times. His statement that Christ was crucified on\nFriday is the beginning of a popular error, which has come down, not\nunchallenged, but largely uninvestigated. Some writers claim that the\nlast clause intends to state that Christ taught His disciples when He\nfirst appeared to them, what Justin had written concerning the Sunday;\nbut one has only to read Justin\u2019s words to see how entirely unfounded\nsuch a claim is. At all events, there is not a word in Scripture to\nsupport the reasons adduced by Justin for Sunday observance.\n\nIt is important that the reader note carefully what sort of Sunday\nobservance Justin describes. Laying aside all \u201csuppositions,\u201d and\n\u201cinferences,\u201d and _ex-post-facto_ conclusions, we learn from him that\nat the middle of the second century a form of religious service was\nheld on Sunday. But it is equally evident that there was no sabbatic\nregard for the day. Sir WILLIAM DOMVILLE summarizes the case as follows:\n\n \u201cThis inference appears irresistible when we further consider that\n Justin, in this part of his _Apology_, is professedly intending to\n describe the mode in which Christians observed the Sunday.... He\n evidently intends to give all information requisite to an accurate\n knowledge of the subject he treats upon. He is even so particular\n as to tell the Emperor why the Sunday was observed; and he does, in\n fact, specify every active duty belonging to the day, the Scripture\n reading, the exhortation, the public prayer, the Sacrament, and the\n alms-giving: why then should he not also inform the Emperor of the\n one inactive duty of the day, the duty of abstaining from doing in\n it any manner of work? The Emperor well knew that such abstinence\n was the custom of all his Jewish subjects on the Saturday (_die\n Saturni_), and could readily have understood it to be the custom of\n his Christian subjects on the Sunday (_die Solis_, as Justin calls\n it in his _Apology_), and, therefore, if such was the custom of\n Christians in Justin\u2019s time, his description of their Sunday duties\n was essentially defective. It is not, however, at all probable that\n he would intend to omit noticing so important a characteristic of\n the day, as the Sabbatical observance of it, if it was in fact\n Sabbatically observed. But even were it probable he should intend to\n omit all mention of it in his Apology to the Emperor, it would be\n impossible to imagine any sufficient cause for his remaining silent\n on the subject in his _Dialogue_ with Trypho the Jew; and this\n whether the _Dialogue_ was real or imaginary, for if the latter,\n Justin would still, as Dr. Lardner has observed, \u2018choose to write\n in character.\u2019... The testimony of Justin, therefore, proves most\n clearly two facts of great importance in the Sabbath controversy: the\n one, that the Christians in his time observed the Sunday as a prayer\n day; the other, that they did not observe it as a Sabbath-day.\u201d[169]\n\nSuch is the summary of the case at the year 150 A.D. No-Sabbathism and\na form of Sunday observance were born at the same time. Trained in\nheathen philosophies until manhood, Justin accepted Christianity as a\nbetter philosophy than he had before found. Such a man and those like\nhim could scarcely do other than build a system quite unlike apostolic\nChristianity. That which they did build was a paganized rather than an\napostolic type.\n\n\nPagan Reasons for Observing Sunday.\n\nPagan philosophy as a source of argument in favor of the observance\nof Sunday is made still more prominent by CLEMENT of Alexandria, as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cAnd the Lord\u2019s day Plato prophetically speaks of in the tenth book\n of the _Republic_, in these words: \u2018And when seven days have passed\n to each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they are to set out\n and arrive in four days.\u2019 By the meadow is to be understood the\n fixed sphere, as being a mild and genial spot, and the locality of\n the pious; and by the seven days each motion of the seven planets,\n and the whole practical art which speeds to the end of rest. But\n after the wandering orbs the journey leads to heaven, that is, to\n the eighth motion and day. And he says that souls are gone on the\n fourth day, pointing out the passage through the four elements. But\n the seventh day is recognized as sacred, not by the Hebrews only, but\n also by the Greeks; according to which the whole world of all animals\n and plants revolve. Hesiod says of it:\n\n \u201c\u2018The first, and fourth, and seventh day were held sacred.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd again:\n\n \u201c\u2018And on the seventh the sun\u2019s resplendent orb.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd Homer:\n\n \u201c\u2018And on the seventh, then came the sacred day.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd:\n\n \u201c\u2018The seventh was sacred.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd again:\n\n \u201c\u2018It was the seventh day, and all things were accomplished.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd again:\n\n \u201c\u2018And on the seventh morn we leave the stream of Acheron.\u2019\n\n \u201cCallimachus the poet also writes:\n\n \u201c\u2018It was the seventh morn, and they had all things done.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd again:\n\n \u201c\u2018Among good days is the seventh day, and the seventh race.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd:\n\n \u201c\u2018The seventh is among the prime, and the seventh is perfect.\u2019\n\n \u201cAnd:\n\n \u201c\u2018Now all the seven were made in starry heaven,\n In circles shining as the years appear.\u2019\n\n \u201cThe _Elegies of Solon_, too, intensely deify the seventh day. And\n how? Is it not similar to Scripture when it says, \u2018Let us remove the\n righteous man from us, because he is troublesome to us?\u2019 When Plato,\n all but predicting the economy of salvation, says in the second book\n of the _Republic_, as follows: \u2018Thus he who is constituted just shall\n be scourged, shall be stretched on the rack, shall be bound, have\n his eyes put out; and, at last, having suffered all evils, shall be\n crucified.\u2019\u201d[170]\n\nA similar combination of pagan error and wild speculation is found in\nanother of Clement\u2019s works, where he discusses reasons for fasting on\nWednesday and on Friday, and also considers how one may keep Sunday.\nWriting of the \u201cTrue Gnostic,\u201d Clement says:\n\n \u201cHe knows also the enigmas of the fasting of those days--I mean the\n Fourth and the Preparation. For the one has its name from Hermes,\n and the other from Aphrodite. He fasts in his life, in respect of\n covetousness and voluptuousness, from which all the vices grow. For\n we have already often above shown the three varieties of fornication,\n according to the apostle--love of pleasure, love of money, idolatry.\n He fasts then, according to the law, abstaining from bad deeds,\n and according to the perfection of the Gospel, from evil thoughts.\n Temptations are applied to him, not for his purification, but, as we\n have said, for the good of his neighbors, if, making trial of toils\n and pains, he has despised and passed them by.\n\n \u201cThe same holds of pleasure. For it is the highest achievement for\n one who has had trial of it, afterwards to abstain. For what great\n thing is it, if a man restrains himself in what he knows not? He, in\n fulfilment of the precept according to the Gospel, keeps the Lord\u2019s\n day, when he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes that of the\n Gnostic, glorifying the Lord\u2019s resurrection in himself. Further also\n when he has received the comprehension of scientific speculation,\n he deems that he sees the Lord, directing his eyes towards things\n invisible, although he seems to look on what he does not wish to\n look on; chastising the faculty of vision, when he perceives himself\n pleasurably affected by the application of his eyes; since he wishes\n to see and hear that alone which concerns him.\u201d[171]\n\n\nClement on the Sabbath Law.\n\nProminent examples of paganism are found in Clement\u2019s _Gnostic\nExposition of the Decalogue_. Discoursing upon the Fourth Commandment,\nhe says:\n\n \u201cHaving reached this point, we must mention these things by the way,\n since the discourse has turned on the seventh and the eighth. For\n the eighth may possibly turn out to be properly the seventh, and the\n seventh manifestly the sixth, and the latter properly the Sabbath,\n and the seventh a day of work. For the creation of the world was\n concluded in six days. For the motion of the sun from solstice to\n solstice is completed in six months, in the course of which, at one\n time the leaves fall, and at another plants bud and seeds come to\n maturity. And they say that the embryo is perfected exactly in the\n sixth month, that is, in one hundred and eighty days in addition to\n the two and a half, as Polybus the physician relates in his book _On\n the Eighth Month_, and Aristotle the philosopher in his book _On\n Nature_. Hence the Pythagoreans, as I think, reckon six the perfect\n number, from the creation of the world, according to the prophet, and\n call it Meseuthys and Marriage, from its being the middle of the even\n numbers, that is, of ten and two. For it is manifestly at an equal\n distance from both.\u201d[172]\n\nThe next paragraph is too gross to appear in this place. Toward the\nclose of this learned (?) \u201cexposition,\u201d Clement gives birth to the\nfollowing curious argument from the Psalms:\n\n \u201cAnd the blessed David delivers clearly to those who know the mystic\n account of seven and eight, praising thus: \u2018Our years were exercised\n like a spider. The days of our years in them are seventy years; but\n if in strength, eighty years. And that will be to reign.\u2019 That, then,\n we may be taught that the world was originated, and not suppose\n that God made it in time, prophecy adds: \u2018This is the book of the\n generation, also of the things in them, when they were created in\n the day that God made heaven and earth.\u2019 For the expression, \u2018when\n they were created\u2019 intimates an indefinite and dateless production.\n But the expression \u2018in the day that God made,\u2019 that is, in and by\n which God made \u2018all things,\u2019 and \u2018without which not even one thing\n was made,\u2019 points out the activity exerted by the Son. As David\n says, \u2018This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and\n rejoice in it\u2019; that is, in consequence of the knowledge imparted by\n Him, let us celebrate the divine festival; for the Word that throws\n light on things hidden, and by whom each created thing came into life\n and being, is called day. And in fine, the Decalogue, by the letter\n _Iota_, signifies the blessed name, presenting Jesus, who is the\n Word.\u201d[173]\n\nPagan nonsense could scarcely go further, and yet this man wielded a\nprominent influence in developing the doctrine of Sunday Observance.\n\n\nTertullian on the Sabbath.\n\nTERTULLIAN was a prolific writer, and one not noted for consistency. He\ntaught the abolition of the Sabbath (see _Against the Jews_, chapter\niv.), and refers to the observance of Sunday without giving formal\nreasons therefor. But incidental references which he makes show how the\nSunday, although it had then come to be called the \u201cLord\u2019s Day,\u201d still\nbore the heathen characteristics. Witness the following:\n\n \u201cThe Holy Spirit upbraids the Jews with their holy-days. \u2018Your\n Sabbaths, and new moons, and ceremonies,\u2019 says He, \u2018My soul hateth.\u2019\n By us, to whom Sabbaths are strange, and the new moons and festivals\n formerly beloved by God, the _Saturnalia_ and _New-Year\u2019s_ and\n _Midwinter\u2019s_ festivals and _Matronalia_ are frequented--presents\n come and go--New-Year\u2019s Gifts--games join their noise--banquets\n join their din! Oh, better fidelity of the nations to their own\n sect, which claims no solemnity of the Christians for itself! Not\n the Lord\u2019s day, not Pentecost, even if they had known them, would\n they have shared with us; for they would not fear lest they would\n seem to be Christians. _We_ are not apprehensive least we seem to\n be _heathens_! If any indulgence is to be granted to the flesh, you\n have it. I will not say your own days, but more too; for to the\n _heathens_, each festive day occurs but once annually; _you_ have a\n festive day every eighth day. Call out the individual solemnities of\n the nations and set them out into a row, they will not be able to\n make up a Pentecost.\u201d[174]\n\nHere we have the native character of the Sunday truly set forth; a day\nof \u201cindulgence to the flesh.\u201d Such was the legitimate, the unavoidable\nfruitage of this semi-pagan festivalism, a fruitage which poisoned the\nChurch rapidly and almost fatally.\n\nIt is enough to add under this head, that _no writer of the first three\nhundred years gives, or attempts to give_, a scriptural reason for\nobserving Sunday. There are no such reasons to give.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[161] Matt. xxviii., 1-8; Mark xvi., 2; Luke xxiv., 1-3; John xx., 1.\n\n[162] Acts xx., 7.\n\n[163] 1 Cor. xvi., 2.\n\n[164] John xix., 23 and 26, and Rev. i., 10.\n\n[165] For discussion of the time of Christ\u2019s resurrection, see\n_Biblical Teachings_, etc., by the writer.\n\n[166] The reader will find this question discussed in detail in\n\u201c_Biblical Teachings Concerning the Sabbath and the Sunday_,\u201d p. 26 ff.\nIf that is not at hand, take your Bible and Concordance, and examine\neach passage in the New Testament where \u201cSabbath\u201d occurs. _Cf._ also\n_Sabbath Commentary_, by Bailey.\n\n[167] For an examination of the writings, genuine and spurious, which\nare adduced in favor of Sunday observance, before the time of Justin\nMartyr, consult _A Critical History of the Sabbath and Sunday in the\nChristian Church_, by the writer, pp. 33-69.\n\n[168] Chap. lxvii.\n\n[169] _Sabbath: An Examination of the Six Texts_, p. 274 _seq._,\nLondon, 1849.\n\n[170] _Stromata_, book v., chap. xiv.\n\n[171] _Stromata_, book vii., chap. xii.\n\n[172] _Stromata_, book vii., chap. xvi.\n\n[173] _Stromata_, book vi., chap. xvi.\n\n[174] _De Idolatria_, chap. xiv.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. STATE RELIGION A PAGAN INSTITUTION.\n\n\n Christ\u2019s Attitude toward the State--The Roman Conception of Religion\n as a Department of the State--Roman Civil Law Created and Regulated\n All Religious Duties--Effect of the Pagan Doctrine of Religious\n Syncretism on Christianity--The Emperor a Demi-God, Entitled to\n Worship, and, _ex officio_, the Supreme Authority in Religion--The\n Deep Corruption of Roman Morals and Social Life under Pagan State\n Religion.\n\nThree fundamental points at which Christianity was corrupted by\nheathenism have been examined. It remains to consider another which\nwas not less fundamental, and has not been less persistent--viz., the\n_Union of Christianity with the State_.\n\n\nChrist\u2019s Attitude Toward the State.\n\nChrist taught the infinite worth of man as an individual. The divine\npriesthood of every believer in Christ, and his absolute spiritual\nkingship over himself, under God, is a fundamental doctrine of the\nGospel. On such a platform, Christ proclaimed the absolute separation\nof Church and State. \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d was the keynote\nin His proclamation. His kingdom knew neither Jew nor Greek, Roman\nnor Egyptian, bondman nor freeman. Ethnic distinctions and lines of\ncaste were unknown to the world\u2019s Redeemer. Wherever a heart bowed\nin simple faith and loyal obedience, there Christ\u2019s kingdom was set\nup. Placed alongside the state-church theory of Rome, the doctrine of\nChrist\u2019s kingdom was noonday by the side of midnight. It was a diamond\namong pebbles. It was the proclamation of a brotherhood all-embracing\nand eternal. This kingdom rendered unto C\u00e6sar the little that was due\nhim, and demanded the fullest and highest allegiance to the invisible\nbut not unknown God. It sought only simple protection from the civil\npower, and patiently suffered wrong, even unto death, when this was\ndenied. Such a kingdom found its first adherents among those who were\nleast entangled in the meshes of the state religions, and whose hearts\nopened most loyal to the one God, and His Son, the Christ. These were\nnaturally the common people, who heard gladly, and entered joyfully\ninto the heavenly citizenship. Thus the Church of Christ, like Himself,\nwas born among the lowly, and wholly independent of the state. Such\na spiritual kingdom could not be brought under the control of the\ncivil power, and that a pagan power, without being corrupted, if not\ndestroyed.\n\n\nRoman Conception of Religion.\n\nThe reader will be better prepared to understand how Christianity\nbecame corrupted along this line, by considering the genius of the\nRoman nation, and its conception of religion. The idea of law as\nthe embodiment of absolute power pervaded the Roman mind. Men were\nimportant only as citizens. Separate from the state, man was nothing.\n\u201cTo be a Roman, was greater than a king.\u201d Every personal right, every\ninterest was subservient to the state. This conception of power was the\nsource of Roman greatness, prowess, and success. It conscripted the\nlegions, conquered the world, and made all roads lead to Rome. Previous\nto Christianity, all religion was ethnic. To the Roman, religion was\na part of the civil code. It was a system of contracts between men\nand the gods, through the civil law. The head of the State was, _ex\nofficio_, the head of the Department of Religion. There was no place in\nheathen theories for the Gospel idea of the Church.\n\nSpeaking on this point, Dr. SCHAFF says:\n\n \u201cOf a separation of religion and politics, of the spiritual power\n from the temporal, heathen antiquity knew nothing, because it\n regarded religion itself only from a natural point of view, and\n subjected it to the purposes of the all-ruling state, the highest\n known form of human society. The Egyptian kings, as Plutarch\n tells us, were at the same time priests, or were received into the\n priesthood at their election. In Greece the civil magistrate had\n supervision of the priests and sanctuaries. In Rome, after the\n time of Numa, this supervision was intrusted to a senator, and\n afterward united with the imperial office. All the pagan emperors,\n from Augustus to Julian the Apostate, were at the same time supreme\n pontiffs (Pontifices Maximi), the heads of the state religion,\n emperor-popes. As such they could not only perform all priestly\n functions, even to offering sacrifices, when superstition or policy\n prompted them to do so, but they also stood at the head of the\n highest sacerdotal college (of fifteen or more Pontifices), which in\n turn regulated and superintended the three lower classes of priests\n (the Epulones, Quindecemviri, and Augures), the temples and altars,\n the sacrifices, divinations, feasts and ceremonies, the exposition of\n the Sibylline books, the calendar, in short, all public worship, and\n in part even the affairs of marriage and inheritance.\u201d[175]\n\nThat Christianity must needs become paganized if it became a religion\nof the state, is shown further by the following, from an editor of\n_Justinian\u2019s Institutes_:\n\n \u201cWhat was most peculiar in the religion of Rome was its intimate\n connection with the civil polity. The heads of religion were not a\n priestly caste, but were citizens, in all other respects like their\n fellows, except that they were invested with peculiar sacred offices.\n The king was at the head of the religious body, and beneath him\n were augurs and other functionaries of the ceremonies of religion.\n The whole body of the _populus_ had a place in the religious system\n of the state. The mere fact of birth in one of the _famili\u00e6_ forming\n part of a _gens_ gave admittance to a sacred circle which was closed\n to all besides. Those in this circle were surrounded by religious\n ceremonies from their cradle to their grave. Every important act\n of their life was sanctioned by solemn rites. Every division and\n subdivision of the state to which they belonged had its own peculiar\n ceremonies. The individual, the family, the _gens_, were all under\n the guardianship of their respective tutelar deities. Every locality\n with which they were familiar was sacred to some patron god. The\n calendar was marked out by the services of religion. The pleasure of\n the gods arranged the times of business and leisure; and a constantly\n superintending Providence watched over the councils of the state,\n and showed, by signs which the wise could understand, approval or\n displeasure of all that was undertaken.\u201d[176]\n\nThe fundamental difference between New Testament Christianity and the\nRoman idea of religion is further shown by the following from Reville\nand Tiele:\n\nREVILLE says:\n\n \u201cIn Rome religious tradition was an affair of the state, like the\n priesthood itself. The senate was by right its guardian. That body\n legislated for religion as for everything else; and when the\n Greco-Roman paganism persecuted, it did so from essentially political\n motives.\u201d[177]\n\nTIELE says:\n\n \u201cMuch greater weight was attached by the practical Roman to the\n cultus than to the doctrines of religion. This was the one point\n of supreme importance; in his view the truly devout man was he\n who punctually performed his religious obligations, who was pious\n according to law. There was a debt to be paid to the gods, which\n must be discharged, but it was settled if the letter of the contract\n was fulfilled, and the symbol was given in place of the reality. The\n animistic conception that the gods might be employed as instruments\n for securing practical advantages, lies at the basis of the whole\n Roman cultus. In the earliest times, therefore, it was quite simple,\n so far as regards the absence of images or temples, but it was at\n the same time exceedingly complicated and burdened with all kinds\n of ceremonies and symbolic actions, and the least neglect destroyed\n the efficacy of the sacrifice. This necessitated the assistance of\n priests acquainted with the whole ritual, not to serve as mediators,\n for the approach to the deity was open to all, but to see that pious\n action failed in no essential element.... Everything was regulated\n with precision by the government, and the fact that the highest of\n the priests was always under the control of the state, prevented\n the rise of a priestly supremacy, the absence of which in Greece\n was due to other causes; but the consequence was that the Roman\n religion remained dry and formal and was external rather than\n inward. Even the purity (_castitas_) on which great stress was laid,\n was only sacerdotal, and was attained by lustration, sprinkling,\n and fumigation, and the great value attached to prayer, so that a\n single error had to be atoned for as a neglect, had its basis in the\n superstitious belief that it possessed a high magic power.\u201d[178]\n\n\nReligious Syncretism.\n\nThe prevailing tendency to religious syncretism in the Roman empire\npaved the way for corrupting Christianity by union with the State.\n\nThe doctrine of courtesy in religious matters had risen in the Roman\nmind, to a theory of religious syncretism, which offered recognition\nto other religions outside the Roman. The religions of the Orient\nand of Egypt already had a place and protection at Rome. These, like\nthe citizens of the lands whence they came, were taken in charge by\nthe laws of the Mistress of the World. By the opening of the fourth\ncentury, Christianity had gained such influence and standing that,\nalthough it had no claims as an ethnic religion, it was too promising a\nwaif to be longer unnoticed. The great empire was conscious of present\ndecline and coming decay. New blood was an imperative necessity;\nperhaps this new religion, that had given such power of endurance to\nits votaries, would furnish the needful help.\n\nThis recognition, at first, was not in any true sense toleration, nor\na full recognition of the freedom of conscience. It was rather such\nrecognition as the foreman gives to the apprentice: \u201cCome in and show\nwhat you can do.\u201d In this recognition Rome adopted no new policy,\nneither gave evidence of any genuine faith in Apostolic Christianity.\nAs late as 321 A.D., not more than one-twentieth part of the people\nwere Christians; and Constantine, erroneously called \u201cThe first\nChristian emperor,\u201d did not make an open confession of Christianity,\nuntil he lay on his death-bed in 337 A.D. Christianity was taken under\nthe protection of the empire, to be cared for and controlled according\nto the genius of Roman history and Roman law. The \u201cChristian emperors,\u201d\nfrom Constantine to Gratian (312-383), retained the title of \u201cPontifex\nMaximus.\u201d The visiting of heathen temples for religious purposes, and\nthe performance of heathen rites in private, were not prohibited by\nimperial law until 391-393 A.D. by Theodosius. Nor were these laws then\nenforced where the heathen element was in the ascendency. Theodosius\nhimself was not deemed an enemy of the old religion; he stood in such\nfavor that the senate enrolled him among the gods, after his death, in\n395 A.D.\n\nInstead of developing normally, after the simple New Testament model,\nthe Roman church was modelled largely after the Roman empire. The union\nonce begun, political intrigue and religious degeneracy followed in\nrapid succession. All civil legislation in matters of religion pushes\nthe divine authority aside, and substitutes the human. This creates\nconscience, if at all, toward the state alone, and so remains on\nheathen ground.\n\nThus, by descending from the high ground of the Apostolic period,\nfrom the immediate control and direction of the Holy Spirit, to the\ncontrol of a heathen state-system, and being already weakened by the\nfalse philosophies which had driven out the authority of the Word,\nChristianity was turned far away from its true status and character.\nThe legislation which followed, concerning festivals, ceremonies, and\ndoctrines, was a medley of paganism and Christianity, truth and error,\nwidely removed from the Sermon on the Mount, and the epistles of Paul.\nThe kernel of Papal error, and the fountain which was the source of\nthe Dark Ages, are both involved in the fundamental perversions of\nApostolic Christianity.\n\nSince the emperor was, _ex officio_, the head of the Department of\nReligion, it was comparatively easy to accomplish the amalgamation\nof the different systems. Gibbon gives an outline picture of this\ntendency as it prevailed during the third century. It was the more\ndestructive to Christianity because of the degraded character of the\nemperors and those who controlled the public life of the empire. The\nemperor of whom Gibbon writes below, is described by Schaff as follows:\n\n \u201cThe abandoned youth El-Gabal, or Heliogabalus (218-222), who\n polluted the throne by the blackest vices and follies, tolerated all\n the religions in the hope of at last merging them in his favorite\n Syrian worship of the sun, with its abominable excesses. He himself\n was a priest of the god of the sun, and thence took his name.\n\n \u201cHis far more worthy cousin and successor, Alexander Severus\n (222-235), was addicted to a higher kind of religious eclecticism\n and syncretism, a pantheistic hero-worship. He placed the busts of\n Abraham and Christ in his domestic chapel, with those of Orpheus,\n Apollonius of Tyana, and the better Roman emperors, and had the\n Gospel rule, \u2018As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to\n them,\u2019 engraven on the walls of his palace and on public monuments.\n His mother, Julia Mamm\u00e6a, was a patroness of Origen.\u201d[179]\n\nGIBBON says of this period:\n\n \u201cThe sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus, and\n under the form of a black conical stone, which, as it was universally\n believed, had fallen from heaven on that sacred place. To this\n protecting deity Antoninus, not without some reason, ascribed his\n elevation to the throne. The display of superstitious gratitude\n was the only serious business of his reign. The triumph of the god\n of Emesa over all the religions of the earth, was the great object\n of his zeal and vanity; and the appellation of Elagabalus (for he\n presumed, as pontiff and favorite to adopt that sacred name) was\n dearer to him than all the titles of Imperial greatness. In a solemn\n procession through the streets of Rome, the way was strewed with\n gold-dust; the black stone, set in precious gems, was placed on a\n chariot, drawn by six milk-white horses, richly caparisoned. The\n pious emperor held the reins, and supported by his ministers, moved\n slowly backwards, that he might perpetually enjoy the felicity of\n the divine presence. In a magnificent temple raised on the Palatine\n Mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus were celebrated with\n every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the\n most extraordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely\n consumed on his altar. Around the altar, a chorus of Syrian damsels\n performed their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music,\n whilst the gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long\n Ph\u0153nician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected\n zeal and secret indignation.\n\n \u201cTo this temple, as to the common center of religious worship, the\n Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium, and\n all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of inferior\n deities attended in various stations the majesty of the god of Emesa;\n but his court was still imperfect, till a female of distinguished\n rank was admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first chosen for his\n consort; but, as it was dreaded lest her warlike terrors might\n affright the soft delicacy of a Syrian deity, the Moon, adored by\n the Africans under the name of Astarte, was deemed a more suitable\n companion for the Sun. Her image, with the rich offerings of her\n temple as a marriage portion, was transported with solemn pomp from\n Carthage to Rome, and the day of these mystic nuptials was a general\n festival in the capital and throughout the empire.\u201d[180]\n\nElagabalus reigned from 218 to 222 A.D. The foregoing facts show\nthat the empire was practically prostituted, and given over to the\nlowest forms of sun-worship during his reign. It was the triumph of\nOrientalism in the West. The same devotion to sun-worship appears in\nother emperors, toward the close of the third century.\n\nAurelian reigned from 270 to 276 A.D. Speaking of the magnificent\n\u201cTriumph\u201d of this emperor in 274 A.D., Gibbon says:\n\n \u201cSo long and so various was the pomp of Aurelian\u2019s triumph, that,\n although it opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty of the\n procession ascended not the Capitol before the ninth hour; and it was\n already dark when the emperor returned to the palace. The festival\n was protracted by theatrical representations, the games of the\n circus, the hunting of wild beasts, combats of gladiators, and naval\n engagements. Liberal donatives were distributed to the army, and\n people, and several institutions agreeable or beneficial to the city,\n contributed to perpetuate the glory of Aurelian.\n\n \u201cA considerable portion of his oriental spoils was consecrated to\n the gods of Rome; the Capitol, and every other temple, glittered\n with the offerings of his ostentatious piety; and the temple of the\n Sun alone received above fifteen thousand pounds of gold. This last\n was a magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the side of\n the Quirinal hill, and dedicated, soon after the triumph, to that\n deity whom Aurelian adored as the parent of his life and fortunes.\n His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel of the Sun;\n a peculiar devotion to the god of Light was a sentiment which the\n fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy; and every step of his\n elevation, every victory of his reign, fortified superstition by\n gratitude.\u201d[181]\n\nSpeaking of Diocletian, who reigned from 284 to 305, MILMAN says:\n\n \u201cDiocletian himself, though he paid so much deference to the older\n faith as to assume the title of Jovius, as belonging to the Lord of\n the world, yet, on his accession, when he would exculpate himself\n from all concern in the murder of his predecessor Numerian, appealed\n in the face of the army to the all-seeing deity of the sun. It is the\n oracle of Apollo of Miletus, consulted by the hesitating emperor,\n which is to decide the fate of Christianity. The metaphorical\n language of Christianity had unconsciously lent strength to this new\n adversary; and, in adoring the visible orb, some, no doubt, supposed\n that they were not departing far from the worship of the \u2018Sun of\n Righteousness.\u2019\u201d\n\nIn a foot-note, Milman quotes:\n\n \u201cHermogenes, one of the older heresiarchs, applied the text, \u2018He\n has placed his tabernacle in the sun,\u2019 to Christ, and asserted that\n Christ had put off his body in the sun.\u201d[182]\n\nDr. GEIKIE touches the point, and shows in a few words how Christianity\nyielded to paganism and its corrupting results; he says:\n\n \u201cHelios, the sun, was the great object of worship, and so deep-rooted\n was this idolatry that the early Christian missionaries knew no other\n way of overthrowing it than by changing it into the name of Elias,\n and turning the temples into churches dedicated to him.\u201d[183]\n\nTwo important factors touching the union of Christianity and the state\nare now before the reader.\n\n1. Under the Roman empire all recognized religions were controlled by\nthe civil law. The persecution of Christians was based upon the idea\nthat their worship was illegal; or rather that their refusal to worship\nthe national gods, according to the legal _cultus_, was an offence\nagainst the commonwealth.\n\n2. Sun-worship in its higher and lower forms was the prevailing and\npopular cult at Rome in the third and fourth centuries of Christian\nhistory. The emperors were devotees of this cult. It was therefore\na foregone necessity that when Christianity grew strong enough to be\nentitled to recognition rather than persecution, it should be adopted\nby the state, and further commingled with the prevailing sun-worship.\nThe next chapter will show how this was accomplished.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[175] _Church History_, vol. iii., pp. 131, 132, New York, 1884.\n\n[176] _The Institutes of Justinian_, by Thomas Collett Sandars, Oxford,\nEng., Introduction, p. 4, Chicago, 1876.\n\n[177] _Prolegomena of the History of Religions_, by Albert Reville,\nD.D., p. 169, London, 1884.\n\n[178] _Outlines of the History of Religions_, C. P. Tiele, Boston,\n1877, pp. 237, 238.\n\n[179] Schaff, _History of the Christian Church_, vol. ii., pp. 58, 59.\n\n[180] _Decline_, etc., vol. i., pp. 170, 171, New York, 1883.\n\n[181] _Ibid._, vol. i., p. 361.\n\n[182] _Hist. Christianity_, book ii., chap. ix.\n\n[183] _Life and Words of Christ_, vol. i., pp. 53, 54. Appleton & Co.,\n1883.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. THE CONTROL OF CHRISTIANITY BY THE STATE UNDER CONSTANTINE\nAND HIS SUCCESSORS.\n\n\n A New Epoch in the Paganizing of Christianity--Paganism Seeking a New\n God, Strong enough to Save the Empire--Constantine not a \u201cChristian\n Emperor,\u201d but Superstitious, Time-Serving, and Ambitious--Murdering\n his Kindred while Promoting Christianity as a rising Political\n Influence--Seeking Christianity mainly for Ambitious Ends--Professing\n Christianity only on his Death-Bed--Making the Most of Both\n Worlds--Constantine Corrupted and Perverted Christianity More than he\n Aided it.\n\nThe opening of the fourth century marks a new era in the process by\nwhich paganism poisoned Christianity, by applying to it the pagan\ntheory set forth in the last chapter. Though sadly weakened and\ncorrupted by these influences, Christianity was a growing power in the\nempire. On the other hand, paganism was declining, and the fortunes of\nthe disintegrating empire seemed to be going down with the national\nreligious cult. Pagan superstition looked upon all the fortunes of\nthe empire as the direct work of the gods, and as misfortunes piled\nup around the empire, it was natural to think that the old gods were\ndeserting it, and that new gods must be sought. When the empire\nbecame subdivided under different rulers, the rivalry between them,\nand the varying success which attended the efforts of each, naturally\nassociated success and failure with the gods to whom each was devoted.\nThe firmness of the Christians under persecution was looked upon by the\npagans as evidence that the Christian\u2019s God had great power to help\nthose who worshipped him. In this way many were brought to consider the\nidea of adding this God to the catalogue of those whom they already\nworshipped.\n\nThe severe edicts of Diocletian against the Christians, issued in 303\nA.D., spread desolation far and wide. In Gaul, Britain, and Spain,\nwhere Constantius Chlorus and Constantine his son reigned, the edict\nwas tamely enforced, they preferring to favor the Christians. The\nbitterness of the persecutions in other parts of the empire inflamed\nthe zeal of Christians, and martyrdom was sought by many, not so much\nfrom calm faith as from fanatical zeal.[184] This cruel persecution\nwas the last direct effort of paganism to destroy Christianity by\nthe sword. The fortunes which befell the leaders in the persecution\nincreased superstitious regard for the God of the martyrs, who was\nthought to be like the gods of the pagans, only more powerful.\n\nGalerius, who was the leader in the horrid work, being stricken by\na terrible disease, was overcome with fear, and, in connection with\nConstantine and Licinius, ordered the persecutions to cease, by an\nedict in 311 A.D. This edict was to the effect that since punishment\nhad not reclaimed the Christians, they might now hold their assemblies,\nproviding they did not disturb the order of the state. The real\nanimus of the edict is seen in its closing words, in which Galerius\nsuggested that \u201cafter this manifestation of grace, Christians ought to\npray to their God for the welfare of the Emperors and of the State.\u201d\nConstantine attributed the military success which finally made him\nsole ruler in 323 A.D. to the help of the Christians\u2019 God. All parties\nlooked upon the issue as a political struggle between Jupiter and\nJehovah, in which the latter was victorious.\n\nBOISSIER, a late, learned French writer, says:\n\n \u201cConstantine recalled that of all the princes that he had known, the\n only one who had lived prosperously, without eclipse, was his father\n Constance, who had protected the Christians; while nearly all those\n who had persecuted them had ended their lives miserably.\u201d[185]\n\n\nCharacter of Constantine.\n\nConstantine has been called the \u201cfirst Christian Emperor\u201d; how unjustly\nwill be seen in what follows. In a certain sense, Christianity\nascended the throne of the C\u00e6sars with Constantine. It was a political\ntriumph, but a spiritual defeat. That we may the better understand\nthe case, the reader needs to look carefully into the character of\nthis first representative of the pagan state-church policy, and of\nthe subordinating of Christianity to the political power. The reader\nwill be permitted to make this survey mainly through the eyes of other\nwriters, which I think will be more satisfactory than any picture that\nI might draw.\n\nKILLEN thus summarizes the character of Constantine:\n\n \u201cThe personal conduct of Constantine in advanced life did not exhibit\n Christianity as a religion fitted to effect a marked improvement\n in the spirit and character. In A.D. 326, he put to death his\n son Crispus, a youth of the highest promise, who had in some way\n disturbed his suspicious temper. His nephew Licinius and his own wife\n Fausta shared the same fate. His growing passion for gaudy dress\n betrayed pitiable vanity in an old man of sixty; and towards the end\n of his reign, the general extravagance of his expenditure led to an\n increase of taxation of which his subjects complained. He desired\n to be a dictator of the Church, rather than a disciple; and with a\n view to share its privileges without submitting to its discipline,\n deferred his baptism until the near approach of death. He then\n received the ordinance from the Arian bishop of Nicomedia.\n\n \u201cThe defects in the religious character of Constantine greatly\n impaired his moral influence. Though he did much to promote the\n extension of the visible Church, his reign forms an era in the\n history of ecclesiastical corruption. His own Christianity was so\n loose and accommodating that it seemed to consist chiefly in the\n admiration of a new ritual; and the courtiers who surrounded him and\n who complimented him by the adoption of his creed, seldom seemed to\n feel that it taught the necessity of personal reformation. All at\n once, the profession of the Gospel became fashionable; crowds of\n merely nominal converts presented themselves at the baptismal font;\n and many even entered the clerical office who had no higher object\n in view than an honorable or a lucrative position. Ecclesiastical\n discipline was relaxed; and that the heathen might be induced to\n conform to the religion of the emperor, many of their ceremonies\n were introduced into the worship of the Church. The manner in which\n Constantine intermeddled with ecclesiastical affairs was extremely\n objectionable. He undertook not only to preach, but also to dictate\n to aged and learned ministers. Had any other individual who had\n never been baptized appeared in the Nicene synod, and ventured to\n give counsel to the assembled fathers, he would have been speedily\n rebuked for his presumption; but all were so delighted to see a\n great prince among them, that there was a general unwillingness to\n challenge his intrusion. He sometimes indeed declared, that he left\n spiritual matters to Church courts; but his conduct demonstrated how\n little he observed such an arrangement. He convened synods by his\n own authority; took a personal share in their discussions; required\n their members to appear before him, and submit their proceedings to\n his review; and inflicted on them civil penalties when their official\n acts did not meet his approval. Had Constantine given his sanction\n and encouragement to the Church, and yet permitted her to pursue her\n noble mission in the full enjoyment of the right of self government,\n he might have contributed greatly to promote her safe and vigorous\n development; but by usurping the place of her chief ruler, and\n bearing down with the weight of the civil power on all who refused\n to do his pleasure, he secularized her spirit, robbed her of her\n freedom, and converted her divine framework into a piece of political\n machinery.\u201d[186]\n\nRev. E. EDWIN HALL, who was for many years chaplain of the American\nLegation at Rome, Italy, also chaplain of the American Church at\nFlorence, made a careful study of the early history and of the modern\ncharacteristics of Roman Catholicism. In July, 1889, a paper from his\npen was published in the _Outlook_, a Sabbath quarterly from which the\nfollowing is taken:\n\n \u201cSoon after the so-called conversion of Constantine, when he became\n sole emperor, the Church entered on its apostasy from the primitive\n simplicity and purity which marked its earlier history. Pagans in\n vast multitudes pressed into the Christian fold, bringing with them\n old practices and customs, and filling the places of Christian\n worship with the pageantry and the ornaments which characterized the\n worship of the gods in heathen temples. These unconverted millions\n became only nominally Christian, impressing their character together\n with the doctrines, rites and forms of pagan religion upon the\n Christian Church. Gibbon, speaking of these innovations, shows that:\n \u2018Rites and ceremonies were introduced which seemed most powerfully\n to affect the senses of the people. If in the beginning of the 5th\n century Tertullian or Lactantius had been suddenly raised from the\n dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint or martyr, they\n would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the profane\n spectacle which had succeeded the pure and spiritual worship of a\n Christian congregation. As soon as the doors of the church were\n thrown open, they must have been offended at the smoke of incense,\n the perfume of flowers, the glare of lamps and tapers which diffused\n at noonday, in their opinions, a gaudy, superfluous, and sacrilegious\n light. They would see a prostrate crowd of worshipers devoutly\n kissing the walls and pavement of the sacred edifice, their fervent\n prayers directed to the bones, the blood, or ashes of the saints, the\n walls covered with votive offerings, representing the favors received\n from saints in answer to their prayers and illustrating the abuse\n of indiscreet or idolatrous devotion, in recognition of the image,\n the attributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint, which had the\n same value to their mind as a local divinity in the pagan religion.\n The ministers of various names in the Catholic Church imitated the\n profane model which they should have been impatient to destroy. So\n the religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the\n final conquest of the Roman Empire, but the victors themselves were\n insensibly subdued by the acts of their vanquished rivals.\u2019[187]\n\n \u201cFrom that time the worship of the Roman Catholic Church, in its\n forms and ceremonies, has been more clearly identified with the\n paganism of ancient Rome than with the religion of the New Testament.\n The customs of pagan religion were only baptized with Christian\n names. Gregory the Great in the latter part of the 6th century,\n ignoring the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit and the power of the\n Gospel, directed the Monk Augustine, whom he sent to convert the\n idolaters of England, \u2018not to suspend or abolish the pagan festivals,\n nor the customs of their worship, but rather retain them, contenting\n himself with substituting for the names of false gods, the names of\n saints borne by their temples, and whose relics were deposited in\n them.\u2019\u201d[188]\n\nF. W. MAURICE aptly describes the Christianity of Constantine\u2019s time as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cAnd to the gloss of civilisation had been added the gloss of\n Christianity. The Emperor had believed, when other help was failing,\n that in the might of the Cross he might still conquer. The sign\n was indeed there, but it was marked upon the standard, not written\n upon the hearts, of those rulers of the world. They saw not what it\n meant; how it interpreted and crowned all that had been great in\n their history hitherto; how it separated the real great from the real\n little; how it sanctified all those feelings of obedience, duty,\n reverence for unseen law, self-devotion, by which the city had risen\n from nothing; how it poured contempt upon dominion, except as an\n instrument by which the highest might serve the lowest, upon glory,\n except as it grew out of humiliation, and was the exaltation of man\n above himself. The civilised Christian Roman had lost the heart, the\n reverence, the faith which belonged to his rude Pagan ancestors; that\n Christianity and civilisation might be victorious, the miserable\n patrons of both were swept away.\u201d[189]\n\nSpeaking of the effect of Constantine\u2019s attitude in favoring\nChristianity as a rising influence in the nation, MERIVALE says:\n\n \u201cWe may suppose, indeed, that the favor thus unexpectedly showered\n on the new faith by the Imperial government would tend inevitably to\n reverse the proportions of the two persuasions, or rather of the two\n parties, which now divided the Roman world. Powerful as the example\n of rulers has always been in such matters, it would never, perhaps,\n be more so than at the moment when paganism, corrupt and effete,\n had lost all the spirit of a real faith, and when, as we shall see,\n Christianity was only too ready to accept overtures to the easy\n compromise which its rivals soon began to offer it. Nevertheless, the\n progress of the Church of Christ was really slower and less complete\n than might have been expected. Some allowance, as we have seen, must\n be made for the spirit of pique and the wounded pride of a class so\n deeply prejudiced on all matters of sentiment as the magnates of\n Roman society. But paganism, it must be added, developed at her last\n gasp a new principle of vitality, and nerved herself for a desperate\n conflict along her whole line.\u201d[190]\n\nConcerning the overthrow of paganism, as late as the time of Gratian,\n375-383 A.D., Merivale says:\n\n \u201cIt seems clear that, as might indeed be expected, the earliest\n edicts for the confiscation of the temple-endowments under Gratian,\n big and stern as they look in the codes or statute-book, were\n practically of little effect. If many temples were really closed,\n as we may readily believe, though certainly by no means all or the\n greater number of them, we must suppose that the lordly holders of\n their property contrived to retain the enjoyment of the funds, while\n they, not unwillingly perhaps, relieved themselves from the services\n for which these funds had been originally given. Theodosius found the\n pagan priesthood despoiled of their wealth in name only, and however\n earnest he might be in his Christian profession, he long abstained,\n both in policy and mercy, from asserting the full authority of\n previous enactments.\u201d[191]\n\nAlzog, a modern Roman Catholic Church historian, though laboring hard\nto set forth Constantine as the first Christian emperor, and a \u201csaint\u201d\nof the Roman Catholic Church, is forced to say:\n\n \u201cThe law said to have been published by Constantine, A.D. 335,\n prohibiting all pagan sacrifices, is of doubtful authenticity, and,\n if authentic, is of very little importance, for like a great many\n others of a similar nature, it was never enforced. The execution\n of such laws met with a determined resistance in many places, and\n particularly at Rome. Constantine, although professing to be a\n Christian, lived pretty much the same sort of life he had lived while\n a pagan, and even stained his reputation by the commission of deeds\n of murder.\n\n \u201cLicinius was executed A.D. 324, and Licinianus, his son, who\n appears to have excited the fears of Constantine, shortly afterward\n met the fate of his father. Constantine also had Crispus, his son\n by his first wife, Minervina, apprehended in the midst of a solemn\n festival and exiled him to the shore of Istria, where he perished\n by an obscure death. Learning afterward, as it is supposed, that\n Fausta, his second wife, the daughter of Maximianus Herculeus, had\n been instrumental in causing the death of his brave and illustrious\n son Crispus, he had her strangled in a bath of warm water heated to\n an insupportable temperature. It may be that these murders, in which\n the designing policy of Fausta played so conspicuous a part, prompted\n Constantine to delay his entrance into the Church, and to put off his\n baptism till the hour of his death. He was, moreover, influenced by\n the prevailing prejudice relative to the sacrament of baptism, and\n also wished to be baptized in the river Jordan, which, however, \u2018God\n did not permit.\u2019\u201d[192]\n\nDr. SCHAFF describes Constantine\u2019s relation to Christianity as follows:\n\n \u201cConstantine adopted Christianity first as a superstition, and put\n it by the side of his heathen superstition, till finally, in his\n conviction, the Christian vanquished the pagan, though without itself\n developing into a pure and enlightened faith.\n\n \u201cAt first Constantine, like his father, in the spirit of the\n Neo-Platonic syncretism of dying heathendom, reverenced all the\n Gods as mysterious powers; especially Apollo, the god of the sun,\n to whom in the year 308 he presented munificent gifts. Nay, so late\n as the year 321 he enjoined regular consultation of the soothsayers\n in public misfortunes, according to ancient heathen usage; even\n later, he placed his new residence, Byzantium, under the protection\n of the God of the Martyrs and the heathen goddess of Fortune; and\n down to the end of his life he retained the title and the dignity\n of a _Pontifex Maximus_, or high-priest of the heathen hierarchy.\n His coins bore on the one side the letters of the name of Christ,\n on the other the figure of the Sun-God, and the inscription \u2018_Sol\n invictus_.\u2019 Of course these inconsistencies may be referred also to\n policy and accommodation to the toleration edict in 313. Nor is it\n difficult to adduce parallels of persons who in passing from Judaism\n to Christianity, or from Romanism to Protestantism have so wavered\n between their old and their new position that they might be claimed\n by both. With his every victory over his pagan rivals, Galerius,\n Maxentius, and Licinius, his personal leaning to Christianity and his\n confidence in the magic power of the sign of the cross increased; yet\n he did not formally renounce heathenism and did not receive baptism\n until in 337 he was laid upon the bed of death....\n\n \u201cHe was far from being so pure and so venerable as Eusebius, blinded\n by his favor to the Church, depicts him in his bombastic and almost\n dishonestly eulogistic biography, with the evident intention of\n setting him up as a model for all future Christian princes. It must,\n with all regret, be conceded that his progress in the knowledge of\n Christianity was not a progress in the practice of its virtues. His\n love of display and his prodigality, his suspiciousness and his\n despotism, increased with his power.\n\n \u201cThe very brightest period of his reign is stained with gross crimes,\n which even the spirit of the age and the policy of an absolute\n monarch cannot excuse. After having reached upon the bloody path of\n war the goal of his ambition, the sole possession of the empire,\n yea, in the very year in which he summoned the great council Nic\u00e6a,\n he ordered the execution of his conquered rival and brother-in-law\n Licinius, in breach of a solemn promise of mercy (324). Not satisfied\n with this he caused soon afterwards, from political suspicion, the\n death of the young Licinius, his nephew, a boy of hardly eleven\n years. But the worst of all is the murder of his eldest son, Crispus,\n in 326, who had incurred suspicion of political conspiracy, and of\n adulterous and incestuous purposes towards his step-mother, Fausta,\n but is generally regarded as innocent....\n\n \u201cAt all events, Christianity did not produce in Constantine a\n thorough moral transformation. He was concerned more to advance the\n outward social position of the Christian religion than to further its\n inward mission. He was praised and censured in turn by the Christians\n and pagans, the orthodox and the Arians, as they successively\n experienced his favor or dislike. He bears some resemblance to\n Peter the Great both in his public acts and his private character,\n by combining great virtues and merits with monstrous crimes, and\n he probably died with the same consolation as Peter, whose last\n words were: \u2018I trust that in respect of the good I have striven to\n do my people (the Church), God will pardon my sins.\u2019 It is quite\n characteristic of his piety that he turned the sacred nails of the\n Saviour\u2019s cross, which Helena brought from Jerusalem, the one into\n the bit of his war horse, the other into an ornament of his helmet.\n Not a decided, pure, and consistent character, he stands on the line\n of transition between two ages and two religions; and his life bears\n plain marks of both. When at last on his deathbed he submitted to\n baptism with the remark: \u2018Now let us cast away all _duplicity_,\u2019 he\n honestly admitted the conflict of two antagonistic principles which\n swayed his private character and public life.\u201d[193]\n\nAfter such an array of testimony, which might be extended much farther\nif space would permit, it seems unnecessary to say more than this:\nthe personal character and the political attitude of Constantine make\nit impossible to think of him as a \u201cChristian Emperor.\u201d He adopted\nand used the paganized Christianity of his time for personal ends,\nrather than because of true piety. The political aid which he gave it\nwas overbalanced many times by the destruction of its best spiritual\ninterests. Judged from the standpoint of the Bible and the facts\nof history, Constantine was the corrupter of Christianity, not its\ndefender.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[184] See Schaff, vol. ii., chap. 64 _ff_.\n\n[185] _La Fin du Paganisme_: \u00c9tude sur les Derni\u00e8res Luttes Religieuses\nen Occident, au Quatri\u00e8me Si\u00e8cle. Par Gaston Boissier, de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie\nFran\u00e7aise, et de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. Tome\npremier, p. 28, Paris 1891.\n\n[186] _The Old Catholic Church_, etc., by W. D. Killen, D.D., pp.\n70-72, Edinburgh, 1871.\n\n[187] _Decline_, etc., c. xxviii.\n\n[188] _Beda_, lib. i., c. xxx.\n\n[189] _The Religions of the World_, by F. W. Maurice, p. 185, London,\n1886.\n\n[190] _Four Lectures on Early Church History_, by Charles Merivale,\nD.D., pp. 13, 14, New York.\n\n[191] _Ibid._, p. 45.\n\n[192] _Universal Church History_, by Rev. Dr. John Alzog, vol. i., p.\n471, Cincinnati, 1874.\n\n[193] _Church History_, vol. iii., pp. 14-18.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. CONSTANTINE\u2019S LEGISLATION CONCERNING THE PAGAN SUNDAY.\n\n\n All his Tolerative Legislation Essentially Pagan--Christians did\n not Seek for Sunday Laws--The first Sunday Law, 321 A.D., Pagan in\n Every Particular--Essentially Identical with Existing Laws Concerning\n Other Days--Legislation against Heathen Religions Feeble and\n Unenforced--Constantine not a \u201cChristian Prince.\u201d\n\nThe representative legislation of Constantine, with reference to\nChristianity, was pagan both as to its genius and form. The various\nedicts in favor of Christians contained little or nothing of true\nliberty of conscience. They were the steps by which Christianity,\nalready paganized, was recognized, and gradually raised to a dominant\nplace among the legal religions. This accorded with the prevailing\nsyncretism, and the policy which Rome had always exercised toward\nforeign religions. On the other hand, the Emperor, still acting as\n_Pontifex Maximus_, and long before he was baptized into the fellowship\nof the Church, became its dictator. He convened and controlled the\nfamous council at Nice (325 A.D.) while his hands were red with the\nblood of his kindred, whom he slew lest they might come between him and\nhis ambition to be sole emperor.\n\nThe decisions of the Council of Nice mark the beginning of centuries\nin which imperial law determined what should be called Christianity,\nwhat orthodoxy, and what heterodoxy. The Bible was not the standard\nof faith, or practice. Traditions, imperial decrees, the decisions of\ncouncils called and dictated by the imperial power, determined the\npractice of the Church, and formulated her faith. This will be shown\nmore in detail farther on. Meanwhile we pause to examine the character\nof one of Constantine\u2019s earliest laws, which has left a lasting\ninfluence on all Christian history--his \u201cSunday Edict\u201d of 321 A.D. It\nis the more important to do this, since the question of Sunday laws\nand their enforcement is now at the front, and it is well that the\nreader understand the source from which Sunday legislation sprung. This\nedict of Constantine is the beginning of Sunday legislation, and it is\nnot difficult to determine the influences which gave it birth. There\nis no evidence that such legislation was either sought or desired by\nChristians. They formed but a small fragment of the population of the\nempire, and in so far as the principles of New Testament Christianity\nremained, they forbade all such legislation.\n\nThe power to appoint holy days rested in the Emperor. His voice was\nsupreme in all such matters. Although history has been carefully\nsearched, there is no trace that any influence was brought to bear upon\nConstantine, by any person, any event, any custom which represented\nthe Christians, or in which they were interested, to induce him to\nenact a Sunday law. There is every evidence that he acted in his\nproper capacity as _Pontifex Maximus_, and whatever notions may have\nentered into his determination to promulgate the edict, they could not\nhave been Christian. On the other hand, there were abundant reasons\nwhy he should begin legislation in favor of Sunday. It was Apollo\u2019s\nday. Apollo was the patron deity of Constantine. He was the beautiful\nSun-god, and Constantine was proud of his own personal beauty, because\nof which his fawning courtiers were accustomed to liken him to Apollo.\nThe sun-worship cult had been popular for a long time. Any favor shown\nto it would strengthen his influence with the \u201cfirst families\u201d of the\nempire. It was the settled policy of the emperors to overcome the\ndiscontent of the masses, under increasing taxation and burdens, by\nincreasing holidays, games, and enjoyments. To exalt the day of the\nSun at such a time was a stroke of policy wholly in keeping with the\nuniversal practice of Constantine. The general character of the man,\nhis personal devotion to the Sun-god, and the surrounding demands,\nfurnish all needful reasons for an act of legislation which was pagan,\nas we shall see, from centre to circumference. This famous edict runs\nas follows:\n\n \u201cLet all judges, and all city people, and all tradesmen, rest upon\n the Venerable Day of the Sun. But let those dwelling in the country\n freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields;\n since it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the\n sowing of grain, or the planting of vines; hence the favorable time\n should not be allowed to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be\n lost.\u201d[194]\n\nThis was issued on the seventh of March, A.D. 321. In June of the\nsame year it was modified so as to allow the manumission of slaves on\nSunday. The reader will notice that this edict makes no reference to\nthe day as a Sabbath, as the Lords day, or as in any way connected with\nChristianity. Neither is it an edict addressed to Christians. Nor is\nthe idea of any moral obligation or Christian duty found in it. It is\nmerely the edict of a heathen emperor, addressed to all his subjects,\nChristian and heathen, who dwelt in cities, and were tradesmen, or\nofficers of justice, commanding them to refrain from their business on\nthe \u201c_venerable day_\u201d of the god whom Constantine most adored, and to\nwhom he loved in his pride to be compared. There are several distinct\nlines of argument which prove that this edict was a pagan rather than a\nChristian document.\n\nOn the following day Constantine issued an edict with reference to\nconsulting the pagan soothsayers in case of public misfortune, which,\nlike the Sunday edict, is so purely heathen that no \u201cChristian Emperor\u201d\ncould have conceived or issued it. It runs as follows:\n\n\nEdict Concerning Aruspices.\n\n \u201cThe August Emperor Constantine to Maximus:\n\n \u201cIf any part of the palace or other public works shall be struck\n by lightning, let the sooth-sayers, following old usages, inquire\n into the meaning of the portent, and let their written words, very\n carefully collected, be reported to our knowledge; and also let the\n liberty of making use of this custom be accorded to others, provided\n they abstain from private sacrifices, which are specially prohibited.\n\n \u201cMoreover, that declaration and exposition written in respect to the\n amphitheater being struck by lightning, concerning which you had\n written to Heraclianus, the tribune, and master of offices, you may\n know has been reported to us.\n\n \u201cDated the 16th, before the calends of January, at Serdica (320) Acc.\n the 8th, before the Ides of March, in the consulship of Crispus II.\n and Constantine III., C\u00e6sars Coss. (321).\u201d[195]\n\nThere is abundant evidence, beyond the above, that the Sunday-law was\nthe product of paganism.\n\nThe language used speaks of the day only as the \u201c_Venerable Day of\nthe Sun_,\u201d a title purely heathen. There is not even a hint at any\nconnection between the day and Christianity, or the practices of\nChristians.\n\nSimilar laws concerning many other heathen festivals were common.\nJOSEPH BINGHAM bears the following testimony, when speaking of the\nedict under consideration:\n\n \u201cThis was the same respect as the old Roman laws had paid to their\n _feri\u00e6_, or festivals, in times of idolatry and superstition.... Now,\n as the old Roman laws exempted the festivals of the heathen from all\n judicial business, and suspended all processes and pleadings, except\n in the fore-mentioned cases, so Constantine ordered that the same\n respect should be paid to the Lord\u2019s day, that it should be a day of\n perfect vacation from all prosecutions, and pleadings, and business\n of law, except where any case of great necessity or charity required\n a juridical process and public transaction.\u201d[196]\n\nBingham states correctly that such prohibitions were made by the\nRoman laws in favor of pagan festivals, but adds, incorrectly, that\nConstantine made the same in favor of the \u201cLord\u2019s day.\u201d It was not\nthe Lord\u2019s day, but the \u201c_Venerable Day of the Sun_,\u201d which the edict\nmentions; and it is impossible to suppose that a law, made by a\n_Christian_ prince, in favor of a _Christian_ institution, should not\nin any way mention that institution, or hint that the law was designed\nto apply to it.\n\nMILLMAN corroborates this idea as follows:\n\n \u201cThe earlier laws of Constantine, though in their effect favorable\n to Christianity, claimed some deference, as it were, to the ancient\n religion, in the ambiguity of their language, and the cautious terms\n in which they interfered with paganism. The rescript commanding\n the celebration of the Christian Sabbath, bears no allusion to its\n peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution. It is the day of the\n sun which is to be observed by the general veneration: the courts\n were to be closed, and the noise and tumult of public business and\n legal litigation were no longer to violate the repose of the sacred\n day. But the believer in the new paganism, of which the solar worship\n was the characteristic, might acquiesce without scruple in the\n sanctity of the first day of the week....\n\n \u201cThe rescript, indeed, for the religious observance of the Sunday,\n which enjoined the suspension of all public business and private\n labor, except that of agriculture, was enacted, according to the\n apparent terms of the decree, for the whole Roman Empire. Yet, unless\n we had direct proof that the decree set forth the Christian reason\n for the sanctity of the day, it may be doubted whether the act would\n not be received by the greater part of the empire as merely _adding\n one more festival_ to the _fasti_ of the empire, as proceeding\n entirely from the will of the emperor, or even grounded on his\n authority as supreme pontiff, by which he had the plenary power of\n appointing holy days. In fact, as we have before observed, the day of\n the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world,\n especially that part which had admitted any tendency toward the\n oriental theology.\u201d[197]\n\nMillman hints at some \u201cdirect proof.\u201d There is none; hence the\ncorrectness of his conclusion, that the people looked upon the new\nholiday, \u201cas merely adding one more festival to the _fasti_ of the\nempire.\u201d It was not only non-Christian but eminently unchristian.\n\nStronger still is the testimony of an English barrister, EDWARD V.\nNEALE. These are his words:\n\n \u201cThat the division of days into _juridici et feriati_, judicial and\n non-judicial, did not arise out of the modes of thought peculiar to\n the Christian world must be known to every classical scholar. Before\n the age of Augustus, the number of days upon which out of reverence\n to the gods to whom they were consecrated, no trials could take place\n at Rome, had become a resource upon which a wealthy criminal could\n speculate as a means of evading justice; and Suetonius enumerates\n among the praiseworthy acts of that emperor, the cutting off from the\n number, thirty days, in order that crime might not go unpunished nor\n business be impeded.\u201d[198]\n\nAfter enumerating certain kinds of business which were allowed under\nthese general laws, Mr. Neale adds: \u201cSuch was the state of the laws\nwith respect to judicial proceedings, while the empire was still\nheathen.\u201d Concerning the suspension of labor, we learn from the same\nauthor that:\n\n \u201cThe practice of abstaining from various sorts of labor upon days\n consecrated by religious observance, like that of suspending at such\n seasons judicial proceedings, was familiar to the Roman world before\n the introduction of Christian ideas. Virgil enumerates the rural\n labors, which might on festal days be carried on, without entrenching\n upon the prohibitions of religion and right; and the enumeration\n shows that many works were considered as forbidden. Thus it appears\n that it was permitted to clean out the channels of an old water\n course, but not to make a new one; to wash the herd or flock, if such\n washing was needful for their health, but not otherwise; to guard\n the crop from injury by setting snares for birds, or fencing in the\n grain; and to burn unproductive thorns.\u201d[199]\n\nSIR HENRY SPELMAN, who is recognized as high authority, in discussing\nthe origin of practices in the English courts, says that all ancient\nnations prohibited legal proceedings on sacred days. His words are:\n\n \u201cTo be short, it was so common a thing in those days of old to exempt\n the times of exercise of religion from all worldly business, that the\n barbarous nations, even our _Angli_, while they were yet in Germany,\n the Suevians themselves, and others in those Northern parts would in\n no wise violate or interrupt it. Tacitus says of them that during\n this time of holy rites, _non bellum ineunt, non arma sumunt. Clausum\n omne ferrum. Pax et quies tunc tantum nota, tunc tantum amat._\u201d\n\nSpeaking of the origin of the English \u201ccourt terms,\u201d Spelman says:\n\n \u201cI will therefore seek the original of our terms only from the\n Romans, as all other nations that have been subject to their civil\n and ecclesiastical monarch do, and must.\n\n \u201cThe ancient Romans, while they were yet heathens, did not, as we\n at this day, use certain continual portions of the year for a legal\n decision of controversies, but out of superstitious conceit that some\n days were ominous and more unlucky than others (according to that\n of the Egyptians), they made one day to be _fastus_ or term day and\n another (as an Egyptian day), to be vacation or _nefastus_; seldom\n two fast days or law days together; yea, they sometimes divided one\n and the same day in this manner:\n\n \u201c_Qui modo fastus erat, mune nefastus erat._\n\n \u201cThe afternoon was term, the morning holy day.\n\n \u201cNor were all their _fasti_ applied to judicature, but some of them\n to other meetings and consultations of the commonwealth; so that\n being divided into three sorts, which they called _fastos proprie_,\n _fastos endotercisos_, and _fastos comitiales_, containing together\n one hundred and eighty-four days through all the months of the year,\n there remained not properly to the pr\u00e6tor, as judicial or triverbial\n days, above twenty-eight.\u201d[200]\n\nNothing more is needed to show that the Sunday edict was the product of\nthe heathen cult, as truly as that which was issued in connection with\nit, relative to the Aruspices. There is an evident connection between\nthe two edicts. Apollo was the patron deity of the soothsayers, as well\nas of Constantine. At least nine years later than this, Constantine\nplaced his new residence at Byzantium under the protection of the\nheathen goddess of Fortune; he never gave up the title of high-priest\nof the heathen religion; he did not formally embrace Christianity until\nsixteen years later.\n\nWhatever he did to favor Christianity, and whatever claims he made to\nconversion, were the outgrowth of a shrewd policy, rather than of a\nconverted heart. And when the conservative historian can say of him,\n\u201cThe very brightest period of his reign is stained with crimes, which\neven the spirit of the age, and the policy of an absolute monarch,\ncannot excuse,\u201d he cannot be called a _Christian_ prince.\n\nIf he made any general laws against heathenism, they were little\nexecuted; for it was not suppressed in the empire until A.D.\n390--seventy-nine years after his Sunday edict, and fifty-three years\nafter his death. The few abuses against which he legislated were those\nwhich had been condemned before by the laws of the heathen rulers who\nhad preceded him, such as the obscure midnight orgies, etc. Millman\nsays on this point:\n\n \u201cIf it be difficult to determine the extent to which Constantine\n proceeded in the establishment of Christianity, it is even more\n perplexing to estimate how far he exerted the imperial authority\n in the abolition of paganism.... The pagan writers, who are not\n scrupulous in their charges against the memory of Constantine and\n dwell with bitter resentment on all his overt acts of hostility to\n the ancient religion, do not accuse him of these direct encroachments\n on paganism. Neither Julian nor Zosimus lay this to his charge.\n Libanius distinctly asserts that the temples were left open and\n undisturbed during his reign, and that paganism remained unchanged.\n Though Constantine advanced many Christians to offices of trust, and\n no doubt many who were ambitious of such offices conformed to the\n religion of the emperor, probably most of the high dignities of the\n State were held by the pagans.... In the capitol there can be little\n doubt that sacrifices were offered in the name of the senate and the\n people of Rome till a much later period.\u201d[201]\n\nThe whole matter is tersely told by a late English writer, who,\nspeaking of the time of the Sunday edict, says:\n\n \u201cAt a _later period_, carried away by the current of opinion, he\n declared himself a convert to the church. Christianity then, or what\n he was pleased to call by that name, became the law of the land, and\n the edict of A.D. 321, being unrevoked, was enforced as a Christian\n ordinance.\u201d[202]\n\nThe following words of the learned NIEBUHR, in his lectures on Roman\nhistory, are to the same effect:\n\n \u201cMany judge of Constantine by too severe a standard, because they\n regard him as a Christian; but I cannot look at him in that light.\n The religion which he had in his head, must have been a strange\n jumble indeed.... He was a superstitious man, and mixed up his\n Christian religion with all kinds of absurd and superstitious\n opinions. When certain oriental writers call him equal to the\n apostles, they do not know what they are saying, and to speak of him\n as a saint is a profanation of the word.\u201d[203]\n\nIt is a curious and little known fact, that markets were expressly\nappointed by Constantine to be held on Sunday. This we learn from an\ninscription on a Slavonian bath rebuilt by him, published in Gruter\u2019s\n_Inscriptiones Antiqu\u00e6 Totius Orbis Romani_, clxiv., 2. It is there\nrecorded of the emperor, that \u201c_provisione pietatis su\u00e6 nundinas dies\nsolis perpeti anno constituit_\u201d; \u201cby a pious provision he appointed\nmarkets to be held on Sunday throughout the year.\u201d His pious object\ndoubtless was to promote the attendance of the country people at\nchurches in towns. \u201cThus,\u201d says CHARLES JULIUS HARE, \u201cConstantine was\nthe author of the practice of holding markets on Sunday, which, in\nmany parts of Europe, prevailed above a thousand years after, though\nCharlemagne issued a special law (cap. cxl.) against it.\u201d[204] In\n\u201cScotland, this practice was first forbidden on holy days by an Act of\nJames IV., in 1503, and on Sundays in particular by one of James VI.,\nin 1579.\u201d[205]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[194] _Cod. Justin._, lib. iii., tit. xii., l. 3.\n\n[195] _Codex Theod._, lib. xiv., tit. x., l. 1.\n\n[196] _Antiquities of the Christian Church_, book xx., chap. ii., sec.\n2.\n\n[197] _History of Christianity_, book iii., chaps. i. and iv.\n\n[198] _Feasts and Fasts_, p. 6.\n\n[199] _Feasts and Fasts_, p. 86, _et seq._\n\n[200] _English Works from Original MS. in Bodleian Library_, book ii.,\np. 75.\n\n[201] _Historical Commentaries_, book iv., chap. iv.\n\n[202] _Sunday and the Mosaic Sabbath_ (Anonymous), p. 4.\n\n[203] Lect. V.\n\n[204] _Philological Museum_, i., 30.\n\n[205] _Cf._ Robert Cox, _Sabbath Literature_, vol. i., p. 359. For\nthe Scotch laws mentioned by Cox, see _Critical History of Sunday\nLegislation_, by the writer, pp. 144-146.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. OTHER FORMS OF PAGAN RESIDUUM IN CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\n A Low Standard of Religious Life--Faith in Relics--The Cross\n an Ancient Pagan (Phallic) Symbol--A \u201cCharm\u201d Borrowed from\n Paganism--Constantine\u2019s use of the Composite Symbol as a Military\n Standard--Prevalence of Faith in \u201cCharms\u201d--Sign of the Cross in\n Baptism--Baptism and Holy Water as \u201cCharms\u201d--Stupendous Miracles,\n like Pagan Prodigies, through Baptism--Delayed Baptism--Orientation\n at Baptism, etc.\n\nThose who have made a study of paganism as it appeared in Christianity\nduring and after the third century know that many other forms of\nit were prominent besides those fundamental errors which have been\ndiscussed in the preceding pages. Some of these have attracted more\nattention than the fundamental ones, since they lie more plainly on the\nsurface of history. We shall glance at several, that the reader may see\nthe field yet more fully.\n\n\nA Low Standard of Christian Life.\n\nThat the standard of individual character in the Church was brought far\nbelow that of the New Testament, and much below what would be accepted\nat the present day, appears in the history of morals and social life,\nand in many ways in the Church.\n\nThe degenerate character of his time is thus set forth by CHRYSOSTOM:\n\n \u201cPlagues too, teeming with untold mischiefs, have lighted upon the\n Churches. The chief offices have become saleable. Hence numberless\n evils are springing, and there is no one to redress, no one to\n reprove them. Nay the disorder has assumed a sort of method and\n consistency. Has a man done wrong and been arraigned for it? His\n effort is not to prove himself guiltless, but to find if possible\n accomplices in his crimes. What is to become of us? since hell is\n our threatened portion. Believe me, had not God stored up punishment\n for us there, ye would see every day tragedies deeper than the\n disasters of the Jews. What then? However, let no one take offence,\n for I mention no names; suppose some one were to come into this\n church to present you that are here at this moment, those that are\n now with me, and to make inquisition of them; or rather not now, but\n suppose on Easter day any one endued with such a spirit, as to have\n such a thorough knowledge of the things they had been doing, should\n narrowly examine all that came to Communion and were being washed\n [in baptism] after they had attended the mysteries; many things\n would be discovered more shocking than the Jewish horrors. He would\n find persons who practise augury, who make use of charms, and omens,\n and incantations, and who have committed fornication, adulterers,\n drunkards, and revilers,--covetous I am unwilling to add, lest I\n should hurt the feelings of any of those who are standing here. What\n more? Suppose any one should make scrutiny into all the communicants\n in the world, what kind of transgression is there which he would not\n detect? And what if he examined those in authority? Would he not find\n them eagerly bent upon gain? making traffic of high places? envious,\n malignant, vainglorious, gluttonous and slaves to money?\u201d[206]\n\nA similar vivid description, under the figure of a burning building,\nrepresenting the Church as consumed with evil, is found in Homily\n10, _On Ephesians_. Another description of the effect of heathenism\nupon those who professed to be Christians is sharply set forth in a\n_Treatise Attributed to Cyprian_, on the \u201cPublic Shows.\u201d[207] He says:\n\n \u201cBelievers, and men who claim for themselves the authority of the\n Christian name, are not ashamed--are not, I repeat, ashamed to find\n a defence in the heavenly Scriptures for the vain superstitions\n associated with the public exhibitions of the heathens, and thus to\n attribute divine authority to idolatry. For how is it, that what is\n done by the heathens in honor of any idol is resorted to in a public\n show by faithful Christians, and the heathen idolatry is maintained\n and the true and divine religion is trampled upon in contempt of\n God? Shame binds me to relate their pretexts and defences in this\n behalf. \u2018Where,\u2019 say they, \u2018are there such Scriptures? Where\n are these things prohibited? On the contrary, both Elias as the\n charioteer of Israel, and David himself danced before the ark. We\n read of psaltries, horns, trumpets, drums, pipes, harps, and choral\n dances. Moreover, the apostle, in his struggle, puts before us the\n contest of the C\u00e6stus, and of our wrestle against the spiritual\n things of wickedness. Again when he borrows his illustrations from\n the racecourse, he also proposes the prize of the crown. Why, then,\n may not a faithful Christian man gaze upon that which the divine\n pen might write about?\u2019 At this point I might not unreasonably say\n that it would have been far better for them not to know any writings\n at all, than thus to read the writings [of the Scriptures]. For\n words and illustrations which are recorded by way of exhortation\n to evangelical virtue, are translated by them into pleas for vice;\n because those things are written of, not that they should be gazed\n upon, but that a greater eagerness might be aroused in our minds\n in respect of things that will benefit us, seeing that among the\n heathens there is manifest so much eagerness in respect of things\n which will be of no advantage.\u201d\n\nThat these evils increased with the years, is shown by the words of\nAUGUSTINE, when he says:\n\n \u201cAccordingly you will have to witness many drunkards, covetous men,\n deceivers, gamesters, adulterers, fornicators, men who bind upon\n their persons sacrilegious charms, and others given up to sorcerers\n and astrologers, and diviners practised in all kinds of impious arts.\n You will also have to observe how those very crowds which fill the\n theaters on the festal days of the pagans, also fill the churches on\n the festal days of the Christians. And when you see these things\n you will be tempted to imitate them. Nay, why should I use the\n expression, _you will see_, in reference to what you assuredly are\n acquainted with even already. For you are not ignorant of the fact\n that many who are called Christians engage in all these evil things\n which I have briefly mentioned. Neither are you ignorant that at\n times, perchance, men whom you know to bear the name of Christians\n are guilty of even more grievous offenses than these.\u201d[208]\n\nSuch degradation of Christian life was the unavoidable fruitage of\nthe various pagan influences which had substituted false standards of\nChurch membership and of action for the true ones laid down in the\nScriptures.\n\n\nFaith in \u201cRelics.\u201d\n\nFaith in \u201cRelics,\u201d bodies, bones, garments, places, etc., as retaining\nthe virtues of the persons with whom they were associated, was\na prominent characteristic of paganism, from the earliest time.\nPaganism brought this element into Christianity, where it took root\nand flourished, like a fast-growing, noxious weed. The whole system\nof relic worship, down to the \u201cHoly Coat at Treves,\u201d in 1891, is a\ndirect harvest from pagan planting. Relics were believed to be powerful\nagents for good, by direct influence, and by acting as charms to ward\noff evils of all kinds. Take an example from one of the early Church\nhistorians, SOZOMEN, who gives the following with all the soberness of\nundoubted fact:\n\n \u201cWhile the Church everywhere was under the sway of these eminent\n men, the clergy and people were excited to the imitation of their\n virtue and zeal. Nor was the Church of this era distinguished only\n by these illustrious examples of piety; for the relics of the\n proto-prophets, Habakkuk, and a little while after, Micah, were\n brought to light about this time. As I understand, God made known\n the place where both these bodies were deposited, by a divine vision\n in a dream to Zebennus, who was then acting as bishop of the Church\n of Eleutheropolis. The relics of Habakkuk were found at Cela a city\n formerly called Ceila. The tomb of Micah was discovered at a distance\n of ten stadia from Cela, at a place called Berathsatia. This tomb was\n ignorantly styled by the people of the country, \u2018the tomb of the\n faithful\u2019; or, in their native language, Nephsameemana. These events,\n which occurred during the reign of Theodosius, were sufficient for\n the good repute of the Christian religion.\u201d[209]\n\nThe same author reports the discovery of the relics of Zechariah the\nprophet. Calemerus, a serf, was directed in a dream to dig at a certain\nplace in a garden, being assured that he would find two coffins, the\ninner one of wood, the other of lead; \u201cbeside the coffins you will see\na glass vessel full of water, and two serpents of moderate size, but\ntame and perfectly innoxious, so that they seem to be used to being\nhandled.\u201d Calemerus followed the directions, and found the body of\nZechariah, \u201cclad in a white stole,\u201d with a royal child lying at his\nfeet; and \u201calthough the prophet had lain under the earth for so many\ngenerations, he appeared sound; his hair was closely shorn, his nose\nwas straight; his beard moderately grown, his head quite short, his\neyes rather sunken, and concealed by the eyebrows.\u201d[210] In a similar\nstyle,[211] Sozomen relates how the head of John the Baptist was\ndiscovered in the suburbs of Constantinople. That such ridiculous myths\ncould be written down as a part of genuine Church history, shows how\nfully the pagan falsehoods corrupted the best currents of Christian\nlife.\n\n\nThe Cross, its Sign, and other Charms.\n\nComparatively few readers realize that the cross was of heathen origin,\nand a religious symbol of the lowest order, and that it was not adopted\nas a symbol of Christianity until the Church was well paganized.\nIts origin lies in the shadows of the prehistoric period. It was a\nreligious symbol in the Asiatic, Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, Druidic,\nand Central American heathenism. It originated in the lowest department\nof sun-worship _cultus_. Ishtar, the Assyrian Venus, was represented\nas holding a staff, the upper end of which was in the form of a Latin\ncross. The worship of Ishtar was one of the darkest features of the\nBabylonian religion. It was conducted with lascivious rites which may\nnot be named. It corrupted the Hebrews on every side. We find it, with\nother forms of sun-worship, polluting the temple itself, and sharply\ncondemned by the prophet of Jehovah.[212]\n\nTammuz was the young and beautiful sun-god, the bridegroom of Ishtar\nwho bore the cross-crowned sceptre; and this mourning for him was\nassociated with gross obscenity.\n\nAnother form of this same worship is condemned by Jeremiah, thus:\n\n \u201cSeest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the\n streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers\n kindle the fire, and the women knead _their_ dough, to make cakes to\n the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods,\n that they may provoke me to anger.\u201d[213]\n\nThere is evidence to show that these cakes were marked with one form\nof the cross, the Greek _tau_ (_\u03a4_). In later times the Greeks offered\ncakes thus marked to Bacchus, in connection with the vilest orgies.\nSpecimens of these are found at Herculaneum. Similar ones have been\nfound in the catacombs. The \u201chot cross-bun\u201d is the lineal descendant of\nthe _tau_ (_\u03a4_)-marked cakes of the obscene sun-worship _cultus_. Its\nassociation with Friday--day of Ishtar, Venus, Frega--is a remnant of\npaganism, although later efforts to Christianize it have associated it\nwith \u201cGood Friday.\u201d\n\nThe cross appears in Assyrian history, worn as a religious emblem\nby the priest-king, Samsi-Vul, son of Shalamanezar, and also by\nAssur-Nazir-Pal. These specimens may be seen in the British Museum.\nIt is the Greek cross, and identical with the \u201cpectoral cross,\u201d worn\nby the Pope, and seen on altar-cloths at the present day. Priority of\npossession is several thousand years in favor of the Assyrian. The same\nstyle of crosses are found in the Etruscan department of the Vatican\nMuseum at Rome. They are on the breasts--painted--of certain large\nEtruscan male figures, and are taken from mural decorations in ancient\nEtruscan burial-places. Similar \u201cpectoral\u201d crosses may be seen also in\nthe British Museum on two figures from Thebes, in the Egyptian Hall.\nThey date from about 1100 B.C., and represent men of Asia bringing\ntribute. In Wilkinson\u2019s _Ancient Egypt_ the same cross may be seen on\nthe breast of two warriors.\n\nThere is a figure of the youthful Bacchus, taken from an ancient\nvase, with which antiquarians are familiar, holding a cup and fennel\nbranch--a figure of much beauty. The head-dress is a band with crosses\nas of Horus. A portion of the band falls from the head, and with its\nfringe and single cross, if lengthened, would form a modern \u201cstole.\u201d\n\nThe cross is also found on Greek pottery, dating from 700 to 500 B.C.\nIt appears in relics of the Latin people of the same period. It was\nused as a symbol in Buddhism in India long before the time of Christ.\nIt is also found in Thibet, Scandinavia, and other parts of northern\nEurope.\n\nThat the cross was extensively known and used before the Christian era\nis shown by an admirable article in the _Edinburgh Review_ of October,\n1870, on the pre-Christian Cross. The author of the article claims\nto have collected nearly two hundred varieties of the cross, in its\nheathen form. He speaks of it as follows:\n\n \u201cFrom the dawn of organized paganism in the Eastern world, to the\n final establishment of Christianity in the Western, the cross was\n undoubtedly the commonest and most sacred of symbolical monuments,\n and to a remarkable extent it is so still in almost every land\n where that of Calvary is unrecognized or unknown. Apart from any\n distinctions of social or intellectual superiority of caste, color,\n nationality, or location in either hemisphere it appears to have been\n the aboriginal possession of every people of antiquity--the elastic\n girdle, so to say, which embraced the most widely separated heathen\n communities, the most significant token of universal brotherhood,\n the principal point of contact in every system of pagan mythology,\n to which all the families of mankind were severally and irresistibly\n drawn, and by which their common descent was emphatically\n expressed....\n\n \u201cOf the several varieties of the cross still in vogue as national\n or ecclesiastical emblems in this and other European states, and\n distinguished by the familiar appellations of St. George, St. Andrew,\n the Maltese, the Greek, the Latin, etc., there is not one amongst\n them the existence of which may not be traced to the remotest\n antiquity.\u201d[214]\n\nIt is also true that the cross does not appear as the symbol of\nChristianity until after its paganization under Constantine. He made a\ncomposite symbol, known as the _Chi-ro_, of which see below. It seems\nprobable that he added these to the pagan cross. On this point BLAKE\nsays:\n\n \u201cThe Cross and the Crescent were combined in the Oriental standards\n (Fig. 29.) centuries before the time of Christ.\n\n \u201cRoman coins of the period of 269 B.C. show the cross of Saturn (Fig.\n 30.) with distinctness. According to Gaume, the illustrious writer,\n all the Roman standards bore this cross, and Constantine being unable\n to vary the banner of the empire, added \u2018XP\u2019 the Greek sign for\n Christ, to the imperial flag, 312 A.D.\u201d[215]\n\nThe similarity between the heathenism of Asia and Central America is a\nwell-known fact of history.\n\n \u201cThe religion of the Mexicans was purely Chaldean. They professed\n to believe in a Supreme God, but idol-worship was general. They\n had a regular priesthood, gorgeous temples and convents; they\n had processions, in which crosses, and even red crosses, were\n carried; and incense, flowers, and fruit-offerings were employed\n in their worship. They confessed to their priests, and generally\n confessed only once, receiving a written absolution which served\n for the remainder of their lives as an effectual safeguard against\n punishment, even for crimes committed after receiving the said\n absolution. They worshipped, and afterwards ate, a wafer-god, an idol\n made of flour and honey, which they called \u2018the god of penitence,\u2019\n and they always ate him fasting. They also venerated the black calf,\n or bull, and adored a goddess-mother, with an infant son in her\n arms. They sacrificed human victims to the God of Hell, of whom they\n considered the cross to be a symbol, and to whom they were largely\n sacrificed, by laying them on a great black stone and tearing out\n their hearts.\n\n \u201cWe are now prepared to see how easily the heathen, in adopting a\n nominal Christianity, as they did from the reign of Constantine,\n would have modified and Christianized their views of the heathen\n cross. Hitherto that emblem had been associated with their worship\n of the gods. In their temples, in their houses, on their images,\n their clothes, their cattle, etc., the worshippers were accustomed\n to see the peculiar cross, or, crosses, dedicated to each. Bacchus\n had his, Serapis his, and so forth. Some of the new converts were\n themselves wearing on their own persons the emblem of their gods.\n This was the case with certain Asiatics and Etruscans, who wore the\n cross round their necks, but not, apparently, with the Egyptians as\n far as relating to a neck ornament. Wilkinson, chapter v., plate\n 342, gives the figures of four warriors from the monuments of Egypt,\n from Asiatic tribes, wearing crosses round their necks, or on their\n clothes. Their date is about 1400 B.C.\n\n \u201cIn plate 47 of his _Peintures Antiques de Vases Grecs_ (Rome, 1817,\n fol.), Milligen gives examples of the cross on the apron of the\n warrior, and within a circle on his horse.\n\n \u201cTo enter then, into a heathen temple just rededicated to Christ,\n where the cross of the rejected pagan deity still existed, or\n where a new church cross had been substituted--to visit a temple\n so reconsecrated, or to enter a basilica (judgment hall) by the\n Emperor\u2019s order just handed over to the bishop for Christian use--all\n this would aid in making the change from the worship of the gods to\n the worship of the Emperor\u2019s God very easy to the convert.\n\n \u201cThe old temples, and the old basilicas, the arrangements of the\n apse, etc., in the latter almost unchanged--the lustral, or holy\n water--the mural paintings sometimes left, sometimes altered to suit\n the persons of the new heroes, or saints--the incense, the pomp of\n worship, the long train of vested priests--all and much more, would\n make the transition from the old to the new faith, externally, a\n matter of little difficulty. As to the cross, there it was, and there\n it would continue, and has continued.\u201d[216]\n\nIn view of these and many similar facts, it is easy to understand how\nthe cross became a permanent and prominent feature in the symbolism of\npaganized Christianity. The famous vision of Constantine the Great, in\nwhich he is said to have seen a cross in the sky, in connection with\nthe sun, is not supported by evidence which places it among facts.\nIt was not unnatural, however, that he, a devout sun-worshipper,\nand familiar with the cross as the symbol of the lowest form of\nthat worship, should associate the two, as he has been said to have\ndone. The symbol which he adopted on his military standard was not\nthe cross proper, but the two Greek initials of the name of Christ,\nthe \u201c_chi-ro_.\u201d One of these letters, resembling the English X, gave\nthe standard a similarity to the cross. Under Valens, Emperor of the\nEast, who died in 378 A.D., the cross appears without the letters, and\nfrom that time the letters gradually disappear. The Empress Eudocia\nwore the heathen form of the cross on her head.[217] It was the exact\ncounterpart of that which the moon-goddess, Diana, had worn before. The\nleading facts concerning the cross may be summed up as follows:\n\nUp to the time of Constantine--early part of the fourth century--the\ncross remained what it had always been, a pagan symbol, type of\nits most revolting _cultus_. It is the same in India to-day. By\nthe opening of the fifth century it had become the symbol of\npaganized Christianity. The crucifix--a figure of Christ nailed to\nthe cross--appears first about the middle of the fifth century. The\nfollowing is the general order whereby the transition was accomplished:\n\n1. Constantine adopts the initial letters, giving the _chi-ro_\nstandard, about 312 A.D.[218]\n\n2. The _chi_ (_\u03a7_) was gradually changed to the form of a cross, while\nthe _ro_, similar to the English P, remained in its original position.\n\n3. The _ro_ was rejected, and the _chi_ (_\u03a7_) was changed to the Greek\ncross of Bacchus.\n\n4. The heathen _tau_ (_\u03a4_), as used in India and Egypt, was brought\nin, probably because of its supposed resemblance to the cross on which\nChrist was (said to have been) put to death.\n\n5. The _tau_ appears, surmounted by a roundel, evidently the sacred\negg of the heathen. This was the emblem of the Goddess of Nature, the\nproductive principle. This brought the original heathen symbol into\nstill greater similarity to what is now known as the Latin cross.\n\n6. The _crux ansata_, or handled cross. This is the form usually seen\nin the hands of the gods of India and Egypt. It is the symbol of the\nsun-god, and is interpreted by modern Egyptologists as the symbol of\nlife. It was primarily a phallic symbol of reproduction. An English\nwriter (Rev. MOURANT BROCK) has pertinently said:\n\n \u201cAnd it is high time that Christians should understand a fact of\n which skeptics have been long talking and writing, that the cross\n was the central symbol of ancient paganism. What it represents, must\n remain untold; but it was probably made the medium of our Lord\u2019s\n death, through the crafty device of the wicked one, into whose hands\n he was for a while delivered, with a view to the future corruption\n of Christianity, and the carrying on, under its name, of all the\n abominations of the heathen.\u201d\n\nThe prominence and value which the \u201csign of the Cross\u201d and its\nassociate pagan symbols gained as \u201ccharms\u201d in paganized Christianity\ncan be readily understood in view of the foregoing facts. It is wholly\nunexplainable from the New Testament standpoint, and without these\nfacts. A few examples must suffice, showing how this pagan conception\nwas transferred to Christianity. BINGHAM, a learned and conservative\nwriter, says:\n\n \u201cBut there was one sort of enchantment, which many ignorant and\n superstitious Christians, out of the remains of heathen error, much\n affected; that was the use of charms and amulets and spells to cure\n diseases, or avert dangers or mischiefs, both from themselves and\n the fruits of the earth. For Constantine had allowed the heathen, in\n the beginning of his reformation, for some time, not only to consult\n their augurs in public, but also to use charms by way of remedy\n for bodily distempers, and to prevent storms of rain and hail from\n injuring the ripe fruits, as appears from that very law, where he\n condemns the other sort of magic, that tended to do mischief, to be\n punished with death. And probably from this indulgence granted to\n the heathen, many Christians who brought a tincture of heathenism\n with them into their religion, might take occasion to think there\n was no great harm in such charms or enchantments, when the design\n was only to do good, and not evil. However it was, this is certain\n in fact, that many Christians were much inclined to this practice,\n and therefore made use of charms and amulets, which they called\n _periammata_ and _phylacteria_, pendants and preservatives to secure\n themselves from danger, and drive away bodily distempers. These\n phylacteries, as they called them, were a sort of amulets made of\n ribands, with a text of Scripture or some other charm of words\n written in them, which they imagined without any natural means to be\n effectual remedies or preservatives against diseases.\u201d[219]\n\nThe extent to which this evil existed in the Church is indicated\nby Chrysostom, as is also his belief in the sign of the cross as a\nsuperior \u201ccharm.\u201d He says:\n\n \u201cFor these amulets, though they who make money by them are forever\n rationalizing about them, and saying, \u2018We call upon God, and do\n nothing extraordinary,\u2019 and the like; and \u2018the old woman [who made\n the amulets] is a Christian,\u2019 says he, \u2018and one of the faithful\u2019; the\n thing is idolatry. Art thou one of the faithful? Sign the cross; say,\n this I have for my only weapon; this for my remedy; and other I know\n none. Tell me, if a physician should come to one, and, neglecting the\n remedies belonging to his art, should use incantations, should we\n call that man a physician? By no means: for we see not the medicines\n of the healing art; so neither, in this case, do we see those of\n Christianity.\n\n \u201cOther women, again, tie about them the names of rivers, and venture\n numberless things of like nature. Lo, I say, and forewarn you all,\n that if any be detected, I will not spare them again, whether they\n have made amulet, or incantation, or any other thing of such an art\n as this.\u201d[220]\n\n \u201cThis sign [the cross], both in the days of our forefathers and now\n hath opened doors that were shut up; this hath quenched poisonous\n drugs; this hath taken away the power of hemlock; this hath healed\n bites of venomous beasts. For if it opened the gates of hell, and\n threw wide the archways of Heaven, and made a new entrance into\n Paradise, and cut away the nerves of the devil; what marvel if it\n prevailed over poisonous drugs, and venomous beasts, and all other\n such things?\u201d[221]\n\nTERTULLIAN shows his faith in the sign of the cross as a cure for\ndisease,[222] in his discussion of the nature and cure of the\nscorpion\u2019s sting. He says:\n\n \u201cWe have faith for a defense if we are not smitten with distrust,\n itself, also, in immediately making the sign [of the cross over the\n wounded part] and adjuring [that part in the name of Jesus] and\n besmearing the [poisoned] heel with [the gore of] the beast.\u201d\n\n\nThe Sign of the Cross in Baptism.\n\nAs one of the supreme charms, the sign of the cross was associated with\nbaptism, which was also made a \u201ccharm\u201d under the influence of pagan\nwater-worship. It was associated with anointing, which was also a pure\nimportation from paganism. Speaking of this sign Bingham says:\n\n \u201cThe third use of it was in this unction before baptism. For so\n the author under the name of Dionysius, describing the ceremony of\n anointing the party, before the consecration of the water, says,\n The Bishop begins the unction by thrice signing him with the sign\n of the cross, and then commits him to the priest to be anointed all\n over the body, whilst he goes and consecrates the water in the font.\n St. Austin also may be understood of this when he says, The cross\n is always joined with baptism. And by this we may interpret several\n passages in Cyprian, as where he tells Demetrian, They, only, escape,\n who are born again, and signed with the sign of Christ. And what that\n sign is, and on what part of the body it is made, the Lord signified\n in another place, saying, \u2018Go through the midst of Jerusalem and set\n a mark upon their foreheads.\u2019 And so again in his book of the Unity\n of the Church, speaking of Uzziah\u2019s leprosy, he says, He was marked\n for his offense against the Lord in that part of his body, where\n those are signed who obtain his mercy. Which seems plainly to refer\n to the sign of the cross made in baptism. The author of the Apostolic\n Constitutions is very express in this matter. For explaining the\n meaning of the several parts and ceremonies used in baptism, he says,\n The water is to represent Christ\u2019s burial, the oil to represent the\n Holy Ghost, the sign of the cross to represent the cross, and the\n ointment or chrism, the confirmation of men\u2019s professions. And not\n improbably St. Jerome might refer to this, though his words be not so\n restrained to this time of unction, when he says, He was a Christian,\n born of Christian parents, and carried the banner of the cross in\n his forehead. Some add also those words of Cyprian. Let us guard\n our foreheads that we may preserve the sign of God without danger.\n And those of Pontius in his life, where speaking of the Christian\n confessors who were branded by the heathen in the forehead, and sent\n as slaves into the mines, he says, They were marked in the forehead a\n second time; alluding to the sign of the cross, which as Christians\n they had received before. But these passages do not necessarily\n relate to baptism, but are only general expressions that may refer to\n the use of the sign of the cross upon any other occasion; it being\n usual in those times to sign themselves upon the forehead in the\n commonest actions of their lives, upon every motion, as Tertullian\n expresses it, at their going out and coming in, at their going\n to bath, or to bed, or to meals, or whatever their employment or\n occasions called them to. Yet thus far it may be argued from them,\n that they who used it so commonly upon all other occasions, would\n hardly omit it in this solemn unction of baptism. And therefore\n these allegations may be allowed to be a sort of collateral evidence\n of the practice.\u201d[223]\n\nAgain he says:\n\n \u201cSecondly, I observe, that together with this prayer, it was usual to\n make the sign of the cross also, not, as before, upon the person to\n be baptised, but as a circumstance of the consecration. This we learn\n not only from Dionysius, but from St. Austin, who says, The water\n of baptism was signed with the Cross of Christ. And St. Chrysostom\n says, They used it in all their sacred mysteries; when they were\n regenerated in baptism, when they were fed with the mystical food\n in the eucharist, when they were ordained, that symbol of victory\n was always represented in the action, whatever religious matter they\n were concerned in. To which we may add the author under the name of\n St. Austin, who runs over all the solemn consecrations of the Church\n and tells us, the symbol of the cross was used in every one, in\n catechising of new converts, in consecrating the waters of baptism,\n in giving imposition of hands in confirmation, in the dedication of\n Churches, and altars, in consecrating the eucharist, and in promoting\n priests and Levites to holy orders.\n\n \u201cThirdly, I observe concerning the effects of this consecration,\n that the very same change was supposed to be wrought by it in the\n waters of baptism, as by the consecration of bread and wine in the\n eucharist. For they supposed not only the presence of the Spirit,\n but also the mystical presence of Christ\u2019s blood, to be here after\n consecration. Julius Firmicus, speaking of baptism, bids men here\n seek for the pure waters, the undefiled fountain, where the blood of\n Christ, after many spots and defilements, would whiten them by the\n Holy Ghost.\u201d[224]\n\nSuperstitious regard for the sign of the cross grew as paganism ripened\nin the church; witness the following words of Augustine:\n\n \u201cAnd lastly as every one knows, what else is the sign of Christ but\n the Cross of Christ? For unless that sign be applied, whether it be\n to the foreheads of believers, or to the very water out of which they\n are regenerated, or to the oil with which they receive the anointing\n chrism, or to the sacrifice that nourishes them, none of them is\n properly administered.\u201d[225]\n\n\nBaptism and \u201cHoly Water\u201d as \u201cCharms.\u201d\n\nThe pagan doctrine of baptismal regeneration involved the idea of\nwater as a charm against disease and misfortune, in men, in animals,\nin growing crops, and fruits. These notions were brought into the\nChristian Church and soon became widely spread and firmly fixed. An\nexcellent review of this subject is furnished by Canon FARRAR in his\ndescription of Cyprian\u2019s views relative to baptism. These are his words:\n\n \u201cCyprian holds that in baptism the Priest commands the power of the\n Holy Ghost to forgive sin by means of sanctified and purified water,\n but only if he be a Catholic Priest, and free from every taint of\n what Cyprian or the Episcopate regards as Schism or heresy. When the\n grace of forgiveness for all past sins has been bestowed by this act\n it is not valid for future sins. They too require that satisfaction\n for them should be offered to God, and this satisfaction must be\n penitence, penance, and good works.\u201d[226]\n\n \u201cHe might have adopted the language of Tertullian about baptism: \u2018in\n this way, without pomp, with no novelty of preparation, without cost,\n a man descends into the water, and being immersed, with the utterance\n of a few words, rises up out of it, scarcely, if at all, cleaner\n in body, but, incredible consequence, the possessor of eternal\n life.\u2019\u201d[227]\n\n\nMiracles through Baptism.\n\nSOCRATES, the Church historian, tells of miraculous cures through\nbaptism as gravely as Sozomen does of the finding of \u201cRelics.\u201d Hear him:\n\n \u201cThis was one important improvement in the circumstances of the\n Church, which happened during the administration of Atticus. Nor\n were these times without the attestation of miracles and healing.\n For a certain Jew being a paralytic had been confined to his bed for\n many years; and as every sort of medical skill, and the prayers of\n his Jewish brethren had been resorted to but had availed nothing, he\n had recourse at length to Christian baptism, trusting in it as the\n only true remedy to be used. When Atticus the bishop was informed of\n his wishes, he instructed him in the first principles of Christian\n truth, and having preached to him to hope in Christ, directed that he\n should be brought in his bed to the font. The paralytic Jew receiving\n baptism with a sincere faith, as soon as he was taken out of the\n baptismal font found himself perfectly cured of his disease, and\n continued to enjoy sound health afterwards. This miraculous power\n Christ vouchsafed to be manifested even in our times; and the fame\n of it caused many heathens to believe and be baptised. But the Jews,\n although zealously \u2018seeking after signs,\u2019 not even the signs which\n actually took place induced to embrace the faith. Such blessings were\n thus conferred by Christ upon men.\u201d[228]...\n\n \u201cA certain Jewish impostor, pretending to be a convert to\n Christianity, was in the habit of being baptized often, and by that\n artifice he amassed a good deal of money. After having deceived\n many of the Christian sects by this fraud--for he received baptism\n from the Arians and Macedonians--as there remained no others to\n practise his hypocrisy upon, he at length came to Paul bishop of the\n Novatians, and declaring that he earnestly desired baptism, requested\n that he might obtain it at his hand. Paul commended the determination\n of the Jew, but told him he could not perform that rite for him,\n until he had been instructed in the fundamental principles of the\n faith, and given himself to fasting and prayer for many days. The\n Jew compelled to fast against his will became the more importunate\n in his request for baptism; now as Paul did not wish to discourage\n him by longer delays, since he was so urgent, he consented to grant\n his request, and made all the necessary preparations for the\n baptism. Having purchased a white vestment for him, he ordered the\n font to be filled with water, and then led the Jew to it in order to\n baptize him. But a certain invisible power of God caused the water\n suddenly to disappear. The bishop, of course, and those present, had\n not the least suspicion of the real cause, but imagined that water\n had escaped by the channels underneath, by means of which they are\n accustomed to empty the font; these passages were therefore very\n carefully closed, and the font filled again. Again, however, as the\n Jew was taken there a second time, the water vanished as before.\n Then Paul, addressing the Jew, said: \u2018Either you are an evil-doer,\n wretched man, or an ignorant person who has already been baptized.\u2019\n The people having crowded together to witness this miracle, one among\n them recognized the Jew, and identified him as having been baptized\n by Atticus, the bishop, a little while before. Such was the portent\n wrought by the hands of Paul bishop of the Novatians.\u201d[229]\n\nThat baptism was sought as a shield against bodily ills, without even\nthe pagan notion of spiritual purity, is shown by the following from\nBingham:\n\n \u201cYet sometimes, as Euthymius relates in the same place, they would\n bring their children to the presbyters of the Church to be baptised\n after the Catholic way, because they had an opinion that both baptism\n and the cross were of some advantage to the body for the cure of\n diseases, but of no other efficacy, benefit, or virtue to purge the\n soul. And such an opinion possessed the minds of many others, who had\n no further regard for baptism, but only as it was of use to free the\n body of some distemper or uncleanliness.\u201d[230]\n\n\nDelayed Baptism.\n\nThe pagan idea of \u201cbaptismal regeneration\u201d took such hold of the Church\nas to become a grave evil, by inducing men to live in sin, under the\nbelief that they could gain salvation at the last moment. The testimony\nof Bingham is presented again, which testimony is the more valuable,\nbecause coming from a conservative English Churchman.\n\n \u201cOthers deferred it out of heathenish principles still remaining in\n them, because they were in love with the world and its pleasures,\n which they were unwilling to renounce, to take upon them the yoke\n of Christ, which they thought would lay greater restraints upon\n them, and deny them those liberties which they could now more freely\n indulge themselves in and securely enjoy. They could spend their life\n in pleasure, and be baptised at last, and then they should gain as\n much as those that were baptised before; for the laborers who came\n into the vineyard at the last hour, had the same reward as those that\n had borne the burden and heat of the day.\u201d[231]\n\n\nOrientation at Baptism.\n\nThe corruption of baptism by the pagan sun-worship cult was especially\nshown in the practice of turning eastward and westward in connection\nwith baptism. This chapter has space for a single quotation on this\npoint from Bingham:\n\n \u201cThis custom of turning about to the East when they made their\n profession of obedience to Christ is also mentioned by St. Ambrose,\n Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Jerusalem, and the author under the name\n of Dionysius. For which they assign two reasons: 1, Cyril tells his\n disciples that as soon as they had renounced the devil, the paradise\n of God, which was planted in the East, and whence our first parent\n for his transgression was driven into banishment, was now laid open\n to them; and their turning about from the West to the East, which\n is the region of light, was a symbol of this. For the same reason,\n St. Basil and some others of the ancients tell us, they prayed\n toward the East, that they might have their faces toward paradise.\n The other reason for turning to the East in baptism, was because\n the East or rising sun was an emblem of the Sun of Righteousness,\n to whom they now turned from Satan. Thou art turned about to the\n East, says St. Ambrose, for he that renounces the devil, turns unto\n Christ. Where he plainly intimates with St. Jerome, that turning to\n the East was a symbol of their aversion from Satan, and conversion\n unto Christ,--that is, from darkness to light, from serving idols,\n to serve him who is the Sun of Righteousness and Fountain of\n Light.\u201d[232]\n\nFaith in the magical effects of baptism increased, until its sway ruled\nthe wisest and best of the leaders in the Church. The great Augustine\nrecounts many cases which indicate, if possible, more than pagan\ncredulity. Among them are the following. The chapter from which they\nare taken is entitled: \u201c_Of Miracles which were wrought that the world\nmight believe in Christ, and which have not ceased since the world\nbelieved._\u201d\n\n \u201cIn the same city of Carthage lived Innocentia, a very devout\n woman of the highest rank in the state. She had a cancer in one of\n her breasts, a disease, which, as physicians say, is incurable.\n Ordinarily, therefore, they either amputated, and so separated from\n the body the member on which the disease has seized, or, that the\n patient\u2019s life may be prolonged a little, though death is inevitable,\n even if somewhat delayed, they abandon all remedies following, as\n they say, the advice of Hippocrates. This lady we speak of had been\n advised to by a skilful physician, who was intimate with her family;\n and she betook herself to God alone by prayer. On the approach of\n Easter she was instructed in a dream to wait for the first woman that\n came out from the baptistry after being baptised, and ask her to make\n the sign of Christ upon her sore. She did so and was immediately\n cured....\n\n \u201cA gouty doctor of the same city, when he had given in his name for\n baptism, and had been prohibited the day before his baptism from\n being baptised that year, by black woolly-haired boys who appeared\n to him in his dream, and whom he understood to be devils, and when,\n though they trod on his feet, and inflicted the acutest pain he had\n ever yet experienced, he refused to obey them, but overcame them,\n and would not defer being washed in the laver of regeneration, was\n relieved in the very act of baptism, not only of the extraordinary\n pain he was tortured with, but also of the disease itself, so that,\n though he lived a long time afterwards, he never suffered from gout;\n and yet who knows of this miracle? We, however, do know it, and so,\n too, do the small number of brethren who were in the neighborhood,\n and to whose ears it might come.\n\n \u201cAn old comedian of Curubis was cured at baptism not only of\n paralysis, but also of hernia, and being delivered from both\n afflictions, came up out of the font of regeneration as if he had\n nothing wrong with his body. Who outside of Curubis knows of this,\n or who but a very few who might hear it elsewhere? But we, when we\n heard of it, made the man come to Carthage, by order of the holy\n bishop Aurelius, although we had already ascertained the fact on the\n information of persons whose word we could not doubt.\n\n \u201cHesperius, of a tribunitian family, and a neighbor of our own, has\n a farm called Zubedi in the Fussalian district; and finding that\n his family, his cattle, and his servants were suffering from the\n malice of evil spirits, he asked our presbyters, during my absence,\n that one of them would go with him and banish the spirits by his\n prayers. One went, offered there the sacrifice of the body of Christ,\n praying with all his might that vexation might cease. It did cease\n forthwith, through God\u2019s mercy. Now he had received from a friend\n of his own some holy earth brought from Jerusalem, where Christ,\n having been buried, rose again the third day. This earth he had hung\n up in his bedroom to preserve himself from harm. But when his house\n was purged of that demoniacal invasion, he began to consider what\n should be done with the earth; for his reverence for it made him\n unwilling to have it any longer in his bedroom. It so happened that I\n and Maximinus, Bishop of Synita, and then my colleague, were in the\n neighborhood. Hesperius asked us to visit him, and we did so. When he\n had related all the circumstances, he begged that the earth might be\n buried somewhere, and that the spot should be made a place of prayer\n where Christians might assemble for the worship of God. We made no\n objection; it was done as he desired. There was in that neighborhood\n a young countryman who was paralytic, who, when he heard of this,\n begged his parents to take him without delay to that holy place. When\n he had been brought there he prayed, and forthwith went away on his\n own feet perfectly cured.\n\n \u201cThere is a country seat called Victoriana, less than thirty miles\n from Hippo-regius. At it there is a monument to the Milanese martyrs,\n Protasius and Gervasius. Thither a young man was carried, who, when\n he was watering his horse one summer day at noon, in a pool of a\n river, had been taken possession of by a devil. As he lay at the\n monument, near death, or even quiet like a dead person, the lady of\n the manor, with her maids and religious attendants, entered the place\n for evening prayer and praise, as her custom was, and they began to\n sing hymns. At this sound, the young man, as if electrified, was\n thoroughly aroused, and with frightful screaming seized the altar,\n and held it as if he did not dare or were not able to let it go, and\n as if he were fixed or tied to it; and the devil in him, with loud\n lamentation, besought that he might be spared, and confessed where\n and when and how he took possession of the youth. At last declaring\n that he would go out of him, he named one by one the parts of his\n body which he threatened to mutilate as he went out, and with these\n words he departed from the man. But his eye falling out on his cheek,\n hung by a slender vein as by a root, and the whole of the pupil which\n had been black became white. When this was witnessed by those present\n (others, too, had now gathered to his cries, and had all joined in\n prayer for him), although they were delighted that he had recovered\n his sanity of mind, yet, on the other hand, they were grieved about\n his eye, and said he should seek medical advice. But his sister\u2019s\n husband, who had brought him there, said, \u2018God who has banished the\n devil, is able to restore his eye at the prayers of his saints.\u2019\n Therewith he replaced the eye that was fallen out and hanging, and\n bound it in its place with his handkerchief as well as he could, and\n advised him not to loose the bandage for seven days. When he did so,\n he found it quite healthy. Others also were cured there, but of them\n it were tedious to speak.\n\n \u201cI know that a young woman of Hippo was immediately dispossessed of\n a devil, on anointing herself with oil, mixed with the tears of the\n presbyter who had been praying for her. I know also that a bishop\n once prayed for a demoniac young man whom he never saw, and that he\n was cured on the spot.\u201d[233]\n\nMany other similar miraculous occurrences are related by Augustine, in\nthis same chapter, showing how fully paganism mingled with his belief.\nHe reports also many miracles performed by the power of a shrine which\nwas situated near Carthage. The chapter sounds more like a record of\nheathen prodigies than like sober Christian history.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[206] Homily 6, _On Ephesians_.\n\n[207] Page 222 of vol. ii. of _The Writings of Cyprian_, in Ante-Nicene\nLibrary.\n\n[208] _On the Catechising of the Uninstructed_, chap. xxv., \u00b6 48.\n\n[209] _Ecc. Hist._, book vii., chap. xxix.\n\n[210] _Ibid._, book ix., chap. xvii.\n\n[211] Book vii., chap. xxi.\n\n[212] See Ezek. viii., 14-18.\n\n[213] Jer. vii., 17-19.\n\n[214] Pp. 224, 226.\n\n[215] _The Cross, Ancient and Modern_, by Willson W. Blake,\nillustrated, pp. 18, 19, New York.\n\n[216] _The Cross, Heathen and Christian_, by Mourant Brock, M.A., pp.\n18, 57-59, London.\n\n[217] Died 460 A.D.\n\n[218] Boissier gives a minute account of the vision of Constantine\nand its effects in leading him to favor Christianity. He quotes from\nLactantius, tutor of Constantine\u2019s sons, who describes the vision of\nthe Emperor in his treatise, _The Death of the Persecutors_. This\nsummary, given by Boissier, shows that the sign which Constantine saw\nin his vision, and which he engraved upon his military standard, was\nnot the cross proper, but the monogram known as the Chi-Ro. It is\ndescribed by Lactantius in these words: \u201cThe letter \u2018X\u2019 crossed by a\nbar, the top of which was gently recurved, forming thus the monogram of\nChrist\u201d--(_cf._ _La Fin du Paganisme_).\n\n[219] _Antiquities_, etc., book xvi., chap. v., sec. 6.\n\n[220] Hom. viii., _On Colossians_.\n\n[221] Homily liv., \u00b6 7, _On the Gospel of St. Matthew_.\n\n[222] _Scorpiace_, xv.\n\n[223] _Antiquities_, book xi., chap. ix., sec. 5.\n\n[224] _Antiquities_, book xi., chap. x., secs. 3 and 4.\n\n[225] Tractate 118, _On the Gospel of St. John_.\n\n[226] Epists. 64 and 69.\n\n[227] _Lives of the Fathers_, by F. W. Farrar, D.D., F.R.S., vol. i.,\npp. 332, 333, Edinburgh, 1889.\n\n[228] Socrates, _Eccl. History_, book vii., chap. iv.\n\n[229] _Ibid._, chap. xvii.\n\n[230] _Antiquities_, book ii., chap. ii.\n\n[231] _Antiquities_, book ii., chap. vi., sec. 3.\n\n[232] _Antiquities_, book xi., chap. vii., sec. 7.\n\n[233] _The City of God_, book xxii., chap. viii.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\n\n\n Lights in Worship--Worshipping \u201ctoward the East\u201d--Easter\n Fires--Beltane or Baal Fires--Penance--Mariolatry--The\n Mass--Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead--Peter\u2019s\n Keys--Christmas--Easter--Lent, etc.\n\nSun-worship, as the dominant cult in all pagan systems, furnished more\nelements of corruption than any other.\n\n\nLights in Worship.\n\nThe pagan origin of lights in worship is universally acknowledged.\nTheir use was sharply condemned in the earlier times.[234] The Synod of\nElviri (305 or 306 A.D.) condemned their use in cemeteries, where they\nalready formed a part of the services for the dead. Canon 34 reads: \u201cIt\nis forbidden to light wax candles during the day in cemeteries for fear\nof disquieting the spirits of the saints.\u201d\n\nBaronius explains this as follows: \u201cMany Neophytes brought the custom\nfrom paganism of lighting wax candles upon tombs. The Synod forbids\nthis, because, metaphysically, it troubles the souls of the dead; that\nis to say, this superstition wounds them.\u201d\n\nAbespine gives another explanation, which is, that the synod accepted\nthe belief that was then general, that the souls of the dead hovered\naround their tombs. \u201cThe Synod consequently forbade that wax candles\nshould be lighted by day, perhaps to abolish a remnant of paganism,\nbut also to prevent the repose of the souls of the dead from being\ntroubled.\u201d[235]\n\nMAITLAND says:\n\n \u201cThe burning of lights is specified among the idolatrous rites\n forbidden by the Theodosian Code: \u2018Let no one in any kind of place\n whatsoever in any city, burn lights, offer incense, or hang up\n garlands to senseless idols.\u2019 Vigilantius, in reference to the\n custom of using lights in divine service, exclaims: \u2018We almost see\n the ceremonial of the gentiles introduced into the Churches under\n pretence of religion; piles of candles lighted while the sun is still\n shining; and everywhere people kissing and worshipping, and I know\n not what; a little dust in a small vessel wrapped up in a precious\n cloth. Great honor do such persons render to the blessed martyrs,\n thinking with miserable tapers to illumine those whom the Lamb,\n in the midst of the throne, shines upon with the splendor of his\n majesty.\u2019 This passage proves that Vigilantius, who must have known\n well the customs of paganism, was struck with the resemblance between\n them and the rites newly introduced into the Church.\u201d[236]\n\nBut love for paganism was too strong, and the custom soon became\nuniversal. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (396 A.D.), gloried in the use of\nlights. _In Natalis_ (3:100) he says:\n\n \u201cThe bright altars are crowned with thickly clustered lamps, the\n fragrant lights smell of waxed papyri; day and night they burn; so\n that night glitters with the splendor of day; and day itself glories\n with heavenly honors, shines the more, its lustre being doubled by\n innumerable lamps.\u201d[237]\n\nThe persistency with which the use of lights yet holds a place in many\nbranches of the Church shows how long and how vigorously paganism has\ncontinued to corrupt Christianity.\n\n\n\u201cOrientation.\u201d\n\nAnother residuum from sun-worship led to building churches with the\naltar at the east, praying toward the east, burying the dead with\nreference to the east, etc. Of the pagan origin of the custom, GALE\nspeaks as follows:\n\n \u201cAnother piece of Pagan Demonolatry was their ceremony of bowing and\n worshipping towards the East. For the Pagans universally worshipped\n the sun as their supreme God, even the more reformed of them, the\n new Platonists, Plotinus, Porphyry, and Julian the apostate, as it\n appears by his oration to the Sun. Whence it came to pass, that the\n sun rising in the east they usually worshipped in that way (as the\n Jews in Babylon usually worshipped west, because Jerusalem stood west\n thence). Hence also they built their temples and buried their dead\n towards the East. So Diogenes Laertius, in the life of Solon, says:\n that the Athenians buried their dead towards the East, the head of\n their graves being made that way. And do not Anti-Christ and his\n sons exactly follow this Pagan ceremony in building their temples\n and High Altars towards the East, and in bowing that way in their\n worship?\u201d[238]\n\nVarious explanations were made concerning this practice, to cover up\nthe prominence of this paganism. For instance, CLEMENT of Alexandria\nsays:\n\n \u201cAnd since the dawn is an image of the day of birth, and from that\n point the light which has shone forth at first from the darkness,\n increases, there has also dawned on those involved in darkness a\n day of the knowledge of truth. In correspondence with the manner of\n the sun\u2019s rising, prayers are made looking towards the sunrise in\n the East. Whence also the most ancient temples looked towards the\n West, that people might be taught to turn to the East when facing\n the images. \u2018Let my prayer be directed before thee as incense, the\n uplifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice,\u2019 say the Psalms.\u201d[239]\n\nTERTULLIAN seeks to avoid the charge of paganism, while defending this\npractice, as follows:\n\n \u201cOthers, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed,\n suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a\n well known fact that we pray toward the East, or because we make\n Sunday a day of festivity. What then? Do you do less than this? Do\n not many among you, with an affectation of sometimes worshipping\n the heavenly bodies, likewise, move your lips in the direction\n of the sunrise? It is you, at all events, who have even admitted\n the sun into the calendar of the week; and you have selected its\n day, in preference to the preceding day, as the most suitable in\n the week, for either an entire abstinence from the bath, or for\n its postponement until the evening, or for taking rest, and for\n banqueting.\u201d[240]\n\n\nEaster Fires.\n\nAnother element of pagan sun-worship continues to the present time in\nthe Easter fires, which abound especially in Northern Europe. Fire is\nregarded as a living thing, in Teutonic mythology. It is often spoken\nof as a bird, the \u201cRed Cock.\u201d _Notfuer_, \u201cNeed-fire,\u201d is yet produced\nby friction, at certain times. Such fire is deemed sacred. On such\noccasions all fires in the neighborhood are extinguished, that they\nmay be rekindled from the _Notfuer_. This fire is yet used to ward off\nevil, and to cure diseases in domestic animals. Traces of sex-worship\nappear in connection with the producing of this sacred fire; \u201ctwo\nchaste boys\u201d must pull the ropes which produce the friction necessary\nto generate the fire; and a \u201cchaste youth\u201d must strike the light for\ncuring the disease known as \u201cSt. Anthony\u2019s fire.\u201d In Scotland such fire\nis held as a safeguard against the \u201cbewitching of domestic animals.\u201d\n\nGRIMM, who is the highest authority on the mythology of Northern\nEurope, has abundant material touching all forms of fire-worship in\nthat region. Here is a single extract with reference to _Easter Fires_.\n\n \u201cAt all the cities, towns and villages of the country, towards\n evening on the first (or third) day of Easter, there is lighted every\n year, on mountain and hill, a great fire of straw turf and wood,\n amidst a concourse and jubilation, not only of the young, but of\n many grown up people. On the Weser, especially in Schaumburg, they\n tie up a tar barrel on a fir tree wrapt around with straw, and set\n it on fire at night. Men and maids, and all who come dance, exulting\n and singing, hats are waved, handkerchiefs thrown into the fire.\n The mountains all around are lighted up, and it is an elevating\n spectacle, scarcely paralleled by any thing else, to survey the\n country for many miles around from one of the higher points, and\n in every direction at once to see a vast number of these bonfires,\n brighter or fainter, blazing up to heaven. In some places they\n marched up the hill in stately procession, carrying white rods: by\n turns they sang Easter hymns, grasping each other\u2019s hands, and at the\n Hallelujah, clashed their rods together. They liked to carry some of\n the fire home with them.\n\n \u201cFor these _ignes paschales_ there is no authority reaching beyond\n the sixteenth century; but they must be a great deal older, if only\n for the contrast with Midsummer fires, which never could penetrate\n into North Germany, because the people there held fast by their\n Easter fires. Now seeing that the fires of St. John, as we shall\n presently show, are more immediately connected with the Christian\n Church than those of Easter, it is not unreasonable to trace these\n all the way back to the worship of the goddess Ostara, or Eastre,\n who seems to have been more a Saxon and Anglican divinity than one\n revered all over Germany. Her name and her fires, which are likely\n to have come at the beginning of May, would, after the conversion of\n the Saxons, be shifted back to the Christian feast. Those mountain\n fires of the people are scarcely derivable from the taper lighted in\n the Church the same day: it is true that Boniface calls it _ignis\n paschalis_, and such Easter lights are mentioned in the sixteenth\n century. Even now, in the Hildesheim country, they light the lamp on\n Maundy Thursday, and that on Easter day, at an Easter fire which has\n been _struck with a steel_. The people flock to this fire, carrying\n oaken crosses, or simply crossed sticks, which they set on fire and\n then preserve for a whole year. But the common folk distinguish\n between this fire and the wild fire produced by rubbing wood. Jager\n speaks of _a consecration fire of logs_.\u201d[241]\n\n\nMidsummer Fires.\n\nMidsummer was the central point of a great pagan festival in honor\nof the sun, who had then reached his greatest height, from which he\nmust soon decline. Catholic Christianity continued these festivals,\nin St. John Baptist Day. Many of the peculiarities of these midsummer\nfires were similar to those of the Easter fires already noticed. The\nfollowing description of the modern festival in Germany is taken from\nGrimm:\n\n \u201cWe have a fuller description of a Midsummer fire, made in 1823 at\n Konz, a Lorrainian but still German village, on the Moselle, near\n Sierk and Thionville. Every house delivers a truss of straw on the\n top of the Stromberg, where men and youths assemble toward evening.\n Women and girls are stationed by the Burbach springs. Then a huge\n wheel is wrapt round with straw, so that none of the wood is left in\n sight, a strong pole is passed through the middle, which sticks out\n a yard on each side, and is grasped by the guiders of the wheel; the\n remainder of the straw is tied up into a number of small torches. At\n a signal given by the Maire of Sierk (who according to the ancient\n custom, earns a basket of cherries by the service), the wheel is\n lighted with a torch, and set rapidly in motion; a shout of joy is\n raised, all wave their torches on high, part of the men stay on the\n hill, part follow the rolling globe of fire, as it is guided down\n the hill to the Moselle. It often goes out first: but if alight\n when it touches the river, it prognosticates an abundant vintage,\n and the Konz people have a right to levy a tun of white wine from\n the adjacent vineyards. Whilst the wheel is rushing past the women\n and the girls, they break out into cries of joy, answered by the\n men on the hill, and inhabitants of neighboring villages, who have\n flocked to the river side, mingle their voices in the universal\n rejoicing.\u201d[242]\n\n\nBeltane or Baal Fires.\n\nThe Beltane or Baal fires and the ancient sacrifices to the sun-god\nstill continue in modified form in Scotland. Grimm speaks of them as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cThe present custom is thus described by Armstrong _sub v.\n bealtainn_: In some parts of the Highlands the young folks of a\n hamlet meet in the moors, on the first of May. They cut a table in\n the green sod, of a round figure, by cutting a trench in the ground,\n of such circumference as to hold the whole company. They then kindle\n a fire and dress a repast of eggs and milk, in the consistence of\n a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the\n embers, against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide\n the cake in so many portions, as similar as possible to one another\n in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. They daub\n one of these portions with charcoal, until it is perfectly black.\n They then put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet, and every\n one, blindfold, draws out a portion. The bonnet-holder is entitled\n to the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit is the devoted person\n who is _to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favor they mean to implore\n in rendering the year productive_. The devoted person is compelled\n _to leap three times over the flames_. Here the reference to the\n worship of a deity is too plain to be mistaken; we see by the leaping\n over the flame, that the main point was, to select a human being to\n propitiate the god, and make him merciful; that afterwards an animal\n sacrifice was substituted for him, and finally nothing remained\n of the bodily immolation but a leap through the fire, for man and\n beast. The holy rite of friction is not mentioned here, but as it\n was necessary for the \u2018needfire\u2019 that purged pestilence, it must\n originally have been much more in requisition at the great yearly\n festival.\u201d[243]\n\n\nPenance.\n\nThe pagan theory of baptismal regeneration created a necessity for the\ndoctrine of penance. Under the idea that baptism removed all sins up\nto the time of the ceremony, something was necessary to atone for sins\ncommitted after baptism. Dr. SCHAFF describes the origin of penance as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cThe effect of baptism, however, was thought to extend only to sins\n committed before receiving it. Hence the frequent postponement of\n the sacrament, which Tertullian very earnestly recommends, though\n he censures it when accompanied with moral levity and presumption.\n Many, like Constantine the Great, put it off to the bed of sickness\n and of death. They preferred the risk of dying unbaptized to that of\n forfeiting forever the baptismal grace. Death-bed baptisms were then\n what death-bed repentances are now.\n\n \u201cBut then the question arose, how the forgiveness of sins committed\n after baptism could be obtained? This is the starting-point of the\n Roman doctrine of the sacrament of _penance_. Tertullian and Cyprian\n were the first to suggest that satisfaction must be made for such\n sins by self-imposed penitential exercises and good works, such as\n prayers and alms-giving. Tertullian held seven gross sins, which he\n denoted mortal sins, to be unpardonable after baptism, and to be left\n to the uncovenanted mercies of God; but the Catholic Church took a\n milder view, and even received back the adulterers and apostates on\n their public repentance.\u201d[244]\n\nMore need not be said. The reader will readily see the connection\nbetween these two elements of paganism; he will also see the deeply\ncorrupting effect of them both.\n\n\nMariolatry.\n\nThe worship of a Mother Goddess and her son formed a distinct feature\nin the paganism of Babylon, India, Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome.\nThough variant in conception, the core of Mariolatry runs through all\nthese pagan systems. Those who desire to follow this theme in detail\nwill do well to consult ALEXANDER HISLOP.[245] A single extract from\npage 82 of that work is all that space will permit:\n\n \u201cThe worship of the Goddess-Mother with the child in her arms\n continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity entered. If the\n gospel had come in power among the mass of the people, the worship of\n this goddess-queen would have been overthrown. With the generality,\n it came only in name. Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess\n being cast out, in too many cases her name only was changed. She was\n called the Virgin Mary, and, with her child, was worshipped with the\n same idolatrous feeling by professing Christians, as formerly by open\n and avowed pagans.\u201d\n\n\nThe Mass.\n\nThe mass, which has been for centuries the central item in Roman\nCatholic worship, finds its origin in the \u201cunbloody sacrifices\u201d which\nwere offered to the Paphian Venus, and to her counterpart in Babylonia\nand Assyria. It was this worship of the Queen of Heaven into which the\napostate women of Judah were drawn, whom Jeremiah[246] condemns for\n\u201cburning incense, pouring out drink offerings, and offering cakes to\nthe Queen of Heaven.\u201d These cakes were marked with the phallic symbol\nof the cross. As before noted, they were the progenitors of the modern\n\u201chot cross-buns,\u201d which are associated with Friday--day of Venus.\n\nThe form of the cake-wafer adopted in paganized Christianity, its\n_roundness_, was borrowed from the Egyptians, to whom the form\nrepresented _the disk of the sun_. The mystic letters on the wafer\nform another link which connects it with Egyptian paganism. Christians\nexplain these letters as meaning _Jesus Hominum Salvator_; but when the\nworshippers of Isis, who were everywhere in the Roman empire in the\nearly centuries, read them on the unbloody sacrifice, they understood\nby them _Isis_, _Horus_, _Seb_, _i.\u00a0e._, The Mother, the Child, and the\nFather of the Gods. The pagan character of this unbloody sacrifice was\nso patent at the first, that it was sharply condemned; but familiarity\nchanged opposition to acceptance, and what was wholly pagan became the\ncentre of worship in paganized Christianity.\n\n\nPurgatory and Prayers for the Dead.\n\nAll the leading systems of pagan religions have some form of purgatory,\nwith its associate prayers for the dead, for which large sums are paid\nby the surviving friends. The purgatory which was developed in the\nChristian cult is like its pagan prototype in almost every particular.\nAn extract from Wilkinson describing the practical workings of the\ndoctrine in pagan Egypt would need little changing to fit the facts\nconnected with the purgatory of Christians. We quote from Hislop[247]:\n\n \u201c\u2018The Priest,\u2019 says Wilkinson, \u2018induced the people to expend large\n sums on the celebration of funeral rites; and _many who had barely\n sufficient to obtain the necessaries of life_ were anxious to save\n something for the expenses of their death. For besides the embalming\n process, which sometimes cost a talent of silver, or about \u00a3250,\n English money, the tomb itself was purchased at an immense expense;\n and numerous demands were made upon the estate of the deceased, for\n the celebration of prayer and other services for the soul.\u2019 \u2018The\n ceremonies,\u2019 we find him elsewhere saying, \u2018consisted of a sacrifice\n similar to those offered in the temples, vowed for the deceased\n to one or more gods (as Osiris, Anubis, and others connected with\n Amenti); incense and libation were also presented; and a prayer was\n sometimes read, the relations and friends being present as mourners.\n They even joined their prayers to those of the priest. The priest\n who officiated at the burial service was selected from the grade of\n Pontiffs, who wore the leopard skin; but various other rites were\n performed by one of the minor priests, to the mummies, previous to\n their being lowered into the pit of the tomb after that ceremony.\n Indeed, they continued to be administered at intervals, _as long as\n the family paid for their performance_.\u2019 Such was the operation of\n the doctrine of purgatory and prayers for the dead among avowed and\n acknowledged pagans; and in what essential respect does it differ\n from the operation of the same doctrine in Papal Rome?\u201d\n\n\nSaint Peter\u2019s Keys.\n\nThose who claim the primacy of St. Peter and his right to the keys\nof heaven, pretend to found that claim upon Christ\u2019s words to\nPeter. But an examination of the history and characteristics of the\ndoctrine reveals its pagan origin too clearly to admit of question.\nRoman paganism had its college of pontiffs, headed by the emperor, as\n_Pontifex Maximus_. Babylonian and Assyrian paganism had a similar\ncouncil of pontiffs. The especial primacy among the deities was\nassociated with Janus and Cybele. Each of these bore a key. The Pope\nassumed them both in the fifth century, after Christianity had been\npaganized. The term cardinal is plainly derived from _cardo_, a hinge.\nJanus was God of the Hinges, and was called the \u201cOpener, and Shutter.\u201d\n\nThe sovereign pontiff of the pagan cult was the representative of the\ndivinity on earth, and was worshipped as a god. This continued in the\nRoman empire long after the emperors were called \u201cChristian.\u201d After\nthat the Pope became God\u2019s representative among men. A single quotation\nfrom OVID will close this glance at St. Peter and his keys. In it Janus\nis described, and he in turn describes his office:\n\n \u201cHe, holding in his right hand a staff, and in his left a key,\n uttered these accents to me from the mouth of his front face....\n \u2018Whatever thou beholdest around thee, the sky, the sea, the air, the\n earth, all these have been shut up and are opened by my hand. In\n my power alone is the guardianship of the vast universe, and the\n prerogative of turning the hinge is entirely my own. When it has\n been my pleasure to send forth Peace, from her tranquil habitation,\n then at liberty she treads her paths unobstructed _by the restraints\n of war_. The whole world would be thrown into confusion in deadly\n bloodshed, did not my rigid bolts confine imprisoned warfare.\n Together with the gentle seasons, I preside over the portals of\n Heaven; through my agency Jupiter himself doth pass and repass.\u2019\u201d[248]\n\n\nRepresentative Festivals.\n\nThose who have given even a cursory examination of the subject, know\nthat the swarm of festivals which came into Christianity, after the\nsecond century, were nearly, if not all, pagan days, with new or\nmodified names, but with little or no change of character. A few of the\nrepresentative ones will be noticed here.\n\n\nChristmas.\n\nThe Scriptures are wholly silent as to the date of Christ\u2019s birth.\nThe 25th of December, the winter solstice, was not fixed as Christmas\nuntil a long time after the New Testament period. But in spite of\nserious objections, historical and otherwise, that date triumphed. The\nwinter solstice was the date of the birth of Osiris, son of Isis the\nEgyptian Queen of Heaven. The term \u201cYule,\u201d another name for Christmas,\ncomes from the Chaldee, and signifies \u201cchild\u2019s day.\u201d This name for the\nfestival was familiar to our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, long before they\nknew anything of Christianity. In Rome, this winter-solstice festival\nwas Saturn\u2019s festival; the wild, drunken, licentious \u201cSaturnalia.\u201d\nIt was observed in Babylonia in a similar manner. When it came into\nChristianity its leading features were like those of the Saturnalia.\nThese have been far too prevalent from that time. Lighted candles and\nornamented trees were a part of the observance of the festival among\nthe pagans. The \u201cChristmas goose\u201d and \u201cYule cakes\u201d came, with the day,\nfrom paganism.\n\n\nEaster.\n\nThe earliest Christians continued to observe the Jewish Passover on\nthe 14th of the month _Nisan_. As the pagan element increased in\nthe Church, and the anti-Jewish feeling accordingly, after a sharp\nstruggle, the time was changed from the fourteenth of the month to\nthe Sunday nearest the vernal equinox. This brought it in conjunction\nwith the festival of the Goddess of Spring, an ancient pagan feast,\nwhich probably dates back to the time of Astarte-worship, in Babylonia.\nThe name \u201cEaster\u201d is comparatively modern. It comes from Oestra, the\nGoddess of Spring, in the Northern European mythology. The forms of\nobservance were almost wholly heathen. Easter eggs, dyed, and \u201chot\ncross-buns,\u201d figured in the Chaldean Easter, as they have done in the\nChristian. The Hindus, and Chinese, and Egyptians had a sacred egg,\nthe history of which can be traced to the Euphrates and the worship of\nAstarte.\n\n\nLent.\n\nLent has been given some appearance of having a Christian origin by\nthe assumption, for which there is not a shadow of scriptural, or\neven apostolic authority, that it is the counterpart of Christ\u2019s fast\nof forty days. But the history of Lent shows unmistakably its pagan\norigin. Its source is found in the fasting which the Babylonians\nassociated with the Goddess of Reproduction, whose worship formed the\nstarting-point of Easter. During that period of fasting, social joy and\nall expressions of sexual regard were forbidden, because the goddess\nthen mourned the loss of her consort. From this came the germ of Lent,\nand especially the practice of abstaining from marriage at that season.\n\nThe pagan tribes of Koordistan still keep such a fast. Humboldt found\nthe same in Mexico, and Landseer in Egypt. It came into Christianity\ncomparatively slowly, and brought gross evils with it. Witness the\nfollowing:\n\n \u201cThis change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with\n momentous consequences. It brought into the Church the grossest\n corruption, and the rankest superstition in connection with the\n abstinence of Lent. Let any one only read the atrocities that were\n commemorated during the \u2018sacred fast\u2019 or pagan Lent, as described\n by Arnobius and Clemens Alexandrinus, and surely he must blush for\n the Christianity of those, who with the full knowledge of all these\n abominations \u2018went down to Egypt for help\u2019 to stir up the languid\n devotion of the degenerate Church, and who could find no more\n excellent way to \u2018revive\u2019 it than by borrowing from so polluted a\n source; the absurdities and abominations connected with which the\n early Christian writers held up to scorn.\u201d[249]\n\nMany devout Christians now observe Lent without taint of paganism; but\nwith the undevout, Lent is only a resting time from the fashionable\ndissipation of \u201csociety,\u201d which refreshes them for the excesses that\nfollow Easter.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[234] See Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, chap. xlvi., and _Ad Uxorum_,\nlib. ii., chap. vi.\n\n[235] See Hefele, _History of the Councils_, etc., to 325 A.D., pp.\n150, 151. Clark\u2019s edition, Edinburgh, 1872.\n\n[236] _The Church in the Catacombs_, p. 225, London, 1846.\n\n[237] See Maitland, p. 228.\n\n[238] _Court of the Gentiles_, by Theophilus Gale, part iii., book ii.,\nchap. ii., section 3, paragraph 4.\n\n[239] _Stromata_, book vii., chap. vii.\n\n[240] _Ad Nationes_, chap. xiii.\n\n[241] _Teutonic Mythology_, by Jacob Grimm, four vols., London, 1883,\nvol. ii., p. 115.\n\n[242] _Ibid._, vol. ii., p. 619.\n\n[243] _Ibid._, vol. ii., p. 613.\n\n[244] _Schaff_, vol. ii., p. 254.\n\n[245] _The Two Babylons_, seventh edition, London, p. 21 ff.\n\n[246] Jer. xliv., 19.\n\n[247] _Two Babylons_, p. 169. The references to Wilkinson\u2019s Egyptians\nare vol. ii., p. 94, and vol. v., pp. 383, 384.\n\n[248] Ovid, _Fasti_, bk. i.\n\n[249] Hislop, _Two Babylons_, p. 106.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. FIVE CONCLUSIONS.\n\nTHE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PROTESTANTISM INVOLVED IN PRESENT ISSUES.\n\n\n Protestants must Accept the Bible in _Fact_, as well as in Theory,\n or be Overthrown--The Bible must be Reinterpreted in the Light of\n \u201cHigher Criticism\u201d and Deeper Spiritual Life--The Present Tendencies\n in Bible Study Mark the Opening of the Second Stage of the Protestant\n Movement--Baptism must Cease to be the Foot-Ball of Denominational\n Polemics and be Raised to a Question of Obedience to the Example\n of Christ--Protestants must Return to the Sabbath, Christianized\n by Christ, and to True Sabbathism, Which is as Undenominational as\n Faith--Such Sabbathism, and God\u2019s Sabbath, must be Restored to the\n Place from Which Pagan No-Sabbathism and the Pagan Sunday Drove\n Them--\u201cSabbath\u201d Legislation is Unchristian--All Union of Christianity\n with the State must Yield before the Normal Development of True\n Protestantism.\n\nThe facts which have been set forth in the foregoing pages form the\nbasis for certain important conclusions. Unconsciously perhaps, but not\nless certainly, the Protestant movement was the beginning of a definite\nreaction against paganism in Christianity. Since humanity must learn\nall higher truth through long and sometimes bitter experience, errors\nand evils must ripen before those who have once accepted them will let\nthem go. All great upward movements illustrate this fact. Reformatory\naction begins when error reaches so low a point that the best interests\ninvolved are confronted with strangulation and destruction. When the\nslow-beating heart threatens the death of the sleeping patient, nature\narouses all her forces in a final struggle for life. Thus truth,\nstifled and trodden under foot by the pagan elements in the Church,\nawoke for the final struggle as the morning began to dawn, after the\nages of midnight.\n\n\n(1) Reinstatement of the Bible.\n\nAs the first step in perverting Christianity was to set aside the\nauthority of God\u2019s book, and to teach error for truth through false\nexegesis, so the first step toward reformation was the unchaining\nof that Word. Paganized Christianity had placed itself between men\nand God, and His Word. Faith, hedged and crippled, trusted in human\ntraditions, forms, and ceremonies, and in priestly absolution from sin.\nHelp could not come, neither could hope arise, until the pagan elements\nshould be so far removed that men could stand face to face with the\nBible, with Christ, and with God. Hence the central points in the\nfirst stage of the reformatory work were an open Bible, an accessible\nChrist, and a Father whose law was the ultimate appeal, and whose\nlove was the ultimate source of hope and the foundation of faith. The\nupward movement started on the same plane of fundamental truth on which\nthe downward movement began. Hence the first struggle, under Luther,\ncentred around personal faith.\n\nBut it was in the nature of things that men whose inheritance had come\nfrom the centuries made dark and religiously corrupt through pagan\nresiduum, could not rise above all these influences at once.\n\nThough the leaders in such movements build better than they know, their\nwork is always comparatively imperfect. The intensity with which they\nmust pursue a single truth in order to make any progress, prevents\nthem from seeing all truth. This the more, since the public mind, at\nsuch times, cannot grasp and hold more than one great truth at a time.\nThe reformers could not wholly free themselves from the idea that\n\u201ctradition and custom\u201d have authority. They did not actually accept\nthe Bible as the _only rule_ of faith and practice. Protestantism has\nnever done this. As between Protestantism and Romanism, from which it\nrevolted, there can be no middle or common ground. The Roman Catholic\nclaims that the Church made the Bible, and formulated authoritative\ntraditions, and hence that the Church, as law-maker and interpreter of\nthe Bible, is the supreme authority. The Protestant begins by denying\nthe authority of the Church, and appealing to the Bible as the ultimate\nauthority. Logic and history combine to declare that Protestantism must\nmake its theory good, or fail. Hence we draw\n\n _Conclusion First._\n\n _Protestantism must fully accept the Bible as the ultimate and only\n standard of faith and practice, or it must be broken between the\n upper millstone of Roman Catholicism and the nether millstone of\n irreligious rationalism._\n\nThe years are ripe for decision. The backward drift toward Roman\nCatholicism and rationalism has well set in. The loss already sustained\nby Protestantism, though an incomplete movement, can be regained only\nby prompt and vigorous action.\n\nThese conclusions relative to the future of Protestantism, having been\npublished in a magazine edited by the author of this book, _The Sabbath\nOutlook_, were commented upon by the _Catholic Mirror_, Baltimore,\nunder date of March 19, 1892, as follows:\n\n\n \u201c_Will \u2018Scriptural Simplicity\u2019 Save Protestantism?_\u201d\n\n \u201cThis development of Christianity--assumed to be pagan and,\n therefore, corrupt--is naturally cause of much anxiety to Christian\n people who so regard it. We have said a few words to show how\n groundless is this concern. But the power and extent of the\n development gives most trouble. It is seen that the Catholic Church\n holds the key to the present position; and so Christians are warned\n that they must return to \u2018the simple truths of the New Testament,\u2019\n if they would not yield to the development. One of these people,\n a clear-headed, consistent Protestant, commenting upon Harnack\u2019s\n researches, boldly proclaims: \u2018Protestantism must go back of these\n Gnostic speculations and rebuild Christian faith and practice on the\n New Testament records of the first century, or remain hopelessly weak\n in its efforts to overcome the tide of Roman Catholic influence and\n history.\u2019 He adds: \u2018This is a vital truth which Protestantism must\n recognize and act upon promptly, or the next century will witness its\n crushing defeat between the forces of Roman Catholicism, Irreligious\n Rationalism, and Worldliness.\u2019\n\n \u201cThere is a striking admission in this note of alarm. \u2018Roman Catholic\n influence and history\u2019 is the tide setting in with overwhelming\n power. The warning is clear and strong. There is no uncertain sound.\n\n \u201cIt goes without saying that we can have no pleasure (God forbid!),\n but only sadness in imagining the \u2018crushing defeat\u2019 of our Christian\n brethren by \u2018irreligious rationalism\u2019 or \u2018worldliness.\u2019 We will not\n apply the term \u2018defeat\u2019 to their being brought to see the truth and\n submit themselves to the Catholic Church. We are wondering just\n now whether there is any practical good in the warning given them;\n whether it is at all likely that Protestantism will ever go back to\n what are called \u2018the simple truths of the New Testament.\u2019 We don\u2019t\n believe it will, or can.\n\n \u201cWhen it is considered what the Protestantism of to-day is,--how\n much it has learned of the Church idea,--the Catholic idea,--it may\n be seen how useless it is to expect any such thing. To begin with,\n all or the immense majority of Protestants, in the simple matter of\n accepting the change from the Sabbath to the Sunday--from the last\n to the first day of the week,--quietly admit an extra-scriptural\n authority, the authority of the Church. Chillingworth\u2019s famous maxim,\n \u2018The Bible only, the religion of Protestants,\u2019 leaves this item at\n least out of the calculation. All unwittingly our separated brethren\n are here acting upon a Catholic principle, which does not deny or do\n away Scripture, but makes the Rule of Faith to consist of _Scripture\n and_--something else--even _Tradition_; and by this principle the\n ever-living voice of the Church speaks with an authority always\n equal to that of the written revelation, and sometimes apparently\n transcending it.\u201d\n\nThe issue is not one of mere name, or of denominationalism, or of\n\u201cChurch\u201d against \u201csects.\u201d It is, as said above, a question of the\n_reinstatement of the Bible_ as the supreme rule of Protestant\nChristianity. The Protestant movement began in that issue. There can\nbe no Protestantism outside of it. If it be not true, Protestantism\nis a failure. If it be true, Protestantism cannot remain where it\nis and survive. If it be not true, Romanism has the logical and\nhistorical right to the field. It is master of the situation, and its\nexpectation that erring Protestants will return to \u201cThe Mother Church,\u201d\nor wander hopelessly away from Christianity, will be realized in less\ntime than Protestantism has already existed. These facts challenge\nthe attention of all parties. They sound the same key as do the words\nof Professor Harnack, spoken in July, 1889. I said to him: \u201cWill the\nProtestantism of the next century be more spiritual than now, or less?\u201d\nHe answered, \u201cIt will be more spiritual, or it will die.\u201d I continued:\n\u201cIf it dies, what will be the next scene in church history?\u201d He said:\n\u201cRoman Catholicism will take possession of the world as a new form of\npaganism.\u201d These are not the words of an alarmist, nor a sectarian\npolemist; they are the legitimate deductions made by a careful student\nof universal history. Will you ponder them?\n\n\n(2) Biblical Interpretation; Higher Criticism.\n\nWhoever has read the chapters on gnosticism, and the allegorical\nmethod of interpreting the Bible, and has traced the influence of\nthese pagan elements upon the history of biblical interpretation,\ncannot fail to see God\u2019s guiding hand in the movements of the last\nhalf of this century. The revival of Bible study, the development\nof the \u201cInternational Lessons,\u201d the call for something yet better,\nand the growth of exegetical literature form an epoch not less\nimportant, though less noisy, because less political, than the rise of\nLutheranism, the development of Calvinism, or the birth of the English\nReformation. The last half of this century has witnessed what no other\ncentury ever saw, the beginning of a systematic study of the Bible by\nthe people. Such an epoch could not do less than create the \u201chigher\ncriticism.\u201d That phase of this Bible-study epoch is as legitimate a\nresult as the \u201cDiet at Worms\u201d was of Luther\u2019s revolt, or as Puritanism\nwas of the English Reformation. Therefore:\n\n _Conclusion Second._\n\n _Biblical study and biblical interpretation, including \u201cHigher\n Criticism,\u201d are ushering in the second great feature of the\n Protestant movement._\n\nLuther and his coadjutors unchained the Bible and opened its pages.\nThey did not, could not, eliminate traditional authority and influence\nfrom its exegesis. Traditionalism was largely pagan. It had held sway\nfor centuries, and is yet regnant in many ways. All past exegesis\nneeds retrial in the fires of a devout criticism. That criticism must\nintroduce Christ\u2019s norm,--\u201cBy their fruits ye shall know them.\u201d Pour\nexegetical and theological traditionalism into that crucible. Heat it\nin the fires of the best and most devout scholarship. Let brave hearts\nand careful hands take away the dross, fearless as to consequences.\nThe Bible and Protestantism are both on trial in the closing years of\nthe nineteenth century. There need be no fear as to final results if\nProtestants are true and firm. If they are not, the closing years of\nthe twentieth century will sit in sackcloth at the open grave of a\nChristianity which began the elimination of paganism well, but had not\nthe bravery, and therefore the strength, to finish the work.\n\n\n(3) Concerning Baptism.\n\nThe paramount question touching the residuum which came in from pagan\nwater-worship does not lie primarily in the _mode_ of baptism; although\nhistorically, logically, and symbolically there were no _modes_ of\nbaptism until they were brought in by paganism. Paganism immersed,\naffused, sprinkled. It immersed once, or three times. In the use of\nholy water it sprinkled repeatedly and indefinitely. According to the\nNew Testament, baptism is submersion, as the symbol of death to sin and\nresurrection to righteousness. All beyond that was pagan-born.\n\nThe central point of the evil which came from pagan water-worship is\nfound in \u201cbaptismal regeneration\u201d; _i.\u00a0e._, the idea that by virtue of\nthe power and sacredness of water spiritual purity is produced, and\nthe candidate is fitted for membership in the Church, and for heaven.\nIn so far as this idea remains, paganism remains. The most prominent\nexamples of this residuum which now survive are found in the use of\n\u201choly water,\u201d in the theory that an unconscious infant to which water\nhas been applied as a religious ceremony, is thereby made a member of\nthe organic church, and its future salvation thus assured; in the idea,\nstill held by some, that \u201cregeneration\u201d takes place only in connection\nwith immersion; and in the general idea that baptism is a \u201csaving\nordinance.\u201d\n\n _Conclusion Third._\n\n _The core of the question of baptism, as of salvation through faith,\n is obedience, conformity to the example of Christ; hence it does not\n follow that he who remains unbaptized, when thus remaining does not\n involve the spirit of disobedience and neglect, may not enter the\n kingdom of heaven._\n\n\n(4) Sabbathism.\n\nThe Sabbath question is not merely \u201cone of days.\u201d The fundamental\nconception centres around the fact that _God must come to men in\nsacred time_. Eternity is an attribute of God, and the measured\nportion we call \u201ctime\u201d is the point where God and man come together\nas Creator and created. It is here that we \u201clive in Him.\u201d Scriptural\nand extra-scriptural history show that man has always felt the need\nof communion with God, through sacred time, and that God has always\nsought to meet this want. Physical rest is not the primary idea of the\nSabbath. It is only a means to higher ends, namely, communion with God,\nreligious culture, and spiritual development. But since time is also\nthe essence of human existence, so far as activities and duties are\nconcerned, and since the use men make of time determines the character\nof each human life, specific sacred time which shall represent God, and\ndraw men to Him, becomes an essential part of God\u2019s moral and religious\ngovernment for man. The Sabbath finds its origin in God\u2019s desire and\npurpose to aid and culture men in holiness, and in man\u2019s need of God,\nand spiritual communion. Incidentally, and subordinately, the Sabbath\nis also a physical blessing to man. But its primal, central thought\nis religious, and the physical good depends largely on the motive for\nresting. The Fourth Commandment embodies these deeper principles, and\nis God\u2019s law concerning the Sabbath. The authority of the law is found\nin the reasons and necessities which lie back of it.\n\nThe Jews had never attained, or had lost sight of this higher law of\nthe Sabbath, and had reduced its observance to unmeaning formalities\nand useless burdens. Christ brushed all these away, and glorified and\nestablished the Sabbath, enlarging and making it a blessing instead of\na bondage. He taught His followers how to consider and observe it, by\nHis example and His words.\n\nPaganism, filled with anti-Jewish prejudices against the authority of\nthe Old Testament, gave no heed to Christ\u2019s teachings concerning the\nSabbath, but proclaimed that it was a \u201cJewish institution with which\nChristians had nothing to do.\u201d Borne on the waves of this false theory,\nSunday, and its associate pagan days, gradually drove the Sabbath out.\nThe Sunday of the Dark Ages, and the \u201cContinental Sunday\u201d of to-day,\nare the necessary results. So far as paganized Christianity could do\nit, sabbathism was slain and buried. A remnant, the denominational\nprogenitors of the present Seventh-day Baptists, refused to accept the\npagan theory, and remained true to the Sabbath through all the changes,\nfrom the Apostles to the English Reformation. They were not always\norganized, but they kept the light burning. In that Reformation the\nSeventh-day Baptists came to the front, demanding a recognition of the\nauthority of the Fourth Commandment, and a return to the observance\nof the Sabbath. Opposed to them, Roman Catholics and Episcopalians\ncontinued to assert that the customs and traditions of the Church\nformed the highest authority in the matter of Sabbath keeping. Between\nthese two the Puritan party sought a compromise, and invented the\ntheory (first propounded by Nicholas Bownde, in 1595 A.D.) that the\ncommandment, being yet binding, might be transferred to the Sunday.\nThis Puritan compromise has been tested, its fictitious sacredness\nhas gone, and much in the present state of the Sunday question is the\nfruitage of that baseless compromise.\n\nSunday legislation, which, as we have seen in a former chapter, was\npagan in conception and form, has continued, being made a prominent\nfeature of the Puritan theory. At the present writing (1892) strenuous\nefforts are being made in the United States to save the failing\nfortunes of Sunday by a revival of Sunday laws. If, by any combination\nof efforts, this can be done, no permanent good will ensue. The verdict\nof history and the genius of Christ\u2019s kingdom combine to declare\nthat men cannot be made good by act of Parliament, nor be induced\nto keep any day sacred by the civil law. If the \u201crest day\u201d alone be\nexalted, the result is holidayism, rather than Sabbath keeping. If\nthe enforcement of the Sunday laws is pressed it will result in their\nrepeal.\n\n _Conclusion Fourth._\n\n (a) _No day has ever been kept as a Sabbath except under the idea of\n divine authority._\n\n (b) _Everything less than this promotes holidayism._\n\n (c) _There is no scriptural and therefore no truly Protestant ground\n for Sunday observance._\n\nThe only alternative is a return to the observance of the Sabbath,\nthe Seventh day, under the law of obedient love, such love as Christ\nhad for the will of His Father; or to go down with the tide of\nNo-Sabbathism, which, checked temporarily by the Puritan compromise,\nis now rushing on more wildly than before. The issue is at hand,\n_Christian Sabbathism and the Sabbath, or Pagan holidayism and the\nSunday_. Culminating events demand that choice, and in the ultimate,\n_universal Sabbathism_.\n\n\n(5) Christianity and the State.\n\nCertain superficial investigators have claimed that the union of\nChristianity with the civil power was the outgrowth of the Hebrew\ntheocratic idea. The claim is groundless. The theocracy was a State\nwithin the Church. The pagan theory, applied to Christianity under\nConstantine and his successors, gave a Church dominated by the State,\nand regulated, as to polity and faith, by civil law.\n\nHistory has written some plain and pertinent verdicts concerning the\nrelations which ought to exist between Christianity and the civil\npower. Every verdict emphasizes the truth of Christ\u2019s words: \u201cMy\nkingdom is not of this world.\u201d The relations between Christianity and\nthe civil power which began under Constantine have worked incalculable\nharm to Christianity as a spiritual religion. Its political triumph\nwas a most disastrous defeat which became a large factor in producing\nthe subsequent centuries of decline and darkness. Better conceptions\nof civil government, and increasing civilization have improved\nthe status of State Churches since the Reformation; but spiritual\nChristianity everywhere and always, is calling for \u201cdisestablishment.\u201d\nIt is a singular fact that in the United States, where there has been\nthe nearest approach to religious liberty, we are confronted with\ntwo phases of religio-civil legislation which are now coalescing,\nand which, however well meant, partake more of the spirit of the\nninth century than of the nineteenth, or of the New Testament. These\nmovements are \u201cNational Reform,\u201d which seeks to Christianize the\nnation by putting Christ\u2019s name into the National Constitution; and\nthe now popular Sunday-law movement. There are several points aimed at\nby the National Reform Association, such as divorce, gambling, etc.,\nwhich are within the province of the civil law; but its primary aim,\nto secure legislation on all points covered by the Ten Commandments,\nis fundamentally pagan in concept and intent. The good men who are\npressing the movement think that their theory of government is the\ntrue one, and that great good would come if it were adopted. But the\nverdict of every century since the pagan conception was introduced\ninto Christianity, forbids belief in their scheme as a means of\nChristianizing the nation.\n\nAs to Sunday legislation we have seen that its origin was absolutely\npagan, and that it has been destructive of true Sabbathism at all\ntimes. If the highest hopes of the present agitators could be realized;\nif the civil law should compel all citizens of the United States to\nrest on Sunday, every year of such a system would sink the people\ndeeper into the slough of No-Sabbathism. The \u201cContinental Sunday\u201d\nis the product of a No-Sabbath theology, and civil Sunday-laws. The\nSunday-law advocates seek the supremacy of an unscriptural Sabbathism,\nlinked with Sunday by civil law. This has been fully tried, at a time\nwhen men had far more regard for Sunday as a sacred day than they have\nnow. But with all things in its favor, the strength of youth, and the\nhonest ignorance of the masses concerning its true character, the\n\u201cPuritan Sunday\u201d has returned to its original holidayism, in spite of\nChurch and State combined. It could not do less, even if a fortuitous\ncombination of influences should exalt it temporarily again. Religion\nand conscience are entitled to the protection of the civil law, without\nregard to creed or numbers. If immorality is practised in the name of\nreligion, it may be suppressed as immorality. Beyond such protection\nthe State may not go.\n\n _Conclusion Fifth._\n\n _All union of Church and State, or of Christianity and the State,\n is pagan-born, and opposed to the genius and purpose of Christ\u2019s\n kingdom._\n\n\nLast Words.\n\nWhatever prepossessions or conceptions the reader may have brought to\nthe perusal of these pages, he cannot finish them without seeing that\nmuch which has come down to us as \u201cChristianity\u201d is so tinctured with\npaganism that it does not fairly represent what Christ taught. The\npurity of the earliest Christianity was the source of its wondrous\nconquering power. After it was paganized, and united with the State,\nit continued to conquer, but by the sword rather than by the spirit\nof God. It is clear proof of the divine character of Christianity,\nthat it was not wholly destroyed by its contact with paganism. It\nis surpassing proof of that same divine origin, that it could rise\nfrom the grave of the Dark Ages, with such vigor as produced the\nReformation, and has carried that work to the point already gained.\nBut in the crises that await it, in the solving of the problems which\nconfront it, Protestant Christianity must realize that its specific\nmission is to complete the work of eliminating the pagan residuum,\na work well begun by the Reformers, but which must be carried on to\nhigher victories, or sink back to lower defeats. When the last stain\nof paganism is removed, the world will see a Christianity which will\nbe primarily a _life of purity_, through love for God and truth and\nmen, rather than a _creed_, embodying speculations about the unknowable\nand abstractions concerning the unsolvable. In such a Christianity,\nthe Bible plainly interpreted, without allegory or assumption, and in\nthe light of its own history, will hold the first place. The Sabbath,\nas God\u2019s day, free from burdensome formalism, and filled with good\nworks and spiritual culture, will be restored; and this recognition of\nit as God\u2019s ever-recurring representative in human life will do much\nto bring in that universal Sabbathism towards which God is patiently\nleading his truth-loving children. The pagan Sunday, with its false\nclaims, will be a thing of the past. Baptism as the symbol of entrance\nto Christ\u2019s kingdom, through spiritual life and faith in Him, will be\nno longer the foot-ball of polemic strife, nor the many-formed image\nof pagan water-worship, nor the creator of a false standard of Church\nmembership through \u201cbaptismal regeneration.\u201d In that better day, the\ncivil law will give all religion full protection and full freedom,\nwithout regard to majorities or creeds. It will neither oppose by\npersecution, nor control under the name of protection. The persecution\nof Jews in Russia, and useless efforts to make the world holy by act\nof Parliament, will pass away. To hasten that time, be it far or near,\nthese pages go forth; and he who writes them will be thankful if they\nbear some part in freeing our holy religion from the poison of pagan\nresiduum, and in giving that higher spiritual life, to the attainment\nof which all forms, ceremonies, times, and agencies ought to bring\nChrist-loving men.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n A\n\n Abespine, on use of \u201clights\u201d at tombs, 264.\n\n Achamoth, gnostic idea of, injected into N. T. exegesis, 45.\n\n Alabaster, Henry, describes Brahmanic baptism, 93.\n\n Allegorists, the \u201cFathers\u201d as, 44.\n\n Allegory, the mediator between philosophy and religion, 39;\n existed among the Greeks before the Christian era, 39;\n united paganism and Judaism, 39;\n corrupted the earliest methods of Scripture exegesis, 42;\n perverted the true doctrine of \u201cinspiration,\u201d 43;\n great influence of, on \u201cChristian exegesis,\u201d 46;\n destructive examples of, 49, 50;\n foolish application of, to clean and unclean food, 51, 52;\n unmeaning application of, to the \u201ccross,\u201d 53;\n much used by Augustine, 64, 65;\n prevailing influence in Scripture interpretation, after the second\n century, 66;\n used by Barnabas in combining pagan and Christian ideas concerning\n baptism, 133 _f_;\n destructive application of, to the Decalogue, 184 _f_.\n\n Alzog, historian, describes the character of Constantine, 212.\n\n Anointing, in baptism, borrowed from pagans, 123;\n use of, in baptism, as shown in apostolic constitutions, 138.\n\n Antinomianism, wholly unscriptural, 166.\n\n Anti-Sabbathism, appeared contemporaneously with Sunday\n observance, 159;\n wholly unscriptural, 166.\n\n Apollo, the counterpart of Mithras and Baal, 156;\n the patron deity of Constantine, 219.\n\n Apostolic Constitutions, teach pagan theories concerning\n baptism, 137 _f_.\n\n Aringhus, on similarity between paganism and Roman Catholicism, 11.\n\n Aruspices, Constantine\u2019s law concerning, associated with his Sunday\n edict, 222.\n\n Astarte, worship of, reproduced in worship of the \u201cVirgin Mary,\u201d 28;\n the worship of, at Rome, 199.\n\n Augustine, influence of, on formation of Christian doctrines, 64;\n evil effect of allegorizing Scriptures by, 64, 65;\n describes corrupting influence of paganism on Christians, 224, 225;\n excessive superstition of, regarding miracles wrought by\n baptism, 258.\n\n Aurelian, Emperor, \u201cTriumph\u201d of, 199;\n costly offerings to the Sun-god, 200.\n\n Aztecs, baptism as practised by, 109 _f_.\n\n\n B\n\n Baal, the worship of, corrupted the Israelites, 156.\n\n Baptism, character of, in the N. T., 71, 72;\n pagans sought spiritual purity by it, 77;\n mithraic and gnostic, 77;\n gnostics called it a \u201cpurifying fire,\u201d 79;\n pagans initiated candidates to their \u201cmysteries\u201d by it, 82;\n by blood, a feature of mithraicism, 82;\n administered at death as a means of salvation, 83;\n performed for the dead, 83;\n associated with serpent worship, 85;\n pagan, in Egypt, 87;\n of young children in Thibet and Mongolia, 93;\n pagan, of the dying, 93;\n modern Buddhistic, 94 _f_;\n various forms of, in Oriental paganism, 97;\n an ancient Aryan rite, 103;\n pagan ideas and forms of, reproduced in the early Church, 128;\n pagano-Christian theories of, taught by Methodius, Clement of\n Alex., and others, 136;\n sign of the cross, and anointing connected with, 249;\n deemed invalid without sign of the cross upon the water and the\n candidate, 252;\n miracles said to be wrought by it, 253;\n believed to cure physical diseases, 255;\n delayed until near death, 256;\n \u201corientation\u201d in connection with vows, 257;\n superstitious acceptance of miracles in connection with, 258 _f_;\n magical power of, 258;\n cancer, paralysis, and gout cured thereby, 258, 259;\n evil spirits exorcised by, 259;\n conclusions concerning, 290;\n pagan elements yet remaining in, 291;\n should be the symbol of new spiritual life, 300.\n\n Baptists, seventh-day, prominent in English Reformation, 293.\n\n Barnabas, closely allied to the Gnostics, 38;\n \u201cEpistle\u201d of, shows evil effect of allegorical interpretation, 43;\n foolish exegesis of Scripture by, 49;\n pagan fancies applied to the \u201ccross,\u201d and to baptism, by, 133 _f_.\n\n Baronius, Cardinal, defends the transfer of pagan ceremonies to\n Christianity, 8;\n on \u201clights\u201d used in worship, 263, 264.\n\n Baur, F. C., describes influence of gnosticism on Christianity, 38.\n\n Benares, city of, surrounded by sacred wells, 89.\n\n Bible, the, written wholly by \u201cJews,\u201d 177;\n must be more fully reinstated as the standard of Christian faith\n and practice, 283.\n\n Bingham, Rev. Joseph, compares Sunday with other pagan festivals, 222;\n uses \u201cLord\u2019s day\u201d where it does not belong, 222, 223;\n on sign of the cross as an enchantment among Christians, 246 _f_;\n on \u201cunction\u201d and sign of the cross in baptism, 249;\n on baptism as a cure for disease, 255;\n on \u201cdelayed baptism,\u201d 256;\n on \u201corientation\u201d at baptism, 267.\n\n Blake, W. W., the cross as a pagan \u201cstandard,\u201d 241.\n\n Blood, mithraic baptism in, 82;\n baptism in, practised by the ancient Germans and Norsemen, 100.\n\n Blunt, Rev. John James, describes pagan use of human saliva as a\n \u201ccharm,\u201d 124.\n\n Boissier, Gaston, describes Constantine the Great, 205;\n describes Chi-Ro standard of Constantine, 245, _note_.\n\n Bonwick, James, describes Egyptian baptism, 87.\n\n Brock, Rev. Mourant, describes kinds of \u201choly water,\u201d and how\n prepared, 148;\n quoted on pre-Christian cross in Mexico, 242.\n\n Bryant, Jacob, describes pagan water-worship, 73.\n\n Buddhistic baptism, described by Sir Monier-Williams, 94 _f_.\n\n Bunsen, C. C. J., summarizes teachings of Apostolic Constitutions\n concerning baptism, 137 _f_.\n\n \u201cBuns,\u201d hot cross, a remnant of pagan phallicism, 238 _f_.\n\n Burmah, the \u201cNew Year\u201d in, is a great water-worship festival, 95.\n\n\n C\n\n Centuries, the early ones often misjudged, 1.\n\n Child, Mrs. Lydia M., describes Hindu baptism, 96 _f_.\n\n Children, pagans named them at baptism, 100.\n\n Choul, de, William, defends the transfer of paganism to\n Christianity, 9.\n\n Christ, his resurrection allegorically foreshadowed in the deluge, 56;\n allegorically typified by a bullock, 63;\n the central character in both \u201cdispensations,\u201d 166;\n did not destroy the law, 167;\n taught full obedience to the Decalogue, 167, 168;\n resurrection of, not associated with Sunday observance, in the\n Bible, 173;\n did not rise from the grave on Sunday, 173;\n did not live and teach simply as a \u201cJew,\u201d 176;\n his attitude toward civil power, 188;\n His kingdom, spiritual, 189.\n\n Christianity, weakened in the work of reform, because corrupted, 6;\n deeply corrupted by pagan influence before the fifth century, 23;\n contrast between that of the N. T. and that of the fourth\n century, 31;\n first developed within the Jewish Church, 32;\n primarily and essentially a new life, born of love, 32;\n immensely changed in character under influence of Greek thought, 33;\n fundamentally corrupted through allegory, 48;\n passed a terrible ordeal when it became united with the\n State, 68, 196;\n first recognition by Roman law was not full toleration, 195;\n was controlled and regulated by civil law under Roman\n Empire, 195, 196;\n new era in history of, began with fourth century, 203;\n deeply corrupted by paganism, 231 _f_;\n united with the State, according to pagan theories, 295, 296;\n Christ forbade its union with the state, 296;\n tendency towards union with civil power in the U. S. A., 296;\n proved its divine origin by surviving the conflict with\n paganism, 299;\n what it will be when paganism is fully eliminated, 299 _f_.\n\n Christians, comparatively few in number when Sunday legislation\n began, 218.\n\n Christian, the, needs to be broad-viewed, 1.\n\n Christmas, date of, borrowed from sun-worship festival, 278, 279.\n\n Chrysostom, on the use of water for cleansing, 147;\n condemns low standards of life in the Church, 232;\n considers the sign of the cross the greatest of all magical\n charms, 247, 248.\n\n Circumcision, spiritual meaning of, according to allegory, 50.\n\n Clement of Alex., his philippic against the Sophists, 46, 47;\n his gnostic exegesis of the N. T., 47;\n his gnostic exposition of the Decalogue, 60;\n gives pagan reasons for observing Sunday, 181;\n defends \u201corientation,\u201d 266.\n\n Clement of Rome, examples of myth and allegory from the\n writings of, 59.\n\n \u201cConclusion,\u201d First, 285;\n Second, 289;\n Third, 291;\n Fourth, 295;\n Fifth, 298.\n\n \u201cConclusions,\u201d 282-300.\n\n Congregations, the earliest Christian, were guilds for holy\n living, 32;\n had no settled form of doctrines, 33.\n\n Constantine the Great, was a superstitious pagan, 4;\n character of, 206 _ff_;\n murdered his own son, 206;\n baptized on his death-bed, 207;\n his Christianity loose and accommodative, 207;\n objectionable interference with affairs of the Church, 207;\n a pagan while favoring Christianity for political purposes, 214;\n falsely praised by Eusebius, 214, 215;\n his character not transformed by Christianity, 215;\n was by no means a Christian emperor, 216;\n his legislation touching Christianity was pagan, 217;\n always remained pagan _Pontifex Maximus_, 217;\n character of his Sunday edict, 321 A.D., 218 _ff_;\n special worshipper of the Sun-god, 219;\n favored Christianity from \u201cpolicy,\u201d and not from principle, 227;\n made no effective legislation against paganism, 228;\n established Sunday as a \u201cmarket day,\u201d 229;\n how he placed the cross on his military standard, 244 _f_.\n\n Creed, early Church had none, 33;\n an elaborate one used at baptism, as shown in _Apostolic\n Constitutions_, 139.\n\n Criticism, the higher, offers cure for false interpretation of\n Bible, 288 _f_;\n together with study of Bible, is bringing the second stage of\n Protestant movement, 289;\n ought to be fully applied to Bible, 290.\n\n Cross, the, allegorically found in the O. T., 53, 54;\n an ancient pagan symbol, 237 _f_;\n known among Assyrians, Egyptians, Etruscans, etc., 239;\n pagan origin of, shown in _Edinburgh Review_, 240;\n how Constantine combined it on his military standard, 244, 245;\n the \u201chandled cross\u201d the ancient phallic symbol of Egypt, 246;\n sign of, used as a \u201ccharm,\u201d 246 _f_;\n the sign of, in baptism, 249;\n made on all occasions, 250.\n\n Cumbhacum, a sacred lake in Hindustan, 97.\n\n Cyprian, condemns Christians who frequent public shows, 233;\n extremely superstitious concerning baptismal regeneration, 252.\n\n\n D\n\n Dead, baptism for, of pagan origin, 83;\n was transferred to Christianity, 84;\n praying for, was borrowed from paganism, 275.\n\n Decalogue, gnostic exposition of, by Clement of Alex., 60;\n allegorically compared with man\u2019s senses, 61;\n Christ enforced obedience to it, 167, 168;\n Paul declared it to be binding, 169;\n if it be abolished there can be no sin, 170;\n how it was perverted by gnostic exposition, 184.\n\n Demi-gods, the pagan, were the progenitors of Christian \u201csaints,\u201d 16.\n\n Demiurge, the, was creator of \u201cmatter\u201d and author of evil, 48.\n\n Devil, the, cast out by anointing one possessed, with oil, and tears\n of a presbyter, 261.\n\n Diocletian, emperor, a devotee of the Sun-god, 200.\n\n Diseases, miraculous curing of, in connection with baptism, 258 _f_.\n\n Domville, Sir William, shows that early Sunday observance was not\n Sabbatic, 180.\n\n Dyer, Thomas H., describes introduction of paganism into\n Christianity, 3.\n\n\n E\n\n Earth, sacred, from Jerusalem, cures paralysis, 260.\n\n Easter, grew in part from Jewish passover, 279 _f_;\n changed so as to coincide with festival of Goddess of\n Spring, 279 _f_;\n primarily a Chaldean sun-worship festival, 280.\n\n \u201cEighth Day,\u201d pagan origin of argument for, 184, 185;\n a day of \u201cindulgence for the flesh,\u201d 187.\n\n Eleusis, city of, the chief seat of Greek \u201cmysteries,\u201d 117.\n\n Elviri, synod of, condemned use of \u201clights\u201d in cemeteries, 263.\n\n Empire, the Roman, disintegrated under decay of pagan\n religion, 203 _f_.\n\n Europe, Northern, pagan water-worship in, 98.\n\n Eusebius, his dishonest eulogy of Constantine, 215.\n\n Exorcism, used in baptism, 138;\n resorted to in preparing \u201choly water,\u201d 149.\n\n\n F\n\n Facts, denying does not remove them, 29.\n\n Farrar, Canon, describes corruption of Christianity through\n syncretism, 22;\n on Cyprian\u2019s theories concerning baptism, 252.\n\n \u201cFasts,\u201d the pagan, transferred to Christianity, 26.\n\n \u201cFathers,\u201d the, were uncritical in exegesis of Scripture, 66, 67.\n\n Fauchet, defends the introduction of paganism into Christianity, 8.\n\n Festivals, those of pagans transferred to Christianity, 5, 28.\n\n Fires, \u201cEaster,\u201d borrowed from sun-worship, 267;\n described by Grimm, 268, 269;\n \u201cMidsummer,\u201d a pagan festival identical with \u201cSt. John\u2019s Day,\u201d 270;\n \u201cBaal,\u201d yet continued in Scotland, 271.\n\n\n G\n\n Gale, Theophilus, on pagan origin of \u201corientation,\u201d 265.\n\n Galerius, emperor, persecution of Christians by, and death of, 205.\n\n Ganges, the most sacred stream in India, 88 _f_.\n\n Geikie, Rev. Cunningham, shows union of sun-worship _cultus_ with\n Christianity, 201.\n\n Gibbon, Edward, describes sun-worship under Heliogabalus, 197 _f_;\n recounts devotion of Aurelian to sun-worship, 199 _f_.\n\n Gnostics, the link between Christianity and Greek culture, 37.\n\n Gnosticism, the product of Oriental philosophy, 34;\n effect on Jewish thought, 34;\n claimed a hidden meaning in all things, 34, 35;\n destroyed authority of the O. T. by false exegesis, 35;\n permeated Greek philosophy, 35;\n assailed infant Christianity, 36;\n Schaff\u2019s description of, 36, 37;\n generally antinomian, 36;\n \u201cvulgarized\u201d Christianity, and made it \u201cworldly,\u201d 37;\n Baur\u2019s description of, 38;\n introduced allegory into N. T. exegesis, 40, 41;\n sought a hidden meaning in N. T., 44;\n applied numerical mysteries to the Psalms, 58;\n widely spread in second century, 69;\n complete supremacy would have annihilated Christianity, 69;\n fundamentally antinomian, 159;\n destructively applied to the Decalogue, 184.\n\n Gould, S. Baring, describes pagan baptism in Scandinavia, 100;\n on baptism among the ancient Greeks, 114.\n\n Gratian, Emperor, edicts of, against paganism, inoperative, 212.\n\n Greeks, named and \u201cpurified\u201d children when seven days old, 102;\n water-worship among, 112.\n\n Greek thought, thoroughly permeated by gnosticism, 35.\n\n Grimm, Jacob, on superstitions concerning water, 104;\n on use of sacred water in Germany, 105, 106;\n on \u201cEaster fires\u201d in Northern Europe, 268 _f_;\n on \u201cMidsummer fires,\u201d 270;\n on \u201cBaal fires\u201d in Scotland, 271.\n\n\n H\n\n Hall, Rev. E. E., on paganism in Roman Catholic Church, 208 _f_.\n\n Hardwick, Rev. Charles, on the reproduction of paganism in early\n Christianity, 14.\n\n Harnack, Prof. Adolph, on influence of gnosticism on Christianity, 37;\n on the future of Protestantism, 288.\n\n Hatch, Prof. Edwin, D.D., describes pagan elements in early methods\n of exegesis, 42;\n on the rejection of O. T. by many Christians, 48;\n describes effect of \u201cGreek mysteries\u201d on early Christianity, 119;\n shows identity between the Eleusinian mysteries and Roman\n Catholic baptism, 122;\n declares pagan origin of anointing in baptism, 123.\n\n Heifer, the red, allegorically made a type of Christ, 49.\n\n Heliogabalus, emperor, submitted to pagan baptism in blood, 83;\n degraded character of, 197;\n his costly offerings to the Sun-god, 198;\n triumph of sun-worship at Rome under his reign, 199.\n\n Herodotus, describes sun- and water-worship by Xerxes, 76.\n\n Hippolytus, fanciful commentary on the Psalms, 57, 58.\n\n Hislop, Rev. Alexander, on corruption of Christianity by pagan\n sun- and water-worship, 150;\n describes pagan origin of \u201cMariolatry,\u201d 274;\n on \u201cprayers for the dead,\u201d 276;\n on pagan origin of \u201cLent,\u201d 281.\n\n Holda, a German water-goddess, 107.\n\n Holy water, pagans refused it to wrong-doers, 144;\n magical virtues attributed to, 144;\n catalogue of its effects, 145;\n animals sprinkled with, 146;\n Roman Catholics defend its use, 146 _f_;\n methods of preparing, salt, ashes, and wine used, 148.\n\n\n I\n\n India, extent of water-worship in, 88 _f_.\n\n Isis, extensively worshipped at Rome, 19.\n\n\n J\n\n Jairus, Gnostics made raising of his daughter a type of Achamoth, 45.\n\n Jamblicus describes sacred fountains, 73, 74.\n\n Janus, God of the Keys, and prototype of St. Peter, 277 _f_.\n\n Jew, a paralytic, reported cured by means of baptism, 254;\n an impostor detected by a miracle at baptism, 254.\n\n Judaism, Christ enlarged and purified, without destroying, 31, 32;\n strongly opposed by the pagan-bred \u201cFathers,\u201d 165.\n\n Justin, Martyr, educated a pagan philosopher, 44;\n perverted the Scriptures by false exegesis, 54;\n teaches much pagan error concerning baptism, 134, 135;\n the first to teach anti-Sabbathism, and to tell of Sunday\n observance, 159, 178;\n always partially pagan, 160;\n no-Sabbathism taught in his \u201cDialogue with Trypho,\u201d 161;\n taught the abrogation of the Sabbath law, 162.\n\n Juvenal, describes baptism of Roman prostitutes, 77.\n\n\n K\n\n Kabbalists, were Jewish gnostics, 81.\n\n Keys, St. Peter\u2019s, borrowed from pagan god Janus, 277 _f_.\n\n Killen, Prof. W. D., shows that there was no paganism in the earliest\n Christianity, 20;\n tells how baptism was corrupted by pagan influences, 21;\n declares the incompetency of the \u201cFathers\u201d as critics or\n exegetes, 67;\n on character of Constantine, 206.\n\n King, C. W., describes Mithraic baptism, 78-81;\n on pagan baptism for the dead, 83;\n on serpent worshippers, 85;\n on Egyptian water-worship, 87.\n\n\n L\n\n Labor, prohibited on many pagan days besides Sunday, 225.\n\n Lechler, G. V., shows the relative influence of paganism and Judaism\n on Christianity, 29.\n\n \u201cLent,\u201d originated in pagan fast, 280;\n early character of, 281;\n devoutly observed by many at present time, 281.\n\n Lightfoot, Bishop, on the tendency to misjudge early history, 2.\n\n \u201cLights,\u201d use of in worship borrowed from pagans, 263.\n\n Lord, Prof. John, on paganism in the early Church, 4.\n\n\n M\n\n Maitland, Dr. Charles, shows worship of martyrs borrowed from\n paganism, 15;\n on pagan origin of \u201clights\u201d in worship, 264.\n\n Mallet, P. H., describes pagan baptism in Scandinavia, 99 _f_.\n\n Mariolatry, pagan origin of, 273.\n\n Martyr-worship, the product of paganism, 15.\n\n \u201cMass,\u201d the, derived from paganism, 274.\n\n Maurer, Konrad, shows similarity between pagan and Christian\n baptism, 101 _f_.\n\n Maurice, Rev. F. W., describes corrupted Christianity under\n Constantine, 210.\n\n Merivale, Charles, on corruption of Christianity under Leo the\n Great, 23;\n on Constantine\u2019s relation to Christianity, 211 _f_;\n on paganism under Gratian, 212.\n\n Mexico, pagan baptism in, 109 _f_.\n\n Middleton, Rev. Conyers, on paganism in the early Church, 11;\n on pagan origin of \u201choly water,\u201d 141 _f_.\n\n Milman, Rev. H. H., describes Diocletian\u2019s sun-worship, 200;\n shows pagan character of first Sunday law, 223;\n shows Constantine made little opposition to paganism, 228.\n\n Miracles, reported as wrought through baptism, 253;\n newly baptized persons reputed to work, 258 _f_.\n\n _Mirror, The Catholic_, on paganism in Christianity, 286 _f_;\n on inability of Protestantism to return to Bible alone, 287.\n\n Mithraicism, extent of, in the second century, 19;\n had ceremonies of purification, and a \u201choly table,\u201d 119.\n\n Monasticism, the product of Oriental paganism, 14.\n\n Mongolia, pagan baptism in, 93.\n\n Moses, his rod made a type of Christ, by allegory, 54-56.\n\n \u201cMysteries,\u201d the Greek, supposed to bring salvation, 117;\n embodied confession, baptism, and sacrifices, 117 _f_;\n did much to corrupt baptism and the Lord\u2019s Supper, 120.\n\n M\u00fcller, Prof. Max, paganism of first three Christian centuries, 11.\n\n\n N\n\n _Nation, The_, quoted on Teutonic baptism, pagan and Christian, 101.\n\n Neale, E. V., shows non-Christian character of Constantine\u2019s\n Sunday law, 224 _f_;\n designates other pagan days with similar restrictions, 225.\n\n Niebuhr, historian, shows that Constantine was not a Christian, 229.\n\n Nile, the river, regarded as highly sacred by the Egyptians, 88.\n\n\n O\n\n \u201cOrientation,\u201d the product of pagan sun-worship, 157, 257;\n defended by Clement of Alexandria, 266;\n explained and defended by Tertullian, 267.\n\n Osiris, regarded as the counterpart of Noah, 150.\n\n _Outlook, The_, quotations from, 208, 285.\n\n Ovid, describes water-worship and sun-worship at feast of\n \u201cPales,\u201d 75;\n describes water-worship at temple of \u201cThemis,\u201d 76;\n describes Grecian baptism, 116;\n describes god Janus, 277 _f_.\n\n\n P\n\n Pagans, many baptized without conversion, 24;\n eminent ones as semi-Christians, 25.\n\n Paganism, not found in Catholic Church alone, 3, 143;\n some of its lowest forms mingled with Christianity, 6;\n \u201cOriental,\u201d in early Christianity, 6;\n much, in Christianity before the \u201cPapacy,\u201d 18;\n in \u201cAlexandrian\u201d Christianity, 22;\n extent of, in early churches, 68;\n customs of, continued under Christian names, 210;\n employed various forms of baptism, 290;\n opposed Sabbath-keeping, 293.\n\n \u201cPales,\u201d feast of, a combination of sun-worship and water-worship, 75.\n\n Paul, observed and upheld \u201cthe law,\u201d 169, 170.\n\n Penance required for sins after baptism, 253;\n demanded by pagan theory of \u201cbaptismal regeneration,\u201d 272.\n\n Persecution of Christians under Diocletian, 204.\n\n Perseus satirizes the pagan use of spittle as a \u201ccharm,\u201d 124.\n\n Phallicism, associated with water-worship in India, 90;\n a department of sun-worship, 157.\n\n Philo blended Greek philosophy with O. T. exegesis, 40.\n\n Ph\u0153nix, fable of, used as a type of man\u2019s resurrection, 59.\n\n Pilgrimages, made to sacred streams for salvation, 90.\n\n \u201cPistis-Sophia,\u201d the gnostic gospel, 78.\n\n Pliny, the historian, describes virtue of spittle, and its use as a\n charm, 125 _f_.\n\n Potter, Rev. John, D. D., describes Grecian water-worship and\n purifications, 112.\n\n Poynder, John, quoted in \u201cPagano-Papismus,\u201d 9.\n\n Prescott describes Aztec baptism, 109.\n\n Priestley, Dr. Joseph, on pagan origin of \u201choly water,\u201d 141.\n\n Protestants, do not understand their relation to Catholicism, 2;\n work of, but fairly begun, 3.\n\n Protestantism, an unconscious reaction against paganism in\n Christianity, 282 _f_;\n has never wholly discarded \u201ctradition,\u201d 284;\n must accept Bible wholly or be overcome, 285;\n must act promptly to overcome loss already sustained, 285;\n cannot survive except on purely Biblical basis, 288.\n\n Psalms, \u201cFathers\u201d made whole number of, a type of the\n \u201cTrinity,\u201d 57, 58;\n meaning of, perverted by gnostic allegorizing, 65.\n\n Purgatory, borrowed from paganism, 275.\n\n Purification, Greeks sought, by dipping and sprinkling, 115.\n\n Purity, spiritual, pagans sought, by bathing in sacred\n streams, 88 _f_.\n\n\n R\n\n Reformations begin when evils reach their lowest point, 283.\n\n Regeneration, baptismal, 87.\n\n \u201cRelics,\u201d faith in, borrowed from paganism, 235;\n became widely spread in the Church, 236 _f_.\n\n Religion, Roman, conception of, as a department of civil\n government, 190;\n all forms recognised in Roman Empire, were regulated by civil\n law, 201.\n\n Renan, Ernest, on Oriental paganism and Christianity, 18.\n\n Residuum, pagan, minor forms of, in Christianity, 231.\n\n _Review, The Edinburgh_, on pagan origin of the cross, 240.\n\n Reville, Albert, on civil character of Roman religion, 192 _f_.\n\n Rivers, confluence of, makes water sacred, 92;\n banks of, sacred, 92.\n\n Roman Catholic writers, honesty of, 7.\n\n Romanized Christianity identical with paganized, 17.\n\n\n S\n\n Sabbath, the, observed by Christ, 168;\n observance of, 174;\n never associated with Christ\u2019s resurrection, 172 _f_;\n \u201cchange of,\u201d never spoken of in the Bible, 173;\n its recognition in the New Testament, 174;\n observed by the Apostles, 174;\n abolition of, taught by Tertullian, 186, 187;\n divine authority necessary to create, 295.\n\n Sabbathism, 291;\n sacred time, the essence of, 292;\n spiritual life the end of, 292;\n Jews did not understand, 293;\n Christ exalted it, 293;\n destroyed by Sunday legislation, 297.\n\n Sahagun de Bernardino, describes pagan baptism in Mexico, 110 _f_.\n\n Saints, worship of, a revival of pagan mythology, 27.\n\n Sandars on \u201ccivil\u201d character of Roman paganism, 191, 192.\n\n \u201cSaturnalia,\u201d disorder of, at Burmah\u2019s \u201cwater-festival,\u201d 95.\n\n Scandinavia, ancient baptism in, 99, 100.\n\n Schaff, Dr. Philip, description of gnosticism, 36, 37;\n on Roman idea of state religion, 190 _f_;\n describes Heliogabalus and Severus, 197;\n on Constantine\u2019s attitude towards Christianity, 213 _f_;\n on the origin of \u201cpenance,\u201d 272, 273.\n\n Scotland, \u201cBaal fires\u201d continue there, 271.\n\n Serpent-worship, a branch of gnosticism closely associated with\n water-worship, 85.\n\n Severus, Alex., emperor, character of, 197.\n\n Seymore, Rev. Hobart, on heathen origin of saint-worship, 16;\n on pagan origin of \u201choly water,\u201d 140, 141;\n on virtues of \u201choly water,\u201d 144;\n sprinkling of animals, 146.\n\n Simeon, a type of the Demiurge, 44.\n\n Simon Magus, on gnostic baptism, 81.\n\n Socrates, historian, superstition of, concerning baptism, 253 _f_.\n\n Sozomen, had great faith in \u201crelics,\u201d 236;\n relates foolish myths as facts, 236, 237.\n\n Spelman, Sir Henry, finds origin of English \u201ccourt terms\u201d in\n paganism, 225 _f_.\n\n Spittle, use of, in baptism borrowed from pagans, 124;\n more efficacious if \u201cfasting,\u201d 125;\n various superstitions related by Pliny, 125-7.\n\n Springs, water of, specially sacred, 98.\n\n Sprites, water-, superstitious fear of, 108.\n\n State-religion, pagan origin of, 188.\n\n Sunday law, text of Constantine\u2019s first, 220;\n permitted manumission of slaves, 220;\n associated with one for consulting soothsayers, 220 _f_;\n not unlike laws concerning other pagan days, 222 _f_;\n designates only the \u201cVenerable Day of the Sun,\u201d 222;\n purely pagan in form and spirit, 227.\n\n Sunday, observance of, weakens Decalogue, 158;\n first observance coupled with anti-Sabbathism, 159;\n observance based on tradition, 171;\n popular errors concerning, 171 _f_;\n observance unknown before middle of second century, 171 _f_;\n never called Sabbath in the Bible, 172 _f_;\n definitely referred to in N. T. but three times, 172;\n only six passages from N. T. quoted in favor of, 173;\n observance originated outside of the Bible, 177;\n first mentioned by Justin Martyr, 150 A.D., 178 _f_;\n pagan reasons for its observance, 181 _f_;\n the \u201cpuritan,\u201d a compromise between the Sabbath and the Sunday, 294;\n legislation concerning a prominent feature in the puritan\n movement, 294;\n earliest laws concerning, pagan in form and concept, 294;\n no scriptural or Protestant ground for its observance, 295.\n\n Sun-worship, a myth of, used as a type of man\u2019s resurrection, 59, 60;\n excessive and costly under Heliogabalus, 197 _f_;\n a popular cult at Rome, 201.\n\n Superstitions, excessive pagan, associated with baptism, 258.\n\n Syncretism, tendency to in early centuries, 12;\n a large factor in corrupting Christianity, 194.\n\n Synesius, Bishop, uncertain whether a pagan or a Christian, 24.\n\n\n T\n\n Tammuz, worship of, condemned by Jeremiah, 238.\n\n Taylor, Isaac, on pagan element in Christianity, 6.\n\n Tertullian, sometimes opposed allegorical interpretation of\n the N. T., 46;\n unmeaning interpretation of \u201ctypes,\u201d 62;\n teaches pagano-Christian theory of baptism, 129 _f_;\n denies the power of pagan gods to sanctify water, 132;\n taught abrogation of the Decalogue, 163 _f_;\n ideas concerning the Sabbath, 163 _f_;\n superstitious faith in the sign of the cross, 248;\n explains \u201corientation,\u201d 267.\n\n Testament, the Old, rejected by many Christians on gnostic\n grounds, 48.\n\n Teutons, pagan baptism among, 101 _f_.\n\n Thebaud, Rev. Aug., on paganism at Rome in fifth century, 13.\n\n Thibet, baptismal customs in, 93;\n autumn water-worship festival in, 96.\n\n Tiele, C. P., on Oriental paganism in Christianity, 6;\n on political character of Roman religion, 193, 194.\n\n Traditionalism largely pagan in origin, 289.\n\n\n U\n\n Uhlhorn, Dr. Gerhard, on corruption of Christianity by\n gnosticism, 68, 70.\n\n Usages, pagan, adopted almost without stint by Christians, 26.\n\n\n V\n\n Virgil, Polydore, claims that Christianity \u201cmeliorated\u201d pagan\n customs by accepting them, 8.\n\n Virgil shows union of water-worship and sun-worship, 74, 75.\n\n\n W\n\n Water, pagans believed it contained divine power to cleanse the\n soul, 72, 73;\n power to inspire, 74;\n river, especially sacred, 91;\n changes to wine on Easter and Christmas at midnight, 99;\n \u201choly,\u201d if drawn at sacred seasons, 99;\n \u201choly,\u201d cures evils and averts danger, 104;\n \u201csacred,\u201d prevents physical disease, 105;\n superstitious value of, from mill-wheel, 106;\n endued with divine power at creation, 129;\n produces life by divine power, 131;\n \u201choly,\u201d borrowed directly from paganism, 140;\n used at doors of heathen temples, 140, 142;\n use of, by Christians condemned, 143;\n use of, defended by Cardinal Wiseman, 146, 147;\n \u201cbaptismal,\u201d prepared according to pagan formula, 152;\n sanctified by the sign of the cross, 251;\n at first used as a \u201ccharm,\u201d 252.\n\n Water-worship, the pagan, corrupted Christianity fundamentally, 71;\n of Oriental origin, 72;\n prominent among serpent worshippers, 85;\n a special feature in Egyptian religion, 86;\n associated with Osiris worship, 87;\n superstitions connected with, in time of drouth, 106 _f_;\n universal in Northern Europe, 109;\n coupled with sun-worship among the Greeks, 112;\n summary of its influence on Christian baptism, 153-155.\n\n Wells, \u201csacred,\u201d described by Sir Monier-Williams, 89.\n\n Westropp and Wake on gnosticism in Christianity, 27.\n\n Wilkins, W. J., describes water-worship festival of \u201cDasahara,\u201d 94.\n\n Williams, Sir Monier-, on water-worship in India, 88;\n on baptism in Thibet and Mongolia, 93;\n on Buddhistic baptism, 94.\n\n Wiseman, Cardinal, value of his testimony, 10;\n defends the introduction of paganism in early Christianity, 10;\n on retention of paganism in English Church, 10;\n defends the use of \u201choly water,\u201d 146, 147.\n\n\n X\n\n Xerxes describes water- and sun-worship at the \u201cHellespont,\u201d 76.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIMPORTANT RELIGIOUS WORKS.\n\n=Gospel-Criticism and Historical Christianity.= A study of the Gospels\nand of the History of the Gospel Canon during the Second Century;\ntogether with a consideration of the results of Modern Criticism. By\nOrello Cone, D. D. 8vo, cloth, gilt top $1 75\n\n \u201cThe book is rich in material and is a good example of the proper\n study of Gospel literature.\u201d--_Public Opinion_, Washington, D. C.\n\n=The Religion of Humanity.= By O. B. Frothingham. 4th edition, 12mo,\npp. 338 $1 50\n\n \u201cA profoundly sincere book, the work of one who has read largely,\n studied thoroughly, reflected patiently.\u201d--_Boston Globe._\n\n=Stories from the Lips of the Teacher.= By O. B. Frothingham. Retold by\na Disciple. Sixth edition, 16mo, pp. 193 $1 00\n\n \u201cIt is in style and thought a superior book, that will interest young\n and old.\u201d--_Zion Herald_ (Methodist).\n\n=Stories of the Patriarchs.= By O. B. Frothingham. Third edition, 16mo,\npp. 232 $1 00\n\n \u201cThe sublimest lessons of manhood in the simple language of a\n child.\u201d--_Springfield Republican._\n\n=The Child\u2019s Book of Religion.= By O. B. Frothingham. For\nSunday-Schools and Homes. New edition, revised. 16mo, pp. xii. + 273\n$1 00\n\n=Transcendentalism in New England.= By O. B. Frothingham. A History.\nSecond edition. 8vo, pp. iv. + 394 $1 75\n\n \u201cThe book is masterly and satisfying.\u201d--_Appleton\u2019s Journal._\n\n=The Cradle of the Christ.= By O. B. Frothingham. A Study in Primitive\nChristianity. 8vo, pp. x. + 234 $1 50\n\n \u201cScholarly, acute, and vigorous.\u201d--_N. Y. Tribune._\n\n=Theodore Parker.= By O. B. Frothingham. A Biography. 8vo, pp. viii. +\n588 $2 00\n\n=Gerrit Smith.= By O. B. Frothingham. A Biography. 8vo, pp. 371 $2 00\n\n \u201cA good biography, it is faithful, sufficiently full, written with\n vigor, grace, and good taste.\u201d--_N. Y. Evening Post._\n\n=Belief of the Unbelievers.= By O. B. Frothingham. 12mo, sewed 25\n\n Speaking of Mr. Frothingham\u2019s Sermons, the _Springfield Republican_\n says: \u201cNo one of serious intellectual character can fail to be\n interested and taught by these most thoughtful discourses.\u201d\n\n=Boston Unitarianism.= By O. B. Frothingham. 1820-1840. A Study of the\nLife and Work of Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham. 8vo, pp. 272 $1 75\n\n \u201cThe book, to a thoughtful reader, cannot fail to be elevating and\n suggestive of high ideals, high thinking, and noble living.\u201d--_Newark\n Advertiser._\n\n=Recollections and Impressions.= By O. B. Frothingham. 1822-1890. 8vo\n$1 50\n\nG. P. PUTNAM\u2019S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes:\n\nFootnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled\nconsecutively through the document.\n\nPunctuation has been made consistent.\n\nVariations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in\nthe original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have\nbeen corrected.\n\nThe following changes were made:\n\np. 78: \u1f10\u03c1\u03b9\u03b4\u1fb6\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9 changed to \u1f10\u03c1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 (of Contentions (\u1f10\u03c1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9)[70])\n\np. 86: Footnote anchor inserted (of carnal concupiscence.\u2019\u201d[75])\n\np. 113: \u03c0\u03b5\u1fe4\u03b9\u1fe5\u03b1\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd changed to \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd and \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03bf\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 changed\nto \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 (thus: \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9, \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd)\n\np. 121: \u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03be\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 changed to \u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 (\u03c8\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2, \u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9,\n\u201cenlightenment)\n\np. 142: \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03c1\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd changed to \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd (called\n\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u1fe4\u1fe5\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd; two)\n\np. 193: Footnote anchor inserted (essentially political motives.\u201d[177])\n\np. 197: Footnote anchor inserted (patroness of Origen.\u201d[179])\n\np. 236: formerly inserted, as in the quoted source (city formerly\ncalled)","title":"Paganism Surviving in Christianity","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":81849}