that the body of Christ, before his resurrection, was truly corruptible, i. e. subject to the affections and changes with which human nature is generally attended. Those who embraced the opinion of Julian, were called Aphthartodocetæ, Docetæ, Phantasiasts, and even Manicheans, because it was supposed to follow from their hypothesis, that Christ did not suffer in reality, but only in appearance, hunger and thirst, pain and death; and that he did not actually assume the common affections and properties of human nature. On the other hand, the votaries of Severus were distinguished by the names Phthartolatræ, Ktistolatræ, and Creaticoiæ. This miserable controversy was carried on with great warmth under the reign of Justinian, who favoured the Aphthartodocetæ; soon after, it subsided gradually; and, at length, was happily hushed in silence.* Xenaias of Hierapolis struck out an hypothesis upon this knotty matter, which seemed equally remote from those of the contending parties; for he maintained that Christ had, indeed, truly suffered the various sensations to which humanity is exposed, but that he suffered them not in his nature, but by a submissive act of his will.f IX. Some of the Corrupticole (for so they were called who looked upon the body of Christ to be corruptible,) particularly Themistius, a deacon of Alexandria, and Theodosius, a bishop of that city, were led by the inconsiderate heat of controversy into another opinion, which produced new commotions in the church toward the conclusion of this century. They affirmed, that to the divine nature of Christ all things were known, but that from his human nature many things were concealed. The rest of the sect charged the authors of this opinion with imputing ignorance to the divine nature of Christ, since they held, that there was but one nature in the Son of God. Hence the votaries of this new doctrine were called Agnoetæ; but their sect was so weak and ill-supported, that, notwithstanding their eloquence and activity,which seemed to promise better success, it gradually declined, and came to nothing. * Timotheus, de Receptione Hæreticorum, in Cotelerii Monumentis Ecclesiæ Græcæ, tom. iii. 409.-Liberap. tus, in Breviario Controv. cap. xx.-Forbesii Instructiones Historico-Theologicæ, lib. iii. cap. xviii. p. 108.Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. tom. iii. ii. part p. 457. Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 22, and 168. Cotelerius, ad Monumenta Ecclesiæ Græcæ, tom. iii. 64--Mien, le Quien, ad Damascenum de Hæresibus, . í. p. 107.-Forbes, Instructiones Historico-Theolog. 1. cap. xix. p. 119-Photius, Biblioth. Cod. 230. X. From the controversies with the Mono physites arose the sect of the Tritheists, whose chief was John Ascusnage, a Syrian philosopher, and, at the same time, a Monophysite.* This man imagined in the Deity three natures, or substances, absolutely equal in all respects, and joined together by no common essence; to which opinion his adversaries gave the name of Tritheism. One of the warmest defenders of this doctrine was John Philoponus, an Alexandrian philosopher, and a grammarian of the highest reputation; and hence he has been considered by many as the author of this sect, whose members have consequently derived from him the title of Philoponists.† This sect was divided into two parties, the Philoponists and the Cononites; the latter of whom were so called from Conon bishop of Tarsus, their chief. They agreed in the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead, and differed only in their manner of explaining what the Scriptures taught concerning the resurrection of the body. Philoponus maintained, that the form and matter of all bodies were gener ated and corrupted, and that both therefore were to be restored in the resurrection. Conon held, on the contrary, that the body never lost its form: that its matter alone was subject to corruption and decay, and was consequently to be restored when "this mortal shall put on immortality." A third faction was that of the Damianists, who were so called from Damian bishop of Alexandria, and whose opinion concerning the Trinity was different from those already men tioned. They distinguished the divine essence from the three persons, and denied that each person was God, when considered in itself, abstractedly from the other two; but affirmed that there was a common divinity, by the joint participation of which each was God. They therefore called the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, hypostases, or persons, and the Godhead, which was common to them all, substance or nature.§ THE SEVENTH CENTURY PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. Concer aing the prosperous Events which happened in the Church during this Century. cess. I. In this century the progress of Christianity was greatly accelerated both in the eastern and western hemispheres; and its divine light was widely diffused through the darkened nations. The Nestorians who dwelt in Syria, Persia, and India, contributed much to its propagation in the east, by the zeal and diligence, the laborious efforts and indefatigable assiduity, with which they preached it to those fierce and barbarous nations, who lived in the remotest regions and deserts of Asia, and among whom, as we learn from authentic records, their ministry was crowned with remarkable sucIt was by the labours of this sect, that the light of the Gospel first penetrated into the immense empire of China, about the year 636, when Jesuiabas of Gadala was at the head of the Nestorians, as will appear probable to those who consider as genuine the famous Chinese monument, which was discovered at Siganfu by the Jesuits during the last century.* Some, indeed, look upon this monument as a mere forgery of the Jesuits, though, perhaps, without reason: there are, however, some unexceptionable proofs, that the northern parts of China, even before this century, abounded with Christians, who, for many succeeding ages, were under the inspection of a metropolitan sent to them by the Chaldean or Nestorian patriarch.† *This celebrated monument has been published and explained by several learned writers, particularly by Kircher, in his China Illustrata; by Muller, in a treatise published at Berlin in 1672; by Renaudot, in his Relations anciennes des Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voyageurs Mahometans, p. 228-271, published at Paris in 1718; and by Assemanus, in his Biblioth. Orient. tom. iii. in part ii. cap. iv. sect. 7. p. 533. A still more accurate edition of this famous monument was promised to us by the learned Theoph. Sigefred Bayer, the greatest proficient of this age in Chinese erudition; but his death has blasted our expectations. For my part, I see no reason to doubt the genuineness of this monument; nor can I understand what advantage could redound to the Jesuits from the invention of such a fable. See I iron, Singularites Historiques et Literaires, tom. ii. p. 5 500. † See Renaudot, p. 56, 68, &c. also Assemani Biblioth. cap. ix. p. 522; the learned Bayer, in the Preface to his Museum Sinicum, assures us, that he had in his hands such proofs of the truth of what is here affirmed, as put the matter beyond all doubt. See on this subject a very learned dissertation published by M. de Guignes in the thirtieth vol. of the Memoires de Literature, tires des Registres de l'Academie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, in which he proves that the Christians were setled in China so early as the seventh century. He re marks indeed, that the Nestorians and other Christians were for a long time confounded in the Chinese annals with the worshippers of Fo, an Indian idol, whose rites were introduced into China about 65 years after the birth II. The attention and activity of the Grexs visions, that they were little solicitous about the were so entirely occupied by their intestine diprogress of Christianity. In the west, Augustin laboured to extend the limits of the church, and to spread the light of the Gospel amorg the Anglo-Saxons; and, after his death, other monks were sent from Rome, to exert themselves in the same glorious cause. Their ef forts were attended with the desired success and the efficacy of their labours was manifest ed in the conversion of the six Anglo-Saxon kings, who had hitherto remained under the darkness of the ancient superstitions, to the Christian faith, which gained ground by degrees, and was, at length, embraced universally in Britain. We are not, however, to imagine, that this general change in favour of Christianity was wholly due to the discourses of the Roman monks and doctors; for other causes were certainly instrumental in accom plishing this great event; and it is not to be doubted that the influence which some Chris tian queens, and ladies of high distinction, had over their husbands, and the pains they took to convert them to Christianity, as also the severe and rigorous laws that were afterwards enacted against idolaters,† contributed much to the progress of the Gospel. III. Many of the British, Scotish, and Irish ecclesiastics travelled among the Batavian, Belgic, and German nations, with the pious inte tion of propagating the knowledge of the truth, and of erecting churches, and forming religious establishments. This was the true reason which induced the Germans, in after-times, to found so many convents for the Scotch and Irish, of which some yet remain.‡ Columban, an Irish monk, seconded by the labours of a few companions, had happily extirpated, in the preceding century, the ancient superstitions in Gaul, and the parts adjacent, where idolatry had taken the deepest root; he also carried the lamp of celestial truth among the Suevi, the Boii, the Franks, and other Ger of Christ; and that this circumstance has deceived De la Croze, Beausobre, and some other learned men, who have raised specious objections against the hypothesis that maintains the early introduction of Christianity into this great empire. A reader, properly informed, will pay lit tle or no attention to the account given of this matter by Voltaire in the first volume of his Essai sur l'Histoire Generale. A poet, who recounts facts, or denies them without deigning to produce his authorities, must not expect to meet with the credit that is due to an historian. * Bedæ Historia Ecclesiast. Gentis Anglor. lib. ii. cap iii. xiv. lib. iii. cap. xxi.-Rapin de Thoyras, tom. i. Wilkins' Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ, tom. 1. p. iSee the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Febr. p 362. 222 V. The conversion of the Jews seemed at a stand in this century; for few or none of the obstinate nation embraced the Gospel in cons quence of an inward conviction of its truth, though in many places they were barbarously compelled, by the Christians, to make an out man nations, and persevered in these pious monks, desirous of rule and authority, concealand useful labours until his death, which hap-ed their vices under the mask of religion, and pened in 615. St. Gal, who was one of his endured for a time the austerities of a rigid companions, preached the Gospel to the Hel- mortification and abstinence, merely with a vetii, and the Sucvi. St. Kilian set out from view to rise to the episcopal dignity. Scotland, the place of his nativity, and exercised the ministerial function with such success among the eastern Franks, that vast numbers of them embraced Christianity. Toward the conclusion of this century, the famous Willebrod, by birth an Anglo-Saxon, accompanied with eleven of mis countrymen, viz. Suidbert, Wig-ward and feigned profession of their faith in bert, Acca, Wilibald, Unibald, Lebwin, the two Ewalds, Werenfrid, Marcellin, and Adalbert, crossed over into Batavia, which lay opposite to Britain, in order to convert the Friselanders to the religion of Jesus. Hence, in 692, they went into Fosteland, which most writers look upon to have been the same with the isle of Heligoland, or Heilgiland; but, being cruelly treated there by Radbod, king of the Friselanders, who put Wigbert, one of the company, to death, they departed thence for Cimbria, and the adjacent parts of Denmark. They, however, returned to Friseland in 693, and were much more successful than they had formerly been in opposmg the ancient superstitions, and propagating the knowledge of divine truth. Willebrod was ordained, by the Roman pontiff, archbishop of Wilteburg, now Utrecht, and died among the Batavians in a good old age, while his associates continued to spread the light of the Gospel among the Westphalians and the neighbouring nations.§ Christ. The emperor Heraclius, incensed against that miserable people by the insinuations, as it is said, of the Christian doctors, persecuted them in a cruel manner, and ordered multitudes of them to be inhumanly dragged into the Christian churches, in order to be baptized by violence and compulsion.* The same odious method of converting was practised in Spain and Gaul, by the monarchs of those nations, against which even the bishops of Rome expressed their displeasure and indignation. Such were the horrid and abominable practices to which an ignorance of the true spirit of Christianity, and the barbarous genius of this age, led the heralds of that divine religion, which was designed to spread abroad charity upon earth, and to render mankind truly and rationally free. CHAPTER II. Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to the Church during this Century. I. THE Christians suffered less in this, than in the preceding centuries. They were some times persecuted by the Persian monarchs, but ususally recovered their former tranquillity after transitory scenes of violence and opprestion. In England, the new converts to Christianity suffered various calamities under the petty kings, who governed in those boisterous times; but these kings embraced the Gospel themselves, and then the sufferings of the Chris IV. These voyages, and many others, undertaken in the cause of Christ, carry, no doubt, a specious appearance of piety and zeal; but the impartial and attentive inquirer after truth will find it impossible to form the same favourable judgment of them all, or to applaud, without distinction, the motives that animated these laborious missionaries. That the designs of some of them were truly pious, and their characters without reproach, is unquestionably certain; but it is equally certain, that this was not the case of them all, or even of the great-tians ceased. In the eastern countries, and parest part of them. Many of them discovered, in the course of their ministry, the most turbulent passions, and dishonoured the glorious cause in which they were engaged, by their arrogance and ambition, their avarice and cruelty. They abused the power which they had received from the Roman pontiffs, of forming religious establishments among the superstitious nations; and, instead of gaining souls to Christ, they usurped a despotic dominion over their obsequious proselytes, and exercised a princely authority over the countries where their ministry had been successful. Nor are we to consider, as entirely groundless, the suspicions of those who allege that many of the 'Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ordinis Benedicti, tom. ii. ii-Adaman. lib. iii. de S. Columbano, in Canisii Lectio. Antiq. tom. i. Walafridi Strabonis Vit. S. Galli in Actis S. Ord. Vita S. Kiliani in Canisii Lection. Antiq. tom. iii.- ticularly in Syria and Palestine, the Jews, at certain times, attacked the Christians with a merciless fury, but with so little success, that they always had reason to repent of their temerity, which was severely chastised. It is true, the church had other enemies, even those who, under the treacherous profession of Christianity, were laying secret schemes for the restoration of Paganism; but they were too weak and too inconsiderable to form any attempts that could endanger the Christian cause. II. But a new and most powerful enemy to the Christian cause started up in Arabia in 612, under the reign of Heraclius. This was Mahomet, or Mohammed, an illiterate man, but * Eutychii Annales Eccles. Alexandr. tom. ii. p. 212. Eutychii Annales, tom. ii. p. 236. Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Historia Orientalis, lib. i. cap. iii. p. 129. Mohammed himself expressly declared, that he was totally ignorant of all branches of learning and science, and was even unable either to write or read: and his followers have drawn from this ignorance an argument ir favour of the divinity of his mission, and of the religior he taught. It is, however, sc. rcely credible, that his ig norance was such as it is here described and several of trusted to, as their historians are destitute of veracity and candour; they conceal the vices and enormities of their chief, and represent him as the most divine person that ever appeared upon earth, and as the best gift of God to the world. Add to this, that a considerable part of his life, indeed, the part of it that would be the most proper to lead us to a true knowledge of his character, and of the motives from which he acted, is absolutely unknown. It is highly probable, that he was so deply affected with the odious and abominable superstition which dishonoured his country, that it threw him into a certain fanatical disorder of mind, and made him really imagine that he was supernaturally commissioned to reform the religion of the Arabians, and to restore among them the worship of one God. It is, however, at the same time, undoubtedly evident, that, when he saw his enterprise crowned with the desired success, he made use of impious frauds to es endowed by nature with the most flowing and attractive eloquence, and with a vast and penetrating genius,* distinguished also by the advantages he enjoyed from the place of his birth, which added a lustre to his name and his undertakings. This adventurous impostor pub- || licly declared, that he was commissioned by God to destroy polytheism and idolatry, and then to reform, first the religion of the Arabians, and afterwards the Jewish and Christian worship. For these purposes he delivered a new law, which is known by the name of the Koran, i. e. the book, by way of eminence; and, having gained several victories over his enemies, he compelled an incredible multitude of persons, both in Arabia and the neighbouring nations, to receive his doctrine, and range themselves under his standard. Elate with this rapid and unexpected success, he greatly extended his ambitious views, and formed the vast and arduous project of founding an empire. Here again success crowned his adven-tablish the work he had so happily begun, deturous efforts; and his plan was executed with such intrepidity and impudence, that he died || master of all Arabia, beside several adjacent provinces. luded the giddy and credulous multitude by various artifices, and even forged celestial visions to confirm his authority, and remove the difficulties that frequently arose in the course of his affairs. This mixture of imposture is by no means incompatible with a spirit of enthusiasm; for the fanatic, through the unguided warmth of zeal, looks often upon the artifices that are useful to his cause as pious and acceptable to the Supreme Being, and therefore de III. It is, perhaps, impossible, at this time, to form such an accurate judgment of the character, views, and conduct of Mohammed, as would entirely satisfy the curiosity of a sagacious inquirer after truth. To give entire credit to the Grecian writers in this matter, is neither prudent nor safe, since their bitter re-ceives when he can do it with impunity.* The sentment against this hostile invader led them to invent, without scruple or hesitation, fables || and calumnies to blacken his character. The Arabians, on the other hand, are as little to be his sect have called in question the declarations of their chief relating to this point. See Chardin's Voyages en Perse, tom. iv. If we consider that he carried on, for a considerable time, a successful commerce in Arabia and the adjacent countries, this alone will convince us, that he must have been, in some measure, instructed in the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with the knowledge of which a merchant cannot dispense. religion which Mohammed taught, is certainly different from what it would have been, if he had met with no opposition in the propagation of his opinions. The difficulties he had to encounter obliged him to yield, in some respects, to the reigning systems; the obstinate attachment of the Arabians to the religion of their ancestors, on one hand, and the fond hope of gaining over to his cause both the Jews and Christians on the other, engaged, no doubt, this fanatical impostor to admit into his system The writers, to whom we are indebted for the ac- several tenets, which he would have rejected counts of the life and religion of Mohammed, are enu- without hesitation, had he been free from the merated by Fabricius, in his Delectus et Syllabus Argu-restraints of ambition and artifice. mentorum, pro Veritate Religionis Christianæ; to which we may add Boulainvilliers' Vie de Mahomet, published at London in 1730, which, however, deserves rather the character of a romance, than of a history; Gagnier's Vie de Mahomet, printed at Amsterdam in 1732, and comnendable both for the learning and candour with which it appears to have been composed; and, above all, the learned and judicious Sale's Preliminary Discourse, prefixed to his English translation of the Koran, sect. ii. p. 37. For an account of the Koran, see principally Sale's preface. See also Vertot's Discours sur l'Alcoran, subjoined to the third volume of his History of the Knights of Malta, and Chardin's Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. p. 281. The book which the Mohammedans call the Koran, Is composed of several papers and discourses of the impostor, which were discovered and collected after his death, and s by no means that same law whose excellence he vaunted so highly. That some par's of the true Koran may be copied in the modern one, is indeed very possible; bet that the Koran, or Law, given by Mohammed to the Arabians, is entirely distinct from the modern Koran, is manifest from this, that, in the latter, he appeals to, and extols the former, and therefore they must be two different compositions. May it not be conjectured, that the true Koran was an Arabic poem, which he recited to his followers without giving it to them in writing, ordering them only to commit it to memory? Such were the laws of the Druids in Gaul and Britain, and such also those of the Indians, which the Bramins receive by oral tradition, and get by heart. IV. The rapid success which attended the propagation of this new religion, was produced by causes that are plain and evident, and must remove, or rather prevent our surprise, when they are attentively considered. The terror of Mohammed's arms, and the repeated victories which were gained by him and his successors, were, without doubt, the irresistible argument that persuaded such multitudes to embrace his religion, and submit to his dominion. Besides, his law was artfully and wonderfully adapted to the corrupt nature of man, and, in a more particular manner, to the manners and opinions of the eastern nations, and the vices to which they were naturally addicted; for the articles of faith which it proposed were few in number, and extremely simple; and the duties it re *This, perhaps, is the best way of adjusting the con troversy that has been carried on by some learned men upon this curious question,-whether Mohammed was a fanatic or an impostor. See Bayle's Dictionary; also Cckley's Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by the Saracens, vol. i.; and Sale's Preface to his Translati of the Koran, sect. ii. rated by degrees into severity; and they treated the Christians, at length, rather like slaves than citizens, loading them with insupportable taxes, and obliging them to submit to a variety of vexatious and oppressive measures. VI. The progress, however, of this trium quired were neither many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible with the empire of appetites and passions.* It is to be observed farther, that the gross ignorance, under which the Arabians, Syrians, Persians, and the greatest part of the eastern nations, laboured at this time, rendered many an easy prey to the arti-phant sect received a considerable check by the fice and eloquence of this bold adventurer. To these causes of the progress of the Mohammedan faith, we may add the bitter dissensions and cruel animosities that reigned among the Christian sects, particularly the Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monophysites, dissensions that filled a great part of the east with carnage, assassinations, and such detestable enormities, as rendered the very name of Christianity odious to many. We might add here, that the Monophysites and Nestorians, full of resentment against the Greeks, from whom they had suffered the bitterest and 'most injurious treatment, assisted the Arabians in the conquest of several provinces, into which, consequently, the religion of Mohammed was afterwards introduced. Other causes of the sudden progress of that religion, will naturally occur to such as consider attentively its spirit and genius, and the state of the world at that time. V. After the death of the pseudo-prophet, which happened in 632, his followers, led on by an amazing intrepidity and a fanatical fury, and assisted, as we have already observed, by those Christians whom the Greeks had treated with such severity, extended their conquests beyond the limits of Arabia, and subdued Syria, Persia, Egypt, and other countries. On the other hand, the Greeks, exhausted with civil discord, and wholly occupied by intestine troubles, were unable to stop these intrepid conquerors in their rapid career. civil dissensions which arose among them immediately after the death of Mohammed.Abubeker and Ali, the former the father-inlaw, and the latter the son-in-law, of this pretended prophet, aspired to succeed him in the empire which he had erected. Upon this arose a tedious and cruel contest, whose flame reached to succeeding ages, and produced that schism which divided the Mohammedans into two great factions, whose separation not only gave rise to a variety of opinions and rites, but also excited the most implacable hatred and the most deadly animosities. Of these factions, one acknowledged Abubeker as the true khalif, or successor of Mohammed, and its members were distinguished by the name of Sonnites; while the other adhered to Ali, and received the appellation of Shiites.* Both, however, adhered to the Koran as a divine law, and as the rule of faith and manners; to which, indeed, the former added, by way of interpretation, the sonna, i. e. a certain law which they looked upon as derived from Mohammed by oral tradition, and which the Shiites refused to admit. Among the Sonnites, or followers of Abubeker, we are to reckon the Turks, Tartars, Arabians, Africans, and the greatest part of the Indian Moslems; whereas the Persians, and the subjects of the great Mogul, are genorally considered as the followers of Ali; though the latter indeed seem rather to observe a strict neutrality in this contest. Beside these two grand factions, there are several subordinate sects among the Moslems, which dispute with warmth upon several points of religion, though without violating the rules of mutual toleration. Of these sects there are four, which far surpass the rest in point of reputation and importance. For some time these enthusiastic invaders used their prosperity with moderation, and treated the Christians, particularly those who rejected the decrees of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, with the utmost indulgence and lenity. But, as an uninterrupted course of success and prosperity renders, too generally, corrupt mortals insolent and imperious, so the moderation of this victorious sect degene-74, * See Reland, de Religione Mahumedica; also Sale's Preliminary Discourse. † See Ockley's Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by the Saracens. * See Reland, de Religione Turcica, lib. i. p. 36, 70, 85; and Chardin's Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. p. 236. For an account of the Mohammedan sects, see Hottingeri Histor. Orient. lib. ii. cap. vi. p. 340.-Ricaut's Etat de l'Empire Ottoman, liv. ii. p. 242.-Chardin's Voyages en Perse, tom. ii.; and Sale's Preliminary Dis course, sect. viii. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy during this Century. I. NOTHING can equal the ignorance and darkness that reigned in this century; the most impartial and accurate account of which will appear incredible to those who are unacquaint ed with the productions of this barbarous p that yet survived, were, a few particular cases riod. Any remains of learning and philosophy excepted, to be found principally among the Latins, in the obscure retreats of cloistered monks. The monastic institutions prohibited the election of any abbot to the government of a convent, who was not a man of learning |