BOOK I.

CONTAINING

THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH FROM ITS FIRST RISE TO THE TIME OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.

PART I.

COMPREHENDING THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE

BIRTH OF CHRIST.

State of the Ro- I. A GREAT part of the world was become subject to man empire. the Roman empire, when Jesus Christ made his appearance upon earth. The remoter nations, which had submitted to the yoke of this mighty empire, were ruled, either by Roman governors invested with temporary commissions, or by their own princes and laws, in subordination to the republic, whose sovereignty was to be acknowledged, and from which the conquered kings that were continued in their dominions derived their borrowed majesty. At the same time the Roman people and their venerable senate, though they had not lost all shadow of liberty, were yet, in reality, reduced to a state of servile submission to Augustus Cæsar, who, by artifice, perfidy, and bloodshed, had proceeded to an enormous degree of power, and united in his own person the pompous titles of emperor, sovereign, pontiff, censor, tribune of the people, proconsul; in a word, all the great offices of the state.a

The inconveni

ceeded from the

II. The Roman government, considered both with ences which pro- respect to its form and its laws, was certainly mild and corrupt adminis equitable." But the injustice and avarice of the prætors tration of its ma- and proconsuls, and the ambitious lust of conquest and gistrates. dominion which was the predominant passion of the Roman people, together with the rapacious proceedings of the publicans,

See for this purpose the learned work of Augustin Campianus, entitled, De Officio et Potestate Magistratuum Romanorum et Juris

dictione, lib. i. cap. i. p. 3, 4, &c. Geneva, 1725, in quarto.

See Moyle's Essay on the Constitution

by whom the taxes of the empire were levied, were the occasions of perpetual tumults and insupportable grievances. And among the many evils that arose from thence, we justly reckon the formidable armies that were necessary to support these extortions in the provinces, and the civil wars which frequently broke out between the oppressed nations and their haughty conquerors.

The advantages

extent.

III. It must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that which arose from this supreme dominion of one people, or rather of one man, over so many kingdoms, was attended with many considerable advantages to mankind in general, and to the propagation and advancement of Christianity in particular. For, by the means of this almost universal empire, many nations, different in their language and in their manners, were united more intimately together in social intercourse. Hence a passage was opened to the remotest countries, by the communication which the Romans formed between the conquered provinces. Hence, also, the nations, whose manners were savage and barbarous, were civilized by the laws and commerce of the Romans. And by this, in short, the benign influence of letters and philosophy was spread abroad in countries which had lain before under the darkest ignorance. All this contributed, no doubt, in a singular manner, to facilitate the progress of the gospel, and to crown the labours of its first ministers and heralds with success.d

The Roman empire enjoys peace.

IV. The Roman empire, at the birth of Christ, was less agitated by wars and tumults than it had been for many years before. For though I cannot assent to the opinion of those who, following the account of Orosius, maintain that the temple of Janus was then shut, and that wars and diseords absolutely ceased throughout the world, yet it is certain that the period in which our Saviour descended upon earth may be justly styled the Pacific Age, if we compare it with the preceding times. And, indeed, the tranquillity that then reigned was necessary to enable the ministers of Christ to execute with success their sublime commission to the human race.

The state of the

V. The want of ancient records renders it impossible to other nations. say any thing satisfactory or certain concerning the state of those nations who did not receive the Roman yoke; nor, indeed, is their history essential to our present purpose. It is sufficient to observe, with respect to them, that those who inhabited the eastern regions were strangers to the sweets of liberty, and groaned under the burden of an oppressive yoke. This their softness and effeminacy, both in point of manners and bodily constitution, contributed to make them support with an unmanly patience; and even the religion they professed riveted their chains. On the contrary, the northern nations enjoyed in their frozen dwellings the blessings of sacred freedom, which their government, their religion, a robust and vigorous frame of body and spirit, derived from the inclemency and severity of their climate, all united to preserve and maintain.

of the Roman Government, in the posthumous works of that author, vol. i. p. 1-48, as also Scip. Maffei Verona Illustrata, lib. ii. p. 65.

See, for a further illustration of this matter, Histoire des Grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, par Nicol Bergie, printed in the year 1728. Sec also the very learned Evera Otto, De Tutela Viarum Publicarum, Part II. p. 314.

Origen, among others, makes particular mention of this in the second book of his Answer to Celsus, p. 79 of the Camb. edit. e See Jo. Massoni Templum Jani, Christo nascente, reseratum. Roterodami, 1706.

Fere itaque imperia (saya Seneca) pencs eos fuere populos, qui mitiore cœlo utuntur; in frigora septemtrionemque vergentibus im

All sunk in superstition;

VI. All these nations lived in the practice of the most abominable superstitions. For though the notion of one Supreme Being was not entirely effaced in the human mind, but showed itself frequently, even through the darkness of the grossest idolatry; yet all nations, except that of the Jews, acknowledged a number of governing powers, whom they called gods; and one or more of which they supposed to preside over each particular province or people. They worshipped these fictitious deities with various rites; they considered them as widely different from each other in sex and power; in their nature, and also in their respective offices, and they appeased them by a multiplicity of ceremonies and offerings, in order to obtain their protection and favour. So that, however different the degrees of enormity might be, with which this absurd and impious theology appeared in different countries; yet there was no nation, whose sacred rites and whose religious worship did not discover a manifest abuse of reason, and very striking marks of extravagance and folly.

But not of the VII. Every nation then had its respective gods, over same kind. which presided one more excellent than the rest; yet in such a manner that this supreme deity was himself controlled by the rigid empire of the fates, or what the philosophers called eternal necessity. The gods of the East were different from those of the Gauls, the Germans, and the other northern nations. The Grecian divinities differed widely from those of the Egyptians, who deified plants, animals, and a great variety of the productions both of nature and art. Each people also had their own particular manner of worshipping and appeasing their respective deities, entirely different from the sacred rites of other countries. In process of time, however, the Greeks and Romans grew as ambitious in their religious pretensions, as in their political claims. They maintained, that their gods, though under different names, were the objects of religious worship in all nations, and therefore they gave the names of their deities to those of other countries. This pretension, whether supported by ignorance or other means, introduced inexpressible darkness and perplexity into the

mansueta ingenia sunt, ut ait poeta, suoque simillima cœlo. Seneca De Ira, lib. ii. cap. xvi. tom. i. Opp. edit. Gronovii.

See the discourse of Athanasius, entitled, Oratio contra Gentes, in the first volume of his works.

This fact renders a satisfactory account of the vast number of gods who bore the name of Jupiter, and the multitudes that passed under those of Mercury, Venus, Hercules, Juno, &c. The Greeks, when they found, in other countries, deities that resembled their own, persuaded the worshippers of these foreign gods, that their deities were the same that were honoured in Greece, and were, indeed, convinced themselves that this was the case. In consequence of this the Greeks gave the names of their gods to those of other nations, and the Romans in this followed their example. Hence we find the names of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, &c. frequently mentioned in the more recent monuments and inscriptions which have been found among the Gauls and Germans, though the ancient

inhabitants of those countries worshipped no gods under such denominations. I cannot think that this method of the Greeks and Romans has introduced so much confusion into mythology as Dr. Mosheim here imagines. If indeed there was no resemblance between the Greek and Roman deities, and those of other nations, and if the names of the deities of the former had been given to those of the latter in an arbitrary and undistinguishing manner, the reflection of our historiau would be undeniably true. But it has been alleged by many learned men, and that with a high degree of probability, that the principal deities of all nations resembled each other extremely in their essential characters; and if so, their receiving the same names could not introduce much confusion into mythology, since they were probably derived from one common source. If the Thor of the ancient Celts was the same in dignity, character, and attributes, with the Jupiter of the Grecks and Romans, where was the impropriety of giving the same name?

history of the ancient superstitions, and has been also the occasion of innumerable errors in the writings of the learned.

No war nor dis

sioned by this

gions.

VIII. One thing indeed, which, at first sight, appears sensions occa- very remarkable, is, that this variety of religions and of variety of reli- gods neither produced wars nor dissensions among the different nations, the Egyptians excepted. Nor is it perhaps necessary to except even them, since their wars undertaken for their gods cannot be looked upon, with propriety, as wholly of a religious nature. Each nation suffered its neighbours to follow their own method of worship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and ceremonies, and discovered no sort of displeasure at their diversity of sentiments in religious matters. There is, however, little wonderful in this spirit of mutual toleration, when we consider that they all looked upon the world as one great empire, divided into various provinces, over every one of which a certain order of divinities presided; and that, therefore, none could behold with contempt the gods of other nations, or force strangers to pay homage to theirs. The Romans exercised this toleration in the amplest manner. For though they would not allow any changes to be made in the religions that were publicly professed in the empire, nor any new form of worship to be openly introduced; yet they granted to their citizens a full liberty of observing, in private, the sacred rites of other nations, and of honouring foreign deities (whose worship contained nothing inconsistent with the interests and laws of the republic) with feasts, temples, consecrated groves, and such like testimonies of homage and respect.*

Most of their gods were departed heroes.

IX. The deities of almost all nations were either ancient heroes, renowned for noble exploits and worthy deeds, or kings and generals who had founded empires, or women become illustrious by remarkable actions or useful inventions. The merit of these distinguished and eminent persons, contemplated by their posterity with an enthusiastic gratitude, was the reason of their being exalted to celestial honours. The natural world furnished another kind of deities, that were added to these by some nations. And as the sun, moon, and stars shine forth with a lustre superior to that of all other material beings; so it is certain, that they particularly attracted the attention of mankind, and received religious homage from almost all the nations of the world.1

There are ingenious things to be found upon this head in the Expositio Mensæ Isicæ of Pignorius, p. 41.

The religious wars of the Egyptians were not undertaken to compel others to adopt their worship, but to avenge the slaughter that was made of their gods, viz. crocodiles, &c. by the neighbouring nations. They were not offended at their neighbours for serving other divinities, but could not bear that they should put theirs to death.

k See concerning this interesting subject, a very curious and learned treatise of the famous Bynckershock, entitled Dissertatio de Cultu Peregrine Religionis apud Romanos. This dissertation is to be found in the Opuscula of that excellent author, which were published at Leyden in quarto, in the year 1719.

The ingenious editor of the Ruins of Balbec has given us, in the preface to that

noble work, a very curious account of the origin of the religious worship that was offered to the heavenly bodies by the Syrians and Arabians.

In those uncomfortable deserts, where the day presents nothing to the view, but the uniform, tedious, and melancholy prospect of barren sands; the night discloses a most delightful and magnificent spectacle, and appears arrayed with charms of the most attractive kind; for the most part unclouded and serene, it exhibits to the wondering eye the host of heaven, in all their amazing variety and glory. In the view of this stupendous scene, the transition from admiration to idolatry was too easy to uninstructed minds; and a people whose climate offered no beauties to contemplate but those of the firmament, would naturally look thither for the objects of their worship. The form of idolatry in Greece was different from that of the Syrians; and Mr. Wood

From these beings of a nobler kind, idolatry descended into an enormous multiplication of inferior powers; so that in many countries, mountains, trees, and rivers, the carth, the sca, and the winds, nay, even virtues, vices, and diseases, had their shrines attended by devout and zealous worshippers.m

The worship paid

X. These deities were honoured with rites and sacrifices to these deities of various kinds, according to their respective nature and offices." The rites used in their worship were absurd and ridiculous, and frequently cruel and obscene. Most nations offered animals, and some proceeded to the enormity of human sacrifices. As to their prayers, they were void of piety and sense, both with respect to their matter and their form. Pontiffs, priests, and ministers, distributed into several classes, presided in this strange worship, and were appointed to prevent disorder in the performance of the sacred rites. This order, which was supposed to be distinguished by an immediate intercourse and friendship with the gods, abused their authority in the basest manner, to deceive an ignorant and wretched people.

Confined to stated XI. The religious worship we have now been considering, times and places. was confined to stated times and places. The statues and other representations of the gods were placed in the temples," and supposed to be animated in an incomprehensible manner. For the votaries of these fictitious deities, however destitute they might be of reason in other respects, avoided carefully the imputation of worshipping inanimate beings, such as brass, wood, and stone, and therefore pretended that the divinity, represented by the statue, was really present in it, if the dedication was duly and properly made.a

Mysteries.

XII. But, besides the public worship of the gods, to which all without exception were admitted, there were certain religious institutions and rites celebrated in secret by the Greeks and several eastern nations, to which a very small number were allowed access. These were commonly called mysteries; and the persons who desired to be initiated therein, were obliged previously to exhibit satisfactory proofs of their fidelity and patience, by passing through various trials and ceremonies of the most disagreeable kind. The secret of these institutions was kept in the strictest manner, as the initiated could not reveal any thing that passed in them without exposing their lives to the most imminent danger; and that is the reason why, at this time, we are so little acquainted with the true nature and the real design of these hidden rites. It is, however, well known that, in some of those mysteries,

ingeniously attributes this to that smiling and variegated scene of mountains, valleys, rivers, groves, woods, and fountains, which the transported imagination, in the midst of its pleasing astonishment, supposed to be the seats of invisible deities. See a further account of this matter in the elegant work above mentioned.

m See the learned work of J. G. Vossius, De Idololatria.

"See J. Saubertus, De Sacrificiis Veterum. Lug. Bat. 1699.

See M. Brouerius a Niedeck, De Adorationibus Veterum Populorum, printed at Utrecht, in 8vo, in the year 1711.

P37 Some nations were without temples, such as the Persians, Gauls, Germans, and Britons, who performed their religious worship in the open air, or in the shadowy retreats of consecrated groves.

4 See Arnobius adv. Gentes, lib. vi. p. 254, according to the edition of Heraldus. See also Augustine De Civitate Dei, lib. vii. cap. xxxiii.; and the Misopogon of the Emperor Julian, p. 361, according to the edition of Spanheim.

See Clarkson on the Liturgies, sect. iv. p. 36; as also Meursius, De Mysteriis Eleusiniis.