Closely connected with the sign of the cross as a preservative against every form of evil, is the use of charms and divinations. This also was practiced by very many of the early Christians. After mentioning the various forms of auguries among the ancients, Bingham says (book 16, chap. 5):--
"The old Romans were much given to these superstitions, insomuch that they had their colleges or augers, and would neither fight, nor make war or peace, or do anything of moment without consulting them. The squeaking of a rat was sometimes the occasion of dissolving a senate, or making a consul or dictator lay down his office, as begun with an ill omen. Now, though Christianity was a professed enemy to all such vanities, yet the remains of such superstition continued in the hearts of many after their conversion."
"But there was one sort of enchantment, which many ignorant and superstitious Christians, out of the remains of heathen error, much affected; that was the use of charms, and amulets, and spells, to cure diseases, or avert dangers and mischiefs, both from themselves and the fruits of the earth. For Constantine had allowed the heathen, in the beginning of his reformation, for some time, not only to consult their augers in public, but also to use charms by way of remedy for bodily distempers, and to prevent storms of rain and hail from injuring the ripe fruits, as appears from that very law where he condemns the other sort of magic, that tended to do mischief, to be punished with death. And probably from this indulgence granted to the heathen, many Christians, who brought a tincture of heathenism with them into their religion, might take occasion to think there was no great harm in such charms or enchantments, when the design was only to do good, and not evil."
This custom prevails in the Catholic Church to-day. It is true that Bingham places its introduction into the church this side of the time of Constantine; but from what we have already learned of the superstitious reverence of the cross, and from what we shall yet learn of their devotion to relics, it will be evident to all that the use of charms and divination came into the church as soon as the heathen began to come into it in very great numbers. The reader will notice that all the perversions of gospel ordinances, and all the additions that were made to the number of the ceremonies, were for the purpose of attracting the heathen. This being the case, we would naturally expect that considerable deference would be paid to heathen philosophy, and such we find was the case. Mosheim says:--
"The Christian teachers were well aware of what essential benefit it would be in promoting their cause, not only with the multitude, but also amongst men of the higher orders, could the philosophers, whose authority and estimation with the world was unbounded, be brought to embrace Christianity. With a view, therefore, of accomplishing this desirable object, they not only adopted the study of philosophy themselves, but became loud in their recommendation of it to others, declaring that the difference between Christianity and philosophy was but trifling, and consisted merely in the former being of a nature somewhat more perfect than the latter. And it is most certain that this kind of conduct was so far productive of the desired effect, as to cause not a few of the philosophers to enroll themselves under the Christian banner. Those who have perused the various works written by such of the ancient philosophers as had been induced to embrace Christianity, cannot have failed to remark, that the Christian discipline was regarded by all of them in no other light than as a certain mode of philosophizing."--Ecclesiastical Commentaries, cent. 2, sec. 26, note 2.
The writings of Justin Martyr, Clement, Tertullian, and Origen afford ample evidence of this.
Prof. J. H. Petteingell, in "The Gospel of Life in the Syriac New Testament" (p.9), says:--
"The Christian church came early, after the days of the apostles, under the influence, not merely of the Greek language, but of the philosophy of the Greeks. The tendency in this direction was apparent even in the times of the apostles. It was against this very influence that Paul so often and earnestly warned the early Christians: 'Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and not after Christ.' 'Avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science, falsely so called, which some professing, have erred concerning the faith.' 'I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.' . . . It was not long before the Grecian philosophy had become dominant and controlling. Their schools of literature, and especially of theology, were Grecian schools. Grecian philosophers became their teachers and leaders."
Prof. George Dunbar, in his Appendix to Potter's "Antiquities of Greece," says of Plato:--
"His opinions were eagerly adopted by many of the first Christian philosophers, and aided them in forming those bold and whimsical theories about the economy of the future world, which injured the simplicity and purity of the Christian faith."
If the reader will refer to what has been written concerning the Greek philosophy and its demoralizing tendency, its highest conception of good being depraved human nature, he will speedily arrive at the conclusion that just to the extent that the study of philosophy,-"science falsely so called,"--was encouraged in the church, to the same extent would heathen superstition and immorality exist in the church, even if such things were not encouraged by any other means.
One of the errors which was brought into the church as the direct result of the study of Greek philosophy, is the doctrine of:
Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead
Says Killen:--
"The Platonic philosophy taught the necessity of a state of purification after death; and a modification of this doctrine formed part of at least some of the systems of gnosticism. It is inculcated by Tertullian, the great champion of Montanism; and we have seen how, according to Mani, departed souls must pass, first to the moon, and then to the sun, that they may thus undergo a twofold purgation. Here, again, a tenet originally promulgated by the heretics, became at length a portion of the creed of the church. The Manichaeans, as well as the gnostics, rejected the doctrine of the atonement, and as faith in the perfection of the cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ declined, a belief in purgatory became popular."--Ancient Church, period 2, sec. 2, chap. 4, paragraph 15.
Of course an acceptance of the philosophy of Plato, was an acceptance of the heathen dogma of the inherent immortality of the soul, and from that the doctrine of purgatory is a legitimate outgrowth. In the writings of the Fathers themselves, we have already found all these errors and superstitions plainly taught. See especially Hermas and Tertullian.
Again we quote from Bingham:--
"Next after prayer for kings, followed prayer for the dead, that is, for all that departed in the true faith in Christ. . . . We have heard Arnobius say already, that they prayed for the living and the dead in general. And long before him Tertullian speaks of oblations for the dead, for their birthdays, that is, the day of their death, or a new birth unto happiness, in their annual commemorations. He says every woman prayed for the soul of her deceased husband, desiring that he might find rest and refreshment at present, and a part in the first resurrection, and offering an annual oblation for him on the day of his death. In like manner he says the husband prayed for the soul of his wife, and offered annual oblations for her. . . . Cyril of Jerusalem, in describing the prayer after consecration, says, We offer this sacrifice in memory of all those that are fallen asleep before us, first patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that God by their prayers and intercessions may receive our supplications; and then we pray for our holy fathers and bishops, and all that are fallen asleep before us, believing it to be a considerable advantage to their souls to be prayed for, whilst the holy and tremendous sacrifice lies upon the altar."-Antiquities, book 15, chap. 3.
When Paul warned the Colossians against being spoiled "through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ," he mentions as connected with it "voluntary humility [asceticism] and worshiping of angels" (demons under the name of departed men), a thing introduced by men "vainly puffed up" by their "fleshly mind." Col. 2:8, 18. Whoever has given the matter any thought, knows that the heathen religion was Spiritualism, and so when the church became paganized, she assumed a form of Spiritualism; for purgatory, prayers to and for the dead, and the worship of martyrs, are nothing else. This doctrine remains in the Catholic Church to-day ; but Protestant denominations have generally repudiated it. Why this ancient dogma of "the church" should be rejected, while others no more ancient, and resting on no better authority, are accepted, we cannot determine. There are some things for which not even "a reasonable creature" can give a reason. But it would seem from the following that in the matter of purgatory, a part, at least, of the ancient church was even more Catholic than Catholicism itself:--
"Many of the ancients believed that there would be a fire of probation, through which all must pass at the last day, even the prophets and apostles, and even the Virgin Mary herself not excepted. Which is asserted not only by Origen, Irenaeus, and Lactantius, but also by St. Ambrose, who says after Origen, that all must pass through the flames, though it be John the evangelist, though it be Peter."-Bingham's Antiquities, book 15, chap. 3.
"Pious Frauds"
Referring again to the testimony which we quoted concerning the kind of morality inculcated by the Greek philosophy, the reader will find that lying was thought to be a virtue, and often to be preferred to truth. When the early Christians accepted the Greek philosophy it was not long before they adopted the heathen maxim that "a lie is better than a hurtful truth," as is proved by the following testimony:--
"The code of heathen morality supplied a ready apology for falsehood, and its accommodating principles soon found too much encouragement within the pale of the church. Hence the pious frauds which were now perpetrated. Various works made their appearance with the name of some apostolic man appended to them, their fabricators thus hoping to give currency to opinions or to practices which might otherwise have encountered much opposition. At the same time many evinced a disposition to supplement the silence of the written word by the aid of tradition. . . . During this period the uncertainty of any other guide than the inspired record was repeatedly demonstrated; for, though Christians were removed at so short a distance from apostolic times, the traditions of one church sometimes diametrically contradicted those of another."--Killen's Ancient Church, period 2, sec. 2, chap. 5, paragraph 7.
It may be allowable to quote also in this place an extract already quoted from Mosheim. It is this:--
"By some of the weaker brethren, in their anxiety to assist God with all their might [in the propagation of the Christian faith], such dishonest artifices were occasionally resorted to, as could not, under any circumstances, admit of excuse, and were utterly unworthy of that sacred cause which they were unquestionably intended to support. Perceiving, for instance, in what vast repute the poetical effusions of those ancient prophetesses, termed Sybils, were held by the Greeks and Romans, some Christian, or rather, perhaps, an association of Christians, in the reign of Antoninus Pius , composed eight books of Sybilline verses, made up of prophecies respecting Christ and his kingdom. . . . Many other deceptions of this sort, to which custom has very improperly given the denomination of pious frauds, are known to have been practiced in this and the succeeding century. The authors of them were, in all probability, actuated by no ill intention, but this is all that can be said in their favor, for their conduct in this respect was certainly most ill-advised and unwarrantable. Although the greater part of those who were concerned in these forgeries on the public, undoubtedly belonged to some heretical sect or other, and particularly to that class which arrogated to itself the pompous denomination of gnostics, I yet cannot take upon me to acquit even the most strictly orthodox from all participation in this species of criminality; for it appears from evidence superior to all exception, that a pernicious maxim, which was current in the schools not only of the Egyptians, the Platonists, and the Pythagoreans, but also of the Jews, was very early recognized by the Christians, and soon found amongst them numerous patrons, namely, that those who made it their business to deceive with a view of promoting the cause of truth, were deserving rather of commendation than censure."--Commentaries, cent. 2, sec. 7.
He says also that the disputing of the Fathers "had victory rather than truth for its object." If this was done by the teachers in the church, it is easy to imagine what was the prevalent standard; and remember that this was within less than fifty years after the death of the last apostle, so rapidly did the "mystery of iniquity" work. Now there is just as much reason for following the custom of "the early church" in the matter of "pious" frauds as in the matter of substituting Sunday for Sabbath. Both were violations of the decalogue; but the "pious" fraud has the advantage of the other on the score of antiquity, since it was common long before Sunday began to take the place of the Sabbath. People should be consistent; if they are going to adopt one practice of the early church, they should not reject another which stands on the same authority, and which is more ancient.
Immorality in the Church
We have already learned how some, at least, of the bishops allowed the members of their flocks to emulate in their feasts all the profligacy of the heathen; we are therefore now prepared to believe that no bounds were set to the corruption that was then overwhelming the church. We introduce the testimony by the following mild statement of the case by Killen:--
"There was a traitor among the twelve, and it is apparent from the New Testament that, in the apostolic church, there were not a few unworthy members. 'Many walk,' says Paul, 'of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.' In the second and third centuries the number of such false brethren did not diminish. To those who are ignorant of its saving power, Christianity may commend itself, by its external evidences, as a revelation from God; and many, who are not prepared to submit to its authority, may seek admission to its privileges. The superficial character of much of the evangelism now current appeared in times of persecution; for, on the first appearance of danger, multitudes abjured the gospel, and returned to the heathen superstitions. It is, besides, a fact which cannot be disputed that, in the third century, the more zealous champions of the faith felt it necessary to denounce the secularity of many of the ministers of the church. Before the Decian persecution not a few of the bishops were mere worldlings, and such was their zeal for money-making, that they left their parishes neglected, and traveled to remote districts where, at certain seasons of the year, they might carry on a profitable traffic. If we are to believe the testimony of the most distinguished ecclesiastics of the period, crimes were then perpetrated, to which it would be difficult to find anything like parallels in the darkest pages of the history of modern Christianity. The chief pastor of the largest church in the proconsular Africa tells, for instance, of one of his own presbyters who robbed orphans and defrauded widows, who permitted his father to die of hunger, and treated his pregnant wife with horrid brutality. (Cyprian, Ad Cornelium, epis. 49.) Another ecclesiastic, of still higher position, speaks of three bishops in his neighborhood who engaged, when intoxicated, in the solemn rite of ordination. Such excesses were indignantly condemned by all right-hearted disciples, but the fact, that those to whom they were imputed were not destitute of partisans, supplies clear yet melancholy proof that neither the Christian people nor the Christian ministry, even in the third century, possessed and unsullied reputation."--Ancient Church, period 2, sec. 1, chap. 3, paragraph 2.
This is not to be wondered at; if it was considered right to lie when contending for the "truth" (!) what could be expected of men in ordinary life? Robinson, in his "Ecclesiastical Researches" (p. 126), as quoted by "Mcclintock and Strong's Cyclopedia," art. "Novatian," uses the following language concerning that ecclesiastic and the church in his time:--
"He saw with extreme pain the intolerable depravity of the church. Christians within the space of a very few years were caressed by one emperor and persecuted by another. In seasons of prosperity many persons rushed into the church for base purposes. In times of adversity they denied the faith, and reverted again to idolatry. When the squall was over, they came again to the church, with all their vices, to deprave others by their example. The bishops, fond of proselytes, encouraged all this, and transferred the attention of Christians to vain shows at Easter, and other Jewish ceremonies, adulterated too with paganism."
Novatian died about 255 A. D.; therefore the church reached the condition here described less than one hundred and fifty years after the death of the apostle John, Certainly the degradation was rapid enough.
Bingham says:--
"There goes a decree under the name of Pope Eutychian, which makes the habit of drunkenness [a] matter of excommunication to a layman also, till he break off the custom by reformation and amendment. But it must be owned, this vice was sometimes so general and epidemical, that the numbers of transgressors made the exactness of the discipline impracticable. St. Austin complains and laments, that it was so in Africa in his time. Though the apostle had condemned three great and detestable vices in one place, viz., rioting and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness, strife and envying; yet matters were come to that pass with men, that two of the three drunkenness and strife, were thought tolerable things, whilst wantonness only was esteemed worthy of excommunication; and there was some danger that in a little time the other two might be reputed no vices at all. For rioting and drunkenness was esteemed so harmless and allowable a thing, that men not only practiced it in their own houses every day, but in the memorials of the holy martyrs on solemn festivals, and that in pretended honor to the martyrs also."--Antiquities of the Christian Church, book 16, chap. 11.
After quoting what Cyprian (who lived in the early part of the third century) says of the condition of the church, Bingham adds:--
"He was forced to endure these colleagues of his, who were covetous, rapacious, extortioners, usurers, deserters, fraudulent , and cruel. It was impossible to exercise church censures with any good effect, when there were such multitudes both of priests and people ready to oppose them, and distract the church into a thousand schisms, rather than suffer themselves to be curbed or reformed that way."-Id., chap. 3.
In another place he gives the following, which shows not only the depravity of the church in the third century, but also how readily Scripture could be manufactured to meet the emergency:--
"If a bishop, presbyter, or deacon, says one of the apostolic cannons, be taken in fornication, perjury, or theft, he shall be deposed, but not excommunicated; for the Scripture says, 'Thou shalt not punish twice for the same crime.' And the like rule is prescribed in the canons of Peter, bishop of Alexandria, and those of St. Basil."--Id., book 17, chap. 1.
If anything were yet lacking to show how rapidly the church, as a whole, was becoming paganized, even in the third century, the following from Dr. Killen most certainly supplies the lack:--
"Meanwhile the introduction of a false standard of piety created much mischief. It had long been received as a maxim, among certain classes of philosophers, that bodily abstinence is necessary to those who would attain more exalted wisdom; and the Gentile theology, especially in Egypt and the East, had indorsed the principle. It was not without advocates among the Jews, as is apparent from the discipline of the Essenes and the Therapeutae. At an early period its influence was felt within the pale of the church, and before the termination of the second century, individual members here and there were to be found who eschewed certain kinds of food, and abstained from marriage. The pagan literati, who now joined the disciples in considerable numbers, did much to promote the credit of this adulterated Christianity. Its votaries, who were designated ascetics and philosophers, did not withdraw themselves from the world, but, whilst adhering to their own regimen, still remained mindful of their social obligations. Their self-imposed mortification soon found admirers, and an opinion gradually gained ground that these abstinent disciples cultivated a higher form of piety. The adherents of the new discipline silently increased, and by the middle of the third century, a class of females who led a single life, and who, by way of distinction, were called virgins, were in some places regarded by the other church-members with special veneration. Among the clergy also celibacy was now considered a mark of superior holiness. But, in various places, pietism about this time assumed a form which disgusted all persons of sober judgment and ordinary discretion. The unmarried clergy and the virgins deemed it right to cultivate the communion of saints after a new fashion, alleging that, in each other's society, they enjoyed peculiar advantages for spiritual improvement. It was not, therefore, uncommon to find a single ecclesiastic and one of the sisterhood of virgins dwelling in the same house and sharing the same bed! All the while the parties repudiated the imputation of any improper intercourse, but in some cases the proofs of profligacy were too plain to be concealed, and common sense refused to credit the pretensions of such an absurd and suspicious spiritualism. The ecclesiastical authorities felt it necessary to interfere, and compel the professed virgins and the single clergy to abstain from a degree of intimacy which was unquestionably not free from the appearance of evil."--Ancient Church, period 2, sec. 1, chap. 3, paragraph 3.
If the reader will turn back to pages 90 and 91, he will there find that the "Shepherd of Hermas," which was regarded as an inspired production, was responsible for this vile practice. The heathen Christians of the early centuries were apt pupils of this "bad master in morals."
Vice is the next neighbor to fanaticism; that excessive zeal for virtue, which leads men to despise and reject that which the Lord has instituted and declared honorable, is as sure to end in immorality as is open contempt of all moral law. Henry Charles Lea, in his "History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages," says that the practice of unnatural lusts "was a prevalent vice of the Middle ages, and one to which monastic communities were especially subject" (vol. 3, p. 255), and he quotes as follows from Nicholas de Clemangis, a Catholic writer of the fourteenth century, and secretary to Pope Benedict XIII.:--
"As for monks, they specially avoid all to which their vows oblige them--chastity, poverty, and obedience--and are licentious and undisciplined vagabonds. The mendicants, who pretend to make amends for the neglect of duty by the secular clergy, are Pharisees, and wolves in sheep's clothing. With incredible eagerness and infinite deceit they seek everywhere for temporal gain; they abandon themselves beyond all other men to the pleasures of the flesh, feasting and drinking, and polluting all things with their burning lusts. As for the nuns, modesty forbids the description of the nunneries, which are mere brothels; so that to take the veil is equivalent to becoming a public prostitute."--History of the Inquisition, vol. 3, pp. 630, 631.
And this state of things has always existed to the same degree that ascetic fanaticism has existed.
Dr. Schaff certainly cannot be accused of lack of respect for early traditions, yet he makes the following general statement concerning the first three centuries of the church's existence:--
"The Christian life of the period before Constantine has certainly been often unwarrantably idealized. In a human nature essentially the same, we could but expect all sorts of the same faults and excrescences, which we found even in the apostolic churches. The epistles of Cyprian afford incontestable evidence, that, especially in the intervals of repose, an abatement of zeal soon showed itself, and, on the re-opening of persecution, the Christian name was dishonored by whole hosts of apostates. And not seldom did the most prominent virtues, courage in death, and strictness of morals, degenerate to morbid fanaticism and unnatural rigor."--History of the Christian Church, vol. 1, sec. 87.
The growth of asceticism can be traced through the writings of the Fathers; and the following from Mosheim, touching upon the point, gives a brief outline of all that we have noted in the history of the church, and prepares the way for the last feature that we design to consider:-
"Those idle fictions, which a regard for the Platonic philosophy and for the prevailing opinions of the day had induced most theologians to embrace even before the times of Constantine, were now in various ways confirmed, extended, and embellished. Hence it is that we see, on every side, evident traces of excessive veneration for departed saints, of a purifying fire for souls when separated from the body, of the celibacy of the clergy, of the worship of images and relics, and of many other opinions, which in process of time almost banished the true religion, or at least very much obscured and corrupted it.
"Genuine piety was supplanted by a long train of superstitious observances, which originated partly from opinions inconsiderately embraced, partly from a preposterous disposition to adopt profane rites, and combine them with Christian worship, and partly from the natural predilection of mankind in general for a splendid and ostentatious religion. At first, frequent pilgrimages were undertaken to Palestine, and to the tombs of the martyrs; as if, thence men could bear away the radical principles of holiness, and certain hopes of salvation. Next, from Palestine and from places venerated for their sanctity, portions of dust or of earth were brought; as if they were the most powerful protection against the assaults of evil spirits; and these were bought and sold everywhere at great prices. Further, the public supplications by which the pagans were accustomed to appease their gods, were borrowed from them, and were celebrated in many places with great pomp. To the temples, to water consecrated in due form, and to the images of holy men, the same efficacy was ascribed and the same privileges assigned as had been attributed to the pagan temples, statues, and lustrations, before the advent of Christ. Images indeed were as yet but rare, and statues did not exist. And shameful as it may appear, it is beyond all doubt, that the worship of the martyrs,--with no bad intentions indeed, yet to the great injury of the Christian cause,--was modeled by degrees into conformity with the worship which the pagans had in former times paid to their gods. From these specimens the intelligent reader will be able to conceive how much injury resulted to Christianity and from an indiscreet eagerness to allure the pagans to embrace this religion."
"This unenlightened piety of the common people opened a wide door to the endless frauds of persons who were base enough to take advantage of the ignorance and errors of others, disingenuously to advance their own interests. Rumors were artfully disseminated of prodigies and wonders to be seen in certain edifices and places (a trick before this time practiced by the pagan priest), whereby the infatuated populace were drawn together, and the stupidity and ignorance of those who looked upon everything new and unusual as a miracle, were often wretchedly imposed upon. Graves of saints and martyrs were supposed to be where they were not; the list of saints was enriched with fictitious names; and even robbers were converted into martyrs. Some buried blood-stained bones in retired places, and then gave out that they had been informed in a dream, that the corpse of some friend of God was there interred. Many, especially of the monks, traveled through the different provinces, and not only shamelessly carried on a traffic in fictitious relics, but also deceived the eyes of the multitude with ludicrous combats with evil spirits. It would require a volume to detail the various impositions which were, for the most part successfully, practiced by artful knaves, after genuine piety and true religion were compelled to resign their dominion in great measure to superstition."--Ecclesiastical History, book 2, cent. 4, part 2, chap. 3, sec. 1-3.
Let not the reader imagine that this was Christianity, although it bore that name. There is no reason whatever in the infidel charges that are brought against Christianity, because of the conduct of the apostate church. Everybody recognizes the truthfulness of the saying that "all is not gold that glitters." But in the days of which we are writing there was not even the glitter of the gold of Christianity. In its stead there was only the tinsel of paganism. But it must not be supposed that there were no Christians at that time. There were true Christians, but their history is not accessible at present. They were of little repute, for they were of the class "of whom the world was not worth," and so their history is preserved only in the records of "the church of the First-born," in Heaven.