CHAPTER III. CONCERNING THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH DURING The deplora ligion. GENT. VII. L IN this barbarous age, religion lay expiring PARTIL under a motley and enormous heap of superstitious ble state of re- inventions, and had neither the courage nor the force to raise her head, or to display her native charms, to a darkened and deluded world. In the earlier periods of the church, the worship of christians was confined to the one Supreme God, and his Son Jesus Christ; but the christians of this century multiplied the objects of their devotion, and paid homage to the remains of the true cross, to the images of the saints, and to bones, whose real owners were extremely dubious." The primitive christians in order to excite men to a course of piety and virtue, set before them that heavenly w It will not be amiss to quote here a remarkable passage out of The Life of St. Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Noyon, which is to be found in Dacherius's Spicilegium veter. Scriptor. tom. ii. p. 92. This passage, which is very proper to give us a just idea of the piety of this age, is as follows; "Huie sanctissimo viro inter cetera virtutum suarum miracula id etiam a Domino concessum erat, ut sanctorum martyrum corpora, quæ per tot sæcula abdita populis hactenus habebantur, eo investigante ac nimio ardore fidei indagante, patefacta proderentur." It appears, by this passage, that St. Eloi was a zealous relic hunter, and if we may give credit to the writer of his life, he was very successful at this kind of game; for he smelt and unkennelled the carcasses of St. Quintin, St. Plato, St. Crispin, St. Crispinian, St. Lucian, and many more. The bishops of this age, who were either ambitiously desirous of popular applause, or intent upon accumulating riches, and filling their coffers with the oblations of a superstitious people, pretended to be endowed with a miraculous sagacity in discovering the bodies of saints and martyrs. PART II. state, and those mansions of misery, which the gos- CENT. VII. pel has revealed as the different portions of the righteous and the wicked; while the christians of this century talked of nothing else but a certain fire, which effaced the stains of vice, and purified souls from their corruption. The former taught that Christ, by his sufferings and death, had made atonement for the sins of mortals; the latter seemed, by their superstitious doctrine, to exclude from the kingdom of heaven, such as had not contributed, by their offerings, to augment the riches of the clergy, or the church. The former were only studious to attain to a virtuous simplicity of life and manners, and employed their principal zeal and diligence in the culture of true and genuine piety; while the latter placed the whole of religion in external rites and bodily exercises. The methods also of solving the difficulties, and dissipating the doubts, that often arose in inquisitive minds, were of a piece with the rest of the superstitious system that now prevailed. The two great St. Eligius, or Eloi, expresses himself upon this matter in the following manner; Bonus Christianus est, qui ad ecclesiam frequenter venit, et oblationem, quæ in altari Deo offeratur, exhibet; qui de fructibus suis non gustat, nisi prius Deo aliquid offerat; qui, quoties sanctæ solemnitates adveniunt, ante dies plures castitatem etiam cum propria uxore custodit, ut secura conscientia Domini altare accedere possit; qui postremo symbolum vel orationem Dominicam memoriter tenet. Redimite animas vestras de pœna, dum habetis in potestate remedia; oblationes et decimas ecclesiis offerte, luminaria sanctis locis, juxta quod habetis, exhibite; ad ecclesiam quoque frequentius convenite, sanctorum patrocinia humiliter expetite; quod si observaveritis, securi in die judicii ante tribunal æterni judicis venientes dicetis; Da, Domine, quia dedimus.” We see here a large and ample description of the character of a good christian, in which there is not the least mention of the love of God, resignation to his will, obedience to his laws, or of justice, benevolence, and charity toward men; and in which the whole of relig ion is made to consist in coming often to the church, bringing offerings to the altar, lighting candles in consecrated places, and such like vain services. PART II. CENT. VII. and irresistible arguments against all doubts, were the authority of the church, and the working of miracles; and the production of these prodigies required no extraordinary degree of dexterity in an age of such gross and universal ignorance. The exposi tors of the ho II. Few either of the Greeks or Latins applied ly scriptures. themselves to the interpretation of the holy scriptures during this century. There are yet extant some commentaries of Isychius, bishop of Jerusalem, upon certain books of the Old Testament, and upon the Epistle to the Hebrews. Maximus published a solution of sixty five questions relating to the holy scriptures, and other productions of the same nature. Julian Pomerius attempted, but without success, to reconcile the seeming contradictions that are to be found in the sacred writings, and to explain the prophecy of Nahum. All these writers were manifestly inferior to the meanest expositors of modern times. The Grecian doctors, particularly those who pretended to be initiated in the most mysterious depths of theology, were continually hunting after fantastic allegories, as is evident from the questions of Maximus already mentioned. The Latins on the contrary were so dif fident of their abilities, that they did not dare to enter these allegorical labyrinths, but contented themselves with what flowers they could pluck out of the rich collections of Gregory and Augustin. Of this we see a manifest example in Paterius's Exposition of the Old and New Testament, which is entirely compiled from the writings of Gregory the Great. Among the interpreters of this century, we must not forget Thomas. bishop of Heraclea, who gave a second Syriac version of all the books of the New Testament.* y This useless production has been usually published with the works of Gregory the Great; in consequence of which, the benedictine monks have inserted it in their splendid edition of the works of that pontiff, tom. iv. part ii. Jos. Sim. Assemanni Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 93, 94. PART 11. ology. III. While philosophy and theology had scarcely CENT. VIL, any remains of life, any marks of existence among the Latins, the Greeks were wholly occupied with Didactic thecontroversies about certain particular branches of religion, and never once thought of reducing all the doctrines of Christianity into one regular and rational system. It is true, Antiochus, a monk of Palestine, composed a short summary of the christian doctrine, which he entitled, The Pandect of the holy scriptures. It is however easy to perceive what sort of an author he was, how void of dignity and true judgment, from many circumstances, and particularly from that rueful poem which is subjoined to his work; in which he deplores, in lamentable strains, the loss of that precious fragment of the true cross, which is said to have been carried away by the Persians among other spoils. The most elegant and judicious summary of theology that appeared among the Latins in this century, was the treatise of Ildefonse, De cognitione baptismi, which was saved by Balusius from the ruins of time; a work indeed which is not extremely necessary, since the ignoble frauds of superstition have been so fully brought to light, though it contains remarkable proofs that many of the corrupt additions and inventions, which disfigure Christianity in the popish churches, were not contrived till after this period. The dry and insipid body of divinity, composed by Taio, or Tago, a See Baluzii Miscellanea. tom. vi. p. 1. From the work of Ildefonsus it appears evident, that the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation was absolutely unknown to the Latins in this century; see C. 137, p. 99; that the holy scriptures were in the hands of all christians, and were perused by them without the least molestation or restraint, C. 80, p. 59. Ildefonsus, it is true, is zealous in banishing reason and philosophy from religious matters; he however establishes the holy scriptures and the writings of the ancient doctors as the supreme tribunals before which all theological opinions are to be tried, p. 14, 22. PART II. CENT. VII. bishop of Saragossa, under the title of Five Books of Sentences, and compiled from the writings of Gregory and Augustin, is scarcely worthy of mention, though in this century, it was considered as an admirable and immortal work." Moral writers. Several particular branches of doctrine were treated by the theological writers of this age; thus Maximus wrote concerning the nature of theology, and the manifestation of the Son in the flesh, and also concerning the two natures in Christ; and Theodore Raithu composed a treatise concerning Christ's incarnation. But a small acquaintance with the state of learning and religion at this period, will enable us to form a just though disadvantageous idea of the merit of these performances, and also of their authors. IV. The moral writers of this century, and their miserable productions, show too plainly to what a wretched state that noble and important science was now reduced. Among these moralists, the first rank is due to Dorotheus, author of the Ascetic Dissertations; Maximus; Aldhelm; Hesychius; Thalassius; and some others; yet even in their productions, what grovelling notions do we find! what rubbish, what an heap of superstitious fancies, and how many marks of extravagance, perplexity, and doubt! beside, the laity had little reason to complain of the severity of their moral directors, whose custom it was to reduce all the obligations of Christianity to the practice of a small number of virtues, as appears from Aldhelm's Treatise concerning the eight principalvirtues. Nor was the neglect of these duties attended with such penalties as were proper to restrain offenders. The false notions also, which prevailed in this age, tended much to diminish a just sense of the nature and obligation of virtue; for the solitude of the monas See Mabillon, Analecta veteris ævi, tom. ii. p. 68. |