Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

every action in common and social life. How sublime and comforting the idea it gives of the Divinity! What confidence in his justice and infinite mercy! What encouragement for the exercise of every virtue! Wherefore, then, such errors and excesses on religious pretences? It is because heresy, shooting up under a thousand different forms, incessantly startles the faith by subtleness and sophistry, by which almost the whole energy of men's minds is absorbed in the contest. Disputes engender hatred; from hatred springs every excess; and virtue, exhausted with words and cabals, loses her whole power." -How happy would it be, and how glorious for the cause of genuine Christianity, were the present generation of Christians to profit by the sad experience of the past!

As we advance in the history of the Christian church, through the middle ages, the prospect appears still more dark and gloomy. The human mind, at that period, appeared to have lost its usual energy, and its powers of discrimination; the light of reason seemed almost extinguished; sophisms, and absurdities of all kinds, were greedily swallowed; and superstition displayed itself in a thousand diversified forms. Morality was in a manner smothered under a heap of ceremonies and arbitrary observances, which acquired the name of devotion. Relics, pilgrimages, offerings, and pious legacies, were thought capable of opening the gate of heaven to the most wicked of men. The virgin Mary, and the souls of departed saints, were invoked; splendid churches were erected to their honour; their assistance was entreated, with many fervent prayers; while the mediation of Jesus Christ was thrown into the shade, and almost disregarded. An irresistible efficacy was attributed to the bones of martyrs, and to the figure of the cross, in defeating the attempts of Satan, in removing all sorts of calamities, and in healing the diseases both of the body and of the mind. Works of piety and benevolence were viewed as consisting chiefly in building and embellishing churches and chapels; in endowing monasteries; in hunting after the relics of martyrs; in procuring the intercession of saints, by rich oblations; in worshipping images; in pilgrimages to holy places; in voluntary acts of

mortification; in solitary masses; and in a variety of similar services, which could easily be reconciled with the commission of the most abominable crimes. So that the worship of "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," was exchanged for the worship of bones, hair, fragments of fingers and toes, tattered rags, images of saints, and bits of rotten wood, supposed to be the relics of the cross.-The dubbing of saints became a fruitful source of frauds and abuses throughout the Christian world; lying wonders were invented, and fabulous histories composed, to celebrate exploits that were never performed, and to glorify persons that never had a being; and absolution from the greatest crimes could easily be procured, either by penances, or by money.

The absurd principle, that Religion consists in acts of austerity, produced the most extravagant behaviour in certain devotees, and reputed saints. They lived among the wild beasts; they ran naked through the lonely deserts, with a furious aspect, and with all the agitations of madness and frenzy; they prolonged their wretched lives, by grass and wild herbs; avoided the sight and conversation of men, and remained almost motionless for several years, exposed to the rigour and inclemency of the seasons ;and all this was considered as an acceptable method of worshipping the Deity, and of attaining a share in his favour. But of all the instances of superstitious frenzy, which disgraced those times, none was held in higher veneration, than that of a certain order of men, who obtained the name of Pillar saints. These were persons of a most singular and extravagant turn of mind, who stood motionless on the tops of pillars, expressly raised for this exercise of their patience, and remained there for several years, amidst the admiration and applause of a stupid and wondering populace. This strange superstitious practice began in the fifth century, and continued in the East for more than six hundred years.-To the same principle are to be attributed the revolting practices of the Flagellants, a sect of fanatics who chastised themselves with whips in public places. Numbers of persons of this description, of all ages and sexes, made processions, walking two by two, with their shoulders bare, which they whipped till the blood ran down in streamlets; in order to obtain mercy

from God, and appease his indignation against the wickedness of the age. They held, among other things, that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism, and the other sacraments; that the forgiveness of all sins was to be obtained by it, without the merits of Jesus Christ; that the old law of Christ was soon to be abolished, and that a new law, enjoining the baptism of blood, to be administered by whipping, was to be substituted in its place.

The enormous power conferred on the ministers of religion was another source of immorality and of the greatest excesses. The pope and the clergy reigned over mankind without control, and made themselves masters of almost all the wealth of every country in Europe. They were immersed in crimes of the deepest dye; and the laity, imagining themselves able to purchase the pardon of their sins for money, followed the example of their pastors without remorse. The most violent contentions, animosities, and hatred, reigned among the different orders of monks, and between the clergy of all ranks and degrees. "Instead of consecrating ecclesiastical censures solely to spiritual purposes, they converted them into a weapon for defending their privileges, and supporting their pretensions. The priesthood, which was principally designed to bless, was most frequently employed in cursing. Excommunication was made the instrument of damning instead of saving souls; and was inflicted according to the dictates of policy or of revenge." The great and the noble, and even kings and emperors were excommunicated, when it was designed to rob, or to enslave them; and this invisible engine, which they wielded with a powerful and a sovereign hand, was used to foment dissensions between the nearest relatives, and to kindle the most bloody wars. The generality of priests and monks kept wives and concubines, without shame or scruple, and even the papal throne was the seat of debauchery and vice. The possessions of the church were either sold to the highest bidder, or turned into a patrimony for the bastards of the incumbents. Marriages, wills, contracts, the interests of families and of courts, the state of the living and of the dead, were all converted into instruments for promoting their credit, and increasing their riches. It was, therefore, a necessary result from such a state of things, that vices of

every description abounded, that morals were ruined, and that the benevolence required in the divine law was trampled under foot.

The theological speculations in which they indulged, corresponded to the degrading practices to which I have adverted, and tended to withdraw the mind from the substantial realities both of science and of religion. Sophisms and falsehoods were held forth as demonstrations. They attempted to argue after they had lost the rules of common sense. The cultivation of letters was neglected; eloquence consisted in futile declamations; and philosophy was lost in the abyss of scholastic and sophistical theology. "They attempted to penetrate into mysteries, and to decide questions which the limited faculties of the human mind are unable to comprehend or to resolve ;" and such vain speculations they endeavoured to incorporate into the system of religion, and to render theology a subject of metaphysical refinement, and of endless controversy. A false logic was introduced, which subtilized upon words, but gave no idea of things; which employed itself in nice and retined distinctions concerning objects and operations which lie beyond the reach of the human understanding, which confounded every thing by attempting to analyze every thing, and which opened an arena for men of fiery zeal to kindle the flame of controversy, and to give birth to numerous heresies. The following are a few instances, out of many, which might be produced, of the questions and controversies which occupied the attention of bishops and seraphical doctors, and gave rise to furious contentions:Whether the conception of the Blessed Virgin was immaculate? Whether Mary should be denominated the Mother of God, or the Mother of Christ? Whether the bread and wine used in the eucharist were digested? In what manner the will of Christ operated, and whether he had one will or two? Whether the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and Son, or only from the Father? Whether leavened or unleavened bread ought to be used in the eucharist? Whether souls in their intermediate state see God, or only the human nature of Christ? It was disputed between the Dominicans and Franciscans, Whether Christ had any property? The Pope pronounced the negative proposition to be a pestilential and blasphe

mous doctrine, subversive of catholic faith. Many councils were held at Constantinople, to determine what sort of light it was that the disciples saw on Mount Tabor: it was solemnly pronounced to be the eternal light with which God is encircled; and which may be termed his energy or operation, but is distinct from his nature and essence. The disputes respecting the real presence of Christ in the eucharist, led to this absurd conclusion, which came to be universally admitted-" That the substance of the bread and wine used in that ordinance is changed into the real body and blood of Christ ;" and consequently, when a man eats what has the appearance of a wafer, he really and truly eats the body and blood, the soul and divinity of Jesus Christ; and when he afterwards drinks what has the appearance of wine, he drinks the very same body and blood, soul and divinity which, perhaps, not a minute before, he had wholly and entirely eaten ! -At the period to which I now allude, the authenticity of a suspected relic was proved by Bulls-councils assembled and decided upon the authority of forged acts with regard to the antiquity of a saint, or the place where his body was deposited; and a bold imposter needed only to open his mouth, to persuade the multitude to believe whatever he pleased. To feed upon animals strangled or unclean, to eat flesh on Tuesday, eggs and cheese on Friday, to fast on Saturday, or to use unleavened bread in the service of the mass-were, by some, considered as indispensable duties, and by others, as vile abominations. In short, the history of this period is a reproach to the human understanding; an insult offered to the majesty of reason and of science, and a libel on the benevolent spirit which breathes through the whole of the Christian system.*

As a striking instance of the folly and imbecility of the human mind at this period, it may be noticed, that in several churches in France, they celebrated a festival in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt, which was called the Feast of the Ass. A young girl richly dressed, with a child in her arms, was set upon an ass richly caparisoned. The ass was led to the altar in solemn procession. High mass was said with great pomp. The ass was taught to kneel at proper places; a hymn, no less childish than impious, was sung in his praise; and when the ceremony was ended, the priest, instead of the usual words with

« AnteriorContinua »