Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part V

IV. But the primitive Christian demonstrated his faith by his
virtues; and it was very justly supposed that the divine
persuasion, which enlightened or subdued the understanding, must,
at the same time, purify the heart, and direct the actions, of
the believer. The first apologists of Christianity who justify
the innocence of their brethren, and the writers of a later
period who celebrate the sanctity of their ancestors, display, in
the most lively colors, the reformation of manners which was
introduced into the world by the preaching of the gospel. As it
is my intention to remark only such human causes as were
permitted to second the influence of revelation, I shall slightly
mention two motives which might naturally render the lives of the
primitive Christians much purer and more austere than those of
their Pagan contemporaries, or their degenerate successors;
repentance for their past sins, and the laudable desire of
supporting the reputation of the society in which they were
engaged. 83

83 (return) [ These, in the opinion of the editor, are the most
uncandid paragraphs in Gibbon’s History. He ought either, with
manly courage, to have denied the moral reformation introduced by
Christianity, or fairly to have investigated all its motives; not
to have confined himself to an insidious and sarcastic
description of the less pure and generous elements of the
Christian character as it appeared even at that early time.—M.]

It is a very ancient reproach, suggested by the ignorance or the
malice of infidelity, that the Christians allured into their
party the most atrocious criminals, who, as soon as they were
touched by a sense of remorse, were easily persuaded to wash
away, in the water of baptism, the guilt of their past conduct,
for which the temples of the gods refused to grant them any
expiation. But this reproach, when it is cleared from
misrepresentation, contributes as much to the honor as it did to
the increase of the church. The friends of Christianity may
acknowledge without a blush that many of the most eminent saints
had been before their baptism the most abandoned sinners. Those
persons, who in the world had followed, though in an imperfect
manner, the dictates of benevolence and propriety, derived such a
calm satisfaction from the opinion of their own rectitude, as
rendered them much less susceptible of the sudden emotions of
shame, of grief, and of terror, which have given birth to so many
wonderful conversions. After the example of their divine Master,
the missionaries of the gospel disdained not the society of men,
and especially of women, oppressed by the consciousness, and very
often by the effects, of their vices. As they emerged from sin
and superstition to the glorious hope of immortality, they
resolved to devote themselves to a life, not only of virtue, but
of penitence. The desire of perfection became the ruling passion
of their soul; and it is well known that, while reason embraces a
cold mediocrity, our passions hurry us, with rapid violence, over
the space which lies between the most opposite extremes. 83b

83b (return) [The imputations of Celsus and Julian, with the
defence of the fathers, are very fairly stated by Spanheim,
Commentaire sur les Cesars de Julian, p. 468.]

When the new converts had been enrolled in the number of the
faithful, and were admitted to the sacraments of the church, they
found themselves restrained from relapsing into their past
disorders by another consideration of a less spiritual, but of a
very innocent and respectable nature. Any particular society that
has departed from the great body of the nation, or the religion
to which it belonged, immediately becomes the object of universal
as well as invidious observation. In proportion to the smallness
of its numbers, the character of the society may be affected by
the virtues and vices of the persons who compose it; and every
member is engaged to watch with the most vigilant attention over
his own behavior, and over that of his brethren, since, as he
must expect to incur a part of the common disgrace, he may hope
to enjoy a share of the common reputation. When the Christians of
Bithynia were brought before the tribunal of the younger Pliny,
they assured the proconsul, that, far from being engaged in any
unlawful conspiracy, they were bound by a solemn obligation to
abstain from the commission of those crimes which disturb the
private or public peace of society, from theft, robbery,
adultery, perjury, and fraud. 84 841 Near a century afterwards,
Tertullian, with an honest pride, could boast, that very few
Christians had suffered by the hand of the executioner, except on
account of their religion. 85 Their serious and sequestered life,
averse to the gay luxury of the age, inured them to chastity,
temperance, economy, and all the sober and domestic virtues. As
the greater number were of some trade or profession, it was
incumbent on them, by the strictest integrity and the fairest
dealing, to remove the suspicions which the profane are too apt
to conceive against the appearances of sanctity. The contempt of
the world exercised them in the habits of humility, meekness, and
patience. The more they were persecuted, the more closely they
adhered to each other. Their mutual charity and unsuspecting
confidence has been remarked by infidels, and was too often
abused by perfidious friends. 86

84 (return) [ Plin. Epist. x. 97. * Note: Is not the sense of
Tertullian rather, if guilty of any other offence, he had thereby
ceased to be a Christian?—M.]

841 (return) [ And this blamelessness was fully admitted by the
candid and enlightened Roman.—M.]

85 (return) [ Tertullian, Apolog. c. 44. He adds, however, with
some degree of hesitation, “Aut si aliud, jam non Christianus.” *
Note: Tertullian says positively no Christian, nemo illic
Christianus; for the rest, the limitation which he himself
subjoins, and which Gibbon quotes in the foregoing note,
diminishes the force of this assertion, and appears to prove that
at least he knew none such.—G.]

86 (return) [ The philosopher Peregrinus (of whose life and death
Lucian has left us so entertaining an account) imposed, for a
long time, on the credulous simplicity of the Christians of
Asia.]

It is a very honorable circumstance for the morals of the
primitive Christians, that even their faults, or rather errors,
were derived from an excess of virtue. The bishops and doctors of
the church, whose evidence attests, and whose authority might
influence, the professions, the principles, and even the practice
of their contemporaries, had studied the Scriptures with less
skill than devotion; and they often received, in the most literal
sense, those rigid precepts of Christ and the apostles, to which
the prudence of succeeding commentators has applied a looser and
more figurative mode of interpretation. Ambitious to exalt the
perfection of the gospel above the wisdom of philosophy, the
zealous fathers have carried the duties of self-mortification, of
purity, and of patience, to a height which it is scarcely
possible to attain, and much less to preserve, in our present
state of weakness and corruption. A doctrine so extraordinary and
so sublime must inevitably command the veneration of the people;
but it was ill calculated to obtain the suffrage of those worldly
philosophers who, in the conduct of this transitory life, consult
only the feelings of nature and the interest of society. 87

87 (return) [ See a very judicious treatise of Barbeyrac sur la
Morale des Peres.]

There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish
in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of
pleasure and the love of action. If the former is refined by art
and learning, improved by the charms of social intercourse, and
corrected by a just regard to economy, to health, and to
reputation, it is productive of the greatest part of the
happiness of private life. The love of action is a principle of a
much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger,
to ambition, and to revenge; but when it is guided by the sense
of propriety and benevolence, it becomes the parent of every
virtue, and if those virtues are accompanied with equal
abilities, a family, a state, or an empire may be indebted for
their safety and prosperity to the undaunted courage of a single
man. To the love of pleasure we may therefore ascribe most of the
agreeable, to the love of action we may attribute most of the
useful and respectable, qualifications. The character in which
both the one and the other should be united and harmonized would
seem to constitute the most perfect idea of human nature. The
insensible and inactive disposition, which should be supposed
alike destitute of both, would be rejected, by the common consent
of mankind, as utterly incapable of procuring any happiness to
the individual, or any public benefit to the world. But it was
not in _this_ world that the primitive Christians were desirous
of making themselves either agreeable or useful. 871

871 (return) [ El que me fait cette homelie semi-stoicienne,
semi-epicurienne? t’on jamais regarde l’amour du plaisir comme
l’un des principes de la perfection morale? Et de quel droit
faites vous de l’amour de l’action, et de l’amour du plaisir, les
seuls elemens de l’etre humain? Est ce que vous faites
abstraction de la verite en elle-meme, de la conscience et du
sentiment du devoir? Est ce que vous ne sentez point, par
exemple, que le sacrifice du moi a la justice et a la verite, est
aussi dans le coeur de l’homme: que tout n’est pas pour lui
action ou plaisir, et que dans le bien ce n’est pas le mouvement,
mais la verite, qu’il cherche? Et puis * * Thucy dide et Tacite.
ces maitres de l’histoire, ont ils jamais introduits dans leur
recits un fragment de dissertation sur le plaisir et sur
l’action. Villemain Cours de Lit. Franc part ii. Lecon v.—M.]

The acquisition of knowledge, the exercise of our reason or
fancy, and the cheerful flow of unguarded conversation, may
employ the leisure of a liberal mind. Such amusements, however,
were rejected with abhorrence, or admitted with the utmost
caution, by the severity of the fathers, who despised all
knowledge that was not useful to salvation, and who considered
all levity of discours as a criminal abuse of the gift of speech.
In our present state of existence the body is so inseparably
connected with the soul, that it seems to be our interest to
taste, with innocence and moderation, the enjoyments of which
that faithful companion is susceptible. Very different was the
reasoning of our devout predecessors; vainly aspiring to imitate
the perfection of angels, they disdained, or they affected to
disdain, every earthly and corporeal delight. 88 Some of our
senses indeed are necessary for our preservation, others for our
subsistence, and others again for our information; and thus far
it was impossible to reject the use of them. The first sensation
of pleasure was marked as the first moment of their abuse. The
unfeeling candidate for heaven was instructed, not only to resist
the grosser allurements of the taste or smell, but even to shut
his ears against the profane harmony of sounds, and to view with
indifference the most finished productions of human art. Gay
apparel, magnificent houses, and elegant furniture, were supposed
to unite the double guilt of pride and of sensuality; a simple
and mortified appearance was more suitable to the Christian who
was certain of his sins and doubtful of his salvation. In their
censures of luxury the fathers are extremely minute and
circumstantial; 89 and among the various articles which excite
their pious indignation we may enumerate false hair, garments of
any color except white, instruments of music, vases of gold or
silver, downy pillows, (as Jacob reposed his head on a stone,)
white bread, foreign wines, public salutations, the use of warm
baths, and the practice of shaving the beard, which, according to
the expression of Tertullian, is a lie against our own faces, and
an impious attempt to improve the works of the Creator. 90 When
Christianity was introduced among the rich and the polite, the
observation of these singular laws was left, as it would be at
present, to the few who were ambitious of superior sanctity. But
it is always easy, as well as agreeable, for the inferior ranks
of mankind to claim a merit from the contempt of that pomp and
pleasure which fortune has placed beyond their reach. The virtue
of the primitive Christians, like that of the first Romans, was
very frequently guarded by poverty and ignorance.

88 (return) [ Lactant. Institut. Divin. l. vi. c. 20, 21, 22.]

89 (return) [ Consult a work of Clemens of Alexandria, entitled
The Pædagogue, which contains the rudiments of ethics, as they
were taught in the most celebrated of the Christian schools.]

90 (return) [ Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 23. Clemens
Alexandrin. Pædagog. l. iii. c. 8.]

The chaste severity of the fathers, in whatever related to the
commerce of the two sexes, flowed from the same principle; their
abhorrence of every enjoyment which might gratify the sensual,
and degrade the spiritual nature of man. It was their favorite
opinion, that if Adam had preserved his obedience to the Creator,
he would have lived forever in a state of virgin purity, and that
some harmless mode of vegetation might have peopled paradise with
a race of innocent and immortal beings. 91 The use of marriage
was permitted only to his fallen posterity, as a necessary
expedient to continue the human species, and as a restraint,
however imperfect, on the natural licentiousness of desire. The
hesitation of the orthodox casuists on this interesting subject,
betrays the perplexity of men, unwilling to approve an
institution which they were compelled to tolerate. 92 The
enumeration of the very whimsical laws, which they most
circumstantially imposed on the marriage-bed, would force a smile
from the young and a blush from the fair. It was their unanimous
sentiment that a first marriage was adequate to all the purposes
of nature and of society. The sensual connection was refined into
a resemblance of the mystic union of Christ with his church, and
was pronounced to be indissoluble either by divorce or by death.
The practice of second nuptials was branded with the name of a
legal adultery; and the persons who were guilty of so scandalous
an offence against Christian purity, were soon excluded from the
honors, and even from the alms, of the church. 93 Since desire
was imputed as a crime, and marriage was tolerated as a defect,
it was consistent with the same principles to consider a state of
celibacy as the nearest approach to the divine perfection. It was
with the utmost difficulty that ancient Rome could support the
institution of six vestals; 94 but the primitive church was
filled with a number of persons of either sex, who had devoted
themselves to the profession of perpetual chastity. 95 A few of
these, among whom we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the
most prudent to disarm the tempter. 96 Some were insensible and
some were invincible against the assaults of the flesh.
Disdaining an ignominious flight, the virgins of the warm climate
of Africa encountered the enemy in the closest engagement; they
permitted priests and deacons to share their bed, and gloried
amidst the flames in their unsullied purity. But insulted Nature
sometimes vindicated her rights, and this new species of
martyrdom served only to introduce a new scandal into the church.
97 Among the Christian ascetics, however, (a name which they soon
acquired from their painful exercise,) many, as they were less
presumptuous, were probably more successful. The loss of sensual
pleasure was supplied and compensated by spiritual pride. Even
the multitude of Pagans were inclined to estimate the merit of
the sacrifice by its apparent difficulty; and it was in the
praise of these chaste spouses of Christ that the fathers have
poured forth the troubled stream of their eloquence. 98 Such are
the early traces of monastic principles and institutions, which,
in a subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the temporal
advantages of Christianity. 99

91 (return) [ Beausobro, Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, l. vii.
c. 3. Justin, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustin, &c., strongly incline
to this opinion. Note: But these were Gnostic or Manichean
opinions. Beausobre distinctly describes Autustine’s bias to his
recent escape from Manicheism; and adds that he afterwards
changed his views.—M.]

92 (return) [ Some of the Gnostic heretics were more consistent;
they rejected the use of marriage.]

93 (return) [ See a chain of tradition, from Justin Martyr to
Jerome, in the Morale des Peres, c. iv. 6—26.]

94 (return) [ See a very curious Dissertation on the Vestals, in
the Memoires de l’Academie des Inscriptions, tom. iv. p. 161—227.
Notwithstanding the honors and rewards which were bestowed on
those virgins, it was difficult to procure a sufficient number;
nor could the dread of the most horrible death always restrain
their incontinence.]

95 (return) [ Cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus aut nullam.
Minutius Fælix, c. 31. Justin. Apolog. Major. Athenagoras in
Legat. c 28. Tertullian de Cultu Foemin. l. ii.]

96 (return) [ Eusebius, l. vi. 8. Before the fame of Origen had
excited envy and persecution, this extraordinary action was
rather admired than censured. As it was his general practice to
allegorize Scripture, it seems unfortunate that in this instance
only, he should have adopted the literal sense.]

97 (return) [ Cyprian. Epist. 4, and Dodwell, Dissertat.
Cyprianic. iii. Something like this rash attempt was long
afterwards imputed to the founder of the order of Fontevrault.
Bayle has amused himself and his readers on that very delicate
subject.]

98 (return) [ Dupin (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 195)
gives a particular account of the dialogue of the ten virgins, as
it was composed by Methodius, Bishop of Tyre. The praises of
virginity are excessive.]

99 (return) [ The Ascetics (as early as the second century) made
a public profession of mortifying their bodies, and of abstaining
from the use of flesh and wine. Mosheim, p. 310.]

The Christians were not less averse to the business than to the
pleasures of this world. The defence of our persons and property
they knew not how to reconcile with the patient doctrine which
enjoined an unlimited forgiveness of past injuries, and commanded
them to invite the repetition of fresh insults. Their simplicity
was offended by the use of oaths, by the pomp of magistracy, and
by the active contention of public life; nor could their humane
ignorance be convinced that it was lawful on any occasion to shed
the blood of our fellow-creatures, either by the sword of
justice, or by that of war; even though their criminal or hostile
attempts should threaten the peace and safety of the whole
community. 100 It was acknowledged that, under a less perfect
law, the powers of the Jewish constitution had been exercised,
with the approbation of heaven, by inspired prophets and by
anointed kings. The Christians felt and confessed that such
institutions might be necessary for the present system of the
world, and they cheerfully submitted to the authority of their
Pagan governors. But while they inculcated the maxims of passive
obedience, they refused to take any active part in the civil
administration or the military defence of the empire. Some
indulgence might, perhaps, be allowed to those persons who,
before their conversion, were already engaged in such violent and
sanguinary occupations; 101a but it was impossible that the
Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume
the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes. 102b
This indolent, or even criminal disregard to the public welfare,
exposed them to the contempt and reproaches of the Pagans, who
very frequently asked, what must be the fate of the empire,
attacked on every side by the barbarians, if all mankind should
adopt the pusillanimous sentiments of the new sect. 103 To this
insulting question the Christian apologists returned obscure and
ambiguous answers, as they were unwilling to reveal the secret
cause of their security; the expectation that, before the
conversion of mankind was accomplished, war, government, the
Roman empire, and the world itself, would be no more. It may be
observed, that, in this instance likewise, the situation of the
first Christians coincided very happily with their religious
scruples, and that their aversion to an active life contributed
rather to excuse them from the service, than to exclude them from
the honors, of the state and army.

100 (return) [ See the Morale des Peres. The same patient
principles have been revived since the Reformation by the
Socinians, the modern Anabaptists, and the Quakers. Barclay, the
Apologist of the Quakers, has protected his brethren by the
authority of the primitive Christian; p. 542-549]

101a (return) [ Tertullian, Apolog. c. 21. De Idololatria, c. 17,
18. Origen contra Celsum, l. v. p. 253, l. vii. p. 348, l. viii.
p. 423-428.]

102b (return) [ Tertullian (de Corona Militis, c. 11) suggested
to them the expedient of deserting; a counsel which, if it had
been generally known, was not very proper to conciliate the favor
of the emperors towards the Christian sect. * Note: There is
nothing which ought to astonish us in the refusal of the
primitive Christians to take part in public affairs; it was the
natural consequence of the contrariety of their principles to the
customs, laws, and active life of the Pagan world. As Christians,
they could not enter into the senate, which, according to Gibbon
himself, always assembled in a temple or consecrated place, and
where each senator, before he took his seat, made a libation of a
few drops of wine, and burnt incense on the altar; as Christians,
they could not assist at festivals and banquets, which always
terminated with libations, &c.; finally, as “the innumerable
deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with
every circumstance of public and private life,” the Christians
could not participate in them without incurring, according to
their principles, the guilt of impiety. It was then much less by
an effect of their doctrine, than by the consequence of their
situation, that they stood aloof from public business. Whenever
this situation offered no impediment, they showed as much
activity as the Pagans. Proinde, says Justin Martyr, (Apol. c.
17,) nos solum Deum adoramus, et vobis in rebus aliis læti
inservimus.—G. ——-This latter passage, M. Guizot quotes in Latin;
if he had consulted the original, he would have found it to be
altogether irrelevant: it merely relates to the payment of
taxes.—M. — —Tertullian does not suggest to the soldiers the
expedient of deserting; he says that they ought to be constantly
on their guard to do nothing during their service contrary to the
law of God, and to resolve to suffer martyrdom rather than submit
to a base compliance, or openly to renounce the service. (De Cor.
Mil. ii. p. 127.) He does not positively decide that the military
service is not permitted to Christians; he ends, indeed, by
saying, Puta denique licere militiam usque ad causam coronæ.—G.
——M. Guizot is. I think, again unfortunate in his defence of
Tertullian. That father says, that many Christian soldiers had
deserted, aut deserendum statim sit, ut a multis actum. The
latter sentence, Puta, &c, &c., is a concession for the sake of
argument: wha follows is more to the purpose.—M. Many other
passages of Tertullian prove that the army was full of
Christians, Hesterni sumus et vestra omnia implevimus, urbes,
insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa. (Apol.
c. 37.) Navigamus et not vobiscum et militamus. (c. 42.) Origen,
in truth, appears to have maintained a more rigid opinion, (Cont.
Cels. l. viii.;) but he has often renounced this exaggerated
severity, perhaps necessary to produce great results, and he
speaks of the profession of arms as an honorable one. (l. iv. c.
218.)— G. ——On these points Christian opinion, it should seem,
was much divided Tertullian, when he wrote the De Cor. Mil., was
evidently inclining to more ascetic opinions, and Origen was of
the same class. See Neander, vol. l part ii. p. 305, edit.
1828.—M.]

103 (return) [ As well as we can judge from the mutilated
representation of Origen, (1. viii. p. 423,) his adversary,
Celsus, had urged his objection with great force and candor.]