The Great Apostasy Part 5

1. The cruel persecution to which the adherents of Christianity and the Church as an organized body were subjected during the first three centuries of our era have been treated as external causes, contributing at least indirectly to the general apostasy. Details of Judaistic and heathen opposition have been given with sufficient fulness to show that the unpopular Church had a troubled existence, and that such of its members as remained faithful to the tenets and principles of the gospel were martyrs in spirit if not in fact.

2. As would naturally be expected, the immediate effect of persistent persecution on those who professed a belief in the divinity of the Lord Jesus was diverse and varied; indeed it ranged from unrestrained enthusiasm expressed in frenzied clamoring for martyrdom, to ready and abject apostasy with ostentatious display of devotion in idolatrous service.

3. Many of the Christian devotees developed a zeal amounting to mania, and, disregarding all prudence and discretion, gloried in the prospect of winning the martyr's crown. Some who had been left una.s.sailed felt themselves aggrieved, and became their own accusers; while others openly committed acts of aggression with intent to bring resentment upon themselves.--(See Note 1, end of chapter.) These extravagances were doubtless encouraged by the excessive veneration accorded the memories and the bodily remains of those who had fallen as victims in the cause. The reverential respect so rendered developed later into the impious practice of martyr wors.h.i.+p.

4. Commenting on the imprudent enthusiasm of the early Christians, Gibbon says: "The Christians sometimes supplied by their voluntary declaration the want of an accuser, rudely disturbed the public service of paganism, and, rus.h.i.+ng in crowds round the tribunal of the magistrates, called upon them to p.r.o.nounce and to inflict the sentence of the law. The behavior of the Christians was too remarkable to escape the notice of the ancient philosophers; but they seem to have received it with much less admiration than astonishment. Incapable of conceiving the motives which sometimes transported the fort.i.tude of believers beyond the bounds of prudence and reason, they treated such an eagerness to die as the strange result of obstinate despair, of stupid insensibility or of superst.i.tious frenzy."--(Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. XVI.)

5. But there is another side to the picture. While imprudent zealots invited dangers from which they might have remained exempt, others, affrighted at the possibility of being included among the victims, voluntarily deserted the Church and returned to heathen allegiances.

Milner, speaking of conditions existing in the third century, and incorporating the words of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who lived at the time of the incident described, says: "Vast numbers lapsed into idolatry immediately. Even before men were accused as Christians, many ran to the forum and sacrificed to the G.o.ds as they were ordered; and the crowds of apostates were so great, that the magistrates wished to delay numbers of them till the next day, but they were importuned by the wretched suppliants to be allowed to prove themselves heathens that very night."--(Milner, "Church History," Cent. III, ch. 8.)

6. In connection with this individual apostasy of Church members under the pressure of persecution, there arose among the provincial governors a practice of selling certificates or "libels" as these doc.u.ments were called, which "attested that the persons therein mentioned had complied with the laws and sacrificed to the Roman deities. By producing these false declarations, the opulent and timid Christians were enabled to silence the malice of an informer, and to reconcile, in some measure, their safety with their religion."-- (Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. XVI.) A modification of this practice of quasi-apostasy consisted in procuring testimonials from persons of standing certifying that the holders had abjured the gospel; these doc.u.ments were presented to the heathen magistrates, and they, on receipt of a specified fee, granted exemption from the requirement of sacrificing to the pagan G.o.ds.--(See Milner, "Church History," Cent. III, ch. 9.) As a result of these practices, whereby under favorable circ.u.mstances the wealthy could purchase immunity from persecution, and at the same time maintain a semblance of standing in the Church, much dissension arose, the question being as to whether those who had thus shown their weakness could ever be received again into communion with the Church.

7. Persecution at most was but an indirect cause of the decline of Christianity and the perversion of the saving principles of the gospel of Christ. The greater and more immediate dangers threatening the Church must be sought within the body itself. Indeed, the pressure of opposition from without served to restrain the bubbling springs of internal dissension, and actually delayed the more destructive eruptions of schism and heresy.--(See Note 2, end of chapter.) A general review of the history of the Church down to the end of the third century shows that the periods of comparative peace were periods of weakness and decline in spiritual earnestness, and that with the return of persecution came an awakening and a renewal in Christian devotion. Devout leaders of the people were not backward in declaring that each recurring period of persecution was a time of natural and necessary chastis.e.m.e.nt for the sin and corruption that had gained headway within the Church.--(See Note 3, end of chapter.)

8. As to the condition of the Church in the middle of the third century, Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage, thus speaks: "If the cause of our miseries be investigated, the cure of the wound may be found.

The Lord would have his family to be tried. And because long peace had corrupted the discipline divinely revealed to us, the heavenly chastis.e.m.e.nt hath raised up our faith, which had lain almost dormant: and when, by our sins, we have deserved to suffer still more, the merciful Lord so moderated all things, that the whole scene rather deserves the name of a trial than a persecution. Each had been bent on improving his patrimony; and had forgotten what believers had done under the apostles, and what they ought always to do:--they were brooding over the arts of ama.s.sing wealth:--the pastors and the deacons each forgot their duty: Works of mercy were neglected, and discipline was at the lowest ebb.--Luxury and effeminacy prevailed: Meretricious arts in dress were cultivated: Frauds and deceit were practiced among brethren.--Christians could unite themselves in matrimony with unbelievers; could swear not only without reverence, but even without veracity. With haughty asperity they despised their ecclesiastical superiors: They railed against one another with outrageous acrimony, and conducted quarrels with determined malice:--Even many bishops, who ought to be guides and patterns to the rest, neglecting the peculiar duties of their stations, gave themselves up to secular pursuits:--They deserted their places of residence and their flocks: They traveled through distant provinces in quest of pleasure and gain; gave no a.s.sistance to the needy brethren; but were insatiable in their thirst of money:--They possessed estates by fraud and multiplied usury. What have we not deserved to suffer for such conduct? Even the divine word hath foretold us what we might expect.--'If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their offenses with the rod, and their sin with scourges.' These things had been denounced and foretold, but in vain. Our sins had brought our affairs to that pa.s.s, that because we had despised the Lord's directions, we were obliged to undergo a correction of our multiplied evils and a trial of our faith by severe remedies."--(As quoted by Milner, "Church History," Cent. III, ch. 8.)

9. Milner, who quotes approvingly the severe arraignment of the Church in the third century as given above, cannot be charged with bias against Christian inst.i.tutions, inasmuch as his declared purpose in presenting to the world an additional "History of the Church of Christ" was to give due attention to certain phases of the subject slighted or neglected by earlier authors, and notably to emphasize the piety, not the wickedness, of the professed followers of Christ. This author, avowedly friendly to the Church and her votaries, admits the growing depravity of the Christian sects, and declares that toward the end of the third century the effect of the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit had become exhausted, and that there remained little proof of any close relations.h.i.+p between Christ and the Church.

10. Note his summary of conditions: "The era of its actual declension must be dated in the pacific part of Diocletian's reign. During this whole century the work of G.o.d, in purity and power, had been tending to decay. The connection with philosophers was one of the princ.i.p.al causes. Outward peace and secular advantages completed the corruption.

Ecclesiastical discipline, which had been too strict, was now relaxed exceedingly; bishops and people were in a state of malice. Endless quarrels were fomented among contending parties, and ambition and covetousness had in general gained the ascendency in the Christian Church. * * * The faith of Christ itself appeared now an ordinary business; and here _terminated_, or nearly so, as far as appears, the first great effusion of the Spirit of G.o.d, which began at the day of Pentecost. Human depravity effected throughout a general decay of G.o.dliness; and one generation of men elapsed with very slender proofs of the spiritual presence of Christ with His Church."--(Milner, "Church History," Cent. III, ch. 17.)

11. If further evidence be wanted as to the fires of disaffection smoldering within the Church, and so easily fanned into destructive flame, let the testimony of Eusebius be considered with respect to conditions characterizing the second half of the third century. And, in weighing his words, let it be remembered that he had expressly recorded his purpose of writing in defense of the Church, and in support of her inst.i.tutions. He bewails the tranquillity preceding the Diocletian outbreak, because of its injurious effect upon both officers and members of the Church. These are his words: "But when by excessive liberty we have sunk into indolence and sloth, one envying and reviling another in different ways, and we were almost, as it were, on the point of taking up arms against each other, and were a.s.sailing each other with words, as with darts and spears, prelates inveighing against prelates, and people rising up against people, and hypocrisy and dissimulation had arisen to the greater heights of malignity, then the divine judgment, which usually proceeds with a lenient hand, whilst the mult.i.tudes were yet crowding into the Church, with gentle and mild visitations began to afflict its episcopacy; the persecution having begun with those brethren that were in the army. *

* * But some that appeared to be our pastors, deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, acc.u.mulating quarrels and threats, rivalry, hostility, and hatred to each other, only anxious to a.s.sert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves."--(Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History,"

Book VIII, ch. 1. See note 4, end of chapter.)

12. As further ill.u.s.trative of the decline of the Christian spirit toward the end of the third century, Milner quotes the following observation of Eusebius, an eye-witness of the conditions described: "The heavy hand of G.o.d's judgment began softly, by little and little, to visit us after His wonted manner; * * * but we were not at all moved with His hand, nor took any pains to return to G.o.d. We heaped sin upon sin, judging like careless Epicureans, that G.o.d cared not for our sins, nor would ever visit us on account of them. And our pretended shepherds, laying aside the rule of G.o.dliness, practiced among themselves contention and division." He adds that the "dreadful persecution of Diocletian was then inflicted on the Church as a just punishment, and as the most proper chastis.e.m.e.nt for their iniquities."--(Milner, "Church History," Cent. III, ch. 17.)

13. It will be remembered that the great change whereby the Church was raised to a place of honor in the state, occurred in the early part of the fourth century. It is a popular error to a.s.sume that the decay of the Church as a spiritual inst.i.tution dates from that time. The picture of the Church declining as to spiritual power in exact proportion to her increase of temporal influence and wealth has appealed to rhetoricians and writers of sensational literature; but such a picture does not present the truth. The Church was saturated with the spirit of apostasy long before Constantine took it under his powerful protection by according it official standing in the state.

In support of this statement, I quote again from Milner, the avowed friend of the Church: "I know it is common for authors to represent the great declension of Christianity to have taken place only after its external establishment under Constantine. But the evidence of history has compelled me to dissent from this view of things. In fact, we have seen that for a whole generation previous to the [Diocletian]

persecution, few marks of superior piety appeared. Scarce a luminary of G.o.dliness existed; and it is not common in any age for a great work of the Spirit of G.o.d to be exhibited but under the conduct of some remarkable saints, pastors, and reformers. This whole period as well as the whole scene of the persecution is very barren in such characters. * * * Moral and philosophical and monastical instructions will not effect for men what is to be expected from evangelical doctrine. And if the faith of Christ was so much declined (and its decayed state ought to be dated from about the year 270), we need not wonder that such scenes as Eusebius hints at without any circ.u.mstantial details, took place in the Christian world. * * * He speaks also of the ambitious spirit of many, in aspiring to the offices of the Church, the ill judged and unlawful ordinations, the quarrels among confessors themselves, and the contentions excited by young demagogues in the very relics of the persecuted Church, and the multiplied evils which their vices excited among Christians. How sadly must the Christian world have declined which could thus conduct itself under the very rod of divine vengeance? Yet let not the infidel or the profane world triumph. _It was not Christianity, but the departure from it_, which brought on these evils."--(Milner, "Church History,"

Cent. IV, ch. 1. The italics are introduced by the present writer.

See also Note 5, end of chapter.)

14. The foregoing embodies but a few of the many evidences that could be cited in demonstration of the fact that during the period immediately following the apostolic ministry--the period covered by the persecutions of the Christians by the heathen nations,--the Church was undergoing internal deterioration, and was in a state of increasing perversion. Among the more detailed or specific causes of this ever widening departure from the spirit of the gospel of Christ, this rapidly growing apostasy, the following may be considered as important examples:

(1). The corrupting of the simple principles of the gospel by the admixture of the so-called philosophic systems of the times.

(2). Unauthorized additions to the ceremonies of the Church, and the introduction of vital changes in essential ordinances.

(3). Unauthorized changes in Church organization and government.

15. We shall consider in due order each of the three causes here enumerated. It may appear that the conditions set forth in these specifications are more properly to be regarded as effects or results, than as causes, incident to the general apostasy,--that they are in the nature of evidences or proofs of a departure from the original const.i.tution of the Church, rather than specific causes by which the fact of apostasy is to be explained or accounted for. Cause and effect, however, are sometimes very intimately a.s.sociated, and resulting conditions may furnish the best demonstration of causes in operation. Each of the conditions given above as a specific cause of the progressive apostasy was, at its inception, an evidence of existing unsoundness, and an active cause of the graver results that followed. Each succeeding manifestation of the spirit of apostasy was at once the result of earlier disaffection, and the cause of later and more p.r.o.nounced developments.

NOTES.

1. _Inordinate Zeal Manifested by Some of the Early Christians_: "The sober discretion of the present age will more readily censure than admire, but can more easily admire than imitate, the fervor of the first Christians; who, according to the lively expression of Sulpicius Severus, desired martyrdom with more eagerness than his own contemporaries solicited a bishopric. The epistles which Ignatius composed as he was carried in chains through the cities of Asia, breathe sentiments the most repugnant to the ordinary feelings of human nature. He earnestly beseeches the Romans that when he should be exposed in the amphitheatre, they would not by their kind but unreasonable intercession, deprive him of the crown of glory, and he declares his resolution to provoke and irritate the wild beasts which might be employed as the instruments of his death. Some stories are related of the courage of martyrs who actually performed what Ignatius had intended: who exasperated the fury of the lions, pressed the executioner to hasten his office, cheerfully leaped into the fires which were kindled to consume them, and discovered a sensation of joy and pleasure in the midst of the most exquisite torture."--(Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. XVI.)

2. _Internal Dissensions During Time of Peace_. As stated in the text, the early part of Diocletian's reign--the period immediately preceding the outburst of the last great persecution to which the Christians were subjected--was a time of comparative freedom from opposition, and this period was characterized by internal disturbances and dissensions within the Church. Ill.u.s.trative of the tolerance shown by the emperor before he became hostile to the Church, and the accompanying decline of spiritual earnestness among the Christians themselves, Gibbon says: "Diocletian and his colleagues frequently conferred the most important offices on those persons who avowed their abhorrence of the wors.h.i.+p of the G.o.ds, but who had displayed abilities proper for the service of the state. The bishops held an honorable rank in the respective provinces, and were treated with distinction and respect, not only by the people, but by the magistrates themselves. Almost in every city the ancient churches were found insufficient to contain the increasing mult.i.tudes of proselytes; and in their place more stately and capacious edifices were erected for the public wors.h.i.+p of the faithful. The corruption of manners and principles so forcibly lamented by Eusebius, may be considered not only as a consequence, but as a proof, of the liberty which the Christians enjoyed and abused under the reign of Diocletian. Prosperity had relaxed the nerves of discipline. Fraud, envy, and malice prevailed in every congregation.

The presbyters aspired to the episcopal office, which every day became an object more worthy of their ambition. The bishops who contended with each other for ecclesiastical preeminence, appeared by their conduct to claim a secular and tyrannical power in the church; and the lively faith which still distinguished the Christians from the Gentiles, was shown much less in their lives than in their controversial writings."--(Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. XVI.)

3. _The Effect of Peace on the Early Church_. "Disastrous as the persecutions of the early Christian centuries were, still more mischievous to the Church were those periods of tranquillity which intervened between the outbursts of rage which prompted them. Peace may have her victories no less renowned than those of war; and so, too, she has her calamities, and they are not less destructive than those of war. War may destroy nations, but ease and luxury mankind corrupt--the body and the mind. Especially is peace dangerous to the church. Prosperity relaxes the reins of discipline; people feel less and less the need of a sustaining providence; but in adversity the spirit of man feels after G.o.d, and he is correspondingly more devoted to the service of religion. We shall find the early Christians no exception to the operation of this influence of repose. Whenever it was accorded them, either through the mercy or the indifference of the emperors, internal dissensions, the intrigues of aspiring prelates, and the rise of heresies, characterized those periods."--(B. H.

Roberts, "A New Witness for G.o.d," p. 70.)

4. _Schisms and Heresies in the Early Church_. Eusebius, whose writings date from the early part of the fourth century, cites the writings of Hegesippus, who lived in the first quarter of the second century, as follows: "The same author [Hegesippus] also treats of the beginning of the heresies that arose about this time, in the following words: 'But after James the Just had suffered martyrdom, as our Lord had for the same reason, Simeon, the son of Cleophas, our Lord's uncle, was appointed the second bishop [of Jerusalem] whom all proposed as the cousin of our Lord. Hence they called the Church as yet a virgin, for it was not yet corrupted by vain discourses.

Thebuthis made a beginning, secretly to corrupt it on account of his not being made bishop. He was one of those seven sects among the Jewish people. Of these also was Simeon, whence sprang the sect of Simonians; also Cleobius, from whence came the Cleobians; also Dositheus, the founder of the Dositheans. From these also sprung the Gortheonians from Gortheoeus; and also Masbotheans from Masbothoeus.

Hence also the Meandrians, the Marcionists, and Carpocratians and Valentinians, and Basilidians, and the Saturnillians, every one introducing his own peculiar opinions, one differing from the other.

From these sprung the false Christs and the false prophets and false apostles, who divided the unity of the Church by the introduction of corrupt doctrines against G.o.d and against His Christ."--(Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," Book IV, ch. 22.)

5. _Early Decline of the Church_: Milner, summing up the conditions attending the Church at the end of the second century, says: "And here we close the view of the second century, which, for the most part exhibited proofs of divine grace, as strong, or nearly so, as the first. We have seen the same unshaken and simple faith of Jesus, the same love of G.o.d and of the brethren; and--that in which they singularly excelled modern Christians--the same heavenly spirit and victory over the world. But a dark shade is enveloping these divine glories. The Spirit of G.o.d is grieved already by the ambitious intrusions of self-righteous, argumentative refinements, and Pharisaic pride; and though it be more common to represent the most sensible decay of G.o.dliness as commencing a century later, to me it seems already begun."--(Milner, "Church History," Cent. II, ch. 9.)

Mosheim, writing of conditions attending the closing years of the third century, says: "The ancient method of ecclesiastical government seemed in general still to subsist, while, at the same time, by imperceptible steps, it varied from the primitive rule and degenerated toward the form of a religious monarchy. * * * This change in the form of ecclesiastical government was soon followed by a train of vices, which dishonored the character and authority of those to whom the administration of the Church was committed. For, though several yet continued to exhibit to the world ill.u.s.trative examples of primitive piety and Christian virtue, yet many were sunk in luxury and voluptuousness, puffed up with vanity, arrogance and ambition, possessed with a spirit of contention and discord, and addicted to many other vices that cast an undeserved reproach upon the holy religion of which they were the unworthy professors and ministers.

This is testified in such an ample manner by the repeated complaints of many of the most respectable writers of this age, that truth will not permit us to spread the veil, which we should otherwise be desirous to cast over such enormities among an order so sacred. The bishops a.s.sumed in many places a princely authority, particularly those who had the greatest number of churches under their inspection, and who presided over the most opulent a.s.semblies. They appropriated to their evangelical function the splendid ensigns of temporal majesty. A throne, surrounded with ministers, exalted above his equals the servant of the meek and humble Jesus; and sumptuous garments dazzled the eyes and the minds of the mult.i.tude into an ignorant veneration of their arrogated authority. The example of the bishops was ambitiously imitated by the presbyters, who, neglecting the sacred duties of their station, abandoned themselves to the indolence and delicacy of an effeminate and luxurious life. The deacons, beholding the presbyters deserting thus their functions, boldly usurped their rights and privileges, and the effects of a corrupt ambition were spread through every rank of the order sacred."--(Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," Cent. III, Part II, ch. 2:3, 4.)

CHAPTER VII.

**Internal Causes.--Continued**.

1. First among the specific causes of disturbance operating within the Church, and contributing to its apostasy, we have named: "_The corrupting of the simple principles of the gospel by the admixture of the so-called philosophic systems of the times_."

2. The attempted grafting of foreign doctrines on the true vine of the gospel of Christ was characteristic of the early years of the apostolic period. We read of the sorcerer Simon, who professed belief and entered the Church by baptism, but who was so devoid of the true spirit of the gospel that he sought to purchase by money the authority and power of the priesthood.--(See Acts 8:9, 13, 18-24.) This man, though rebuked by Peter, and apparently penitent, continued to trouble the Church, by inculcating heresies and winning disciples within the fold. His followers were distinguished as a sect or cult down to the fourth century; and, writing at that time, Eusebius says of them: "These, after the manner of their founder, insinuating themselves into the Church, like a pestilential and leprous disease, infected those with the greatest corruption, into whom they were able to infuse their secret, irremediable, and destructive poison."--(Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," Book II, ch. 1.) This Simon, known in history as Simon Magus, is referred to by early Christian writers, as the founder of heresy, owing to his persistent attempts to combine Christianity with Gnosticism. It is with reference to his proposition to purchase spiritual authority that all traffic in spiritual offices has come to be known as simony.

3. Through the mouth of the Revelator, the Lord reproved certain of the churches for their adoption or toleration of doctrines and practices alien to the gospel. Notably is this the case with respect to the Nicolaitanes, and the followers of the doctrines of Balaam.--(See Rev. 2:15; compare verse 6; see also verse 20. See Note 1, end of chapter.)

4. The perversion of true theology thus developed within the Church is traceable to the introduction of both Judaistic and pagan fallacies.--(See Note 2, end of chapter.) Indeed, at the opening of the Christian era and for centuries thereafter, Judaism was more or less intimately mixed with pagan philosophy, and contaminated with heathen ceremonies. There were numerous sects and parties, cults and schools, each advocating rival theories as to the const.i.tution of the soul, the essence of sin, the nature of Deity, and a mult.i.tude of other mysteries. The Christians were soon embroiled in endless controversies among themselves.

5. Judaistic converts to Christianity sought to modify and adapt the tenets of the new faith so as to harmonize them with their inherited love of Judaism, and the result was destructive to both. Our Lord had indicated the futility of any such attempts to combine new principle with old systems, or to patch up the prejudices of the past with fragments of new doctrine. "No man," said He, "putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."--(Matt. 9:16, 17.) The gospel came as a new revelation, marking the fulfilment of the law, it was no mere addendum, nor was it a simple reenactment of past requirements; it embodied a new and an everlasting covenant. Attempts to patch the Judaistic robe with the new fabric of the gospel could result in nothing more sightly than a hideous rent. The new wine of the covenant could not be bottled in the time-eaten leathern containers of Mosaic libations. Judaism was belittled and Christianity perverted by the incongruous a.s.sociation.

6. Among the early and most pernicious adulterations of Christian doctrine is the introduction of the teachings of the Gnostics. These self-styled philosophers put forth the boastful claim that they were able to lead the human mind to a full comprehension of the Supreme Being, and a knowledge of the true relations.h.i.+p between Deity and mortals. They said in effect that a certain being had existed from all eternity, manifested as a radiant light diffused throughout s.p.a.ce, and this they called the _Pleroma_. "The eternal nature, infinitely perfect and infinitely happy, having dwelt from everlasting in a profound solitude, and in a blessed tranquillity produced at length from itself, two minds of a different s.e.x, which resembled their supreme parent in the most perfect manner. From the prolific union of these two beings, others arose, which were also followed by succeeding generations; so that in process of time a celestial family was formed in the Pleroma. This divine progeny, immutable in its nature, and above the power of mortality, was called, by the philosophers, _Aeon_--a term which signifies, in the Greek language, an eternal nature. How many in number these Aeons were was a point much controverted among the oriental sages."--(Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," Cent. I, Part II, 1:7.)

7. Then one of the Aeons, distinctively called the Demiurge, created this world, and arrogantly a.s.serted dominion over the same, denying absolutely the authority of the supreme parent. The Gnostic doctrine declares man to be a union of the body, which, being the creation of the Demiurge, is essentially evil, and a spirit, which, being derived from Deity, is characteristically good. The spirits thus imprisoned in evil bodies will be finally liberated, and then the power of the Demiurge will cease, and the earth will be dissolved into nothingness.

8. Our justification for introducing here this partial summary of Gnosticism is the fact that early efforts were made to accommodate the tenets of this system to the demands of Christianity; and that Christ and the Holy Ghost were declared to belong to the family of Aeons provided for in this scheme. This led to the extravagant absurdity of denying that Jesus had a body even while He lived as a man; and that His appearance as a corporeal being was a deception of the senses wrought by His supernatural power.--(See Note 3, end of chapter.)

9. That the doctrines of the Gnostics were unsatisfying even to those who professed to believe therein is evident from the many cults and parties that came into existence as subdivisions of the main sect; and it is interesting to note that in modern times certain free-thinkers have prided themselves in a.s.suming a t.i.tle expressing the full ant.i.thesis of the name Gnostics, viz. Agnostics.

10. The practical effect of the principles of Gnosticism in the lives of its adherents is strangely diverse. One division of the sect followed a life of austerity, embracing rigorous self-denial, and bodily torture, in the vain belief that the malignant body could thus be subdued, while the spirit would be given added power and increased freedom. Another cult sought to minimize the fundamental difference between right and wrong, by denying the element of morality in human life; and these abandoned themselves to the impulses of the pa.s.sions and the frailties of the bodily nature without restraint, on the a.s.sumption that there was no such relation between body and soul as would cause injury to the latter through bodily indulgences and excesses.

11. Another sect or school whose doctrines were in a measure amalgamated with those of Christianity was that of the New Platonics.

The ancient sects of Platonists or Platonics were allied in some points of doctrine with the Epicureans, and were rivals if not opponents of the Stoics. The early Platonics held that unorganized matter has existed from all eternity, and that its organizer, G.o.d, is similarly eternal. As G.o.d is eternal, so also His will or intelligence is without beginning, and this eternal intelligence existing as the will or intent of Deity, was called the _Logos_. Such precepts had been taught long before the Christian era, and the philosophy professed by some of the contending sects among the Jews in the time of Christ had been influenced thereby.

12. As the principles of Christianity became generally known, certain leaders in the sect of Platonics found in the new doctrine much to study and admire. By this time, however, Platonism itself had undergone much change, and the more liberal adherents had formed a new organization and distinguished themselves by the appellation New Platonics. These professed to find in Jesus Christ the incarnation of the Logos, and accepted with avidity the declaration of St. John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G.o.d, and the Word was G.o.d. * * * And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."--(John 1:1, 14.) According to the Eclectic or New Platonic philosophy, the "Word" referred to by St. John was the "Logos"