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Page 72
Politics are intended to maintain union and concord among the
citizens. Christianity, though it preaches universal love, and
commands its followers to live in peace; yet, by a strange
inconsistency, consequentially annihilates the effect of these
excellent precepts, by the inevitable divisions it causes among its
followers, who necessarily understand differently the Old and New
Testaments, because the latter is not only irreconcilably
contradictory to the former, but it is even inconsistent with itself.
From the very commencement of Christianity, we perceive very
violent disputes among its founders and teachers; and through
every succeeding century, we find, in the history of the Church,
nothing but schism and heresy. These are followed by persecutions
and quarrels, exceedingly well adapted to destroy this vaunted
spirit of concord, said by its defenders to be peculiar to Christianity;
and the existence of which is, in fact, impossible in a religion
which is one entire chaos of obscure doctrines and impracticable
precepts. In every religious dispute, both parties thought that God
was on their side, and, consequently, they were obstinate and
irreconcilable. And how should it have been otherwise, since they
confounded the cause of God with the miserable interests of their
own vanity? Thus, being little disposed to give way on one part or
the other, they cut one another�s throats; they tormented, they burnt
each other: they tore one another to pieces; and having
exterminated or put down the obnoxious sects, they sung Te Deum.
It is not my intention to pursue, in this place, the horrid detail of
ecclesiastical history, as connected with that of the Roman empire.
Mr. Gibbon has exhibited in such colours this dreadful record of
follies, and of crimes, that it is difficult to see how the maxim of
judging the tree by its fruit, will not fatally affect the cause of the
Christian religion. I refer to Mr. Gibbon�s history as a cool and
impartial narrative; for I am well satisfied that, so far from having
reason to complain of him, the advocates of Christianity have very
great reason, indeed, to thank him for his forbearance, since, with
his eloquence, he might have drawn a picture that would have
made humanity shudder. For, throughout the whole history, if a
man had wished to know what was then the orthodox faith, the best
method of ascertaining it, would have been, undoubtedly, to ask, �
What is the catechism of this public executioner.�
The Christian religion was, it is evident from his history, the
principal, though by no means the only cause of the decline and
fall of the Roman empire. Because it degraded the spirit of the
people, and because it produced monks and hermits in abundance,
but yielded no soldiers. The heathen adversaries of Christianity
were in the right when they said, that �if it prevailed, Rome was no
more!� The Christians would not serve in the armies of the
emperor, if they could possibly avoid it. They justly considered the
profession of a soldier, and that of a Christian, as incompatible.
Celsus accuses them of abandoning the empire, under whose laws
they lived, to its enemies. And what is the answer of Origen to this
accusation? Look: at his pitiful reply! He endeavours to palliate
this undutiful refusal by representing that--�the Christians had
their peculiar camps, in which they incessantly combatted for the
safety of the emperor and empire, by lifting up their right hands--
IN PRAYER!!� (See Origen contra Celsum, Lib. 8, p. 437.) This is
a sneaking piece of business truly! But Origen could have given
another answer, if he had dared to avow it, which is, that his
co-religionists, in his time, had not ceased to expect their master
momentarily to appear; and, of course, it little mattered what
became of the emperor, or the empire. This notion was the
principal engine for making proselytes; and it was by this
expectation that many were frightened into baptism.
That Christianity was considered incompatible with the military
profession, is evident from many passages of the fathers. And one
of them, I believe, Tertullian, ventures to insinuate to the
Christians in the legions, the expediency of deserting, to rid
themselves of �their carnal employment.� Nay, to such a height did
this spirit prevail, that it never stopped till it taught the Roman
youth in Italy the expedient of cutting off the thumbs of their right
hands in order to avoid the conscription, and that they might be
allowed to count their beads at home in quiet.
If we examine, in detail, the precepts of this religion, as they affect
nations, we shall see, that it interdicts every thing which can make
a nation flourishing. We have seen already the notion of
imperfection which Christianity attaches to marriage, and the
esteem and preference it holds out to celibacy. These ideas
certainly do not favour population, which is, without contradiction,
the first source of power to every state.
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