New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-07-18

reeuted Nncs M
b,hops ab-tsDed from OBTAINING eeaeouesses taougn
traces still exist Of their order in the Cathedral oil
lisr. Another order called the AgGsete, Dedicated
th-mfev.. grsiu.ou.ly tn the ervce ct the cnuich;
bni these, also, owing To their immoraes, were DE-
cr,oited by the doctors Of the church denounced by
" the councils per-ecuted by the bishops, and ea''i'
gated 10y the magistrates, aud'isappesred, at eas'n
"nsme, III the filth century, n ngh under other
names they have continued 70 exist up TO the pres
ent day"
In III. earliest times Christian societies ware NOT
distinct from Jewish, and they called themselves
" Christians, for the frs, time during the reign OF
the Emperor Trnian. Their forms were democratic.
At fret the bishops only presidents CHOSEN by
the people to rule tie assembly Eccesal, and hence
that ohice wa not permanent, but il soon became an
actual msgsIracy an authority superior to the pres
byters Who in their turn, sought to distinguish them
selves from the multitude, and hence the distinction
between the clergy and lay The churches CORE
pended one with the other but their letters AL
dressed to the community TO whom they were read by
the presbyier, who also replied to them in the name
Of the community. The clergy sought to dflse the
idea that they formed the ecclesascal ministers of
divine institution but there is not the shadow of
foundation for the belief tina. Christ instituted either
bishops gradually established-di-cords concerning
Dc crimes and between them; arbi
TRAITOR was necessary and an being considered
insufficient they bad to association in order
to invest The collective judgment with the solemn
irrefragable decision This was the origin of coun-
cils. The hrst council on record was held at Phrygia
about the year $50. All the bishops were on a per-
feet equaty-sl considered alike successors Of the
nj hal a hon .f
Rome had no more authority than the Bishop of
Gubbio Nor can the bishop. of Rome be the sue
ee..ors Of S. Peter since as the author proves there
is no record that ST. Peter ever at Rome, and
thu. Govihi begin. to undermine the foundations on
which the Romsh Church has built her professions
to divine origin.
The first example Of appealing to Rome was given
by Basice, Bishop of Leone in 2j6, and the second
by the EusebiaDs in their discussions with Athanasu
who in 339, appealed to Julius. Bishop of Rome, but
the fouD6atiOnstore of Roman Supremacy was laid by
the Council Of Sardca in 34 in which it decreed
that if ga Bishop consider himself unjustly con-
"oemn.d, ard desire BIZ, sentence revived, he may
appeal 70 JulIus, Bishop Of Rome In 81, the
Emperor Theodosiu. summoned an Ecumenic Coun-
ell, without even the knowledge OF the Bishop of
Rome, and the same thing happened with the Council
tt at Thet do.u. instead of allowing the theoosians
to dispute made each one hand him his profession OF
faith in wiring and, having received them ALL retired
into bis study, selected those that pleased him. burnt
the re,t ana obliged the Bishops to make out fresh
one. in conformity With his own views, and then dc
creed to the Council what they to approve and
disapprove. Thus the Council Inspired solely by
Theodo.us, without troubling the Holy Spirit, con-
a. al Lo Arm and -Arian "
toned the Nicean creed. Military force was invested
with the faculty Of apostlesbip against all the Aran
.ects and conscation of property and exile were the
proof. used TO convict the obstinate of heresy.
The title of bishops gave way to that of pope be-
tween the ninth and tenth century Upto the sixth
century. every bishop was called beat,sswo papa,
term also in use among the military to denote the
olde.t During the d, cline If the Roman Empire, the
clergy gradually substituted themselves for the grand
dign:aIes and the bishop for the chief pon'ih (hs
first who as-un ed the title Of pontif was Dama,o,
toward the close of the fourth century, and also for
tie Emperors, whose vicegerents at first they were,
and whose attributes of universal sovereignty they
u,urped later On these foundations the author
tbroug bout the two first volumes unfods the history
of the gradual formation of the Christian Church. the
development of the various secs, of which tho prln-
cip.l was the Arau-of the successive declara-
ton. OF dogma. and of discipline in the five Ecumsoi-
cal Councils held in Nice, Constantinople, Ephe.us
and caledonia ana shows the favorable circumstances,
and the maneuvers Of the Roman Bishops, which
contributed tothe supremacy of the Church Of Rome
which kept pace with the political and social events
of the Empire. These two volumes extend to $50 up
to the Ponfcate Of Gregory l. He closes The second
volume with a sketch vi the origin, character add
first rules of Eastern monasteries, and also OF the
moIas,eres Of the West, introduced by San Au,tno,
details bis life and internal government. In ons
century monasticsm, hardly known in go spread
over. not only the entire Roman world, but also in
borbsrous kingdoms. The penances inflicted by the
first monks in the East, prove their fanatieism to
rave reached the hight of madness; for instance,
Eliodoro took food but once week. Pacomio slspt
IN standing posture. Owing to his abstinence from
food Mscsrio's flesh was entirely wasted so that be
Looked Ike q mummy Hellss ate no bread until he
was sixty years Of age. TeodOro Sceota lived in en-
iron cage; always wore curass weighing eighteen
pounds al iron belt and iron shoes. Teona kept
strict silence for thirty years. Slmeone Stilita lived
tbirtyseven years the top of column and went on
bis knees 2GC0 day; Others affecting poverty, pos
sessed but coat 10 common, so that when one
went out. all the Others remained naked. Men and
women wandered naked over the mountains and
through the deserts in heat and cold eating grass.
They despisei cleanliness neither washed themselves,
cu, their nails their hair shaved their boards.
Lepene covered himself with hides which stunk, and
lived in ombs. But these singular au,teries ceased
,owsgd the close of the Fifth Century, when the
Ibertnism of the monks. their greed for riches and
their glut,ony passed into 4 proverb. Ia the
Middle ages they constituted the most formidable
militia that the Popes could bring into the field, in
order to sustain ihe-r authority.
The next three volumes contain the history OF
Gregory l. up disappearance on the scene OF Hide
brand the Monk l0i5j, afterwsrd Gregory VII. The