The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14

history Of religion during
By GOODWIN SMITH.


commenced at the Reformation.
The vast process of disintcgration pro-
ceeds by degrees. is varied by reaction
airy effort and gives birth TO new theor-
les I'm its course In our day the compile
ton OF the process and new departure
seem to be at hand. A sharp line cannot
be drawn across it at the beginning OF
our century. the leaders Of religious
thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries having been to a great extent
its leaders, ard their works the text books
of the century which has just passed.
At the Reformation Professionalism threw
off the yoke Of Pope and priest, priestly
control over conscience through the con-
fessional priestly absolution for sin, and
belief in the magical power Of the priest
as consecratcr of the host, besides the
worship OF the Virgin. and the saints,
purgatory. relics. pilgrimages, and other
incidents Of the medieval system. Osten-
sibly, Professionalism was founded on free
dom of conscience and the right of pri-
vate judgment. In reality. it retained
Church authority over conscience in the
shape OF dogmstic creeds and ordination
tests It besides enforced belief in the
the exercise OF private judgment was
narrowly confined Not for some time
did It even renounce persecution. IN
grimly Calvinistic Scotland boy was
hanged for inpugning the doctrine of
the Trinity at the end OF the seventeenth
century. The Anglican Church suspend
ed by the will of the Tudor sovereigns
between Catholicism and Professionalism
oscillated from side to side, producing by
one of its oscillations the great civil war.
II burned heretics in the reign Of James
]. All the Protestant Churches except The
Baptists, who at first were objects of
persecution. fell under the dominion OF
The State, which repaid them for their
submission and support by endowments
temporal privileges. and persecution of
dissent
Though Professionalism produced null
titude Of sects, especially in England at
the time Of the Commonwealth, arfly
any Of them We're free-thinking or skepti-
cal; those Of any Importance. at all events
were in some sense dogmatic and We're
anchored to the inspiration Of the Bible.
Nor is il easy to convict Hobbies. bugbear
Of the orthodox as he was. of skepticism
or even or heterodoxy The expression of
heterodoX opinions. indeed, would have
been n violation of his own principle
which makes religion absolutely an affair
Of the State to be regulated by a despouc
Government and confines liberty 10 the
reeesses of thought. 1t is true that in
making religion a political institution, va
riable at a despots Will, he covertiy de-
MED that ii was divine.
h.
and controversy slept. The nation was
weary Of those subjects. The liberty for
which men then struggled was political.
though with political liberty was bound
up religious liberation, which achieved
partial triumph under William III.
The Church Of Rome to meet the storm,
reorganized herself at the Council of
Trent on lines practically traced for her
by the Jesuit A comparison of Suarez
with Thomas Aquinas shows the change
which took place in spirit as plainly as q
comparison of the Jesuit's meretricious
fame with The Gothic churches shows the
change in religious taste. Pap2l autocracy
was strengthened at the expense Of the
Episcopate. and furnished at once with a
guard and a propagandist machinery Of
extraordinary power IN the Order OF Loyo-
Ia. That the plenary inspiration of the
Bible in the Vulgate version. and includ-
ing the Ap0crypha, should be reaffirmed
was secondary matter inasmuch as the
Church OF Rome holds that II is not she
who derives her credentials from Scrip
ture, but Scripture which depends for the
attestauon Of its authority upon her. She
now allied herself more closely than before
with the Catholic kings, with Philip H.
and afterward with Louis XIV who paid
her for her support Of political absolu-
usm by sanguinary persecution OF here
ties. She hereby parted with her Hide
brandic supremacy over the Powers Of the
world. though she did not, like the An
glicsn Church, recognize the divine
right OF kings All the liberal and peace
making movements which had been set
on foot, or were afterward set on foot.
within her pale, such as the Oratory of
Divine Love. which held justification by
faith and wished to compromise with the
Protestsnts. were effectually put down
Jensenism, when it appeared, with its
half Calvinisdc theory Of Grace, shared
the same fate Gallicanism afterward,
having nationality to back #, Eas more
successful. But It brought TO freedom of
conscience; 1t was merely a repartition of
the despodc power over conscience be-
tween the King and the Pope
In Spain, and for the most part in Italy.
Rome, by the aid of the Jesuit and the
Inquisition, completely succeeded in kill
ing free thought. IN France. where there
was no Inquisition, her triumph was not
so complete. She succeeded only in driv-
ing free thought into DISCUSSES and sub
terfuges The Commonwealth OF Holland
did France and the world in general the
immense service Of affording q printing
house for free thought which was on the
confines of France but beyond the reach
Of the French Government Descartes,
without directly assailing the faith Of the
Church, planted In her face the standard
Of thorough going reason and entitled
himself TO a place in the Index. Growing
sensuality and love Of pleasure brought
with them laxity of belief ana lmpatience
Of priestly control. The authority of the
clergy was impaired by their scandalous
wealth and vice, which al the same time
enhanced the odium Of their prosecuting
tyranny. At last came Voltaire, Diderot.
the Encyclopedia, and Rousseau. With
literary cleyerness unmatched and an in
comparable genius for subtle attack. com
bined with a winning philanthropy. Vol
talre converted and drew into the work of
demolition, 10 them suicidal, the thrones
OF Louis XIV, OF rather Of the Pompadour.
extended even to Spain. where Amanda,