Since that time, down to the sixth century, the question of the eternal duration of the punishment of the wicked in a place called hell, was discussed by the ecclesiastical writers, who, nevertheless, did not assert that it was the belief of the first Christians. Ambrosius supposed that it would be infinite in duration; so Augustine, his disciple, wrote in his work, De Civitate Dei, book 21; St. Fulgence; the pope Gregorius, etc. The opinion of those leading doctors was preached, and, little by little, it became the belief of a large number of Christians. They even designated the place where hell was: some thought it was in the profundities of the earth; Augustine opposed them; then he recanted himself, and agreed that it was there. Finally, in 553, a general council was held in Constantinople, and it was decided that the dogma of endless hell shall be henceforth an article of faith. It was only many years after that this council was considered œcumenical.
We have proved by the testimony of the Fathers themselves, that the Christians of the first, of the second, of the third, of the fourth, and of the fifth centuries, did not believe the dogma of endless hell; we shall now prove it by the various Christian sects, which existed, and were organized religious denominations, in those centuries.
Lest we might be suspected of partiality in the exposition of the belief of those Christian sects in regard to future punishment, we willexclusivelymake our extracts from the works of Bergier, Feller, and other Catholic theologians and historians.
The Cerinthians did not believe the doctrine ofendless hell. The Basilidians believed in Metempsychosis, or transmigration of the souls. In consequence they did not hold the dogma of endless hell. Eusebe informs us, in his Ecclesiastical History, that Basilide had written on the four Gospels twenty-four books; and that his sect was numerous. It flourished till the fourth century.
The Millenaries, who existed mainly in the second and third centuries, believed that Jesus Christ would soon come from heaven, to reign one thousand years over the righteous; that this reign would be temporal; and that it would be followed by a general judgment: but they did not hold that future punishment would be endless, for they were silent about its nature.
The Marcionites believed in a good principle, God, and in a bad one, the Devil; the latter had created our body. Jesus Christ had but an apparent flesh. Our body should not come again to life; they believed like Pythagoras, of whom Marcion was a follower, in the doctrine of Metempsychosis: such was their belief. They made so many proselytes, that, even in the fifth century, their sect was numerous in Italy, in Egypt, in Palestine, in Syria, in Arabia, in Persia, and in other oriental countries.
The Valentinians held that Jesus Christ was not God; that he had redeemed the world only from sin, by freeing men of the empire of evil Eons, or geniuses, who had the government of the universe. They believed in the doctrine of Metempsychosis,or transmigration of the souls. In consequence, they neither knew nor believed the dogma of endless hell. Valentin had an immense number of disciples, and his sect spread in Asia, and in Africa; in Europe it extended as far as Gaul, where, according to the testimony of Ireneus, bishop of Lyons, the Valentinians were very numerous.
The Marcosians formed a numerous religious body towards the end of the second century. Their sect spread as far as Gaul. They believed the doctrine of Metempsychosis.
The Theodotians and the Artemonians, in the second century, professed that Jesus Christ was not God, and believed in Metempsychosis.
The Carpocratians believed in the pre-existence of the souls, and taught that they had sinned in an anterior state of existence; that, as a punishment for those crimes, they had been condemned to animate other bodies, and would pass into other bodies as long as they would not have been sufficiently purified by this expiation. They denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the belief of the resurrection of the body. Carpocrate, of Alexandria, founded this sect in the second century.
The Docetes professed the same belief as the Carpocratians, with the difference that they did not admit that Jesus Christ had a natural body. They had exactly the same belief in regard to Metempsychosis. This sect existed in the second century. The Patripassians, the Noetians, the Praxeans, and the Sabellians have been silent on the dogma of endless hell.
Tatian, one of the most prominent ecclesiastical writers of the second century, established the sect of the Tatianists, who believed that Jesus Christ had not really suffered, and that he had not redeemed the world by his blood. They also held the doctrine of Metempsychosis. Of the many works of Tatian we have only his Discourse against the Pagans, and his Diatessaron.
Apelles established a sect of his name, in 145. The Apellites denied the resurrection of the body; believed in Metempsychosis; and also that God had entrusted a spirit of fire to create the world.
In the second century, Montan, a native of Ardaban, in Mysia, established the sect of the Montanists, which split and ramified into the Artotyrites, the Ascites, Ascodrutes, etc. They all believed the doctrine of Metempsychosis.
The Ophites, a sect of the second century, professed that the world had been created, and was governed by evil Eons or geniuses, and that God had sent Jesus Christ, his Son, to oppose the evil geniuses. They held the doctrine of Metempsychosis.
In the second century the sect of the Cainites denied the resurrection of the body, and believed in Metempsychosis.
The above sects compose the large body of Christians in the second century; and yet we do not find in their doctrines anything like the dogma of endless hell. They all, except perhaps the Millenaries, believed in the doctrine of Metempsychosis. And as those extracts are from Roman Catholic authors, who had the greatest interest in disguising the true doctrines of those sects, it follows that it is an undeniable fact, that the Christians of the second century neither did believe nor knew any thing about such a dogma as endless hell.
Corollary.Since the Christians of the second century neither believed the dogma of endless hell, nor knew anything about it, therefore the Christians of the first century neither believed this dogma, nor knew anything about it; for had they believed it, or known any thing about it, the Christians of the second century would have preserved that belief, or at least would have mentioned it. Consequently, it is an undeniable fact that the Christians of the first century were not taught by the apostles the dogma of endless hell.
Let us examine, now, the doctrines of the various Christian sects, which sprung up in the third century.
Tertullian, one of the Fathers of whom we have spoken above, had joined the Montanist sect; but afterwards he disagreed with them, and he founded, at about the fifth year of the third century, another sect, called Tertullianists. This sect lived several centuries, for in the time of St. Augustine, towards the end of the fourth century, they had a denominational organization at Carthage, Africa. Probably they held the same belief as Tertullian, in regard to the dogma of endless hell.
The Hermogenians believed that the earth and the whole universe have been uncreated, and are eternal. Hermogene said: "God has either taken evil from himself, or from nothing, or from a pre-existing matter. He could not take evil from himself, for he is indivisible; and, besides, evil could not abide in a being infinitely perfect. He could not take evil from nothing, for in this case it would have been in his power not to produce it; therefore, evil is derived from a matter pre-existing, co-eternal to God, and the defects of which God could not amend." The Hermogenians believed in Metempsychosis. Their sect spread more particularly in Galatia.
Berylle, bishop of Ostres, in Arabia, established, in 207, the sect of the Arabics. They believed that the soul was born and died with the body, and that both would come again to life. Origen wrote against this belief, and converted the most of them to his opinions. As Origen thought and taught that the punishment of the wicked would not be endless, and that the souls transmigrated, we may safely conclude that the Arabics embraced his opinions.
The Novatians were organized into a sect by Novat and Novatian, priests of the Church of Carthage. We have perused the treatises on Trinity and on the Viands, written by Novatian, whose fragments are found in the works of Tertullian; but we have found no opinion expressed in regard to the dogma of endless hell. We heardsince that there is a complete edition of his works, published in 1728, by Jackson, at London: we have not been able to obtain it.
According to the testimony of Epiphane, the Valesians held many of the doctrines of the Gnostics. From this we may safely infer that they believed in Metempsychosis. Tillemont, in his Memoirs for the Ecclesiastical History, tome 3d, says that the Valesians sprung up in 240. St. Epiphane and Tillemont are the only authors who have referred to them in their writings.
The Samosatians, whose chief was Paul of Samosate, Patriarch of Antioch, professed that the three persons of the Trinity were not three Gods, but three attributes, under which God has manifested himself to men; that Jesus Christ was not a God, but a man to whom wisdom had been extraordinarily given. We did not find any thing in the Ecclesiastical History in regard to their doctrines about future punishment. However, as they considered Jesus Christ only as an extraordinary man, it is most probable that they kept the immemorially, and, even then, generally believed doctrine of Metempsychosis. This sect was established in 260. The famous Zenobia, who then reigned in Syria, and believed the Jewish religion, was converted to this sect.
Manes was born in Persia, in 240. He was the father of the sect of the Manicheans. We shall give a summary of their doctrines, and as their sect has been one of the most numerous, one ofthe most widely spread, and one whose denominational organization seems to have outlived nearly all those of the first centuries, we will add a summary of their history. We will find in their doctrines, and in their history, a weighty proof that the dogma of endless hell was not generally believed by the Christians of the first five centuries, to say the least.
To remove the least shadow of doubt about our impartiality, we continue, as done before, to take our extracts from Roman Catholic authors, who had an interest to make it appear that the dogma of endless hell was co-eval to the apostles.
We extract from Cotelier, a Roman Catholic author, tome 1, of the Apostolic Fathers, page 543, and following, these doctrines of the Manicheans:
In their opinion, the souls, or spirits, are an emanation from the good spirit, whom they considered as an uncreated light; and all bodies have been formed by the bad principle, whom they called Satan, and the power of darkness. They held that there are portions of light enclosed within all the bodies of the universe, and that they give them motion and life, wherefore those souls cannot reunite to the good principle, except when they have been purified by the means of various transmigrations from one body into another. They denied the future resurrection of the body.
It is therefore evident that the Manicheanseither knew nothing about the dogma of endless hell, or did not believe it.
From the year 285 to the year 491, the Manicheans were persecuted. The emperors of Orient confiscated their property, and decreed the penalty of death against them. Thousands of them died in the most cruel tortures, rather than to give up their faith; we read even in our days, in the Theodosian code, the laws enacted against them. Despite those persecutions they rapidly and widely spread. In the fourth century St. Augustine was converted to their sect, but he afterwards left them, and became their most powerful opponent. They formed a large body in Africa. In 491, the mother of the emperor Anastase, who was a Manichean, obtained the suspension of the laws enacted against them. They were allowed, during twenty-seven years, to have churches, and to freely worship; but during the reign of Justin, and under his successors, they were again forbidden it. Towards the end of the seventh century, the famous Gallinice, who was a Manichean, brought up her two sons, Paul and John, in her belief, and sent them to Armenia as missionaries. Paul made so many proselytes that the new converts took the name of Paulicians.
In the beginning of the ninth century the Paulicians split; but soon after they reunited, at the persuasion of one of their most influential members, named Theodote. The aversion of the Manicheans for the worship of the virgin Mary, ofthe cross, of the saints, and of images, pleased the Saracens, who made frequent irruptions in the empire: through their influence they obtained more credit among their opponents.
In the year 841, the empress Theodora, who had declared herself in favor of the worship of the virgin Mary, of the cross, of the saints, and of images, went so far in her fanatical zeal for this doctrine, that she resolved to exterminate the Manicheans, and their religion. By her orders more than one hundred thousand of them were arrested and put to death; nearly all expired in the most cruel tortures. Then the Manicheans sought a refuge among the Saracens; they retired in fortified towns, repelled the repeated assaults of the imperial armies, and maintained themselves during about forty years; but having been defeated in a great battle they were forced to disperse.
Some went to Bulgaria, and since took the name of Bulgarians; others went to Italy, and mainly settled in Lombardy, wherefrom they sent missionaries to France, to Germany, and to other countries. In the year 1022, under the king Robert, several canons of Orleans, who had joined the Manicheans, were burnt alive. Although the penalty of death had been decreed against the Manicheans, they established a large number of convents all over France, and particularly in the provinces of Provence, of Languedoc, and, more especially, in the diocese of Albi, where they took the name of Albigenses.
Alanus, monk of Cîteaux, and Peter, monk of Vaux-Cernay, who wrote against them, accused them, 1st, of admitting two principles or creators, the one good and the other bad; the first, creator of invisible and spiritual things, and the second, creator of bodies. 2d, Of denying the resurrection of the body. 3d, Of denying the Purgatory. 4th, Of denying the utility of prayers for the dead. 5th, Of denying the pains of hell. 6th, Of believing the transmigration of the souls into other bodies of men, or of animals, according to the degree of their guilt in an anterior state of existence, until by successive expiatory transmigrations they become purified. 7th, Of disbelieving the seven sacraments. 8th, Of rejecting the worship of the virgin Mary, of the cross, of the saints, and of images, etc.
In 1176, the council of Albi, which some authors call council of Lombez, was held against the Manicheans, who, as said above, were called Albigenses. In this council they were condemned under the calling of Good Men. Fleury, who, in the seventy-second book of his Ecclesiastical History, quotes the acts of the council, ascribes to them the above doctrines; so does the historian Rainerius; and Bossuet, in the ninth book of his History of Variations, cites other authors who confirm all these accusations. The condemnation of the Manicheans, or Albigenses, was confirmed by the general council of Latran, in 1179. A crusade was ordered against them by the Pope, Innocent III., and a strict inquisition was organized. Simon, count of Montford, was appointed, by the Pope, general-in-chief of the crusaders; then the slaughter commenced. It lasted eighteen years: the Albigenses, or Manicheans, were exterminated, a few only secretly found their way to the Alps, where they concealed themselves, and afterwards united to the Valdenses. Several hundred thousands were either burnt alive, or tortured on racks, or put to the sword; all were slain: men, old men, young men, women, children, and infants; and during those horrible ceremonies of death, the soldiers of the Pope sung the Veni Creator Spiritus, etc., a hymn of invocation to the Holy Spirit.
From the doctrines and history of the Manicheans we draw the following argument:
According to the unanimous testimony of the Roman Catholic authors themselves, from about the middle of the third century to the thirteenth, the Manicheans composed a numerous body of Christians, and did not believe the dogma of endless hell. So constant were they in this disbelief, that they persisted in it till nearly every one of them was exterminated; therefore it is an undeniable historical fact that this large denomination of Christians did not hold the dogma of hell, in the third, fourth, fifth, etc., centuries.
Let us examine the doctrine of the Christian sects, which sprung up in the fourth century, in regard to endless hell. We continue to take our extracts from Roman Catholic authors.
Priscillian, a Spaniard, was the founder of the Christian sect of Priscillianists, in the year 380. This denomination of Christians believed in the doctrine of Metempsychosis. They held that the souls passed into the bodies of other men, until they were purified, by their transmigrations, of the sins they had committed in an anterior life. They denied the resurrection of human bodies. Priscillian was condemned to death, and the penalty of death was decreed against the Priscillianists. The emperor Maxime, and the pope Leon, used fire, racks, and swords against them; they slew thousands of them, nevertheless they increased so that they were numerous yet in the sixth century in Spain and in Italy. Tillemont, in his Ecclesiastical Memoir, tome 8, refers to Sulpice-Sevère, to Ambrosius, and to St. Augustine, for the confirmation of the above, said concerning the doctrines of the Priscillianists.
The other principal sects of the fourth century were the Donatists, the Photinians, the Macedonians, the Apollinarists, the Jovinians, the Collyridians, and the Pelagians. The Nestorians, the Eutichians, and the Monothelites, sprang up in the fifth century. We have not found in their writings any passages referring to the dogma of endless hell. However we must state that we had the opportunity of perusing only about two-thirds of the numerous and voluminous, we would add tedious, works composed pro and con concerning their respective tenets.
Remark.—Let the reader bear in mind that the most of the Christian sects, whose disbelief of the dogma of endless hell we have traced out above, composed the majority of the Christian body; and also that they have existed, at least, till the middle of the sixth century, the epoch when the fifth council of Constantinople condemned the doctrine held by Origen—that of the transmigration of the souls, and of their temporary punishment.
Conclusion.Therefore the dogma of endless hell was not generally believed by the Christians of the third, of the fourth, and of the fifth centuries.
General conclusion of this third article:
1. We have proved, by the testimony of the Fathers of the second century, and by the doctrines of the numerous Christian sects of the same century, that the dogma of endless hell was even unknown to the Christians of the first and of the second centuries. Then we must conclude that not only the first Christians, namely, the Christians of the first and of the second centuries did not believe in endless hell, but even that they knew nothing about such a dogma.
2. We have proved, by the testimony of the Fathers of the third, of the fourth, and of the fifth centuries, and also by the many Christian sects which existed in the third, in the fourth, and in the fifth centuries, that the Christians did not generally believe, in the said centuries, the dogma of endless hell. Therefore the Christians of the third, of the fourth, and of the fifth centuries, did notgenerallybelieve in endless hell.
Therefore the proposition we were to prove in the present article,that the first Christians did not believe in the doctrine of endless hell, remains peremptorily established.
Objection.—Since the fourth century the Church of Rome obtained the condemnation of the above Christian sects in five general councils. But if the above sects had composed the majority of the body of Christians, the Church of Rome would not have obtained their condemnation. Consequently the above sects did not compose the majority of the body of Christians during the third, the fourth, and the fifth centuries.
Answer.—We deny the minor proposition of this syllogism, which is: But if the above sects had composed the majority of the body of Christians, the Church of Rome would not have obtained their condemnation—and we prove our denegation as follows:—
Supposing that the United States be constituted into an empire—God forbid!—that the emperor would have the control of Church property, would side, say with the Presbyterian Church, or any other, claiming supremacy over the other Christian denominations; and that the emperor would assemble councils conjointly with that Church, would attend and even be vice-president of those councils, would enforce them with civil and military force, and also the execution of their acts condemning another sect arrayed before those councils, without permitting the other sects to vote in those councils, would it follow from this that all the other Christian sects do not compose the body of Christians in the United States? Certainly not.
But the case was the same with the Church of Rome. Since the end of the second century the bishop of Rome (we do not say the Pope, for it was only centuries after that he had the boldness, or rather impudence, to call himself exclusively Pope,) commenced to claim a personal supremacy over the other bishops, and also a supremacy of his church over the other Christian churches. Vain were his efforts until the beginning of the fourth century, when Sylvestre, bishop of Rome, obtained for himself and for his church the favors and protection of the emperor Constantine I., who afterwards joined it, (we will state in the last chapter of this work the reasons why this tyrant took these steps.) In behalf of the Church of Rome, he convoked the council of Arles, and the general council of Nice, and defrayed the expenses of the bishops out of his own treasure. His protection to the Church of Rome the most of his successors on the imperial throne continued; and thus the power and supremacy of this church grew in ratio of the persecutions directed against the other Christian denominations, which were debarred from voting in the councils; whose church property was oftentimes confiscated; and which many of them were prohibited to publicly worship. In consequence, it is not true to say that, if the various Christian sects spoken of before had composedthe majority of the body of Christians, the Church of Rome would not have obtained their condemnation. Therefore the various sects spoken of before composed the majority of the body of Christians during the third, the fourth and the fifth centuries.
To the proofs that the first Christians did not believe in endless hell.
From the second to the fourth centuries many Apocryphal Gospels had been written. Some of them have been transmitted down to us, at least their fragments; and others have not been preserved except their titles.
Among those gospels are: 1st, the Gospel according to the Hebrews; 2d, according to the Nazareans; 3d, according to the Twelve Apostles; 4th, according to St. Peter. It is supposed that these four Gospels were that of Matthew, altered by the Hebrews. This circumstance has led the critics to believe, that the Hebrew or Syriac text of Matthew had been abandoned, lest it might be altered; and that the Greek version had been preserved.
5th, The Gospel according to the Egyptians; 6th, that of the birth of the virgin Mary: we have read it in Latin; 7th, the Protogospel of James, written in Greek and in Latin; 8th, the Gospel of the Infancy, in Greek and in Arabic; 9th, that of St. Thomas; 10th, the Gospel of Nicodemus, inLatin; 11th, the Gospel Eternal; 12th, that of Andrew; 13th, that of Bartholomew; 14th, that of Apelles; 15th, that of Basilides; 16th, that of Cerinthus; 17th, that of the Ebionites—perhaps it was the same as that of the Hebrews; 18th, that of Tatian; 19th, that of Eve; 20th, that of the Gnostics; 21st, that of Marcion; 22d, that of St. Paul; 23d, the Gospel of the small and great interrogations of Mary; 24th, that of the birth of Jesus: probably the same as the Protogospel of James; 25th, that of John, or of the death of the virgin Mary; 26th, that of Matthias; 27th, that of Perfection; 28th, that of the Simonians; 29th, that of the Syrians; 30th, that of the Encratites: probably the same as that of Tatian; 31st, the Gospel of Thadeus, or of Jude; 32d, that of Valentine; 33d, that of Life, or of the Living God; 34th, that of Philip; 35th, that of Barnabeus; 36th, that of James, the major; 37th, that of Judas; 38th, of the Truth: probably the same as that of Valentine; 39th, the Gospels of Leucius, of Seleucus, of Lucianus, and of Hesychius.
For a more extensive information concerning the Apocryphal Gospels, we refer the reader to the Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti Collectus, Castigatus, published at Hamburg, in 3 vols. octavo, in 1719. The author was John Albert Fabricius, one of the most learned antiquarians of the 17th century.
We had the opportunity of reading, in the rich library of the theological school of Brou, France,several of these Apocryphal Gospels, that of the birth of the virgin Mary, the Protogospel of James; that of the death of the virgin Mary, and that of the Twelve Apostles; but we do not recollect to have seen in these gospels anything, in regard to endless hell, more positive than what is found in the Gospel concerning the ruin of Jerusalem.
Of course this proof, drawn from the Apocryphal Gospels, has not the same weight as if it was drawn from authentical authors, (it is for this reason that we have not inserted it in the body of proofs,) however as it is certain that they have been written from the second to the fourth centuries, they at least show that their authors, and the many Christians who used them, did not believe in endless hell.
How the Church of Rome borrowed the doctrine of Endless Hell from the Pagans; and how, afterwards, the self-called Orthodox Protestant Churches borrowed it from the Church of Rome.
It has been proved in the foregoing article, and, we think, to demonstration, that the Christians of the first and of the second centuries, neither knew nor believed the dogma of endless hell; wherefore we may logically make this argument:
The Christians of the first and of the second centuries neither knew nor believed the dogma of endless hell: But if the dogma of endless hell hadbeen taught in the New Testament, the Christians of the first and of the second centuries would have known and believed it. This we prove:
Those of the apostles who wrote the New Testament certainly knew whether, in the New Testament they wrote, they had taught the dogma of endless hell. If they had known that, in the New Testament they wrote, they had taught the dogma of endless hell, they would have certainly informed the Christians of the first century, in their oral predications, that, in the New Testament they wrote, they had taught the dogma of endless hell, for it was one of the most important points of doctrine. If they had informed the Christians of the first century, in their oral predications, that they had taught, in the New Testament they wrote, the dogma of endless hell, the Christians of the first century would have certainly believed that they had taught, in the New Testament they wrote, the dogma of endless hell. If the Christians of the first century had believed that they had taught, in the New Testament they wrote, the dogma of endless hell, they would have certainly believed in endless hell. If the Christians of the first century had believed in endless hell, those of the beginning of the second century would have also believed it; for the apostle and evangelist John was still living at the end of the year 100; (even many authors say that he died only in 104,) and therefore if any discussion had arisen in regard to the dogma of endless hell, he would have declared whether it wastaught in the New Testament or not. If the Christians of the beginning of the second century had also believed the dogma of endless hell, those who would have lived in the middle and at the end of the second century would have believed it also; because learning, from the lips, or from the writings, of those who were co-eval to some of the apostles, the dogma of endless hell, no traditional alteration might have taken place towards this dogma; so much so that it would have been generally spread and believed among Christians, owing to its importance.
Therefore the minor proposition of our argument is true:But if the dogma of endless hell had been taught in the New Testament, the Christians of the first and of the second centuries would have known and believed it.Wherefore we draw this logical conclusion: Then the dogma of endless hell is not taught in the New Testament.
Moreover, if the Christians of the third, of the fourth, and of the fifth centuries, had thought that the dogma of endless hell was taught in the New Testament they would have at leastgenerallybelieved it. But they did notgenerallybelieve it, as it has been proved, to demonstration, in the foregoing Article: consequently the dogma of endless hell is not taught in the New Testament.
From the fact that, according to the Christians of the first and of the second centuries themselves, the dogma of endless hell is not taught in the New Testament, we draw the conclusion that theChurch of Rome, which first, and successively, introduced in the body of Christians the dogma of hell and of endless hell, did not originate it from the New Testament; because there would have been a general protestation against it from all the other churches.
It has been proved, in the second Article of this chapter, that the Jews did not believe the dogma of endless hell. Therefore the Church of Rome did not originate the dogma of endless hell from the Jews, or from their Holy Writs.
Wherefrom, then, did the Church of Rome originate the dogma of endless hell?
From Paganism:—
The Church of Rome established mysteries towards the beginning of the third century. They were an imitation of the Pagan mysteries.
We refer the reader for the proofs of this proposition to the last pages of the second chapter of this work.
Thereupon we continue. It was only successively, and to make more proselytes, that the Church of Rome had established those ceremonies, rites and doctrines, to the reading thereof we have invited the reader, and which were not only unspoken of in the Scriptures, but which were a pure imitation of those of the mysteries of the Pagans. We say,to make more proselytes; for the aim of the Church of Rome was evidently to diminish the abruptness of the transition between Paganism and Christianity; to throw a bridge, ifwe may thus illustrate our idea, over the steep, wide, and deep abyss that lies between Paganism and Christianity.
Now let us compare the hell of the Church of Rome with the Tartarus of the Pagans. The Pagans called the place where the wicked were punished, Tartarus, or Infernus; the Church of Rome called, and still calls, the same place, Tartarus, or Infernus. The Pagans believed that the Tartarus was in the profundities of the earth; the Church of Rome held, and still holds, that the Tartarus, called in English, Hell, is in the profundities of the earth.
Remark.—Before proceeding further, let us give the native signification of the words Tartarus, Infernus and Hell. Τἁρταρος, ου, dark and deep place: Τάρταρα γαίης, [in Hesiode,] abysses of the earth. The word Τἁρταρος has been adopted and kept in the Latin, though with the change of the final ος intous, Tartarus, and its native meaning preserved. The Latin word Infernus derives from the word inferior, which signifies a place under, below an other, a cavity, a profundity. The words Tartarus, Infernus, have been kept in French, Tartare, Enfer; in Spanish, Tartaro, Infierno; and also in the other languages derived from the Latin. The English wordhellis the genitive case of the Anglo-Saxon wordhole, [See Webster's Dictionary,] which means a cavity, a profundity. The word Tartarus has been kept from the Latin, with its native signification. In Greek Τἁρταροςhas a plural, as seen before. In LatinTartarushas a plural,Tartari; soInfernus,Inferi. In FrenchTartarehas a plural,Tartares; so,Enfer,Enfers. In SpanishTartarohas a plural,Tartaros; so,Infierno,Infiernos.
Now we continue the comparison that we have commenced between the Infernus of the Pagans and the Infernus, or Hell, of the Church of Rome. We will use the word Hell, to express the Tartarus, or Infernus, of both the Pagans and the Church of Rome.
The Pagans believed that there was a gate to their hell; so the Church of Rome believes that there is a gate to the hell of the Christians. The Pagans believed that the frightful Tisiphon watched day and night at the gate of their hell; so the Church of Rome believes that Lucifer holds the keys of the gate of hell, as St. Peter holds the keys of Paradise.
The Pagans believed that the deepest darkness reigned in their hell; so the Church of Rome believes that the deepest darkness reigns in the hell of the Christians.
The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the Phlegeton river rolled huge stones on fire, burning the wicked without consuming them; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, [even now it is an article of faith which must be believed under the penalty of excommunication, of being a heretic, and thereby of infallibly going to hell,] that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked areplunged into a corporeal, or material, fire of sulphur, and of brimstone. St. Augustine, in his work De Civitate Dei, Liber 21, Capitulum 10, writes: "Gehenna illa, quod etiam stagnum ignis et sulphuris dictum est, corporeus ignis erit." [Translation.—"That Gehenna, which is said to be a marsh of fire and of sulphur, will be a corporeal fire."]
The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked were tortured in their bodies and in their souls, although their bodies were in the grave; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked are tortured in their bodies and in their souls, although their bodies are in the grave.
The Pagans believed that, in their hell, hideous furies were armed with whips and other instruments of torture; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the devils are hideous and armed with whips, tridents, harpoons, and other instruments of torture. We invite the reader to go to Catholic stores of images, and to see the representation of devils with tails, horns, and armed with instruments of torture.
The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked were whipped and tortured in various cruel manners by the furies, though their bodies were in the grave; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked are whipped and torturedin various cruel manners by the devils, though their bodies are in the grave. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked dragged heavy chains; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked drag heavy chains. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, there were two principal abodes, the one expiatory, in which the common wicked were detained and tortured, until they had expiated their faults, and been purified enough to be admitted in the Elysium; and the other, the vastest, the darkest, and the deepest cavern, where great criminals were burnt and excruciated endlessly, and without any hope of cessation or relief in their torments; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that in the hell of the Christians, there are two principal abodes, the one, Purgatory, where the common wicked, namely, those guilty of venial sins, are tortured and burnt in a material fire, until they have expiated their faults, and been purified enough to be permitted to crave St. Peter to open to them the gate of Paradise, and the other the vastest, the darkest, and the deepest profundity, where the heretics, the schismatics, those who eat meat on Friday, do not pay the tithe to the priests, or who disobey kindred laws of the Church, are plunged, bodies and souls, (though their bodies are in the grave,) into a devouring fire, and where they are excruciated endlessly, without any hope of cessation or relief in their torments.
The Pagans believed that, in the expiatory abode of their hell, there were many different degrees of tortures; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the Purgatory of the hell of the Christians, there are many different degrees of tortures. The Pagans believed that supplications could relieve and free from their tortures, the common wicked detained in the expiatory abode of their hell; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the Purgatory of the hell of the Christians, the common wicked, namely, those guilty of venial sins, can be relieved in their torments, and be freed from them by supplications; hence the incalculable sums of money paid to the priests, to say masses for the deliverance of those wicked; hence the countless splendid churches, the vast number of monasteries, convents, nunneries, abbeys, and other costly edifices, founded in behalf of those wicked.
The Pagans believed that there were an innumerable quantity of different degrees of tortures in the second principal abode of their hell; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the second principal abode of the hell of the Christians, there is an innumerable quantity of different degrees of tortures. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked condemned to endless misery, would, mingle with their yells of anguish, torment, and despair, vociferations, maledictions, and curses, against the gods, andagainst themselves; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked, condemned to endless misery, will mingle with their yells of anguish, torment, and despair, vociferations, maledictions, and curses against God, and against themselves; that they will exclaim,Montes cadite super nos!—Mountains fall upon us! The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked condemned to endless misery will vainly endeavor to kill and annihilate themselves; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that the wicked condemned to endless misery, will vainly attempt to put an end to their miserable existence.
Therefore there is a most striking similarity, or rather identity, between the hell of the Pagans, and the hell of the Church of Rome.
Therefore, since as proved above,
1st, The Church of Rome was the first Church which introduced the dogma of endless hell in the body of Christians;
2d, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome did not originate the dogma of endless hell from the New Testament;
3d, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome did not borrow from the Jews, or from their Holy Writs, the dogma of endless hell;
4th, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome, at the imitation of the Pagans, established, towards the beginning of the third century, mysteries, many of the ceremonies, rites and doctrinesthereof were alike to those ceremonies, rites and doctrines, of the mysteries of the Pagans;
5th, Since, as proved above, there is a most striking similarity, or rather identity, between the hell of the Pagans, and the hell of the Church of Rome,
We legitimately draw this important conclusion:
Therefore the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans the dogma of endless hell.
When the Protestants, now self-called Orthodox Churches, left the Church of Rome, in the sixteenth century, they cut off many of the appendices and concomitant particularities of the dogma of endless hell; but they preserved, and even in our days profess to believe, the main features of this dogma, namely, that in hell there is sulphur, brimstone, and fire; that in hell there are devils; that in hell there are many degrees of torments; that in hell the wicked are constantly burning in fire without consuming, and are constantly tortured by the devils without any relief; that hell shall exist forever and evermore, as long as endless eternity shall endure; and that the torments of the wicked in hell shall no more end than hell itself.
That the Protestants, now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches, borrowed from the Church of Rome, in the sixteenth century, the dogma of endless hell; and that they preserved the above belief in regard to endless hell, is proved by theunanimous testimony of modern historians and of chroniclers. That they, now-a-days, profess the above belief in regard to endless hell, is a fact which we can daily, and particularly every Sunday, in all cities, towns, and villages of this country, and of all Protestant countries, verify with our own eyes in their writings, and with our own ears in their temples.
Now we draw our general conclusions:
1st, Therefore the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans the dogma of endless hell.
2d, Therefore the now self-called Orthodox Protestant, or Christian Churches, borrowed from the Church of Rome the dogma of endless hell.
Conclusion of the chapter:
Therefore the Partialist doctrine of endless hell is of Pagan origin.
PAGAN ORIGIN OF THE DOCTRINE OF A FIRST JUDGMENT, BY JESUS CHRIST, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SEPARATION OF THE SOUL FROM THE BODY.
Itwill be evident that the origin of the doctrine of a first judgment, by Jesus Christ, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body, is Pagan, if it can be proved, 1st, That the Pagans believed in a first judgment, by a god, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body; 2d, That the particulars of this first judgment, believed in by the Partialist Christian Churches, present a striking similarity with the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Pagans; and 3d, That the Church of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century, transmitted to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches this doctrine of a first judgment, which they accepted full and entire, did not hold it from the apostles of Jesus Christ nor from the Jews.
But it can be proved, 1st, That the Pagans believed in a first judgment, by a god, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body; 2d, That the particulars of this first judgment, believedin by the Partialist Christian Churches, present a striking similarity with the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Pagans; and 3d, that the Church of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century transmitted to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches this doctrine of a first judgment, which they accepted full and entire, did not hold it from the Apostles of Jesus Christ nor from the Jews.
1st, It can be proved that the Pagans believed in a first judgment, by a god, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body.
We extract the following from the History of the Egyptians, by Rollin. Article—Funerals: "Before the dead were admitted in the sacred asylum of the tomb, they underwent a solemn judgment. And this circumstance of the funerals among the Egyptians, is one of the most remarkable things in the ancient history. It is a consolation to us to leave behind us, when we die, a name honored among men; and of all blessings it is the only one of which we cannot be deprived by death. But in Egypt, it was not permitted to indistinctly praise the dead; this honor was conferred only after a favorable public judgment. The assembly of the judges was held on the other side of a lake, which they crossed on a bark. He who conducted the bark was called, in the Egyptian tongue,Charon; and it is from this name that the Greeks, instructed by Orpheus, who had been in Egypt, had invented the fable of the bark ofCharon.
"When a man died he was brought to judgment. The public accuser was heard. If he proved that the conduct of the dead had been wicked, his memory was stigmatized, and he was deprived of the honor of funerals. The people admired the power of the laws, which extended even beyond death; and everybody, influenced by the example of others, was afraid to dishonor his family, and his own memory. If the dead was not convicted of any crime, he was honorably buried. What was the most astonishing in this judgment of the dead was that royalty itself was not spared. The kings were not judged during their life, the public good demanded it; but they were not exempted from the after death's judgment, and several of them were deprived of honorable funerals. This custom passed among the Israelites. We read in the Old Testament that wicked kings were not buried in the tombs of their fathers. Thus kings learned, that, if their majesty places them above the judgments of men, it is so no longer when death has placed them on the same level with their fellow-men.
"When the judgment, which had been pronounced, was favorable to the dead, they proceeded to the ceremony of the burial. A panegyric was delivered in which nothing was said of his birth, because every Egyptian was considered to be a noble man. His personal virtues only were praised. Then the whole assembly supplicated the gods to welcome him in the assembly of thevirtuous dead, and to associate him to their eternal bliss."
This judgment gave birth to the fable of a judgment rendered by the gods, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body. Charon was represented carrying the souls of the dead on board his bark, across the Styx river, to be judged by the great judge, Minos. This became a general belief among the Pagans, not only in Egypt, but in Greece, in Italy, and in nearly all the Oriental countries; as proved by the unanimous consent of the mythological authors. This belief has been perpetuated among the Pagans of those countries. Even in our days, the Indians believe in this judgment, and call the great judge, Zomo, or according to others, Jamen. The Japanese, followers of Buda, also believe in this judgment; and they call the great judge, Zomo. Likewise the Lamas believe in this judgment, and call the great judge Erlik-kan.
Therefore the Pagans believed in a first judgment, by a god, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body.
2d. It can be proved that the particulars of this first judgment, believed in by the Partialist Christian Churches, present a striking similarity with the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Pagans:
The Pagans believed that their great judge, Minos, sat on a throne, to judge the souls immediately after their separation from the bodiesthat they animated; so the Partialist Christian Churches believe that Jesus Christ sits on a throne, to judge the souls, immediately after their separation from the bodies that they animated. The Pagans believed that, near to Minos' throne, and at his right hand, good geniuses, or spirits, stood; so the Partialist Christian Churches believe that, near to Jesus Christ's throne, and at his right hand, good angels stand. The Pagans believed that, near to Minos' throne, and at his left hand, furies stood; so the Partialist Christian Churches believe that, near to Jesus Christ's throne, and at his left hand, devils stand.
The Pagans believed that the souls were driven to the redoubtable tribunal of Minos by their respective guardian angel, who had accompanied them during their whole life on earth; had watched day and night over their conduct; and had kept a record of all they had done, right or wrong; so the Church of Rome, and some other Partialist Christian Churches, believe that the souls are driven to the redoubtable tribunal of Jesus Christ by their respective guardian angel, who has accompanied them during their whole life on earth; has watched day and night over their conduct, and has kept a record of all they have done, right or wrong. The Pagans believed that Minos based his judgments on the contents of two books, the one called book of life, and the other book of death; so the Partialist Christian Churches believe that Jesus Christ bases his judgments on thecontents of two books; the one called book of life, and the other book of death. The Pagans believed that the souls who had obtained from Minos a favorable sentence, were led to the Elysium by their respective guardian angel; and that those who had been condemned to the Tartarus, were apprehended by the furies, and hurled into it; so the Partialist Christian Churches believe that the souls who obtain from Jesus Christ a favorable sentence, are led to Paradise by their respective guardian angel; or, [in the opinion of those of the Partialist Christian Churches, which do not believe in a guardian angel] by other angels.
Consequently the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Partialist Christian Churches, present a striking similarity with the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Pagans.
3d. It can be proved that the Church of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century, transmitted to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches the doctrine of a first judgment, which they accepted full and entire, did not hold it from the apostles of Jesus Christ, nor from the Jews:—
The Church of Rome does not hold the doctrine of a first judgment from the apostles of Jesus Christ, for this doctrine implies a blasphemy—whether Jesus Christ be considered as being God himself—and all the Partialist Christian Churches hold that he is God himself—and whetherJesus Christ be considered as being only the Son of God. But the doctrine of a first judgment implies a blasphemy, whether Jesus Christ be considered as being God himself, and whether he be considered as being only the Son of God.
First, it implies a blasphemy, if Jesus Christ is considered as being God himself. Jesus Christ, being God himself, would necessarily know all the good and bad actions done by the souls, while they animate their respective bodies on earth, in consequence it is an insult to his attribute of wisdom, and thereby a blasphemy, to say that the guardian angels of the souls, as they bring them to his tribunal, inform him of their good and bad actions, which they have recorded. Even in the case of those of the Partialist Christian Churches, which reject the circumstance of the guardian angels, the doctrine of a first judgment implies an insult to the wisdom of Jesus Christ, (in their opinion God himself), and thereby a blasphemy; for a judgment supposes a trial; a trial supposes an investigation; an investigation supposes the ignorance of the deeds to be pronounced upon, and the supposition that God has not a perfect knowledge of those deeds, is an insult to his wisdom, and thereby is a blasphemy.
Second, The doctrine of a first judgment implies a blasphemy, if Jesus Christ is considered as being only the Son of God. If God had vested Jesus Christ with the power of discerning rewards and punishments to the souls after death, he would have given him a knowledge of the good and badactions of the souls. But the doctrine of a first judgment supposes that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would come to this knowledge only through the means of a trial, which supposition is an insult to the wisdom of God, and thereby a blasphemy.
Then the doctrine of a first judgment implies a blasphemy, whether Jesus Christ be considered as being God himself, and whether Jesus Christ be considered as being only the Son of God.
Therefore the Church of Rome does not hold the doctrine of a first judgment from the apostles of Jesus Christ.
General conclusions:—
It has been proved in this chapter, 1st, That the Pagans believed in a first judgment, by a god, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body; 2d, That the particulars of this first judgment, believed in by the Partialist Christian Churches, present a striking similarity with the particulars of the first judgment, believed in by the Pagans; and, 3d, That the Church of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century, transmitted to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches this doctrine of a first judgment, which they accepted full and entire, did not hold it from the apostles of Jesus Christ; neither did she hold it from the Jews; for not a single passage can be traced out in the Old Testament, or in Josephus, referring to a first judgment.
Therefore the origin of the doctrine of a first judgment, by Jesus Christ, immediately after the separation of the soul from the body, is Pagan.
PAGAN ORIGIN OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
Ifit is proved, 1st, That in the first centuries of the Christian era, and before the coming of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was held by a large number of Pagans; 2d, That the Church of Rome which, in the sixteenth century, transmitted it to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches, did not hold it either from the apostles of Jesus Christ, or from the Jews, it will remain evident that the Church of Rome borrowed it from the Pagans, and consequently that its origin is Pagan.
But it can be proved, 1st, That in the first centuries of the Christian era, and before the coming of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was held by a large number of Pagans; 2d, That the Church of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century, transmitted it to the now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches, did not hold it from the apostles of Jesus Christ; and, 3d, That she did not hold it from the Jews.
1st. It can be proved that in the first centuries of the Christian era, and before the coming ofJesus Christ, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body was held by a large number of Pagans:
The doctrine of the resurrection of the body had been taught by Zoroaster. All the Persians believed it; and even now the Parsis, or followers of the religion of Zoroaster, who live in Turkey and in Persia, hold it. It was also one of the dogmas of the Chaldeans, and of many other oriental countries. In India the Pagans, now-a-days, believe that their bodies will come again to life, and it is owing to this belief, the Roman Catholic priest Bergier says, that the wives throw themselves on the same wood piles on which lay the dead bodies of their husbands, to be burnt alive, and to come again to life with them. This belief and practice are immemorial in India. Interesting particulars in regard to the doctrine of the resurrection believed by ancient nations, can be read in the French work, Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tome 69, pages 270, and following; in the work of Hyde, on the Religion of the Persians; and also in the writings of Plutarch, article Isis and Osiris.
According to the testimony of Diodore, and of Herodote, the Egyptians believed in Metempsychosis; and it was an immemorial doctrine among them. Also, many of them believed that their bodies would come again to life, after a sojourn of one thousand years in the grave. The Sybilline verses treat of the resurrection of the body. Much has been written about it by Bocchus, in Solin, chap. 8; and by Lactance, book 7, chap. 29, book4, chap. 15, 18, and 19. The Stoicians, who were the most learned philosophers of antiquity, and in the three centuries which preceded the coming of Jesus Christ, and also in the three that followed, believed in Metempsychosis; however, a portion of their school believed in the resurrection of the body. Of this we are informed by Seneca, Epist. 40; by Laerta, book 7; and by Plutarch, writing on the Resignation of the Stoicians.
Pliny, deriding Democrite, informs us that this philosopher believed in the resurrection of the body; see book 7, chap. 45, where he says: "Vain is the promise made by Democrite that we will live again." The doctrine of the resurrection of the body is taught in these verses of Phocylides about the remains of the dead: