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diff --git a/40929-8.txt b/40929-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9376360..0000000 --- a/40929-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4398 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Transformation of Early Christianity -from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement, by Lyford Paterson Edwards - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Transformation of Early Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement - A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate - School of Arts and Literature in Candidacy for the Degree - of Doctor of Philosophy - -Author: Lyford Paterson Edwards - -Release Date: October 3, 2012 [EBook #40929] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRANSFORMATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - Transcriber's Note: - - Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully - aspossible, including some inconsistencies of hyphenation. Some - changes of spelling and punctuation have been made. They are listed - at the end of the text. - - Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. - - - - - The University of Chicago - - THE TRANSFORMATION OF - EARLY CHRISTIANITY FROM - AN ESCHATOLOGICAL - TO A SOCIALIZED - MOVEMENT - - A DISSERTATION - - SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY - OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE - IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF - DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - - DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL - - BY - LYFORD PATERSON EDWARDS - - The Collegiate Press - GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY - MENASHA, WISCONSIN - 1919 - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Chapter I. Political Theories of the Early Christians 1 - - Chapter II. The Early Church and Property Concepts 24 - - Chapter III. The Early Church and the Populace 50 - - Chapter IV. Chiliasm and Patriotism 70 - - Chapter V. Chiliasm and Social Theory 83 - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE POLITICAL THEORIES OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS - - -When Christianity came into the world it found a number of different -political theories already in existence. These various conflicting -concepts; Hebrew, Greek and Roman, influenced Christianity in varying -degrees and in varying degrees were influenced by Christianity. -Christianity as such added no new ideas to the current stock of -political notions. The Hebrew Christian retained his Jewish theory; as -did the Greek and the Roman in perhaps a less degree. The development of -the Christian conception of the state, the Church, and history generally -is a process of elimination, selection, adaptation, and synthesis of the -various elements of political theory current in contemporary Hebrew and -pagan thought. - -The characteristic modern separation of Church and State, the divorce -between religion and government, existed as a matter of fact in early -Christianity. But it was forced upon the Christians by the historical -situation. As an idea it was foreign alike to Jews and Christians, -Greeks and Romans. It was contrary to the whole body of contemporary -political theory. The union of Church and State in the Fourth century, -which has been so deplored by many modern historians and moralists was -in reality perfectly inevitable. The social mind of the whole ancient -world made any other course impossible either to Christians or Pagans -once Christianity had developed to the point where it was the most -powerful religious force in society. - -The theocratic nature of Jewish thought and practice is generally -recognized but the close connection of religion and government in the -pagan educational system is not perhaps so much emphasized. To quote -Pollock: "It costs us something to realize the full importance of -philosophy to the Greek or Roman citizen who had received a liberal -education. For him it combined in one whole body of doctrine all the -authority and influence which nowadays are divided, not without -contention, by science, philosophy, and religion in varying shares. It -was not an intellectual exercise or special study, but a serious -endeavor to gather up the results of all human knowledge in their most -general form, and make them available for the practical conduct of -life."[1] - -It was this fact which made Christianity's progress among the educated -classes so slow. Once it had made its way, however, the taking over of -political control by the Church was both easy and natural. - -One of the most notable characteristics of the New Testament and of all -early Christianity in its relation to the existing political system was -the doctrine of obedience to the constituted authorities. That a man -like St. Paul should advocate submission to a man like Nero seems like -the negation of elementary morality. The reasons for this attitude are -many. In this paper we are concerned only with one of them--but possibly -the most important one. The submissiveness of the early Christians to -tyranny and despotism was not due primarily to impotence nor yet to -excessive mildness of disposition. Many emperors before Constantine were -deposed and slain by political groups smaller and feebler than the -Christians. St. Paul and St. Ignatius, to go no farther, were not by -nature pacifists. It would be difficult to find a book of a more -militant tone than the Revelation of St. John. - -The main reason for the political non-resistance of the early Christians -is to be sought in their philosophy; their views of the world. These -views were of a very special and very peculiar kind. They were in large -part either directly inherited from Jewish thought or adapted from it. -While they are in some respects inconsistent with one another, they have -a common element. They are all catastrophic. In all of them the -catastrophe is more or less immediately imminent. - -The Old Testament Prophets taught the establishment, in the indefinite -future, of an eternal Messianic kingdom on this present earth. For a -long time this hope was cherished by every Jew. But some time before the -beginning of the First Century B.C. a change took place. The old -conception was abandoned, slowly indeed, but at last absolutely. In its -place arose a belief which developed into Chiliasm or Millenarianism. -Perhaps the first clear statement of this new idea is to be found in the -book known as I Enoch. In this work which dates from 104-95 B.C., the -Messianic kingdom is for the first time conceived of as of temporary -duration. The resurrection and final judgment which in the preceding -form of belief were the prelude to the everlasting Messianic kingdom on -earth, are now transposed to the end of the transitory, early kingdom of -the Messiah. This temporary earthly kingdom is no longer the final abode -of the risen righteous. They are to enjoy a blessed immortality in the -eternal heaven.[2] - -We have in this author a practically complete statement of later -Christian Chiliasm. There is indeed one important feature missing. The -specific duration of the Messianic kingdom is not given. The advent of -the kingdom also is not pressingly imminent. - -In the Parables 94-64 B.C. we find certain other elements. This writer -holds to the eternal Messianic kingdom but the scene of this kingdom is -not the earth as at present existing but a new heaven and a new earth. -The Messiah is no longer a mere man but a supernatural being. Four -titles characteristic of the New Testament are for the first time -applied to him: "The Christ," "The Righteous One," "The Elect One," "The -Son of Man." He executes judgment on man and enjoys universal dominion. -The resurrection is not of the old body but of a body of glory and -light, of an angelic nature, in short a spiritual body, though the -specific word spiritual is not used.[3] - -In the other eschatological works of this period: e.g. Psalms of Solomon -70-40 B.C. Judith (circa 50 B.C.) [one reference]; The Sibylline Oracles -III 1-62 (before 31 B.C.); The Epitomiser of Jason of Cyrene (between -100-40 B.C.) and the fragmentary Zadokite Work, 18 B.C., the tradition -of the temporary kingdom is carried on but without the addition of any -concepts essential to our purpose. - -In the first century A.D., still confining ourselves to specifically -Jewish Apocalyptic literature we find various changes taking place. The -eternal Messianic kingdom passes largely out. The temporary Messianic -kingdom becomes an eternal national one. The interest of the individual -Jew comes to center on his own lot in the future life.[4] We have to -pass a number of writers; Assumption of Moses, Philo, etc., before we -come to the specific statement of Chiliasm proper, i.e., the duration of -the Messianic kingdom for 1000 years. In the Book of The Secrets of -Enoch commonly known as II Enoch (1-50 A.D.) we find for the first time -the doctrine which was taken over to make the Christian Millennium. The -writer of II Enoch was an Egyptian Jew. He says that as the world was -made in six days, its course will run for six thousand years. The 6000 -years will be followed by a Messianic kingdom of rest and blessedness -lasting 1000 years. After that follows the final judgment, "The great -day of the Lord." - -Passing now to the New Testament, it is only necessary for our purpose -to enumerate three different concepts of the Messianic kingdom that are -found therein. In these concepts contemporaneous Jewish ideas are taken -with more or less transformation. - -The first conception perhaps holds the idea of a present world kingdom -but puts emphasis on the futurity of the kingdom. Its ultimate -consumation is not by gradual, natural development, but by the -catastrophic reappearance of Christ. This Second Advent is to be -preceded by tremendous portents of the most terrible sort. - -The second conception is that the kingdom is already present in Christ's -appearance as the Messiah. It is to grow by the natural laws of -spiritual development to its full realization. A considerable length of -time is conceived as necessary for the attainment of mature growth. The -consumation of the kingdom in the Second Advent is to be unexpected and -sudden and none but the Father knows when it will take place. - -The third conception, that of Chiliasm, is that the Second Advent of -Christ is close at hand. Anti Christ and his confederates are to be -destroyed at Megiddo. Satan is to be bound for 1000 years during which -is the Millennium, when the martyrs are raised in the first resurrection -and reign with Christ at Jerusalem. This conception is found in the -Revelation and perhaps I Cor. XV, 24-27. All the essential elements of -it are to be found in pre-existing sources, e.g., the 1000 years in II -Enoch, the reign of the saints in Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, etc. - -These three conceptions were variously confused in early Christianity. -All the New Testament writers hold, for instance, to the immediately -imminent Second Advent. How many of them were Chiliasts we have no way -of knowing. The earliest, Christian writing extant outside the New -Testament, which deals with this subject is perhaps Papias, 70-155 A.D. -He is a most materialistic Chiliast and quotes II Baruch as an authentic -utterance of Christ handed to himself by apostolic tradition.[5] - -Barnabas is another apostolic Chiliast. He expressly teaches a -millennial reign of Christ on earth. The six days of creation are the -type of six periods of 1000 years each. The seventh day is the -millennium, since with God "one day is as a thousand years." The -earthly, millennial sabbath is to be followed by an eighth and eternal -day in heaven. The Millennium is near at hand. Barnabas does not quote -Revelation. His views can be drawn equally well or better from II Enoch, -I Enoch and other Jewish sources. - -The first Chiliast we know of to get into disrepute was the famous -heretic, Cerinthus, (last part of first century). His heresy had nothing -to do with his Chiliasm, as it seems to have been a sort of Judaistic -Gnosticism and Gnosticism in general was not favorable to Chiliasm. -However the fact that so abhorrent a heretic held Chiliastic views did -not help those views in the judgment of later Christians. - -About the end of the first century also Chiliasm came into rather -disreputable prominence as a leading doctrine of the Ebionites, a sect -of antitrinitarian Judaistic-Christian heretics. This sect was wide -spread though not particularly numerous and aroused the bitter -antagonism of the orthodox. As in the case of Cerinthus, their heresy -had nothing necessarily to do with Chiliasm. But here again Chiliasm had -the misfortune to get into bad company. - -In the middle of the second century Chiliasm appears to have been the -belief of the majority of Christians though it never found formal -expression in any creed. Justin Martyn, 110-165 A.D., tells us that -Christ is to reign with the patriarchs for 1000 years in a rebuilt -Jerusalem. He bases this belief on Rev. XX, 4-5 and says he holds this -doctrine as part of the body of Christian faith. He adds, however, that -"many good and true Christians think otherwise." This later statement is -the more notable as it is the only difference between orthodox -Christians which he mentions. He places the Ebionites outside the -Christian pale. - -The first non-Chiliasts we meet with in Christian history are the -Gnostics. Of their actual position on Chiliasm we know practically -nothing except by inference. They did not apparently fight it. They -simply tacitly ignored it. In the long and minute descriptions of -various Gnostic systems that have come down to us nothing is said on the -subject; but the systems as outlined leave no place for the Chiliastic -doctrines. - -The first open enemies of Chiliasm that are to be found in the Church -are the Alogi, a sect that flourished in Asia Minor about 160-180 A.D. -According to Harnack: "The representatives of this movement were, as far -as we know, the first in the Church to undertake a historical criticism, -worthy of the name, of the Christian scriptures and the Church -tradition."[6] They were rationalisticly inclined, desired to keep -prophecy out of the Church and denied on essentially the same internal -grounds as modern students, the Johannine authorship of the Revelation -and also of the Fourth Gospel. With less reason they ascribed the -Revelation to the heretic Cerinthus. Unfortunately we know but little -about them. Hippolytus wrote against them and defended the apostolic -authorship of Revelation and the Fourth Gospel in two books now lost. -But the Alogi are criticised only mildly, and indeed Irenaeus does not -class them as heretics at all. Opposition to Chiliasm was manifestly not -looked upon as an important matter in the last quarter of the second -century--at least in Rome.[7] To this same period belong the writings of -Gaius of Rome who asserts that the Heretic Cerinthus wrote the -Revelation, and also those of Bishop Melito of Sardis, a saint of great -repute, who was an ardent Chiliast. So that at this period both Chiliasm -and non-Chiliasm would seem to be perhaps equally wide spread and -certainly equally permissable. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons 120-202 A.D., -was a strong Chiliast. He describes in minute detail the overthrow of -the Roman Empire, the reign of Anti-Christ for 1260 days (three and half -years) the visible advent of Christ, the binding of Satan, the joyful -reign of Christ in the rebuilt Jerusalem with the risen saints and -martyrs over the nations of the world for a thousand years. Then follows -the temporary raging of Satan, the last victory, the general -resurrection and judgment, and the consumation of all things in a new -heaven and a new earth. - -The ascription of genuine divine inspiration to the Sibylline Oracles by -the early Church writers is well known. It is a noteworthy fact that the -Chiliasts[8] seem to be much more inclined to quote the Oracles than the -non-Chiliasts. The Christians' addiction to the Oracles called forth the -derision of Celsus.[9] Origen makes no defense and it is at least -possible to conjecture that the reason is that he disapproved of the use -made of the Oracles by the Chiliasts. The Oracles were of course made -use of by all sorts of agencies which for any reason wished ill to the -Roman authority and yet dared not indulge in secular sedition. Some -enthusiastic Chiliast put forth an Oracle, probably in the reign of -Marcus Aurelius, which was more definite than prudent. According to this -prediction the end of Rome and the final consumation of all things was -due in the year 195-196 A.D.[10] There is reason to believe that this -prophecy represented the belief of a considerable number of Christian -Chiliasts. While there is no extant evidence to that effect, it is a -rational deduction, that when the year 195-196 A.D. passed without any -unusual occurrences, the prestige of the persons trusting the Oracle -would be damaged. So far as these persons were Chiliasts, Chiliasm would -suffer in repute. That this was actually the case is as nearly certain -as any logical conclusion about psychological reactions well can be. - -About the year 156 A.D. there arose in Phrygia the movement called -Montanism. Essentially it was a reaction against the growing -secularization of Christianity. It spread to the rest of Asia Minor, -Egypt, Italy, Spain, and especially Carthage and surrounding districts -in North Africa. It was the strongest movement in favor of a revival of -primitive Puritanism that occurs in early Church history. It lasted in -the East almost till the Arab Invasion; in the West it did not die out -until the time of Augustine. The Montanists are the most pronounced -Chiliasts we meet with. Not indeed in their theory but in their -practice. One Syrian Montanist bishop "Persuaded many brethren with -their wives and children to go to meet Christ in the wilderness; another -in Pontus induced his people to sell all their possessions, to cease -tilling their lands, to conclude no more marriages, etc., because the -coming of the Lord was nigh at hand."[11] The Montanist prophetess, -Prisca, about 165 A.D. said: "After me there will come no other -prophetess but the end." A peculiarity of eastern Montanistic Chiliasm -was the idea that Christ would reign not in Jerusalem but in Pepuza, a -small town in Phrygia. In accord with this idea Montanus tried to get -all believers to settle in this town to await the Lord's coming. The -western Montanists however, of whom Tertullian was chief, held to the -regular belief that the Messianic kingdom would be centered in -Jerusalem. - -Because of certain theological beliefs aside from Chiliasm, the -Montanists aroused the antagonism of the Church authorities. The -earliest Church councils to be met with after New Testament times were -called for the purpose of dealing with Montanism which was finally -denounced as a heresy and after the triumph of the Church some imperial -edicts were issued against the sect. For the first time in the attack on -Montanism at the end of the second and early part of the third Century -we find Chiliastic beliefs referred to as 'carnal and Jewish.' There is -no formal condemnation of Chiliasm as such, but once more, and much more -seriously than in the case of the Ebionites, Chiliasm suffered from -being associated in the minds of orthodox Christians with heresy and -schism. It would however be very easy to exaggerate the effect of this -and it is necessary to bear in mind that while the literature of -Montanism is fairly considerable, Chiliasm is an entirely subordinate -matter in the controversy and indeed seems sometimes to be mentioned -merely casually. The Chiliastic writers are perhaps more inclined to -view Montanism leniently. Irenaeus does not include it in his list of -heresies. - -Its association with Montanism brought Chiliasm into disrepute and -suspicion with the Church hierarchy and it is not surprising that -beginning with the last years of the second century we find a -deliberate system of suppression adopted by certain ecclesiastical -authorities--notably in Egypt. As we shall try to show later, the -declension of Chiliasm can be only very imperfectly explained by -official antagonism. But so far as this declension can be ascribed to -individuals, the three great Alexandrian divines; Clement, Origen, and -Dionysius have a prominent part. The influence of these men counted the -more as it was consistently exercised in the same locality with -increasing force during a period of more than half a century. The first -of these writers, Clement (150-216 A.D.) does not specifically refer to -the Chiliasts but there are a number of passages where he evidently has -them in mind.[12] However the probability is that this very refraining -from direct attack made his efforts the more successful. He emphasizes -the fact that scriptural statements--particularly scriptural -numbers--are not to be taken literally but are to be understood as of -mystical significance. If Clement consciously aimed at the extirpation -of Chiliasm (which is not absolutely certain) he at any rate took the -most effective means for accomplishing that result. The great -presupposition upon which Christian Chiliasm has been based is that -of the literal interpretation of Scripture. By attacking that -presupposition Clement caused the doctrine to be questioned by many -persons whose attachment to Chiliasm would doubtless have only been -strengthened by direct attack upon that tenet in particular. He prepared -the way for the open and far more powerful attacks upon Chiliasm made by -his great successor in the Catechetical School, Origen (185-254 A.D.). -The position of this great theologian is the most equivocal of any -writer who has attained eminence in Christian theology. How far anything -he wrote is to be considered as orthodox is a most difficult matter to -determine. The fact that Origen opposed Chiliasm, taken by itself, apart -from the subsequent fate of the doctrine, could just as easily be made a -commendation as a condemnation of that belief. Almost alone among -Christian men Origen has been removed from the calendar of Catholic -saints after having been duly received as a saint for the space of more -than a hundred and fifty years. This unique fact, which is of course of -far more importance for theology than for history, has nevertheless a -bearing on our subject. The condemnation of Origen came too late to save -the Chiliastic apologetic in the East but it very possibly may have had -an indirect influence in the matter of continuing the repute of western -Chiliasm. - -Origen attacked Chiliasm in two vital points: First he insisted even -more strongly than Clement upon the figurative or mystical or 'typical' -interpretation of Scripture. In this regard he specifically quotes a -number of Chiliastic passages of scripture and definitely says that -their meaning is to be taken figuratively.[13] But more important than -that, he definitely substitutes the theory of progressive development of -the intellectual and spiritual element of man for the physical and -sensuous earthly kingdom of the Chiliasts. This was certainly a great -gain for the anti-Chiliastic theory which for the first time took a -logical and comprehensible if a somewhat metaphysical form. However it -must be admitted that the argument of Origen though wonderfully clear -headed and almost miraculously modern[14] is too purely intellectual and -cast in too philosophical a form to have any direct influence on -ordinary individuals. It was doubtless quite in place in the -Catechetical School and among scholars in the great centers of ancient -learning but outside those limits its influence--at least directly--must -have been very small. Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, answered Origen in a -book entitled: "Refutation of Allegorists." This book is lost but we -know that it was considered by the Chiliasts to be a work of the most -powerful and indeed irrefutable sort. In the Arsinoite nome (on the west -bank of the Nile south of Memphis) the Chiliastic doctrines were held by -whole villages together and Dionysius the Great (Bishop of Alexandria -247-264 A.D.) found it necessary to visit this region and hold a public -argument and instruction in order to avert a schism. By the tact and -conciliatory attitude of the Bishop the Chiliasts were either won over -to the non-Chiliastic view or at least expressed their gratification at -the conference. It would appear, however, as if this synod or meeting -was not sufficient to destroy the influence of Nepos' book so Dionysius -wrote in refutation of it two books "On the Promises." Except for a few -fragments these books have perished. We know merely that the first book -contained a statement of the non-Chiliastic view and the second a -detailed discussion of the Revelation in relation to Chiliasm and to the -views of Nepos. - -However, Dionysius, who was well aware that as long as the 'Revelation -of St. John' was received as a genuine work of the Apostle it would be -difficult to oppose Chiliasm, gives a very strong argument against the -apostolic authorship while diplomatically saying at the beginning of his -discussion that he is able to agree that the Revelation is the work of -a holy and inspired man.[15] There is no reason to doubt that this -refutation of Nepos by Dionysius met with success wherever Christian -Hellenisticism exercised influence. But it by no means extirpated -Chiliasm in Egypt. For many generations after its author's death -Chiliasm was still believed by the monks of the Thebiad. In fact a large -number of Jewish Apocalypses which the early Christians accepted as -inspired are preserved to us bound up in Coptic and Ethiopic copies of -the scriptures. The Alexandrians had, however, succeeded so well that in -the subsequent period there are only two defenders of Chiliasm in the -Eastern Church that are worthy of mention. These two are Methodius of -Tyre and Apollinaris of Laodicea. - -Methodius 260-312 A.D. was bishop first of Olympus and Patara in Lycia -and afterwards of Tyre in Phoenicia. He is notable for his opposition to -Origen and for his relatively more spiritualized Chiliasm. He maintains -that in the Millennium, death will be abolished and the inhabitants of -the earth will not marry or beget children but live in all happiness -like the angels without change or decay. He is very careful to insist -upon the literal resurrection of the body, however, and emphasizes the -fact that the risen saints while like the angels do not become -angels.[16] He died a martyr at Chalcis in Greece. - -Apollinaris of Laodicea (300?-390 A.D.) is a notable figure in -Christological controversy but unfortunately very little that he wrote -has come down to us, and of that little the authenticity is not entirely -unimpeachable. We are constrained to get his Chiliastic views from the -writings of his theological opponents and unfortunately there is not -wanting evidence to the effect that these opponents, Basil the Great and -Gregory Nazianzen, notable Christians as they were, were not lacking in -bias. Gregory[17] calls the Chiliastic doctrine of the Apolinarians -'gross and carnal,' a 'second Judaism' and speaks of 'their silly -thousand years delight in paradise.' Basil[18] calls the Chiliasm of -Apolinaris 'mythical or rather Jewish,' 'ridiculous,' and 'contrary to -the doctrines of the Gospel.' This is, so far as the writer is aware, -the first instance in which any great theologian goes to such extremes -and Basil's language, though strong, is not altogether without an -element of hesitation and questioning. In short it would seem that he -asserted more than he felt sure of being able to prove--no rare -phenomenon unfortunately in certain of the great contraversialists. If -Basil's statements are to be taken at their face value Apollinaris was -indeed the most Judaizing Christian in his Chiliasm of any of whom we -have record. He would seem to justify Basil's jibe 'we are to be -altogether turned from Christians into Jews,' for in his Messianic -kingdom not only is the Temple at Jerusalem to be restored but also the -worship of the old Law, with high priest, sacrifices, the ashes of a -heifer, the jealousy offering, shew bread, burning lamps, circumcision -and other such things which Basil indignantly denounces as 'figments,' -'mere old wives' fables' and 'doctrines of Jews.'[19] Although -Apollinarianism was condemned by a council at Alexandria as early as 362 -A.D. and Roman councils followed suit in 377 and 378 and the second -Ecumenical Council in 381 and though Imperial degrees were issued -against it in 388, 397 and 428 it persisted for many generations. The -last condemnation on record is that of the Quinisextum Synod 691 A.D. - -In this case, as in others mentioned, we see the unfortunate fate of -Chiliasm in getting mixed up with heresies with which it, as such, had -nothing to do. The extraordinary detestation which overtook Apollinaris -as arch-heretic par excellence seems to have finally discouraged -Chiliasm in the Eastern Church. It was reckoned as a heresy thereafter -and though it appears sporadically down to our own day it is of no more -interest for our purpose. - -In the Western Church Chiliasm prevailed until the time of Augustine. It -seems to have provoked very little discussion or controversy. -Hippolytus, 235 A.D., carries on the Chiliastic tradition of Irenaeus -but with a certain degree of assured futurity about the Second Advent -not found in the earlier writers. This pushing of the Second Advent into -the future is a marked feature of Western Chiliasm. By a weird use of -'types' Hippolytus proves with entire conclusiveness to himself that the -Second Advent is to occur in the year 500 A.D.[20] The overthrow of Rome -has a prominent part in his elaborate description of the last times but -he veils his statements with a certain amount of transparent -discretion.[21] He has in all other essential respects the same ideas as -Irenaeus but expressed in a less naïve form. He is a transition figure. -His Second Advent is far enough off to allow some considerable latitude -for the building up of the ecclesiastical hierarchy which was the -business of Rome and he emphasizes the point that the "gospel must first -be preached to all nations." John the Baptist reappears as the precursor -of Christ. - -Commodianus, a North African bishop, 240 A.D., represents the generation -after Hippolytus. His two poems present rather different versions of -Chiliasm. The first is a simple and rather pleasing version.[22] The -only notable variation it contains is that the risen saints in the -Millennial Kingdom are to be served by the nobles of the conquered -anti-Christ. The second poem is an apologetic against Jews and Gentiles. -"The author expects the end of the world will come with the seventh -persecution. The Goths will conquer Rome and redeem the Christians; but -then Nero will appear again as the heathen anti-Christ, reconquer Rome -and rage against the Christians three years and a half. He will in turn -be conquered by the Jewish and real anti-Christ from the East, who, -after the defeat of Nero and the burning of Rome, will return to Judea, -perform false miracles and be worshipped by the Jews. At last Christ -appears with the lost tribes, as his army, who had lived beyond Persia -in happy simplicity and virtue. Under astounding phenomena of nature he -will conquer anti-Christ and his host, convert all nations and take -possession of the holy city of Jerusalem."[23] This double anti-Christ -is perhaps the most notable variation. This idea reappears later, as -does the Nero return which would seem to have been current belief. - -There are perhaps only two other writers before Augustine that are -worthy of mention, Victorinus and Lactantius. Victorinus, bishop of -Poetovio, i.e., Petair in Austria, martyred 304 A.D., is the earliest -exegete of the Latin Church. His 'Commentary on the Apocalypse' has come -down to us in bad shape. The Chiliasm is of a type which may be -described as formal and ritualistic in the sense that it is expressed in -a matter of fact way as something not needing explanation, much less -proof. There are only two new ideas: "The first resurrection is now of -the souls that are by the faith, which does not permit men to pass over -to the second death"[24] and "Those years wherein Satan is bound are in -the first advent of Christ even to the end of the age; and they are -called a thousand according to that mode of speaking wherein a part is -signified by the whole--although they are not a thousand."[25] - -Lactantius the preceptor of Crispus, son of Constantine, brings us to -the Chiliasm of the established Church. The end of the present age and -the coming of the millennial kingdom are at the latest 200 years in the -future, probably nearer, but the event instead of being looked toward -to, is dreaded. The forthcoming destruction of Rome is bewailed. The -world is safe as long as Rome stands. Nero is to be anti-Christ. "They -who shall be alive in their bodies shall not die, but during those -thousand years shall produce an infinite multitude, and their offspring -shall be holy and beloved of God; but they who shall be raised from the -dead shall preside over the living as judges. The nations shall not be -entirely extinguished, but some shall be left as a victory for God, that -they may be the occasion of triumph to the righteous and may be -subjected to perpetual slavery."[26] The Chiliasm of Lactantius is -proved from the Sibylline Oracles and from the philosopher Chrysippus, a -Stoic. For the rest Lactantius repeats the traditional Christian and -pre-Christian Jewish Chiliastic concepts with very little variation, but -it is evident that the fact that the fall of Rome is dreaded will work -out a change. The Chiliasm of Lactantius is unstable, not that there is -the slightest breath of doubt about it, but that the attitude of mind -which looked forward with dread to the Second Advent could be depended -upon to find a theory for postponing it. Chiliasm is ready for its -transformation. - -In the century between Lactantius and Augustine there is no Chiliast of -note in the west. It is abundantly evident however, from the works of -Augustine that Chiliasm was common during that period as well as in the -time of Augustine. Indeed Augustine himself was a Chiliast though -probably not an exceedingly literal one, during his early period in the -Church.[27] It is certain that he never regarded the doctrine as -heretical. Even in the very book in which he puts forth the doctrine -which eventually superseded Chiliasm he says: "This opinion would not be -objectionable if it were believed that the joys of the saints in that -Sabbath[27] shall be spiritual and consequent on the presence of -God."[28] We have in this quotation a hint as to the reason why he -abandoned Chiliasm. He elaborates this in the immediately following -passage: "As they say that those who then rise again shall enjoy the -leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat -and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but -even to surpass the measure of credulity itself, such assertions can be -believed only by the carnal."[29] - -Disgust with this literal interpretation of the scripture was thus one -of the reasons which drew Augustine away from Chiliasm. A more direct -reason was that he had an idea of his own as to how the Chiliastic -Scriptural passage[30] should be interpreted. - -The discussion in which he vanquishes the Chiliastic concept is a model -of contraversial method. It would be difficult to find its superior -either in sacred or profane polemics. Perfectly conscious of his own -powers to make Chiliasm appear at once absurd and ridiculous he refrains -from doing so. Abundantly able though he was to refute the Millennians -point by point he deliberately foregoes that method of attack. His -argument which overthrew an ancient, famous, and widespread doctrine of -primitive Christianity contains hardly a line either of refutation or -condemnation. It is perhaps the finest example in Christian literature -of the 'positive apologetic.' The Chiliastic literature, even that which -has come down to us, contains so much that is fantastic and ludicrous -that it would have been very easy for a man of far less power than -Augustine to hold it up to contempt and scorn. It abounds in the same -kind of absurdities and incongruities as the pagan myths which provoked -so many stinging pages from the early apologists and from Augustine -himself. The fact that Augustine did not yield to the temptation to make -his opponents ridiculous is in the highest degree creditable to his -head and his heart. He did not violate the precepts of Christian -charity and he obtained a victory greater than would have been within -even his power had he yielded to the natural temptation of a great -intellect to show up the mental inferiority of his opponents. - -It is interesting to compare Augustine's treatment of Chiliasm with -Origen's. The two men are very comparable as regards extent and variety -of knowledge, intellectual power, and philosophic insight. They are very -unlike however, in their treatment of the subject. Origen simply -explains away the whole Chiliastic concept or rather so spiritualizes it -that nothing resembling the original idea is left. His whole insistence -is that it must be taken figuratively, and without the least warrant he -asserts that his interpretation is "according to the understanding of -the apostles."[31] He makes the whole subject so subjective, so -intellectual, so metaphysical that there is left no content for the -ordinary man to hold to in place of that which is demolished. In the -overthrow of Eastern Chiliasm Origen holds as conspicuous a position as -Augustine in the overthrow of Western. He did away with a doctrine, too -carnal perhaps, but at any rate concrete and comforting, and he -substituted an intellectual abstraction. For instance in explaining, or -better explaining away, the Chiliastic feasts in the New Jerusalem he -says:[32] "The rational nature growing by each individual step, enlarged -in understanding and in power of perception is increased in intellectual -growth; and ever gazing purely on the causes of things it attains -perfection, firstly, viz., that by which it ascends to the truth, and -secondly that by which it abides in it, having problems and the -understanding of things and the causes of things as the food on which it -may feast. And in all things this food is to be understood as the -contemplation and understanding of God, which is of a measure -appropriate and suitable to this nature, which was made and created, -etc." - -This kind of thing is the intellectual equivalent of the process in -physics by which the scientist takes some tangible solid body and -proceeds first to liquify it, then to volitilize it and finally to blow -it entirely away. We strongly suspect that the Eastern Chiliasts felt -that the whole thing was a kleptistic legerdemain by which they were -deprived of a favorite doctrine without receiving anything in place of -it. - -Augustine's method differs toto caelo from this. While Origen handles -the subject like a metaphysician, Augustine handles it like a statesman. -His doctrine is just as concrete as the one he displaces. He takes -nothing away without giving something equally tangible and of better -quality in its place. The transition from Chiliasm to the Origenistic -conception of the future, would be, for the ordinary person, an -incredible and almost impossible intellectual feat. The transition from -Chiliasm to the Augustinian conception of the future is natural, easy, -and perfectly within the power of a very ordinary and commonplace -mentality. As a matter of fact it made its way without the smallest -difficulty into the religious consciousness of the whole of western -Christianity. Any person who aims at changing the theological opinions -of others can find no better manual of method than the twentieth book of -the City of God. Augustine was very careful to keep all the symbols, -catch words, and paraphernalia of Chiliasm. He was careful not only to -keep them all but to keep them all in their literal sense. He explains -away none of them and allegorizes none of them. By carefully preserving -the ancient shibboleths he was easily able to empty them of their former -content. He holds to the millennium, the idea that is, of thousand -years, as firmly as any Chiliast but he says the thousand years is to be -reckoned as dating from the establishment of the Church on earth i.e., -the first coming of Christ. So he is careful to preserve the phrase: -"The Reign of the Saints"; he merely substitutes for the Chiliastic -content of that phase the very comfortable and plausable doctrine that -the saints are his own Christian contemporaries. He is very skillful, -not to say flattering, in his method of 'putting this across.' So he -retains similarly the old formula about the two resurrections--but makes -the first resurrection out to be the marvelous transformation and -participation in the resurrection of Christ which the Christian -experiences by virtue of the sacrament of baptism. More important still -is his new content for the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven." This instead of a -state of future blessedness becomes the already existing church on -earth. Finally he indulges in a long and apparently straight faced -discussion as to whether the reign of anti-Christ--which he preserves in -its most literal form with the regulation duration of three years and a -half--whether this is to be reckoned as part of the thousand years or -not. This inconsequential detail is labored at length in such a manner -as to delight the soul of any good Bible reading Chiliast. By preserving -till the last this single element of Chiliasm which he leaves untouched -and then treating it in the good, old, religious fashion of Irenaeus or -some other primitive worthy, he very skillfully disarms criticism and it -is only by a strong effort that the reader realizes what a tremendous -blow has been struck at the original Chiliastic doctrine. - -Let us see what the changes of Augustine amount to. It is not less than -the total destruction of Chiliasm, or at the very least the postponement -of the end of the world till the year 1000 A.D. Augustine's doctrine is -essentially that of the ordinary, orthodox, Bible Christian today. -Sometime in the future--Augustine said possibly in the year 1000 -A.D.--Christ was to come again to the earth. Then follows the -resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and heaven and hell. The -questions about the three years and a half of anti-Christ, together with -Gog and Magog--great favorites with the Chiliasts--are held to be -insoluble as to the time of their appearance; whether to be reckoned as -part of the thousand years or immediately succeeding it. - -It is commonly said that Augustine is responsible for the belief that -the world was to come to an end in the year 1000 A.D. This is not -strictly correct. Augustine nowhere makes that direct assertion. He -nowhere--so far as the writer is aware--even implies it. What he does is -to offer it as a possible alternative hypothesis to the idea that the -thousand years, (since 1000 is the cube of 10,) is to be taken as a -statement of the total duration of the world. As the matter is of some -interest we give the original passage in Dod's translation:[33] "Now the -thousand years may be understood in two ways so far as occurs to me: -either because these things happen in the sixth thousand of years or -sixth millennium (the latter part of which is now passing) as if during -the sixth day, which is to be followed by a sabbath which has no -evening, the endless rest of the saints, so that, speaking of a -part under the name of the whole, he calls the last part of the -millennium--the part that is which had yet to expire before the end of -the world--a thousand years; or he used the thousand years as an -equivalent for the whole duration of this world, employing the number of -perfection to mark the fullness of time. For a thousand is the cube of -ten.... For the same reason we cannot better interpret the words of the -psalm. "The word which he commanded to a thousand generations," than by -understanding it to mean, "to all generations." - -The above sketch summarizes essentially all that has survived about the -Chiliasm of the early Church. The Chiliastic passages in the Church -literature up to and including Augustine, though rather widely -scattered, are not great in bulk. If printed together they would make -only a moderate sized pamphlet. But their importance is by no means to -be measured by their size. Chiliasm, better than any other movement of -the early period, serves as a standard for measuring the degree of the -socialization of Christianity. It comprises the only body of doctrine -which passed from practically universal acceptance to practically -universal repudiation during the period when the Church changed from a -small esoteric cult to a dominant factor of society. Considered from -this point of view, the causes of the decline of Chiliasm possess a -historical importance out of all proportion to the importance of -Chiliasm itself. More than any other religious movement of the time -Chiliasm was free from the direct pressure of distinctly religious -influences. Its declension was more nearly a case of unconscious social -and psychological determinism than any other contemporary theological -phenomenon. Its chief supporters and opponents are not to be regarded so -much as factors in its history, as points where the socializing forces -operating in the early Church become for the moment visible. - -Certain facts stand out even in the short epitome we have given. -Chiliasm never became powerful in the great cities. It survived longest -and was most popular in regions[34] comparatively cut off from the great -centers of civilization. Hellenizing influences were unfavorable to it, -Romanizing influences indifferent to it. - -The reasons for this are numerous and most of them have been treated -sufficiently by previous investigators, but in the writer's judgment -certain other important influences have been either slighted or entirely -ignored. We shall consider one or two. - -The supremely important fact in early Christian history is the -development of the concept of "The Church" as an independent, -self-existing, metaphysical entity. This metaphysical entity was -conceived as embodying itself in the whole body of believers; living, -dead, and yet to be born. The entity was eternal, indestructible, and in -its essence immutable. Although partially embodied in a visible society -its essential being was conceived as independently sustained in the -nature of the universe. It was an idea in the strict Platonic sense. No -concept like this is found in the contemporary pagan cults. Even the -Jewish concept of the 'chosen people' is ethnic or national rather than -purely religious and it has no tinge of that metaphysical existence -which is the most notable element in the Catholic concept of the Church. -The elements out of which 'the Church' concept was constructed were -four: two Roman, one Greek and one Hebrew. The Roman lawyers, in the -process of fitting a municipal legal system to a world empire, evolved -the twin legal entities, 'state' and 'sovereignty.' These entities were -endowed with divers qualities; eternity, immutability, etc., but -especially with the quality of having existential reality apart from any -individual embodiment thereof. Greek philosophy contributed the idea of -the Cosmopolis, the ideal world-city in which the fullest development of -human personality was to be attained. This concept was as purely -metaphysical as the self-existing, absolute 'state' of the Roman law, -but unlike the Roman concept it had no concrete existence. The Jewish -contribution was that of the 'chosen people,' 'the elect nation.' These -four concepts were transferred from their original loci to the Christian -society. The fact that all of these concepts were combined and centered -on the same social group and the further fact that each of these -concepts supplemented the others in a remarkable way resulted in the -formation of one of the most powerful ideas in religious history. - -This Church concept, thus built up, had already become widespread in the -time of Augustine and this fact helps us to understand the otherwise -unintelligible success of that saint in combatting Chiliasm. The real -truth is seen to be that Augustine's ideas succeeded because they were -not peculiarly his at all--they already existed, implicitly but really, -in the mind of the generation which he addressed. The elements of the -concept 'the Church' being what they were, Augustine's explanation of, -or rather abolition of, Chiliasm follows of inevitable logical and -intellectual necessity. It was the genius of Augustine that he -recognized and gave formulated, concrete expression to this accomplished -fact and it is no derogation of his genius to say that had he never -existed the accomplished fact would eventually have been given -expression to by some one else. - -Another little considered element in Chiliasm is that of masochism, and -sadism, the two being merely the opposite sides of the same psychical -phenomenon. This element is found more or less prominently in all the -Chiliastic literature from the early fragment of Papias to the elaborate -discussions of Augustine. The masochistic phenomena are the most -remarkable characteristics of the early martyrdoms and if a collection -were made of the masochistic passages of the writings of the Chiliasts, -the bulk of them would be as great as that of the Chiliastic passages -proper. - -It is necessary to bear in mind that masochism necessarily, in any -advanced society, disguises itself under some socially acceptable form -of sentiment or emotion, i.e., admiration for the constancy of the -confessors or martyrs, suffering as a mark of the true Church, etc. It -is always associated with the reality or idea of struggle. It has a high -'survival value' in the struggle for existence by heightening individual -power in conflict. Like other human characteristics it is seen most -clearly in the exaggerated form it assumes in its crowd manifestations. -Its most evident expression is in the 'mob mind.' Our problem, then, is -to discover how the declension of Chiliasm is to be explained by the -transfer of the masochistic element in it to other vehicles of -expression. The masochistic element was a vital factor in Chiliasm; -without it almost the whole force of 'the thousand years reign of the -saints' is lost. The explanation of the transfer is difficult. -Undoubtedly some of the masochistic values of Chiliasm were taken over -by the various, previously mentioned concepts that combined to make up -the idea of the Catholic Church. 'Extra ecclesia nulla salus' accounts -for part of the phenomena previously expressed Chiliastically. It is -notable in this connection that there is no word of Chiliasm in Cyprian. -But a more important transfer was that which took place in the course of -the development of the doctrine of purgatory. It may perhaps seem -incongruous to say that purgatory took over the values of the millennium -and from the point of view of formal theology it is so. But the only -point we are trying to make here, namely, the fundamental fact of the -expression of masochistic impulses, is as evidently shown in the -purgatory as in the millennium concept. The desire for a heightened -sense of self-realization, a richer content of experience, is the cause -of the appearance of both concepts and they are closely allied -psychologically. This fact comes out in the large part played by the -Chiliasts in the evolution of the purgatory concept.[35] What we find -here is a concurrent declension of Chiliasm and development of -purgatory. For about two centuries the two concepts existed side by -side; then the superior social value of purgatory asserting itself, that -doctrine gradually took over the masochistic values of Chiliasm; the -supersession of the later being rendered thereby more rapid and easy. - -However it is probably that the transfer of the psychological values -from Chiliasm was more to be ascribed to the rising asceticism of the -early Church than to the concept of the Church as such, or even to the -rise of the purgatory concept. Asceticism in some form is a permanent -element in any wide spread religion and the values later expressed in -Christian asceticism were in the earlier period mediated through -Chiliasm. When St. Paul advocated abstinence from marriage 'because the -time is short' he was not expressing asceticism. He was expressing a -sensible idea based on belief in one of the chief Chiliastic doctrines, -the immediate imminence of the Second Advent. In the case of such -teachers as Tertullian the doctrine of marriage is the result of a -combination of Chiliasm and asceticism. At a later date asceticism took -over the doctrine of celibacy as meritorious on its own account but it -never outgrew the original Chiliastic view that it was a logical -preparation for the Second Advent. In other words restriction in -matrimony whether Chiliastic or monastic is due to the same inherent -element in human nature, i.e., the masochistic. Similarly those good -Phrygian Chiliasts who abandoned all their possessions and went out into -the desert to meet the Lord were moved by the same psychological impulse -that actuated the monks of the Thebaid. Historically the one set of -concepts imperceptibly gave way to the other. Those same Thebaid monks -are a good illustration of the fact. Some of them, at least in the -earlier stages of the movement, were influenced more by Chiliastic -concepts than by monastic ones. Many were influenced by both. Here again -the superior value of the ascetic concepts for the ecclesiastical -organization determined the eventual survival of the monastic -institution. But whatever the conceptual images employed to give -expression to the masochistic impulse, that impulse was psychologically -the same. Organized monachism furnished a more convenient outlet for the -stronger masochistic impulses than Chiliasm and so superseded it. The -fact that monachism grew in proportion as Chiliasm declined is in this -respect merely a case of trans-shipment. The vehicle was different but -the goods carried were the same. - -There are numerous other social and psychological, as well as economic -causes for the declension of Chiliasm but they can perhaps be more -conveniently considered in connection with the socialization of the -early Church. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] F. Pollock, Essays in Jurisprudence and Ethics, p. 314. - -[2] Cf. I Enoch XCI-CIV. - -[3] Cf. Parables in I Enoch XXXVII-LXXI. - -[4] Cf. Apocalypse of Baruch; 4 Ezra, 4 Maccabees. - -[5] Irenaeus Adv. Haer. V 33. II Baruch XXIX. - -[6] Hist. of Dogma, Vol. III, p. 19. - -[7] Ens. H. E. VI 27-2. - -[8] Justin Martyn, Tertullian, Lactantius. - -[9] Ad. Celsus LXI. - -[10] Sib. Orac. VIII, 148 seq. - -[11] Hippolytus, Com. on Daniel. - -[12] Strom. VII, 17; VI 16; IV 25; V 6, 14. - -[13] De Princ, II, 11. - -[14] Cf. e.g., A. R. Wallace, The World of Life. - -[15] Eus. H. E. VII 25. - -[16] Discourse on the Resurrection, I, 9 seq. See also Conviv. IX, 1, 5. - -[17] Ep. CII, 4. - -[18] Ep. CCLXIII, 4. - -[19] Cp. CCLXV, 2. - -[20] Frag. Dan. I, 5, 6. - -[21] De Christo et Antic. 50. - -[22] Instructions, LXXX. - -[23] Schaff Hist., ii, 855. Sec. LXVII of poem. - -[24] Comm. XX 4.5. - -[25] Comm. XX 1.3. - -[26] Div. Ins. Bk. 7 XXIV. - -[27] C.D. XX 7. - -[28] I.e., the Millennium. - -[29] C.D. XX 7. - -[30] Rev. XX. - -[31] De Prin. II, 11, 3. - -[32] De Prin. II, 11, 7. - -[33] City of God in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, 1st Series, Vol. II, -p. 427. - -[34] E.g., Lydia, Phrygia, The Thebaid. - -[35] Clem. Alex. Paed., iii, Strom. VII. Origen, Hom. on Num., XXV. Hom. -on Ps. XXVI. Lactantius, VII, 20. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE EARLY CHURCH AND PROPERTY CONCEPTS - - -The Chiliasm of the early Christians had a direct bearing upon their -attitude toward the property institutions and property concepts of the -time. Neither the declension of Chiliasm nor the progressive -socialization of the Church can be understood without some consideration -of the attitude of the Christians toward property, and conversely the -effect of the existing economic system upon the Christians. - -The early Church made its appearance in a world where the institution of -private property was supreme in fact and very largely unquestioned in -theory. It is recognized with perfect clearness by all the ancient -thinkers who refer to the subject that their civilization was based upon -the property rights of man in man. It is not true that slavery was -invariably considered part of the unalterable law of nature. Aristotle -expressly states that a sufficient development of mechanistic technology -would abrogate slavery. But such a technological development was not -expected nor indeed wished for. Contempt for mechanical processes of -industry was universal, with the dubious exception of the application of -science to military engines. There is a similar unanimity in regard to -commercial enterprise. Money obtained by ordinary mercantile methods was -considered as dishonestly acquired. It was assumed as self-evident that -the merchant had to be a thief. Interest on money was of course -reprobated as contrary to nature.[1] Return from landed property was -almost the only socially reputable form of income--with the exception of -spoils of war. Free wage labor was so unimportant that the Roman law did -not even develop a set of legal principles regarding it. - -The Jewish property system, which originally had some notable -peculiarities of its own, had by the first century A.D. become of -necessity so like the Roman that the differences may for our purposes be -disregarded. The more so as Christianity very early came almost -exclusively under the influence of the Roman institutions and concepts -in this regard. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that Roman practice in -regard to property was widely at variance with Roman theory, with the -result that serious moral disintegration came over persons engaging in -commercial enterprises. The moral lapses of the early Christians are -largely to be set down to this cause, on the principle that a -destruction of moral integrity in one respect makes other delinquencies -easy. - -With respect to the attitude of Christ towards contemporary property -institutions, it is unnecessary for our purpose to regard any -conclusions of modern criticism. The synoptic gospels were uncritically -accepted by the early Church and we are concerned merely with what was -commonly accepted as the teaching of Christ. - -Perhaps as convenient a way as any of illustrating the breadth of view -in Christ's attitude toward property institutions would be to take a -single illustration and apply to it the whole range of property concepts -found in the teachings of Christ. No single illustration is so applied -in the Gospels as we have them, but the principles will be the clearer -for the consistent use of the same illustration. We shall take as our -type case one which Christ himself used; the case of a thief who steals -a coat. The teachings of Christ about property can conveniently be put -down under four heads, each illustrating, by a different way of treating -the thief, a different property concept. - -First: The ordinary or conventional manner of treating the thief, based -on the concept of the morality and sacredness of private property; i.e., -catching the thief, recovering the stolen property and punishing the -crime by fine or imprisonment or torture. This conventional standard of -morality and attitude towards property is illustrated, e.g., in the -story of the man with one talent in the parable. It is very concisely -summed up in the expression: "To him that hath shall be given and he -shall have abundance and from him that hath not shall be taken away even -that which he hath." - -Second: What may be called for convenience the socialistic manner of -treating the thief--no implications either good or bad being intended by -the use of the term socialistic. This treatment would consist of -catching the thief, recovering the stolen property but letting the thief -go free with merely an admonition to future good behavior. This -treatment is based on the concept that the institution of private -property has only a partial validity and that violations of private -property rights are to be blamed not alone upon the violator but upon -society at large in equal degree. This attitude is illustrated in the -case of the woman taken in adultery: "Neither do I condemn thee; go and -sin no more." The illustration is perhaps more apt than appears at first -glance for female chastity is and was legally possessed of tangible -economic value i.e., adultery was viewed as a violation of a property -right belonging to the husband of the adultress. - -Third: What may be termed the anarchistic manner of treating the -thief--here again no implications either good or bad are intended by the -employment of the term anarchistic. This treatment consists essentially -in pacificism, in Tolstoi's non-resistance. It is purely negative and -allows the thief to get away with the stolen coat without anyone making -any move to recover the property. This treatment is based on the concept -that private property institutions have no validity at all, but that the -only valid property arrangement is that of pure communism. This attitude -toward property is illustrated by such sayings of Christ as "Of him that -taketh away thy goods ask them not again;" "Resist not him that is -evil," etc. - -Fourth: What may be distinguished as the specifically Christian manner -of treating the thief--using the word Christian as appertaining strictly -to the founder of the Church. This treatment consists of running after -the thief not for the purpose of capturing and punishing him; not even -for the purpose of recovering the stolen coat but for the purpose of -giving him a vest and an overcoat in addition to what he has stolen. It -amounts to the direct encouragement and reward of the thief for doing -what is presumably a meritorious action by stealing. This way of -treating a thief is not socialistic, or communistic; it is not even -anarchistic. It is something as far beyond anarchy, as anarchy is beyond -socialism, or socialism beyond ordinary conventional individualism. It -is specifically and peculiarly and uniquely Christian, using that word -as above defined. This treatment is not based on any concept of any kind -of property institution. Its logical, intellectual position is the -denial of the validity or worth of any property institutions, private or -communistic. It involves indeed the destruction of the very concept -property as implying possession by right of social agreement. This -attitude of Christ toward property finds expression in such sayings as: -"From him that taketh away thy cloke withhold not thy coat also." -"Blessed are ye poor." "Woe unto you that are rich." It is easier for a -camel to go through the eye of a needle, etc. etc. The great bulk of -Christ's statements about property are to be classified under this -fourth head. The views are probably connected, with just what degree of -closeness it is impossible to say, to the belief in the immediately -imminent catastrophe of the world. With somewhat less certainty, it may -be ventured that certain of Christ's sayings which we have listed as -anarchistic are perhaps influenced by the same idea. - -It is of course obvious that the above four fold division is not exact -in the strict scientific sense, or that any teaching of Christ -concerning property can be unhesitatingly classified under one head or -another. Still less is anything intended to be implied as to the -existence or non-existence of any underlying, universal, theological -principle which would reconcile apparent divergencies. Theological -metaphysics as such, lie outside the scope of this chapter which is -intended as an objective study of concepts of property. From an -objective point of view it is evident that the four divisions -imperceptibly shade into one another and form a continuous series, -nevertheless for the sake of convenience it may be considered as -approximating a rational organization of the material under distinct -heads. - -Immediately after the time of Christ the Christians in Jerusalem -developed a communistic organization. "All that believed were together -and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and -parted them to all men, as every man had need." "Neither said any of -them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they -had all things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked; for -as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the -prices of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles' feet; -and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."[2] - -It is doubtless true that the participants in this communistic society -believed themselves to be living according to the principles and -precepts of Christ. Yet there is some evidence which would lead to the -conclusion that perhaps this experiment was less a deliberate and -reasoned out endeavor to organize a permanent society on a new economic -basis, than an instinctive movement, entered upon under the influence of -a belief in the immediately imminent second advent of Christ and -therefore expected to be of only very limited duration. The collections -subsequently taken up in other Christian communities 'for the relief of -the poor saints in Jerusalem' would seem to lend color to this view of -the matter. - -In St. Paul's teaching about property there is a fundamental -inconsistency. He makes statements which taken separately are applicable -to particular situations but which are not in harmony with one another. -He loyally supported the established right of private property, even in -slaves. But at another time he pronounced that property right depended -upon service rendered. In one place we have: "Slaves obey your masters" -in another: "If any will not work neither let him eat." But if a man's -slaves obey him he can eat without working. There is no suggestion of -communism in St. Paul's writings. If all the 'property passages' in the -epistles are collected and read in connection with their contexts two -facts come into prominence, First: Property institutions as such have -only a relative validity. They are not viewed as ends valuable in -themselves but are subordinated to religious ends, and the concept of an -immediately imminent second advent lies at the base of this relative -valuation.[3] Second: Economic arrangements of the existing social -order, like similar political arrangements, are to be strictly conformed -to, in spite of their merely relative validity, for fear of jeopardizing -the more important religious movement.[4] St. Paul whether consciously -or not, is, in regard to social institutions, an evolutionary -revolutionist. He would doubtless have been the first to admit that his -doctrine of human brotherhood, for example, would eventually overthrow -his doctrine of slavery, supposing--as there is no ground for thinking -he did suppose--that time enough elapsed for his doctrine of brotherhood -to permeate the general social consciousness. In so far as property -concepts are concerned it would probably be difficult to maintain that -there is any essential divergence between the teachings of St. Paul and -some at least of the teachings of Christ. St. Paul was by nature an -ecclesiastical statesman. He seems to have taken such of Christ's -property concepts as served his purposes and ignored the others. - -In the epistle of St. James are to be found very bitter complaints as to -the working of property institutions. These complaints are so serious as -to suggest the inevitable attempt to make over the institutions and the -fact that no such attempt is indicated is due to the manifestly lively -expectation of the second advent. Yet even so it was necessary for the -writer to council patience to his brethren.[5] - -In the Revelation there is a passage, xviii, 12 seq., quite in the -manner of the most violent of the ancient prophets or the modern -anarchists. In this passage property is conceived as evil and the -destruction of civilization as it then was, is conceived as a cause of -rejoicing to saints, apostles, and prophets. On the other hand the New -Jerusalem in the same book[6] is a 'wholesale jewelers paradise' and -involves the property concepts of those cities of Asia Minor who did -most of the jewelry manufacturing of the Roman Empire. It is very -doubtful how far anything in such a description can be said to embody -property concepts but the ideal put forth is the communistic enjoyment -of incredible luxury. - -The epistle of Clement of Rome has only incidental references to -property. They can be well summed up in the quotation:[7] "Let the rich -man provide for the wants of the poor; and let the poor man bless God, -because He hath given him one by whom his need may be supplied." There -is manifestly no question of tampering with received property -institutions and concepts on the part of the writer of such a sentence. -It is equally evident that such an attitude in regard to property is -eminently well calculated to enable the holder to propagate specifically -theological opinions with a minimum of interested opposition. - -The Didache holds a naïve and touching communistic creed.[8] "Thou shalt -not turn away from him that hath need but shalt share all things with -thy brother and shalt not say that they are thine own." This passage, -the only one on the subject in the Didache, would seem to indicate that -the institution of private property existed as a matter of fact in the -writer's community, but that the validity of it was not acknowledged. -The position may perhaps be called one of conceptual and constructive -communism. - -The Epistle of Barnabas holds exactly the same view in almost exactly -the same words:[9] "Thou shalt communicate to thy neighbor all that thou -hast, thou shalt not call anything thine own." - -Early in the second century we come upon the Ebionites who in the matter -of property held very strong views.[10] The stricter of them made -poverty a condition of salvation. They refused to acknowledge the -validity of the concept property--that is in theory. In practice some of -them seem to have been influenced by the doctrine and practice of the -Essenes in regard to communism. - -All through the second century we find a continuous succession of -heretical sects, Gnostics and others, who held either the doctrine of -the wickedness of property-ownership as such, 'holy poverty,' or else -objected to individual ownership of property and preached or practiced -communism in such degree as might be possible under the circumstances. -Of these sects it is sufficient to name the Marcionites 110 A.D. The -Carpocratians 135 A.D. The Procidians 160 A.D.(?) The Basilidians 138 -A.D. It is evident that there was in progress in the second century an -ascetic movement which later took on the forms of Manichaeism and -Christian asceticism. The Church consistently opposed all these sects -and maintained the validity of private property without condemning -communism as such, except in extreme cases, such as that of Epiphanes of -Alexandria, a Carpocriation, who in a book on Justice, 125 A.D., defined -virtue as consisting in absolute communism of goods and women. - -To return to orthodox Christianity, Hermas shows very clearly the -inconsistencies which beset Christian theory and practice in the first -half of the second century. All who are rich must be deprived of their -wealth in order to be good Christians.[11] Yet this deprivation of -wealth must be only relative; there must be wealth enough left for the -giving of alms.[12] There is no trace of communism in Hermas and no -praise of poverty as such. The chief justification for the existence of -property institutions would seem to be that they are social structures -which can be utilized for the giving and receiving of alms. Perhaps one -paragraph is worth quoting as giving possibly the earliest formulation -extant of the property concepts that finally became dominant. "The rich -man has much wealth but is poor in matters relating to the Lord because -he is distracted about his riches and he offers very few confessions and -intercessions to the Lord and those which he does offer are small and -weak, and have no power above. But when the rich man refreshes the poor -and assists him in his necessities, believing that which he does to the -poor man will be able to find its reward with God--because the poor man -is rich in intercessions and confession and his intercession has great -power with God--then the rich man helps the poor in all things without -hesitation; and the poor man, being helped by the rich, intercedes for -him, giving thanks to God for him who bestows gifts upon him. And he -still continues earnestly to interest himself for the poor man, that his -want may be constantly supplied. For he knows that the intercession of -the poor man is acceptable and influential with God. Both accordingly -accomplish their work. The poor man makes intercession; a work in which -he is rich, which he received from the Lord, and with which he -recompenses the master who helps him. And the rich man in like manner, -unhesitatingly bestows upon the poor man the riches which he received -from the Lord. And this is a great work and acceptable before God, -because he understands the object of his wealth and has given to the -poor of the gifts of the Lord and rightly discharged his service to -Him."[13] - -The inconsistent and irreconcilable nature of the evidence about early -Christian property institutions is well illustrated in Justin Martyr. -Two short extracts are sufficient for the purpose. "We who valued above -all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we -have into a common stock and communicate to every one in need."[14] "We -carry on us all we possess and share everything with the poor."[15] - -The second of these passages would indicate that the first is not to be -taken in a too literal and comprehensive sense. It may perhaps be -ventured as an opinion that the truth of the matter, as regards the -Christians of whom Justin wrote, is that the concept of private property -was largely invalidated and that personal possessions were thought of as -owned in common while the 'common stock' consisted in reality of -contributions--it may be large contributions--given for the relief of -necessity among the members. - -The account preserved to us in Lucian of the Christian communities of -Judea in the later half of the second Century would seem to bear out -this opinion. Lucian says: "The activity of these people in dealing with -any matter that affects their community is something extraordinary. They -spare no trouble, no expense. Peregrine all this time was making quite -an income on the strength of his bondage. Money came pouring in. You see -these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they -are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and -voluntary self devotion which are so common among them and then it was -impressed upon them by their original law giver that they are all -brothers from the moment that they are converted and deny the gods of -Greece and worship the crucified sage and live after his laws. All this -they take quite on trust with the result that they despise all worldly -goods alike, regarding them merely as common property."[16] - -In Tertullian we find the same contradiction as regards private -ownership and communism which has already been noted in Justin. The -contradiction is more glaring, but possibly the explanation of the real -situation is similar. The following two extracts from the same chapter -bring this contradiction out in high relief: "Family possessions which -generally destroy brotherhood among you, create fraternal bonds among -us. One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods -with one another. All things are common among us but our wives." "On the -monthly collection day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but -only if it be his pleasure and only if he be able, for there is no -compulsion, all is voluntary."[17] - -Tertullian was a Montanist and one of the most serious charges made -against the Montanists was that some of their prophets received interest -on money loaned by them.[18] Tertullian is above suspicion in this -respect. He demonstrates by quotations from both the Old and New -Testaments that it is absolutely contradictory to Christianity. Interest -on money is the only property institution in regard to which the -teaching of the early Church is consistent. Every reference we have in -regard to this practice condemns it--not mildly as a venial offense--but -fiercely and savagely as a heinous crime like incest or murder. -"Fenerare est hominem occidere" is a favorite formula. In this respect -the most pronounced apologists of private wealth like Clement of -Alexandria are in perfect accord with the most pronounced communists -like Tertullian. The only difference to be noted is one of emphasis. In -the earlier writers there are relatively few references to interest, -which may perhaps be due to the fact that in the earlier time there were -relatively few Christians possessed of surplus means requiring -investment. As might naturally be expected, the writers of the period -after the establishment of Christianity as a legal religion make more -frequent and more bitter reference to the matter. The vehemence of -denunciation indulged in by these later writers almost exceeds -credibility. The most improbable and strained exegesis is resorted to in -an effort to explain away the words of Christ in the parables of the -pounds and talents. But this vehemence is by no means confined to the -Nicene and post-Nicene fathers. So statesmanlike a bishop as Cyprian, in -a long railing accusation against certain opposition bishops brings -forth as their final sin that they had "multiplied gain by usury."[19] -Usury is not to be taken, of course, in its present sense of excessive -or burdensome interest and it is evident that Cyprian did not use it in -such a sense. He is simply condemning interest as such. In the minds of -the early Christians the difference between taking five percent interest -or fifty percent was exactly the same as the difference between stealing -one dollar or ten. The sin was essentially the same irrespective of the -particular amount involved. Indeed this comparison is scarcely a valid -one; for taking interest was conceived as a much worse sin than plain -robbery. It is perhaps worth noting that the moral distinction between -interest and usury is of very late development. The credit, if it be -such, of making it, is to be ascribed to Calvin and is not unconnected -with the predilection of certain types of pecuniary interest for that -reformer's system of ecclesiastical polity. The Roman law did indeed fix -a maximum legal rate of interest, varying at different times and even -at the same time for different forms of commercial risk. During the -first three centuries A.D. it was, for example, consistently twelve -percent on ships and varied from six to twelve percent on other forms of -investment. But this has little moral connotation. - -Early Christian condemnation of interest on loans was by no means -confined to the expression of opinion by church writers. Council after -council legislated against it with ever increasing severity. The -forty-fourth Apostolic Canon prohibited the practice to clerics. The -Council of Elvira 310 A.D. forbade it to both clerics and laity. The -Council of Arles 314 A.D. provided that clerics guilty of the practice -should be deposed from the ministry. The seventeenth canon of the -Council of Nicea 325 A.D. provided that they should be excommunicated. -The penalty is reiterated in the twelfth canon of the First Council of -Carthage 345 A.D. There is no need to continue the list. It is -sufficient to say that nearly every council whose canons have come down -to us has legislation against interest. Again and again it is absolutely -forbidden to clergy and laity alike under the severest ecclesiastical -penalties--and it is necessary to remember that after 325 A.D. these -penalties could, if need be, be enforced by governmental authority. - -This attitude of the early Church toward interest on loans is a matter -of very considerable historical importance. Although, as we shall -endeavor to show later, the ecclesiastical laws were frequently and -largely evaded, they still had such influence that their contribution to -the sum of economic forces which accomplished the overthrow of ancient -civilization is by no means an insignificant one. Nor did the influence -of this attitude cease at the fall of Rome. It rather increased -thereafter and for several centuries, the so-called "Dark Ages," -civilization was strangled by the power of this idea of the sin of -usury. To this day the Roman Church regards interest on money as a -reprehensible thing which, however, is not, for practical reasons, to be -spoken of as sinful by the clergy.[20] This attitude has been no -inconsiderable factor in the relatively late industrial development in -Catholic countries. - -The early Christian concept of interest was not an idea original with -Christianity. It was not derived from Christ at all. It was taken over -bodily from Old Testament Judaism and contemporary pagan philosophy. It -is a well known fact that the views of Plato and Aristotle, of Cicero -and Seneca on interest, correspond in a very astonishing way to the -views of Deuteronomy and Isaiah, of the Psalms and Ezekiel. The strength -of the concept in the early Church was due to this fact. In regard to no -other concept was there such a unanimity of opinion. The Christian -convert found that the sacred scriptures of his new faith confirmed in -the strongest language the condemnation of interest which he had become -familiar with from the writings of the noblest pagan philosophers. When -reason and religion were in accord it is not wonderful that their -judgment was accepted--as a theory. - -In spite of this union of pagan philosophers and Hebrew prophets, of -Christian Fathers and Ecclesiastical Canons, the condemnation and -prohibition of interest on money was a theory only. A very ordinary -knowledge of classical civilization is sufficient to explain the reason -of this. More nearly than any other institution, the financial machinery -of antiquity corresponds to that of modern life. Trusts and millionaires -were phenomena of their economic life as of ours. Banks were numerous -and ubiquitous. They were of all sizes and degrees; from the great -metropolitan corporation with correspondents all over the civilized -world, to the hated money lender in a shabby office on a side street. -The great bankers were men of the first importance in society. From -their number were regularly recruited the officials of the imperial -treasury. They were almost without exception men of the strictest -financial integrity. The Roman banking laws protected the depositor more -securely than the laws of any modern nation, and these Roman laws were -rigidly enforced. Every banking institution had to obtain government -authorization in order to do business and this authorization was -withdrawn on the discovery of the smallest discrepancy in the accounts. -The regular rate of interest on ordinary deposits was four percent; -under certain peculiar conditions the rate went as low as two and a half -and as high as six percent. The rate published by a bank had to be paid -even though payment swept away the banker's entire private property. The -banker lost everything before the depositor lost anything. The banks -were used by the government in carrying out such fiscal measures as -could not be conveniently handled by the treasury department directly. -They played a still more important part in the ordinary commercial life -of the times. A relatively small volume of business was, or could be, -carried on by transfers of specie. The great bulk of commercial -transactions were of necessity carried on by checks, drafts, discounts, -bills of exchange and similar instruments of credit. It was a -matter of simple impossibility for any man in ordinary commercial or -industrial life to carry on his business for even a single day without -participating directly or indirectly in transactions involving loans and -interest. - -Our excuse for reciting these commonplace details of Roman commercial -life is that their very commonplaceness explains the discrepancy between -early Christian theory and practice in the matter of interest. It would -be an easy task to convict the early Christians of hypocritical pretense -in this regard. Nothing more would be necessary than to print their -theory in one column and their practice in a parallel one. Yet the early -Christians were not hypocrites. As regards sincerity of profession they -compare very favorably with any religionists of any age. As a matter of -fact the historians have long ago shown that it is altogether impossible -and unjust to argue from a sect's opinions to their feelings and -actions. To quote Macauley[21] "Only imagine a man acting for one single -day on the supposition that all his neighbors believe all that they -profess or act up to all that they believe. Imagine a man acting on the -supposition that he may safely offer the deadliest injuries and insults -to everybody who says that revenge is sinful; or that he may safely -intrust all his property without security to any person who says it is -wrong to steal. Such a character would be too absurd for the wildest -farce." "The law which is inscribed on the walls of the synagogues -prohibits covetousness. But if we were to say that a Jew mortgagee would -not foreclose because God had commanded him not to covet his neighbor's -house, everybody would think us out of our wits."[22] Yet that Jew is no -hypocrite in his religion. He is sincerely and honestly devoted to his -faith and will sacrifice time and money; will undergo social obloquy and -contempt in support of it. So it was with the early Christians. By the -process of abstracting their theory and practice of interest from the -social matrix which alone makes the theory or practice intelligible, it -is easy to show a logical inconsistency. It would be equally foolish and -false to deduce from this inconsistency any conclusions one way or the -other as to early Christian morality. It is if course no aim of this -thesis to attack or defend any religious or moral opinions. It is a -matter entirely apart from our present concern to evaluate interest or -non-interest in ethical terms. Our purpose is not to explain away the -inconsistency of the early Christians. Admitting the inconsistency in -the fullest degree, our aim is to explain it as natural, and, under the -social conditions then prevailing, practically inevitable. The early -Christians left funds to care in perpetuity for the family burial -lot.[23] Under any religious creed; Pagan, Jewish, or Christian, decent -provision for the care of graves of relatives was not only admissible, -it was a positive demand of social reputability; to say nothing of the -demand of natural affection. - -Similarly annual agapes were established by bequests as a charity to the -poor brethren.[24] These agapes were no innovation. As an institution -they were perfectly familiar and in universal observance among the -pagans. The agapes were simply ordinary Roman silicernia with the name -changed. To the Romans, founding a silicernium was like wearing a toga -or going to a bath. It possessed the sanction of law and the benediction -of religion; but its real compulsion lay in social custom. No person -could escape this pressure of the mores and retain self respect, to say -nothing of the respect of others. The pagan silicernium was morally -respectable; it perpetuated friendship and promoted good feeling. There -was no reason for avoiding it, if avoidance had been possible--as it was -not. The Christians not only preserved this pious institution; they -improved it. Their annual agapes fed the poor, which the silicernia, -excellent as they were, seldom did. - -The explanation we have endeavored to give of the endowment of family -burial lots and annual agapes is applicable, mutis mutandis, to other -cases of interest. It therefore is not surprising to learn that -Callixtus (pope 218-223 A.D.) was a banker previous to his elevation to -the papacy; that large numbers of Christians, particularly widows and -orphans--entrusted their money to his bank, and that he had large loans -out at good interest to Jewish bankers.[25] - -The truth is that the early Christian horror of interest, while -absolutely honest and even desperately sincere, was a strictly -legalistic, ceremonial, and ritualistic horror. It was purely formal and -was not at all concerned with any economic principle. The thing that was -wicked, was not income from capital invested, but income _in the form of -interest on money_. To own a ship and sail it and make profits from -ownership by freight charges was perfectly honest, but to invest money -in a shipping corporation and receive dividends was wicked. So it was -honest to own a building and get money as rent. It was immoral to invest -money in the construction company that erected that building and receive -income in the form of interest. Rent, profit, and interest are merely -three forms of the same thing, income from invested capital. Any -endeavor to distinguish between them in this respect is entirely devoid -of moral or economic justification. The ancient Church fathers were as -well aware of this as we are. The real point and importance of their -concept of interest was their defense of that concept. That defense was -a curious one and illustrates the difference between ancient and modern -reasoning on economic matters--and on other matters also. The difference -in a word is that of mistaking means for ends on the theory of course -that we moderns are right and the prophets, philosophers, Christian -fathers, et al. wrong. According to modern social science, interest is -merely a means adopted for the attainment of certain ends--economic, -educational, religious or whatever. The goodness or badness of interest -is to be judged strictly and solely by the convenience and economy with -which it serves these ends. If any other property institution can, in a -given situation, serve a given end more easily and more cheaply than the -institution of interest, then, in that situation, the institution of -interest--other things being equal--is immoral and should be abolished. -If, in the given situation, no other property institution can serve the -given end more easily and more cheaply than the institution of interest, -then that institution is moral and should be retained. That is, from the -modern sociological point of view, the institution of interest is -inconceivable except as a means to some end outside itself. As a means -it is to be judged in a purely objective and pragmatic manner by the -ordinary standards of cost price, economic, social, and other. - -The method of the ancients is entirely otherwise. Assuming still the -correctness of the modern viewpoint, which viewpoint be it said is not -unassailable and indeed is assailed by divers radicals, socialists and -others, but for the most part persons lacking in pecuniary reputability; -the mistake then, that the Early Church fathers make is that of taking -the means for an end. They have many arguments against interest but all -these arguments can be criticised for this one error. The fathers -elevate interest to the dignity of an end in itself. Interest, qua -interest, is condemned. It is taking advantage of a brother's necessity. -It is grinding the face of the poor. It is producing pride, luxury, and -vice. As soon as moral value is attached to anything, it of course, is -viewed as an end in itself. If it be true that interest is an end in -itself, then the fiercest diatribes of the fathers are none too severe. -Assuming their premises, their conclusions follow inevitably. The modern -man--he is not unknown--who talks about the "sacred rights" of private -property is guilty of the same error as the ancient Christians, the -error of mistaking means for ends. The early Christians could not see -that the property institution of interest is neither good nor bad except -as it is good or bad _for something_. The _something_ determines the -judgment. As a matter of historical fact the condemnation of interest -developed in certain early stages of human civilization and at those -stages interest was socially detrimental. At those stages, however, it -was exceedingly rare and correspondingly infamous. In any country where -there is abundance of good, free land the phenomenon of interest on -money will disappear, provided labor is free. So it disappeared in the -northern states of this Union in the later part of the 18th century. -These phenomena caused the southerners to adopt slavery though all their -English traditions had declared it immoral for more than three -centuries. The relation of interest to slavery under a condition of free -land is the relation of cause and effect, i.e., the requirement of -interest will produce slavery and the abolition of interest will abolish -slavery.[26] These social phenomena are of importance in our -consideration of the early Christian doctrine of interest. That doctrine -was largely evaded and disobeyed but it still had great effect and that -effect was toward the abolition of slavery. We do not mean that this -economic doctrine alone resulted in the abolition of slavery, or even -that it was a chief cause in the abolition of slavery, it was not obeyed -well enough to be such a chief cause; but so far as it was obeyed, it -tended in that direction. - -The net result of all Christian teaching together was to prolong the -existence of the institution of slavery for two centuries, perhaps for -three. The doctrine of the sinfulness of interest however, worked toward -emancipation and forced slavery in its later end to become almost wholly -agricultural, i.e., to yield income as rent. Slaves cannot be employed -in commerce or industry in sufficient numbers to be profitable where the -institution of interest is banned as it was in the 'dark ages.' The -Christian concept of interest undermined ancient civilization by -abrogating, slowly but surely, the institution of property by which such -gangs of 'manufacturing slaves' as made the fortune of Crassus, could -alone be made profitable. It is an historical curiosity that it -accomplished this result without any attack on the institution of -slavery itself. - -As soon as Christian doctrines became widespread enough to produce -important social results we find Christian slave owners manumitting -their slaves in considerable numbers. It is no derogation to the -influence of the doctrine of human brotherhood or to the humanity of the -Christian slave owners to mention the fact that the doctrine of the -sinfulness of interest, by tending to make slavery unprofitable, aided -in the process of bringing to light the real content of the doctrine of -human brotherhood, and of making the humane practice of manumission -easier by the removal of certain economic impediments. - -In order to understand properly the working of the prohibition of -interest and its relation to manumission, it is necessary to carry the -analysis one step farther to its ultimate physical basis, which was the -conditioning factor of actual practice and eventually of theory also. -The exhaustion of the soil of western Europe which was the result of -ancient methods of agriculture, together with the rising standard of -living and the competition of other more fertile agricultural regions -like Egypt and North Africa resulted in the substitution of the -latifundi for small landholdings.[27] As the pressure continued the -latifundi in turn became economically unprofitable under forced labor -(slavery) and large tracts of land were abandoned. In order to put this -land under agriculture again the charge upon it had to be reduced by the -substitution of (relatively) free associated labor, villeinage or -serfdom. But this change cut off the economic margin upon which the -structure of ancient civilization was built and is the ultimate economic -reason assignable for the fall of Rome. Of course the collapse of the -empire could, theoretically, have been avoided had the Romans of the -first three centuries A.D. been content to live the toilsome and frugal -life of the Romans of the early republic. But this was an utter -impossibility in practice. This slowly working and hardly understood -decline in the relative and actual ability of ancient agriculture to -sustain the weight imposed upon it, enables us to see why the sinfulness -of interest could be steadily indoctrined even though steadily evaded, -by Christians from the beginning, while manumission was not taught at -all in the beginning and only worked up to the dignity of a pious action -relatively late.[28] It also explains why manumission of household and -personal slaves preceded that of agricultural slaves. Of course there is -nothing peculiarly Christian about this later phenomenon and the -operation of other causes is discernable, but it is important for our -purpose to observe that Christian practice, and Christian theory in -property matters in the long run, followed the broad lines of the -underlying economic evolution.[29] The application of this to the origin -of Christian monasticism and to the revival of communistic theories by -the later Church fathers lies at the very outside limit of our study but -will be briefly touched on after we have considered the final overthrow -of the communistic property concept as they appear in the earlier -fathers up to and including Tertullian. - -Clement of Alexandria 153-217 A.D. has the distinction of being the -first Christian theological writer who clearly expounds the concept of -private property which has held sway without substantial change in the -Church until the present time. This statement does not apply to the -doctrine of receiving interest on money. In respect to this doctrine -Clement is in perfect accord with all other early Christians both -before and after himself. Indeed he specifically states that the Mosaic -prohibition against taking interest from one's brother extends in the -case of a Christian to all mankind. But in regard to all other property -institutions Clement's attitude is essentially that of any modern -Christian of generous disposition. - -In all that Clement has to say about property, and the 'bulk' of his -'property passages' is as great as that of all previous Christian -writers together, he speaks like a man on the defensive. Indeed there -has come down to us no other Christian writing earlier than his time -which presents his view, with the dubious exception of some passages in -Hermas. The fact seems to be that while Clement is undoubtedly -presenting an apologetic for the existing practice in the Church of his -day, that practice was felt to be more or less open to attack in the -light of certain scripture passages. Communism as an existential -reality was gone by the time of Clement--whatever may have been the -extent--probably a limited one--to which it had existed in the earlier -ages. But while communism as a fact was dead, communism as an idea or -ideal of Christian economy was not dead. Indeed Clement's views about -the morality of wealth were so different from those of previous writers -that a great modern economist[30] in treating of this subject ventures -the opinion, though doubtfully, that the reason why Clement, alone among -the great early theologians, was never canonized by the Church was that -he ran counter to popular belief on this subject. This opinion is -probably erroneous. Clement's theological opinions have a semi-Gnostic -tinge quite sufficient to explain the absence of his name from the -calendar of saints. - -Clement justifies the institution of private property. He justifies, on -the highest ethical and philosophical principles, the possession by -Christians of even the most enormous wealth. His apologetic is not an -original one. He borrows it bodily from Plato. Indeed he quotes Plato -verbatim, invocation to Pan and the other heathen gods included.[31] The -originality lies in applying this Platonic doctrine to the exposition of -Christian scripture. Clement's method is strictly that of Biblical -exegesis. In the well known sermon or essay on: "Who is the Rich Man -that shall be saved" he takes up practically all of the scriptural -passages which seem opposed to the institutions of private property and -explains them in so modern a spirit that the whole sermon might be -delivered today in any ordinary Church and would be readily accepted as -sound and reliable doctrine. His thesis is that wealth or poverty are -matters in themselves indifferent. That riches are not to be bodily -gotten rid of, but are to be wisely conserved and treated as a -stewardship intrusted to the owner by God. That charity to the poor -should be in proportion to one's wealth and that a right use of wealth -will secure salvation to the upright Christian even though he possesses -great riches all his life and leaves them to his heirs. The wealth that -is dangerous to the soul is not physical possessions, but spiritual -qualities of greed and avarice. - -His views can be best expressed by himself. We give two characteristic -passages from the sermon above referred to.[32] "Rich men that shall -with difficulty enter into the kingdom, is to be apprehended in a -scholarly way, not awkwardly, or rustically, or carnally. For if the -expression is used thus, salvation does not depend upon external things, -whether they be many or few, small or great, or illustrious or obscure -or esteemed or disesteemed; but on the virtue of the soul, on faith and -hope and love and brotherliness, and knowledge, and meekness and -humility and truth the reward of which is salvation." "Sell thy -possessions. What is this? He does not, as some off hand conceive, bid -him throw away the substance he possesses and abandon his property; but -he bids him banish from his soul his notions about wealth, his -excitement and morbid feeling about it, the anxieties, which are the -thorns of existence which choke the seed of life. And what peculiar -thing is it that the new creature, the Son of God intimates and teaches? -It is not the outward act which others have done, but something else -indicated by it, greater, more godlike, more perfect, the stripping off -of the passions from the soul itself and from the disposition, and the -cutting up by the roots and casting out of what is alien to the mind." -"One, after ridding himself of the burden of wealth, may none the less -have still the lust and desire for money innate and living; and may have -abandoned the use of it, but being at once destitute of and desiring -what he spent may doubly grieve both on account of the absence of -attendance and the presence of regret."[33] - -We have now come to the beginning of what is in many respects the most -interesting period in the history of property concepts. It is a period -in which everything is upside down and wrong end to. In that strange age -we find a famous archbishop, one of the world's noblest orators, a man -of the most spotless integrity and the most saintly life, publicly -preaching in the foremost pulpit of Christendom doctrines of property, -the implications of which, the most hardened criminal would scarcely -venture to breathe to a gang of thieves.[34] We find the most learned -scholar of the century, in the weightiest expositions of Christian -Scripture, penning the most powerful apologetic of anarchy that is to be -found in the literature of the world.[35] We find one of the greatest of -the popes, a man whose genius as a statesman will go down to the latest -ages of history, setting forth in a manual for the instruction of -Christian bishops, property concepts more radical than those of the -fiercest Jacobins in the bloodiest period of the Terror.[36] - -Stranger still, these incredible performances are the strongest proofs -of the wisdom and piety of the men responsible for them. These men are -today honored as the saviors of civilized religion and their images in -bronze and marble and painted glass adorn the proudest temples of the -most conservative denominations of Christians. The strange history of -these famous men: Athanasius, the two Gregories, Basil and Chrysostom in -the East; Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome and Gregory in the West, lies -outside the limits of our study. But the explanation of their desperate -and uncompromising communism can be given in a word. It was the -communism of crisis: the communism of shipwrecked sailors forced to -trust their lives to a frail lifeboat with an insufficient supply of -provisions. These great Christian scholars, enriched by all the -accumulated culture of their civilization, saw that culture falling into -ruin all around them; they felt the foundations of that civilization -trembling beneath their feet. To vary the figure, they beheld the rising -tide of ignorance and barbarism rapidly engulfing the world and with -desperate haste they set to work rebuilding and strengthening the ark of -the Church that in it, religion, and so much of civilization as -possible, might be saved till the flood subsided. Their task, perhaps -the most important and most urgent, that men have ever had to perform, -was of such a nature that they cared not what they wrecked in order to -accomplish it. They ripped up the floor of the bridal chamber for timber -and took the doors of the bank-safe for iron. - -These rhetorical figures are violent; but they are less violent than the -reality they are intended to express. Monasticism was the last desperate -hope of civilized Christianity and these men knew it. To establish -monasticism they degraded the sanctity of marriage and denounced the -sacredness of property. They conferred the most sacred honors upon the -lowliest drudgery;[37] they turned princes into plowmen and nobles into -breakers of the soil. Some historians, judging them by the different -standards of a later age, have pronounced them fanatics led astray by -vulgar superstition. But judged by the needs of their own age, judged by -the inestimable services rendered to the world by the monastic system -they instituted, they are entitled to a place far up in the list of the -wisest and the ablest of the human kind. - -Sketchy and imperfect as the above study necessarily is, it nevertheless -gives the primary facts which are essential to an understanding of the -important part played by property concepts and property institutions in -the transformation of early Christianity from a predominantly -eschatological to a practically socialized movement. - -We have seen,[38] that the earliest generations of Christians took over -from contemporary Judaism a strongly Chiliastic eschatology. The logical -consequence of such an eschatology is an indifference to, or -undervaluation of, the existing social arrangements including the -property concepts and institutions. One form easily taken by this -indifference and undervaluation is that of practical communism. We -accordingly find in the Acts and in such early writings as the Didache -and the Epistle of Barnabas a distinctly communistic theory and the -traces of more or less effort to put this theory into some degree of -practical effect. Chiliasm and communism in these writers go together -naturally. - -Pari passu with this logical, communistic Chiliasm we can trace the -development of an illogical, individualistic Chiliasm in St. Paul, -Clement of Rome and Hermas. It is already manifest even at this early -stage, that the weight of influence and power of control in the -Christian societies is on the side of the individualists. This is due to -two causes. In the first place the communists among the Christians -worked under a great handicap. The underlying economic institutions of -society can indeed be changed. But they can be changed--on any -considerable scale--only very slowly and by enormous effort. At any -attempt to change them a thousand interested and determined antagonists -at once arise. It is not too much to say that had all Christians -insisted upon communism as an essential element of the Christian faith -and practice, Christianity in the Roman world could never have developed -into anything more than an unimportant sect. The very fact that -Christianity spread as rapidly as it did in the first century of its -existence is proof that the communists in the Church made very little -headway. It was hard enough to combat pagan religion and philosophy. Had -the property institutions been attacked also, the primary religious -objects would have been lost sight of in the conflict. - -In the second place the more practical minded Christian leaders would be -antagonistic to a doctrine and practice which alienated many persons who -might otherwise be won to the Church, and practically minded persons -outside the Church regarded the individualists with more favor and were -more easily influenced by them to become Christians themselves. The -early importance attained by the Church of Rome is to be largely -ascribed to the predominance in its councils of such practical -persons.[39] Communism had no hold there at all and Chiliasm was never -allowed to interfere with the practical workings of society. - -By the time of Justin the three concepts; Chiliasm, Communism, and -Individualism had arrived at a modus vivendi. According to this -arrangement Chiliasm and Communism held sway as theories while -individualism ruled in the world of fact. This agreement proved very -satisfactory and for more than half a century was the accepted -thing. It is seen in full force in Tertullian. - -There is a general tendency, due to the natural effects of use and -disuse, for theories which do not correspond to realities to become -discredited, even as theories. Conversely realities which at first lack -theoretical justification tend to accumulate such justification with -the lapse of time. It is therefore not surprising to find by the -beginning of the Third Century, a movement to discard theoretical -Chiliasm and communism and to validate by theoretical apologetic the -actually existing individualism. These two processes in the nature of -the case are closely connected with one another and it is not by mere -chance that they find a common exponent in Clement of Alexandria. That -famous opponent of Chiliasm is equally well known as the justifier of an -extreme individualism. He greatly facilitated the spread of Christian -theology by liberating it from the burden of an eschatological theory -increasingly hard to reconcile with reality and also by bringing the -economic teachings of Christianity into conformity with current -practice. As noted above, there was one economic doctrine which neither -he nor any other early Christian teacher ever attempted to reconcile -with the facts, and it is undoubtedly true that the doctrine of the -sinfulness of interest was alike detrimental to the spread of -Christianity and to the general well being of society as it then -existed. The reasons why this particular reality i.e., interest on -money, was so slow in receiving its theoretical justification are -numerous. The only ones that need concern us here are that the -opposition to be overcome in this case was much more formidable than in -the cases of Chiliasm and communism and the fact that this inconsistency -on the part of the Christians did not in reality offer any very serious -obstacle to the growth of the Church. Communism had no great body of -Biblical authority at its back. There are indeed some texts in its favor -but there are plenty of an opposite nature. The doctrine had no great -popular prejudice in its favor. In addition it was insuperably difficult -of realization in fact. It was otherwise with interest. The theoretical -prejudice against interest was almost as great among the Jews and Pagans -as among the Christians themselves. The Scriptures were unequivocal in -their denunciation of it. Furthermore the correlative institutions of -rent and profit offered so many opportunities to disguise the fact of -interest that it was exceedingly easy to retain the theoretical -opposition without ceasing the actual practice. Although Clement's -condemnation of interest was probably merely an inherited prejudice it -is by no means impossible that he considered that an attempt to justify -it would endanger his defense of the more fundamental institution of -private property. At any rate his course can be defended as a practical -one under the circumstances. Whatever may be said of its consistency, -the Christian custom of condemning the theory and winking at the -practice of interest worked well. The inconsistency which seems so -glaring to us, was probably very largely unperceived by the ancient -pagans--they had exactly the same inconsistency themselves. - -In regard to Chiliasm and property, practically the same attitude -prevailed. It worked indeed even more easily. In the West there seems to -have been a considerable Chiliastic tradition. So long as this tradition -did not result in any practices which interfered with the actual -progress of the Church, the Fathers were content to let it alone. It did -not, till at least the Third Century, hinder the acceptance of Christian -doctrine by the pagans and may even have aided the process among some of -the lower classes. Its long survival can be taken as sure proof that it -did not effect either the development of the hierarchy or the -institution of property. - -As regards property of man in man, the superior power of the Christian -religion to keep slaves in subjection accounts in no small measure for -its relatively rapid rise to power in the ancient world. The pagan -religion was inferior in usefulness to the Christian religion because it -could not keep the slave contented with his position. The next world in -the pagan theology was only a worse copy of this world. Christianity, in -glaring contrast to paganism, proclaimed that the despised and afflicted -were to sit on golden thrones in the next life. The more they were -exploited in this life, the brighter their crown in the next one. The -pagan slave was dangerous. The whole pre-Christian literature of -Classical antiquity shows the ever present fear of a servile outbreak. -There were good grounds for that fear. Outbreaks were frequent and of a -most ferocious character. On more than one occasion they threatened the -very existence of the ancient civilization. Christianity was able to -make the slave contented to be a slave. It was economically an enormous -advance over paganism. A master whose slaves were Christians was not -afraid of being murdered by them. Not only was the master's life secure, -his property was secure also. The pagan slaves were notorious thieves. -The Christian slave did not rob his master. These facts gave -Christianity an enormous leverage in its efforts to force its way into -social recognition. It went far toward securing a favorable disposition -toward the new religion on the part of the influential, wealthy, and -conservative elements in the population. - -Into the general economic changes which began to operate toward the end -of our period it is not our purpose to enter, but it is worth notice -that the efforts made by the Church to save itself in the general ruin -which overtook the ancient world, chiefly the institution of -monasticism, were such as to secure more firmly than ever the hold of -the Church upon society. The Church rapidly became an economic factor of -the first importance. The only secure basis of lasting social influence -is economic. Christianity by teaching the virtues of honesty, frugality, -simplicity, and charity laid the foundations of her subsequent triumph, -and when she had great societies of men and women working hard and -living plainly and adding all their accumulations to institutions -belonging to the Church and directly under the supervision and control -of the ecclesiastical authority, the Church paved the way for her -subsequent domination of the civil government. Monastic communism, being -economically superior to Chiliastic Communism, inevitably superseded it. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Cf. Plato, Laws, V, 742. Aristotle, Politics, 1:X, XI. Cicero, De -Officus, II, XXV. Seneca, De Beneficus, VII, X. - -[2] Acts IV. - -[3] I. Cor. vii 30. - -[4] Rom. xiii 3. - -[5] Jas. Chap. V. - -[6] Chaps. 21-22. - -[7] Chap. xxxviii. - -[8] Did. IV. 8. - -[9] Barn. XIV. 16. - -[10] Schaff, Vol. 1. - -[11] Past. V. vi. 6. - -[12] Past. S. IX. XXX. 5. - -[13] Past III. 2. - -[14] Apol. I. IV. - -[15] Apol. I. xiv. - -[16] De Mort. Per. XIV. - -[17] Apol. XXXIX. - -[18] Eus., E. H., V. 18. - -[19] De Lapsis, VI. - -[20] See Pronouncement of the Sacred Penitentiary, 11 Feb., 1832. - -[21] Sir James Macintosh. - -[22] Civil Disabilities of the Jews. - -[23] Lourie, Monuments of the Early Church, Chap. II. - -[24] Lourie, _ibid._ - -[25] Cf. Hypolytus. - -[26] A. Loria. Cf. Economic Basis of Society. (Int.) - -[27] Cf. A. Loria, Economic Foundations of Society. (Int.) - -[28] Circa 200(?). - -[29] Cf. K. Marx, Das Kapital, Vol. 1. - -[30] F. Nitti in Catholic Socialism. - -[31] Phaedus, The Laws, in Strom. II, 6. - -[32] Chap. XIV. - -[33] Chap. XXXI. - -[34] Chrysostom, Sermons Rich Man and Lazarus, etc. - -[35] Jerome, Commentaries. - -[36] Gregory, Pastoralis Cura. - -[37] Laborare est orare. - -[38] Chap. I. - -[39] E.g., Clement and Hermas. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE EARLY CHURCH AND THE POPULACE - - -The transformation of early Christianity from an eschatological to a -socialized movement was the result of the interaction of three social -groups--three 'publics'--the Jewish, the Pagan, and the Christian. It -was a single movement, working itself out through these three 'crowds'. -Christianity, like all other great religions, was in its first -beginnings essentially a mob phenomenon--that is to say it was a very -slow movement which had a long history back of it. - -Perhaps no current opinion is more unfounded than the notion that mob -movements are sudden and unpredictable. They are almost incredibly slow -of development. The range of action found in the mob is more narrowly -and rigidly circumscribed than in almost any other social group. A crowd -is open to suggestions that are in line with its previous experience, -and to no others. - -The initial success of Christ with the Jewish crowds was only possible -because for generations the whole Jewish public had been looking forward -to a Messiah and a Messianic kingdom. In so far as Christ appeared to -fulfill this preconceived expectation he gained popular support. When he -disappointed it, he lost his popularity and his life. - -The early and enormous success of the apostles on the day of Pentecost -and immediately afterwards was due primarily to the fact that the -Chiliastic expectation preached to the Jerusalem crowds was very closely -in line with their inherited beliefs. As soon as Christianity began to -develop doctrines and practices even slightly at variance with those -traditional to Judaism it lost the support of the Jewish public. -Beginning as a strictly Jewish sect, it alienated practically the whole -Jewish race within little more than a generation. This alienation was -the inevitable effect of an idea of universalism opposed to the -hereditary Jewish nationalism. This idea of universalism was not a new -thing. It was to be found in the ancient Jewish scriptures. But it had -never become popularized. It formed no part of the content of -contemporary public opinion among the Jews. Christianity met with -success in the great cosmopolitan centers, like Antioch and Alexandria, -where universalism was a tradition and had become a part of the crowd -sentiment. It succeeded best of all in Rome where universalism reached -its highest development. Yet even here a limitation is to be noted. -Christianity was universal in its willingness to receive people of all -races and nations. It was not universal in its willingness to -acknowledge the validity of other religions. This variation from the -traditional Greek and Roman universalism had momentous results. It made -the propagation of the Christian Gospel much more difficult and involved -the church, at least temporarily, in the current syncretism which was a -popular movement. So e.g., we find Justin calling Socrates a Christian -and asserting that the stories of Noah and Deucalion are merely versions -of the same event. - -The main characteristics of crowd psychology are familiar enough. Crowds -do not reason. They accept or reject ideas as a whole. They are governed -by phrases, symbols, and shibboleths. They tolerate neither discussion -nor contradiction. The suggestions brought to bear on them invade the -whole of their understanding and tend to transform themselves into acts. -Crowds entertain only violent and extreme sentiments and they -unconsciously accord a mysterious power to the formula or leader that -for the moment arouses their enthusiasm. - -Any movement in order to become popular, in order to 'get over' to the -general public, has to operate within the limits set by this psychology. -The amount of change, adaptation, and development necessary before a -movement can fit into these limitations and express itself powerfully -within them is so considerable that no historical example can probably -be found where the required accommodation has been accomplished in less -than three generations. It is the purpose of this chapter to trace, so -far as the surviving source material permits, the steps of this -accommodation in the case of early Christianity. - -For some time before Christ the Jewish people had been restless. Their -desires and aspirations for national and religious greatness had been -repressed and inhibited. The unrest thus generated took various forms; -patriotic uprisings, religious revivals, etc. Christ was at first -considered merely as another Theudas or Judas of Galilee or John the -Baptist. In the pagan world the pax Romana produced a somewhat similar -restlessness. Travel increased; wandering, much of it aimless, -characterized whole classes of people;[1] there was a marked increase in -crime, vice, insanity, and suicide which alarmed all the moralists. This -condition of affairs was eminently suitable for the first beginnings of -a crowd movement; indeed no great crowd movement can begin except under -such circumstances. The wanderings of St. Paul and the other Christians -apostles--called missionary journeys--were really only particular cases -of a general condition. The same organic demand for new stimulation, the -same sense of shattered religious and philosophic ideals prevailed in -the pagan as in the Jewish world. It would be hard to find a greater -contrast of character than Christ and Lucian. Yet the fiery earnestness -with which Christ denounces contemporary Jewish religiosity and the cool -cynicism with which Lucian mocks at the pagan piety of the same age have -a like cause. Economic pressure on the lower strata of society -contributed to the unrest. The slave, the small shopkeeper, and the free -artisan had a hard time of it in the Roman world. Economically oppressed -classes are material ready to the hand of the agitator, religious or -other. In the crowd movements recorded in the Acts we can trace the -first beginnings of the Christian populace.[2] "In Iconium a great -multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed but the Jews that were -disobedient stirred up the souls of the Gentiles and made them evil -affected against the brethren. But the multitude of the city was divided -and part held with the Jews and part with the apostles." At Lytra there -was a typical case of mob action where the apostles were first -worshipped and then stoned. In the cases of the mobs at Philippi and -Ephesus we see the economic motive, the threatened loss of livelihood, -entering along with anger at an attack on the received religion. In the -case of the Jerusalem and Athenian crowds we see acceptance, or at least -acquiescence, on the part of the crowd up to the point where -Christianity breaks with their tradition. In general we see anger on the -part of the crowds only after agitation deliberately stirred up by -interested parties; priests, sorcerers, craftsmen or the like. Generally -speaking the antipathy is no part of the crowd psychology, and on -occasion the crowd may be on the side of the missionaries of the new -religion. In general also the Christians were not sufficiently numerous -to make a counter crowd demonstration of their own. - -In Pliny's letter to Trojan, although it is a generation later than the -Acts and refers to a region where Christianity had been preached for a -considerable period of time, we find a marked instability in the -attitude of the public: "Many of every age, every rank and even of both -sexes are brought into danger and will be in the future. The contagion -of that superstition has penetrated not only the cities but also the -villages and country places and yet it seems possible to stop it and set -it right. At any rate it is certain enough that the temples deserted -until quite recently begin to be frequented, that the ceremonies of -religion, long disused, are restored and that fodder for the victims -comes to market, whereas buyers for it were until now very few. From -this it may easily be supposed that a multitude of men can be reclaimed -if there be a place of repentence."[3] - -There seems no reasonable ground for doubting that Pliny's judgment was -correct. While the blood of the martyrs is doubtless the seed of the -church, a continuous, general, and relentless persecution can extirpate -a religion in a given nation; as the history of the Inquisition -abundantly proves. Still more easily can propaganda for the older -religion win back its former adherents of the first and second -generations. It is not, in general, till a generation has grown up -entirely inside a new religion that such a religion is well established. -The generation which at maturity makes the rupture with the older faith -can be brought back to it by less expenditure of energy than was -expended by them in breaking away in the first place. The success of the -Jesuits e.g., is quite inexplicable on any other hypothesis. The -generation who are children at the time their parents make the break -with the old religion are notoriously undependable in the religious -matters. It was in all probability these people that Pliny had to deal -with. It is at least permissable to hazard the guess that the Laodiceans -who aroused the wrath of the author of the Revelation were of this -generation. It is certain that many of the 'Lapsi' who caused so much -trouble to Christian apologists and church councils belonged in this -chronological class. - -In Justin Martyr we have a hint of a further development in the crowd -attitude toward the Christians. Justin says: "When you (Jews) knew that -He had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven as the prophets -foretold He would, you not only did not repent of the wickedness you had -committed, but at that time you selected and sent out from Jerusalem -chosen men through all the land to tell that the godless heresy of the -Christians had sprung up and to publish those things which all they, who -knew us not, speak against us. So that you are the cause not only of -your own unrighteousness but that of all other men."[4] - -Irrespective of the exact historical accuracy of this statement, it is -indicative of the process, technically known as 'circular interaction,' -which is so essential a step in the development of popular opinion and -the building up of crowd sentiment. Before any group of people can -become either popular or unpopular there must be a focusing and fixation -of public attention upon them. Even in the new Testament we find the -Jews sending emissaries from city to city to call attention to the -Christian propaganda. Prejudice against the Christians was thus aroused -in persons who had never either seen or heard them. The basis of -'circular interaction' is unconscious or subconscious emotional -reaction. A's frown brings a frown to the face of B. B's frown in turn -intensifies A's. This simple process is the source of all expressions of -crowd emotion. By multiplication of numbers and increase in the stimuli -employed it is capable of provoking a vicious circle of feeling which -eventually causes individuals in a crowd to do things and feel things -which no individual in the crowd would do or feel when outside the -circle. It is to the credit or discredit of the Jews that they first set -this 'vicious circle' in operation against the Christians. Of course the -same psychological principle operated to produce zeal and enthusiasm and -contempt of pain and death in the Christian 'crowd'. By this process of -'circular interaction' the name, 'Christian,' had already in the time of -Justin become a mob shibboleth. It seems to have operated precisely as -the shibboleth 'traitor' operates on a patriotic crowd in war time, or -'scab' on a labor group. It became a shibboleth of exactly opposite -significance in the Christian 'crowd'. The way was thus prepared for the -next step in the process of developing the ultimate crisis. This -step--the disparate 'universe of discourse'--is exhibited in process of -formation in the account of the martyrdom of Polycarp. The account, as -we have it, undoubtedly contains later additions, but these additions -even of miraculous elements, do not necessarily invalidate those -portions of the story with which we are alone concerned. The -martyrologist certainly had no intention of writing his story for the -purpose of illustrating the principles of group psychology and the -undesigned and incidental statements of crowd reactions are precisely -the ones of value for our purpose. A few brief excerpts are sufficient -to illustrate the stage reached in the growth of the disparate 'universe -of discourse.' "The whole multitude, marvelling at the nobility of mind -displayed by the devout and godly race of Christians cried out: "Away -with the Atheists: let Polycarp be sought out."[5] He went eagerly -forward with all haste and was conducted to the Stadium where the tumult -was so great that there was no possibility of being heard."[6] - -"Polycarp has confessed that he is Christian. This proclamation having -been made by the herald, the whole multitude both of the heathen and -Jews who dwelt in Smyrna cried out with uncontrollable fury and in a -loud voice: "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians -and the overthrower of our gods, he who has been teaching many not to -sacrifice or to worship the gods." Speaking thus they cried out and -besought Phillip, the Asiarch, to let loose a lion upon Polycarp. But -Philip answered that it was not lawful for him to do so seeing the shows -of beasts were already finished. Then it seemed good to them to cry out -with one voice that Polycarp should be burned alive."[7] - -"This then was carried into effect with greater speed than it was -spoken, the multitude immediately gathering together wood and fagots out -of the shops and baths, the Jews especially, according to custom eagerly -assisting them in it."[8] - -"We afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most -exquisite jewels and more purified than gold and deposited them in a -fitting place, whither, being gathered together as opportunity is -allowed us, with joy and rejoicing the Lord shall grant us to celebrate -the anniversary of his martyrdom both in memory of those who have -already finished their course and for the exercising and preparation of -those yet to walk in their steps."[9] - -In the disparate universe of discourse in its complete form common -shibboleths produce entirely different mental reactions--usually -antagonistic ones. There is also complete accord as to the shibboleths. -The cry here is at one time against the Atheists, then against the -Christians. But the Christians could and did deny the charge of Atheism. -They were as antagonistic to Atheism as the Pagans. An incomplete -development of crowd feeling is evident on the part of the pagans. The -Jews are still the inciters and leading spirits of the mob. The very -statement that the Jews acted 'according to custom' shows that mobbing -Christians was still looked upon as a peculiarly Jewish trait. It was -not yet entirely spontaneous on the part of the pagan public. Most -noticeable of all is the indifference of the mob toward the Christians' -adoration of relics of the martyrs. No effort was made to prevent the -Christians from obtaining the bones of Polycarp. Either the cult of -relics was not known to the pagans and Jews--though it seems to be -firmly established among the Christians--or else, the effect of the cult -in perpetuating Christianity had not yet had time to make itself -manifest to the pagan public--or to the Jewish. In any case we have here -the plain evidence of the imperfectly developed condition of the crowd -mind, owing perhaps to a too short tradition. - -Our next evidence is the martyrdoms of Lyons and Vienne preserved in a -letter quoted by Eusebius. "They (the Christians) endured nobly the -injuries inflicted upon them by the populace, clamor and blows and -draggings and robberies and stonings and imprisonments and all things -which an infuriated mob delight in inflicting on enemies and -adversaries."[10] - -"When these accusations were reported all the people raged like wild -beasts against us, so that even if any had before been moderate on -account of friendship, they were now exceedingly furious and gnashed -their teeth against us. - -"When he (Bishop Pothinus) was brought to the tribunal accompanied by a -multitude who shouted against him in every manner as if he were Christ -himself, he bore noble witness. Then he was dragged away harshly and -received blows of every kind. Those men near him struck him with their -hands and feet, regardless of his age, and those at a distance hurled at -him whatever they could seize, all of them thinking that they would be -guilty of great wickedness and impiety if any possible abuse were -omitted. For thus they thought to avenge their own deities."[11] - -"But not even thus was their madness and cruelty toward the saints -satisfied. Wild and barbarous tribes were not easily appeased and their -violence found another peculiar opportunity in the dead bodies. For they -cast to the dogs those who had died of suffocation in the prison and -they exposed the remains left by the wild beasts and by fire mangled and -charred. And some gnashed their teeth against them, but others mocked at -them. The bodies of the martyrs having thus in every manner been exposed -for six days were afterwards burned and reduced to ashes and swept into -the Rhone so that no trace of them might appear on the earth. And this -they did as if able to conquer God and prevent their new birth; 'that', -as they said, 'they may have no hope of a resurrection through trust in -which they bring to us this foreign and new religion.' "[12] - -We have in this account a marked advance, as regards the development of -the mob mind, over what is found in the martyrdom of Polycarp. Many of -the 'crowd' phenomena are indeed the same but the differences are even -more striking than the similarities. We find in Lyons no body of Jews or -other especially interested persons leading the mob on by manifestations -of peculiar zeal and forwardness. When the accounts are compared in -their entirety it becomes at once manifest that there is a consistency -of attitude, a whole heartedness in the actions of the Lyons mob -that is lacking in the case of the Syrmnaens. There is a degree of -familiarity with Christian doctrine--especially the doctrine of the -resurrection--which denotes a much more thorough permeation of the -public mind by Christianity. There may be no difference in the hatred of -the two mobs for the new faith, but it had more content in the mind of -the Gallic crowd. The degree of thought and pains taken by the Lyonese -persecutors--the guards placed to prevent the Christians from stealing -the relics of the martyrs, the elaborate efforts to nullify the -possibility of a resurrection--the very extent and thoroughness and -duration of the persecution are different from anything to be found in -the other martyrdom. - -The difficulty to be explained--if it is a difficulty--from the point of -view of crowd psychology is that there is difference of only eleven -years--taking the ordinary chronology--between the two persecutions. It -is true that the Lyons persecution is the later, but the difference in -the mob behavior is such as might well demand the lapse of a generation -had the phenomena been exhibited by the public of the same city. There -must unquestionably have been a great difference in the demotic -composition of the populations of Lyons and Smyrna; the reference to -barbarians in Lyons shows as much, but the behavior of mobs as -controlled by the time needed for the focusing and fixation of attention -and the development of a disparate universe of discourse is very little -effected by difference of demotic composition. It has indeed been -suggested by one critic,[13] that the persecution at Lyons belongs in -the reign of Septimus Severus instead of that of Marcus Aurelius. This -would explain away the difficulty, but there seems no necessary reason -for adopting this opinion. It would rather appear that there existed -peculiar conditions in Lyons and vicinity which account for the fact -that the persecution, so far as we know, was confined to that locality -and also for the fact that the mob mind was in a maturer state of -antagonism to Christianity. Just what these peculiar conditions were, it -is impossible to say with entire certainty. However there is at least a -very suggestive hint in a paragraph by the greatest modern authority on -Roman Gaul[14] contained in his well known volume on Ancient France.[15] -The paragraph is also worth quoting as giving a valuable insight into -the psychology of the peoples of the ancient Roman World. "The Roman -Empire was in no wise maintained by force but by the religious -admiration it inspired. It would be without a parallel in the history of -the world that a form of government held in popular detestation should -have lasted for five centuries. It would be inexplicable that the thirty -legions of the Empire should have constrained a hundred million men to -obedience. The reason of their obedience was that the Emperor, who -personified the greatness of Rome was worshipped like a divinity by -unanimous consent. There were altars in honor of the Emperor in the -smallest townships of his realm. From one end of the Empire to the other -a new religion was seen to arise in those days which had for its -divinities the Emperors themselves. Some years before the Christian era -the whole of Gaul, represented by sixty cities, built in common a temple -near the city of Lyons in honor of Augustus. Its priests, elected by the -united Gallic cities, were the principal personages in their country. It -is impossible to attribute all this to fear and servility. Whole nations -are not servile and especially for three centuries. It was not the -courtiers who worshipped the prince, it was Rome, and it was not Rome -merely but it was Gaul, it was Spain. It was Greece and Asia." - -While no dogmatic assertion is justified, it does not, perhaps, exceed -the limits of reasonable inference to suppose that the existence of this -noted center of Emperor worship in the immediate neighborhood of Lyons -may account, in part at least, for the especial hatred of the populace -of that city for persons who refused to sacrifice to the Emperor and -also for the maturity of their feeling against the Christians, who were -as far as we are aware, probably the only persons who refused thus to -sacrifice. This stray bit of evidence is admittedly not conclusive. It -is offered merely for what it may be worth. There is evidence that by -the middle of the second Century popular opinion was sufficiently -inflamed against the Christians to render the administration of justice -precarious because of mob violence. Edicts of Hadrian and Antonius Pious -specifically declared that the clamor of the multitude should not be -received as legal evidence to convict or to punish them, as such -tumultuous accusations were repugnant both to the firmness and the -equity of the law.[16] - -This attitude seems to have persisted with relatively little change for -about a century. During this period the official 'persecutions' were -neither numerous nor severe. From the very few scattered and incidental -references which have alone survived regarding the mob feeling of the -time, we can assert no more than that it was an exasperated one, likely -to break out upon provocation but under ordinary circumstances more or -less in abeyance. On the whole it was undoubtedly more violent at the -end of the period than at the beginning. - -Fortunately from the middle of the third Century onwards we have a -fairly continuous history of a single 'public' (Alexandria) which is -lacking before this time. The Alexandrian populace were noted for their -tumultuous disposition, but we have no reliable account of their -behavior towards the Christians until the time of Severus, 202 A.D. In -the account given by Eusebius of the martyrdom of the beautiful virgin, -Potamiaena, it is stated that: "the people attempted to annoy and insult -her with abusive words." As however the intervention of a single officer -sufficed to protect her from the people on this occasion, the public -sentiment cannot have been inflamed to any alarming extent. If we may -trust Palladius, her martyrdom was the result of a plot of a would-be -ravisher and in any case it was not the product of any spontaneous -popular movement. - -In the period between 202 A.D. and 249 A.D. a well developed tradition -of hatred and violence grew up in the popular mind. We have no record of -the steps in the process but the extant accounts of the Decian and -Valerian persecutions in Alexandria leave no doubt of the fact. These -persecutions can only be called 'legal' by a violent stretch of verbal -usage. They were mob lynchings, sometimes sanctioned by the forms of -law, but quite as often without even the barest pretense of judicial -execution. They were quite as frequent and as savage in the later part -of the reign of Philip, as in the time of Decius. They were not called -forth by any imperial edict--they preceded the edict by at least a year -and were of a character such as no merely governmental, legal process -would ever, or could ever, take on. Mobbing Christians had become a form -of popular sport, a generally shared sort of public amusement--exciting -and not dangerous. The letter of Bishop Dionysius makes this very clear. -To quote: "The persecution among us did not begin with the royal decree -but preceded it an entire year. The prophet and author of evils to this -city moved and aroused against us the masses of the heathen rekindling -among them the superstition of their country and finding full -opportunity for any wickedness. They considered this the only pious -service of their demons that they should slay us." Then follows a long -list of mob lynchings of which we take a single specimen: "They seized -Serapion in his own house and tortured him and having broken all his -limbs, they threw him headlong from an upper story."[17] "And there was -no street, nor public read, nor lane open to us night or day but always -and everywhere all them cried out that if anyone would not repeat their -impious words, he should be immediately dragged away and burned. And -matters continued thus for a considerable time. But a sedition and civil -war came upon the wretched people and turned their cruelty toward us -against one another. So we breathed for a while as they ceased from -their rage against us."[18] - -The mob broke loose against the Christians again the following year, but -there is no object in cataloguing the grewsome exhibitions of crowd -brutality. It is evident that what we have in this account is no -exhibition of political oppression by a tyrannical government, but a -genuine outbreak of group animosity which had been long incubating in -the popular mind. All the phenomena which are characteristic of fully -matured public feeling are found complete; circular interaction, -shibboleths, sect isolation devices and the rest. When public feeling -has developed to such a degree of intensity as this, the accumulated -sentiment and social unrest must of necessity discharge themselves in -some form of direct group action. This direct action however may take -the from either of physical violence or, under certain conditions, of -some sort of mystical experience; conversion, dancing, rolling on the -ground, etc. In exceptional cases the two forms are combined. An -illustration of this latter phenomenon is given by Bishop Dionysius in -this same letter; "In Cephus, a large assembly gathered with us and God -opened for us a door for the word. At first we were persecuted and -stoned but afterward not a few of the heathen forsook their idols and -turned to God."[19] It is necessary to mention perhaps the largest, and -certainly the most dignified and respectable crowd that is to be met -with in connection with this persecution--that of Carthage on the -occasion of the martyrdom of Bishop Cyprian. We find here neither rage -on one side nor unseemly exaltation on the other. Pagans and Christians -alike behaved with decent seriousness at the death of that famous man -who was equally respected by all classes of the population. But martyrs -of the social eminence of Cyprian were very rare, and orderly behaviour -in such a vast multitude as witnessed his end was still rarer. - -To return to the populace of Alexandria. The long peace of the Church -which intervened between the persecution of Valerian and that of -Diocletian witnessed in Alexandria, as elsewhere, a great growth of -Christianity in numbers, influence, and wealth. It would perhaps be -going beyond the evidence to say that in this interval, the majority of -the population of the city were won over to the new faith, but it is -certain that the number of Christians became so great as to intimidate -the pagan portion of the people. The Alexandrian mob was still very much -in evidence but it gradually ceased to harrass the Christians except -under the most exceptional circumstances. The dangers of such action -became so considerable and the chances of success so problematical that -we find a period when a practice of mutual forbearance governed the -behavior of the hostile groups. - -The study of crowd psychology presents no more impressive contrast than -that exhibited by the people of Alexandria during the Diocletian -persecution compared with their behavior during that of Decius. In the -last and greatest of the persecutions, in the most tumultuous city of -the empire, the mob took no part. Like the famous image of Brutus, it is -more conspicuous by its absence than it would be by its presence. The -persecution was a purely governmental measure officially carried out by -judges and executioners in accordance with orders. In one obscure and -doubtful instance we are told that the bystanders beat certain martyrs -when legal permission was given to the people to treat them so. In -another case we are told that the cruelty of the punishments filled the -spectators with fear. These are the only references to the public that -occur in the long and minute account of an eye witness of famous events -extending over a considerable number of years. Both before and after -this period the mob of the Egyptian metropolis exhibits the utmost -extreme of religious fanaticism. During this period that mob had to be -most carefully considered by the government in other than religious -matters. But as a religious power it did not exist. Had the persecution -of Diocletian happened a generation earlier it could have counted on a -very considerable degree of popular support, had it happened a -generation later it would have caused a revolt that could only have -been put down by a large army. Happening at the precise time it did, it -provoked no popular reaction at all. - -This strange apathy is not peculiar to Alexandria. Practically without -exception the authentic acts of the martyrs of this persecution are -court records taken down by the official stenographers in the ordinary -course of the day's work. They are dry, mechanical, and repetitious to a -degree. They exhibit, in general, harrassed and exasperated judges -driven to the infliction of extreme penalties in the face of a cold and -skeptical public. One imperial decree ordered that all men, women, and -children, even infants at the breast, should sacrifice and offer -oblations, that guards should be placed in the markets and at the baths -in order to enforce sacrifices there. The popular reaction in Caesarea -is thus recorded: "The heathen blamed the severity and exceeding -absurdity of what was done for these things appeared to them extreme and -burdensome."[20] "He (the Judge) ordered the dead to be exposed in the -open air as food for wild beasts; and beasts and birds of prey scattered -the human limbs here and there, so that nothing appeared more horrible -even to those who formerly hated us, though they bewailed not so much -the calamity of those against whom these things were done as the outrage -against themselves and the common nature of man."[21] - -The one thing to be said of this type of mob mind is manifestly that it -is transitional. The pendulum has swung through exactly half its arc and -for the brief instant presents the fallacious appearance of quiescence. -How transitory this quiet was on the part of the Alexandrian mob is -evidenced by the history of Athanasius. That great statesman conciliated -and consolidated public opinion in Egypt. Backed by this opinion he -practically cancelled the power of the civil authorities of the country -and negotiated as an equal with the emperors. For the first time in more -than three centuries the will of the common people again became a power -able to limit the military despotism which dominated the civilized -world. - -The re-birth of popular government in the Fourth century through the -agency of Christian mobs is the most important preliminary step in the -growth of the political power of the Catholic Church. A study of the -mobs of Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople and other great cities shows -beyond question that the political power of the Church had its origin in -no alliance with imperial authority, but was independent of and -generally antagonistic to that authority. The history of these Christian -mobs lies outside the limits of our study but it is worth while in the -case of the Alexandrian populace to give two or three brief extracts -illustrating the final steps of the process which changed a fanatically -pagan mob into an equally fanatical Christian one. What we have to -consider is only the last stage of an evolution already more than half -complete at the time of the Nicene Council. Under extreme provocation -and certain of imperial complacency at their excesses, the pagan mob -during the reign of Julian indulged in one last outburst against the -exceedingly unpopular George of Cappadocia who had been forcibly -intruded into the seat of Athanasius. To quote the Historian Socrates: -"The Christians on discovering these abominations went forth eagerly to -expose them to the view and execration of all and therefore carried the -skulls throughout the city in a kind of triumphal procession for the -inspection of the people. When the pagans of Alexandria beheld this, -unable to bear the insulting character of the act, they became so -exasperated that they assailed the Christians with whatever weapons -chanced to come to hand, in their fury destroying numbers of them in a -variety of ways and, as it generally happens in such a case, neither -friends or relations were spared but friends, brothers, parents, and -children imbued their hands in each others blood. The pagans having -dragged George out of the church, fastened him to a camel and when they -had torn him to pieces they burned him together with the camel."[22] In -this account we see the last expiring efforts of the pagan mob movement. -Any mob movement collapses rapidly when it turns in upon itself, and the -evil results of its violence react immediately upon the members of the -mob. By this time it is evident that the number of Christians in -Alexandria was so large that any public persecution of them brought -serious and unendurable consequences upon the populace generally. Then -the movement ended. - -But in the two centuries or more that the pagan movement lasted, a -contrary Christian mob movement had been developing along the same -general lines as the other. This movement, being later in its -inception, came to a head correspondingly later and reached its crisis -under the patriarch Cyril. Its violence was first directed against the -Jews whom the Christians appear to have hated even more than they hated -the pagans. The Jews were the weaker and less numerous faction opposed -to the Christians and as the Pagans seem to have liked them too little -to support them against the Christians, it is not surprising that the -Christian mob, which had pretty well reduced the political authorities -to impotence, should vent its rage against the Jews and their -synagogues. "Cyril accompanied by an immense crowd of people, going to -their synagogues, took them away from them and drove the Jews out of the -city, permitting the multitude to plunder their goods. Thus the Jews who -had inhabited the city from the time of Alexander were expelled from -it."[23] - -Sometime after the expulsion of the Jews, the Christian mob, now -directing its spite against the rapidly disappearing paganism, -perpetrated perhaps the most atrocious crime that stains the history of -Alexandria--the murder of Hypatia. This beautiful, learned, and virtuous -woman, 'the fairest flower of paganism' is one of the very few members -of her sex who has attained high eminence in the realm philosophical -speculation. She enjoyed the deserved esteem of all the intellectual -leaders of her age--Christian as well as pagan--and to the latest ages -her name will be mentioned with respect by all those speculative -thinkers whose respect can confer honor. Socrates describes her murder -as follows: "It was calumniously reported among the Christian populace -that it was she who prevented Orestes from being reconciled to the -bishop. Some of them therefore hurried away by a fierce and bigoted -zeal, whose ringleader was a reader named Peter, waylaid her returning -home and dragged her from her carriage; they took her to the church -called Ceasareum where they completely stripped her and then murdered -her with oyster shells. After tearing her body in pieces, they took her -mangled limbs to a place called Cinaron and there burned them."[24] - -Christian crowd sentiment when hardly yet at its full power was deprived -of its original object of animosity by the collapse of paganism. Being -under the psychological necessity of expressing itself, this mob feeling -happened to take as shibboleths some current theological catchwords. -The subsequent history of Alexandria and other great cities presents -therefore the strange scene of rival sects disturbing public order and -profoundly agitating vast throngs of people in a struggle over the most -abstruse and recondite metaphysical concepts. For the sake of clear -thinking it is necessary for us to remind ourselves that these concepts -are merely weird garments fortuitously snatched up to cover the -nakedness of a profound social and economic revolution. - -The above sketch, imperfect as it is and full of lacunae due to the -inadequacy of the primary source material, is yet perhaps complete -enough to enable us to summarize the chief steps in the process of the -socialization in its aspect of a crowd movement. We have seen that this -crowd movement, like all others, had its origin in social unrest due to -shattered private and community ideals. The customary forms of -expression being inhibited or repressed, the balked disposition -experienced an organic demand for new stimulation. This new stimulation -was sought in various ways; aimless or practically aimless travelling or -local wandering, local disorder and agitation, increase in crime--and -insanity. Gradually this unrest focused itself and public attention -became fixed on Christianity. By the process of circular interaction, -the so-called 'vicious circle', public sentiment increased in intensity, -the name 'Christian' became a shibboleth. When applied to an individual -it let loose upon him the pent up emotion of the mob--an emotion or -unreflective rage and anger. By the further process of idealization or -sublimation, using the terms in their technical sense, the populace came -to believe that Christianity was the great and superhuman (daemoniac) -source of all evils; earthquakes, disease epidemics, famine etc. Seeking -release for psychic tensions which were not understood and largely -subconscious, they found it in a reversion to the oldest of the -'releasing instincts' that of hunting. The primary thing about the -persecutions is that they were man hunts. The cruelty exhibited, while -also serving as a tension release for mob feeling, is psychologically a -secondary form of such release--though a very old form. The discharge of -the accumulated public sentiment and of the severe social tensions -produced group action of two kinds: (a) Direct action: tearing the -victim in pieces, gathering wood to burn him, striking him with sticks, -stones, etc. (b) Expressive action, taking the form of shouts, cries -and ejaculations which became customary and traditional, 'Christianos ad -leones.' The very methods of lynching became ceremonial and even -ritualistic. The beasts were first choice, then burning and then other -forms in descending scale. The narrow range of the mob mind is -illustrated by the closeness with which it adhered to contemporary -judicial methods of punishment. The most obvious method of killing, and -one which had the advantage of enabling a great number of people to see -what was going on, the method of hanging, which is in such common use by -mobs of our day, does not seem to have been employed by the ancient -crowds--at any rate its use was rare in the modern form, strangling. -There are some cases of hanging naked women by one foot. Expressive -action also took the form of wild and fantastic legends of cannibalism, -child murder and such like. The crisis of this pagan mob movement came -about the middle of the third century. The Decian persecution appears to -have been 'popular' in the strict etymological sense of that word. The -persecution of Diolection, though the most severe, seems to have had no -great force of pagan public sentiment behind it. That sentiment was not -hostile; it was neutral. The populace did nothing to hinder the measures -of the government and it did nothing to help them. In another generation -the pagan movement had spent itself. This analysis of the pagan mob -sentiment against the Christians is applicable mutatis nominibus, to the -Christians' mob movement against the pagans and to the movement of the -'orthodox' Christians against the 'heretics.' Perhaps we should say -here, in defense of human nature, that these mob movements were not due -to human depravity; they were, in strict literalness, diseases, -epidemics of nervous disorder induced by pathological social conditions. -Before any persecuting attitude became habitual to the pagan populace -pagan common sense had exhausted argument, persuasion, expostulation and -every other intellectual device. Only after reason and religion (in the -pagan sense) had been employed in vain; only after long exasperation at -a hopeless situation, when absolutely nothing else could be done, was -popular violence aroused. Social conditions being what they were, -traditional mental attitudes common to pagan and Christians alike -required that something be done and mob action was the last desperate -alternative to the admission of a new intellectual concept. - -The function of Chiliasm in this crowd movement is plain from its -history as previously sketched. It was a Christian shibboleth peculiarly -valuable for securing group cohesion, and for arousing individual -staying power in times of persecution. Of the numerous characteristics -of successful 'sect shibboleths' three are perhaps especially note -worthy: (a) Satisfaction of the demand for mystical experience. (b) -Operation as an isolating device. (c) Revolt against the prevailing -moral order. In the period of greatest need Chiliasm fulfilled these -requirements very well. Many a Christian of little education was lifted -out of himself to endure martyrdom by somewhat crass imaginations of -participation in the reign of the saints in the rebuilt Jerusalem. Many -a little band of sectaries maintained their group solidarity because of -the belief that they were the elect people 'chosen of God' for future -glory in the millennial kingdom. Many a faithful one who would otherwise -have given up in despair, must have gained strength and courage from the -thought of that happy era, soon to come, when the cruel persecutors of -the church would be slaves suffered to live only that their servitude -might augment the dignity and honor of the saints in the beatific -kingdom. - -The relation of the Chiliastic expectation to that strange insensibility -to pain which was so remarkable a characteristic of the early martyrs -cannot be stated with exactness. It was probably close--at least in -numerous cases. We have what seems to be entirely trustworthy evidence -that not only strong men but even delicate and sensitive women exhibited -the power of inhibiting the normal reactions to the most excruciating -torments. This almost incredible power of inhibition can only be -explained as the result of the building up of a pathologically intense, -ecstatic, mental state. This ecstatic mental state would appear to have -been acquired by a series of psychic changes and organic, neuronic -adjustments requiring, ordinarily, a fairly considerable amount of time. -This peculiar psychological condition had not merely to be built up. It -must have attained an extraordinary degree of habituation in order to -render its subjects impervious to such extreme sensory excitations. The -requisite degree of imperviousness can hardly have been acquired without -such permeation of consciousness by imagination as constituted a -complete subjective universe. Many of the martyrs would seem to have -lived, more or less habitually, in a mental world of their own which -shut them off from susceptibility to external stimuli. This condition is -frequently found in artists and thinkers, and with the accompanying -insensibility to pain, is a common phenomenon in the 'trance' state as -well as in some forms of insanity.[25] - -It would go beyond the evidence to claim that Chiliastic concepts -functioned exclusively, or even predominantly, in the production of the -'martyr psychosis,' but the evidence does point to the conclusion -that apocalyptic expectations held a more prominent place in the -consciousness of the martyrs than in that of the generality of -Christians. It is certain that Chiliasm became especially manifest in -times of persecution but Chiliasm must have operated even in ordinary -times to produce the phenomena which persecution brought into -prominence. Even today, in the entire absence of persecution, Chiliastic -excitement among certain groups of secretaries produces types of -religious psychosis closely similar to those exhibited by the -martyrs.[26] - -On the whole the conclusion appears warranted that the increasing power -and progressive socialization of the church, which made persecution at -first hopeless and at last impossible, rendered Chiliasm, as a -crowd shibboleth, gradually useless and finally pernicious to the -ecclesiastical hierarchy. Had further persecutions been possible -Chiliasm would no doubt have been retained longer, but its usefulness -was fatally impaired when the majority of people nominally embraced -Christianity. It was of little or no value in those struggles with -heretical Christian sects which engaged the activities of orthodox mobs -from the time of Constantine onwards. Other shibboleths such as 'The -Church' and 'Catholicism' were more effective in this contest. Similarly -for the larger purpose of ecclesiastical polity, agencies like -monasticism and missionary enterprise were employed, which conserved the -shibboleth values of Chiliasm and were free from its defects as an -instrument of hierarchical ambition. The aims of the rulers of the -Church became increasingly social and political and with such aims -Chiliasm was fundamentally incompatible. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] E.g., the pagan philosophers. - -[2] Acts 14:1-6. - -[3] Pliny, Ep. xcvi. - -[4] Dialogue XVIII. - -[5] Mart. Poly. III. - -[6] _Ibid._, VIII. - -[7] _Ibid._, XII. - -[8] _Ibid._, XIII. - -[9] _Ibid._, XVIII. - -[10] Hist. Ecc. VI. - -[11] Hist. Ecc. V, I. - -[12] Hist. Ecc. V, II. - -[13] Prof. J. W. Thompson. - -[14] Fustel de Coulanges. - -[15] Hist. des insts. politique de l'ancienne France. Par. II. - -[16] Eus. H. E. IV, 26. - -[17] Eus. His. Ecc. VI, 41. - -[18] Eus. His. Ecc. VI, 41. - -[19] His. Ecc. VII, 11. - -[20] Eus. Mart. Pal. II. - -[21] _Ibid._, Chap. II. - -[22] Hist. Ecc. III, 1. - -[23] Socrates Hist. Ecc. IIII, 13. - -[24] Hist. Ecc. VII, 15. - -[25] Cf. E. Underhill 'Mysticism.' - -[26] E.g., The Dukhabours. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -CHILIASM AND PATRIOTISM - - -Perhaps the most pronounced characteristic of pre-Christian, Judaistic -Chiliasm is its nationalistic or ethnic patriotism. Of course any -attempt to rigidly differentiate the nationalistic and religious -concepts of the Hebrews of the two centuries preceding the advent of -Christianity would be foredoomed to failure. Never perhaps were -patriotism and religion more nearly synonymous than at this period among -this people. That their Chiliasm has a strongly nationalistic content is -therefore natural and inevitable. The same patriotic animus is to be -found in a great number of their other religious tenets and practices. -The emphasis is perpetually upon the enhancement of the value of the -Jewish race and nation and the corresponding depreciation of other -nations and faiths. - -But while it is true, that, owing to the inseparable integration of -Church and State in Judea, in the first two centuries before Christ, we -find a very considerable proportion of the religious beliefs and -observances highly charged with nationalistic patriotism; this is -perhaps more noticeable in the case of Chiliasm than in the case of any -other contemporary theological concept. The nature of the Millennial -belief was such as qualified it to function with especial ease and -success in that particular historical situation. For considerably more -than half a century before the birth of Christ the dominant fact in -Hebrew history is the increase of the power and influence of the Roman -state in the political life of the Jewish people. This increase was -perfectly natural. Indeed it was inevitable. That the petty Judean state -would eventually be absorbed in the world wide republic was a fact -patent to any reasonably intelligent student of the situation.[1] Under -the circumstances it could hardly fail to take place even without any -direct provocation to overt action on the part of either Jews or Romans. -It is not our purpose to follow the long, hopeless struggle of the Jews -against the inevitable extinction of their political independence. The -Jew was fighting against fate. From the first interference of Rome in -the affairs of Palestine to the last execution of Bar Cochba rebels, the -end was never in real doubt--humanly speaking. The inevitableness of -the catastrophe in this long drawn out tragedy is, in the writer's -judgment, in some measurable degree connected both with the nature and -subsequent history of Jewish Chiliasm. Later Hebrew Chiliasm is a very -peculiar form of belief. It is characterized by what can only be called -a crass and exaggerated anthropomorphic supernaturalism. It would seem -as if pari passu with the increasing conviction of the futility of -opposition to the power of Rome, there was an increasing conviction of a -catastrophic supernal manifestation, which manifestation in its details -became ever more and more crude and vulgar. The developing knowledge and -conviction of the invincible power of Rome is sufficient to explain the -increasing dependence upon supernatural aid for deliverance--but the -peculiar crassness of the supernaturalism is the arresting element in -the later Jewish Chiliastic writings. When every allowance has been made -for the natural exuberance of the Oriental imagination something still -remains to be accounted for. It is at least possible that the, to our -taste, repulsive features of supernalistic vengeance and glory are the -result of a long process of selection. In no people of whom we have -historical knowledge is the spirit of nationalistic patriotism more -deeply rooted than in the Jew. We may take it that practically all the -Hebrews of the generations under discussion believed in an eventually -triumphant Jewish state. Differences of education, and religious faith, -however, conditioned the opinions as to the time when this triumphant -state would appear and still more the method by which it would appear. -The better educated Jews, who were conversant with the political -conditions of the contemporary world and whose belief in supernatural -aid was perhaps weakest, appear to have adopted a laissez-faire -attitude. They seem to have been advocates of a pro-Roman policy; to -make the best of the existing Roman supremacy waiting for the -unpredictable time when Rome should follow the path of Egypt, Assyria, -and other world powers who in their several ages had subjugated the -children of Abraham. This party would perhaps have been willing to take -advantage of any condition of affairs which offered a reasonably safe -opportunity of successful revolt but under existing conditions they were -opposed to armed resistance to the mistress of the world. - -At the other end of the scale was a party of bigotedly and fanatically -zealous patriots obsessed with the idea that immediate supernatural -assistance would be forthcoming in the event of armed revolt. Between -these two parties was another party--if it may be called such--partaking -in various degrees of the characteristics of these two extremists -parties. The Apocaliptic and Chiliastic literature of the period was -extensive. It would be possible to arrange even such fragments as -remain, according to the preponderance of supernal elements. It would -seem to be a rational deduction that if we possessed this literature in -its completeness we should be able (bearing in mind that we are dealing -with a relatively considerable period of time) to follow the whole -process of the supersession of more rational Chiliastic concepts in -favor of the more crudely supernaturalistic ones. Rome was at once -strongly repressive of movements for political liberty and tolerant of -religious liberty. Those writings in which Chiliastic expectations took -the form of advocating the active preparing for and co-operating with -the expected Messiah would suffer extinction. On the other hand those -Chiliastic beliefs which inculcated absolute and entire dependence upon -supernatural aid for the achievement of national independence would be -politically harmless and exuberance in such imaginings might flourish -unhindered. The more fantastic and absurd the expectations the less -likely they were to be suppressed by the imperial authorities. Whatever -the measure of truth in the above conjecture it is certain that Jewish -Chiliasm developed to the last extreme of extravagance. With the -doubtful exception of some Hindu legends, there is nothing, which more -exceeds the bounds of reason and common sense, in the literature of the -world. It is perhaps not too much to say that Jewish Chiliasm died of -excess development--a method of extinction of which nature makes liberal -use. - -The later history of Jewish Chiliasm does not concern us. Under the -constantly repeated blows of disappointment it changed its form and -content into the more rational concept of salvation and glorification of -the individual human soul after death. What does concern us is that this -Jewish Chiliasm in all but its most extreme form was taken over by -Christianity. The intellectual background of Hebrew patriotism of course -persisted in the Christians of the first generation who were largely -Jews or Proselytes. The imminent divine kingdom of Christ does indeed -take the place of the lower concept of a rigidly nationalistic kingdom. -The kingdom of Christ even to the first generation of Christians must -have had a larger content than the previous Jewish belief which it -fulfilled and supplemented. Yet the essential thing to remember is that -so far at least as the Jewish Christians were concerned Chiliastic -expectations, though somewhat further extended, were still a form of -expression for the forces of Hebrew nationalistic patriotism. The -kingdom of the Jews had been transformed, or perhaps better, -transmogrified, into the Kingdom of Christ and his saints[2] but its -essential content was unchanged and so long at least as a considerable -proportion of Christians were converted Jews this condition of affairs -persisted. The constant criticism of Chiliasm by Gentile Christians is -that it is Judaizing. It is perhaps not exceeding the limits of -permissable hypothesis to suppose that one of the reasons why Chiliasm -failed to make a permanent place for itself in the belief of the -universal church is to be found in this very fact that it was in essence -a form of political, Jewish, nationalistic patriotism, to which the -other portions of the Christian world, perhaps unconsciously, but not -the less effectively, objected. - -The success of Roman imperialism in denationalizing conquered peoples -was truly remarkable. In this most difficult task of practical -statesmanship its accomplishments far surpass those of any other empire, -ancient or modern. But this success, great and unparalleled as it was, -nevertheless was not absolute. Except in particular cases it was never -really complete. The measure of its accomplishment was very different in -different parts of the empire. In Italy, Gaul, Spain, and perhaps -Britain its success may fairly be considered complete, but these were -countries where the proportion of Roman settlers and colonists was -very large. They were countries, furthermore, which were early -conquered--countries, which, at the time of the Roman conquest, had not -advanced a great distance toward the attainment of national solidarity -in politics, religion, art, literature, war or social intercourse. This -lack of development of local, national institutions and psychology left -the ground relatively free for the development of distinctively Roman -civilization and habits of thought. The comparative freedom of these -Western provinces of the empire from religious heresies at the time -that the Eastern provinces were so prolific of them, is commonly -ascribed to inferior aptitude of these Western peoples for metaphysical -speculation. We do not attempt to deny such inferiority, though the -subsequent development of metaphysical speculation in Western Europe -during the time that the reviving sense of nationality first began to be -felt in the Middle Ages and Reformation Era, suggests another cause as -operative. - -If we consider three regions where Chiliasm, and also unquestionable -heresies, were particularly rife; i.e., Phrygia, Egypt, and Roman Africa -we see at once that these regions were seats of old, deeply rooted, and -thoroughly developed civilizations. To go into the subject merely a -little way we find that a nationalistic tradition existed in Phrygia at -the time of the composition of the Iliad.[3] This nationalistic -tradition was considerably more than a thousand years old at the time of -the introduction of Christianity. Roman political power had by this time -been thoroughly established in the country and there is no reason to -believe that political rebellion was contemplated at the time of the -rise of Chiliasm and the heresies. But while armed revolt may not have -been considered as practicable, or even as desirable, the fundamental, -nationalistic characteristics of the underlying strata of the population -do not seem to have been very greatly altered. Long before the advent -either of the Roman political power or the Christian religion a -homogenous, national psychology had become characteristic of the -Phrygian population. The Phrygian seems to have put on Christianity very -much as he put on the toga. He wore the toga regularly and easily enough -it may be, but in gestures and action, in speech and manner, he was -still a Phrygian. This typical Phrygian seems to have been commonly -regarded in the contemporary world as a bucolic sort of individual, much -perhaps as a Kansan is regarded in the United States, and with perhaps -as much or as little reason. The fact is that while ancient Phrygia -without question possessed a large rural population, it also possessed -numerous cities where the graces and amenities of life were as fully -developed as in any of the neighboring provinces which did not suffer -from the attribution of rusticity. The human instinct to botanize a -neighboring people while doubtless adding to the gaiety of nations has -to be taken _magno_ cum grano salis by the historian. - -Whatever may be said of their other cultural institutions it is a fact -that the Phrygians at the time of the introduction of Christianity -had already developed certain distinctively national, religious -characteristics which marked them off from their neighbors. - -The Phrygian Mysteries while doubtless in certain broad characteristics -similar to the Eleusinian Mysteries had peculiarities of their own and -were cherished by the people as something particularly expressive of -their especial form of the philosophy of life. In spite of any decay and -degradation which may have overtaken these mysteries in the course of a -long history, it is certain that their primary object was the elevation -and enhancement of life. - -The national religious consciousness of Phrygia was peculiar in the -prominent place given to women. To this day it is impossible to say with -certainty whether the superior place in their religious system is held -by the male or female concepts of deity. Perhaps on the whole the female -concept preponderates.[4] What is true of theology is also true of -cultus. Priestesses and prophetesses held a position of marked -prominence and importance. Possibly the most pronouncedly distinctive -mark of Phrygian religion was the emphasis upon inspiration, immediate -divine revelation, exstatic conditions of religious excitation, the well -known "Phrygian Frenzy." If now, with even this meagre, historical, -nationalistic background in view, we examine the expression of Chiliasm -in Phrygia we see at once how it took the form and color of the national -psychology. The most pronounced Chiliastic expectations are found in -Montanism, which was so strongly marked by characteristics of its place -of origin that it was known throughout the rest of the Christian world -as the 'Phrygian Heresy.' So strong was the influence of national -sentiment that a very marked change was introduced in one, most -important particular. Christian Chiliasm, originating as a Jewish form -of nationalistic patriotism, emphasized the fact that in the Millennium -Christ was to reign in Jerusalem, which was to supplant Rome as the -center and ruler of the world. In this respect Phrygian Chiliasm makes a -complete break with the Hebrew tradition. Christ was to appear and -reign, not in Jerusalem, but in Pepuza. An insignificant town of -Phrygia was to become the capital of the world wide kingdom of Christ on -earth, displacing both Rome and Jerusalem. Nationalistic patriotism--not -to say megalomania--could scarcely go farther. - -So too Phrygian Chiliasm is remarkable for the prominence and importance -of the position of women in the movement. The women, Prisca and the -others, seem to have been fully as prominent in the movement as Montanus -himself and they exercised a degree of influence to which it would be -difficult to find a parallel in contemporary Christian movements in -other countries. - -Similarly, visions, revelations, inspirations, extraordinary conditions -of religious excitation are a marked feature of Phrygian Chiliasm. They -are of course the old 'Phrygian Frenzy' in Christian guise. - -Not to pursue this phase of the subject in more detail, it is evident -that Phrygian Chiliasm bore in a marked degree the impress of the -national, religious psychology. Those bishops of Pontus and Syria who -persuaded their people to settle all their worldly affairs and go out -into neighboring deserts to await the coming of Christ in glory, exhibit -in a more naïve form the power of local group habits of thought to -transform concepts intruded from outside the group. - -In the case of Egypt it is gratuitous labor to dwell upon the fact that -the native population at the advent of Christianity had developed a -nationalistic like-mindedness. This nation even in the year 1 A.D. had -an historical antiquity greater than any other nation can show -today--with the doubtful exception of China. In no other nation in the -world has there been such an opportunity for climatic and geographic -influences to work their full effect in producing psychological -homogeneity among a population on the whole remarkably little disturbed -in demotic composition. It is to be remarked also that the climatic and -geographic environments are themselves remarkably homogeneous throughout -the whole extent of the nation. The deterministic school of historians -have a model made to hand in the history of Egypt--a model of which it -must be confessed they have made very skillful use.[5] This is not the -place, even if the writer had the requisite knowledge, to enter into any -extended discussion of the national psychology of the Egyptian populace. -It is sufficient to mention one predominating feature of that -psychology, a feature so persistent and ubiquitous that the study of it -alone, enables the investigator to obtain a true insight into much that -is otherwise obscure in almost every variety of social expression among -the Egyptians; law, politics, government, art, science, literature, and -religion. This predominating feature can perhaps be best defined as a -certain low estimate of the value of individuality in the common man, a -cheap appraisal of the worthwhileness of the life of the ordinary -person. It seems to have a relatively slight ethnic element--if indeed -it can be truthfully said to have any. It makes its appearance -substantially unchanged in all subtropical countries situated in the -same general physical environment as Egypt; e.g., Southern China, India, -Mesopotamia, Mexico and Yucatan; in all countries that is, where the -natural conditions for sustaining and propagating human life are -relatively easy and where the economic surplus of productive physical, -as opposed to intellectual, labor is unusually great. Nevertheless the -fact that Egypt is in this category is due to a highly special -geographic phenomenon, the overflow of the river Nile. So that by -comparison with the nations immediately contiguous to Egypt, this -psychology may be truly said to be distinctively national in spite of -its similarity to that of other peoples more remote geographically. - -It is perhaps unnecessary to do more than mention a very few of the ways -in which this characteristic of Egyptian psychology has affected the -national life. It has rendered the population largely passive under the -successive yolks of Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and -Englishmen, to mention only some of the more prominent exploiters. It -has made possible the erection of those vast pyramids of stone, devoid -alike of necessity or use, which remain to this day one of the wonders -of the world. It has enabled religions at once superstitious and -debasing to flourish in the midst of a high degree of material -civilization. - -For our purpose it is sufficient to call attention to the fact that this -mental bias makes any change, even in the acquired concepts of the -people, especially difficult of accomplishment. This is very well -illustrated, in the study of Egyptian Chiliasm. In no other country were -the efforts necessary to overthrow Chiliastic concepts so long drawn -out, so persistent, so futile of immediate success. Indeed they did not -finally succeed till long after the period embraced in this study. When -the good bishop Dionysius of Alexandria 247-264 A.D., held his -conference with the village Chiliasts of the Arsinoite nome, some of -them were indeed won over, but we are told that 'others expressed their -gratification at the conference'. It is evident that they were 'of the -same opinion still', Dionysius himself[6] was not the first of the -Alexandrians to oppose Chiliasm. There was much effort, both by him and -others, to eradicate the concept before and after this Arsinoite -conference. Yet we know that later on, villagers from this region became -monks in the Thebiad, and manuscripts still surviving from the Thebiad, -show that apocalyptic and Chiliastic literature was popular with the -monks, generations, and even centuries, after the death of Dionysius. It -is a notable example of the national character of the Egyptians. They -let their aggressive and dominating superiors have their own way in -appearance--but in appearance only. The underlying currents of thought -remained essentially unchanged among the commonality. The resistance was -passive--perhaps almost imperceptible--but it was real and persistent. -In the case of Roman Africa--the country north of the Sahara Desert and -west of Egypt--the problem is more complicated. In Roman times down to -the Vandal invasion, the population of this region, leaving out of -account certain small and relatively negligible numbers of Greeks, -Egyptians and others found mainly in the larger cities, the population -was composed of three distinct strata. At the top were the dominant -Romans, insignificant in point of numbers but having the monopoly of -government, law, and administration. They were practically undisguised -exploiters; government officials whose main business was to forward corn -and oil to Rome and incidentally enrich themselves; agents of the great -Roman landlords intent on transmitting rents to their patrician -employers--already in the time of Nero the Senatorial Province of Africa -was owned by as few as nine landlords--absentee landlords living in -Rome,--and finally, the numerous body of inferior agents; lawyers, money -lenders, and estate managers whose services were indispensable to the -carrying on of the vast system of economic exploitation. - -Beneath this thin, dominant, Roman upper crust was a vast population of -artisans, tradesmen, agricultural and other laborers, serfs, and -slaves. This great body of the commonality was to a remarkable degree -still very purely Punic even in late Roman times. They differed -ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and otherwise from their -rulers.[7] We find St. Augustine, centuries after the Roman conquest, -writing a letter in Latin to one of his clergy, but requesting him to -translate it into Punic and communicate it to his congregation. It is -useful to remind ourselves of the fact that the population of north -Africa in the first centuries of the Christian era was much greater than -it is now. Centuries of Mohammedan mis-government account for this in -part but the chief cause is to be found in those profound climatic -changes, the origins of which are still obscure, that have reduced to -desolate and barren wilderness whole regions which in Roman times -abounded in populous cities and in rich and fertile agricultural lands. -This large population had the cohesion which results from centuries of -similar and essentially unchanged social habits and it had also that -sense of strength which comes from large numbers, and that pride which -results from the inheritance of a proud history. They never wholly lost -that spirit which had made their ancestors great. They never forgot that -in former ages they had competed as the equals of Rome for the lordship -of the world. - -To the South toward the Desert and the Atlas Mountains dwelt a third -section of the population. They were nomads or semi-nomads, troglodytes, -and mountain peoples. Their manner of life remains essentially the same -today as it was in Roman times and as it was for centuries before Rome -set foot in Africa. The Romans never succeeded in subduing this -population except temporarily and for short periods. The imperial -government did what it could, and by means of military posts and patrols -kept a kind of order, but its success was only moderate. - -Christianity in Roman Africa reflects this threefold division of the -population, as is to be expected. Cyprian, in spite of the sincere -religious faith and high moral character which elevates him so high -above the social class to which he belonged, is still the most typical -hierarch of his age. In his writings we find the whole philosophy of the -governing class translated into ecclesiastical language. It is highly -significant that in all the numerous and voluminous writings of this -Father there is not a line about Chiliasm. Ideas of such a nature found -little reception in the minds of men daily engaged in the practical -duties of making as much as possible out of the management and control -of a vast population economically and politically subordinated to them. - -It would seem that Chiliasm was in fact very largely confined to the -Punic commonality. Tertullian is the great representative of this class. -The very considerable success of his views can only be ascribed to their -being acceptable to the general body of his local, Christian -contemporaries. It is at least imaginable this success was due to the -fact that the personal characteristics of this great African; his -impetuosity, his boldness, his sternness, his pride, his vengeful spirit -were truly representative of the psychology of the people whose -spokesman he was. It is notable that he was perhaps the greatest of the -Chiliasts. - -The reader who has followed the argument thus far may be saying to -himself at this point: "If it be granted that the national characters of -the peoples of Phrygia, Egypt, North Africa or elsewhere, conditioned -their acceptance of Chiliastic beliefs and the ways in which these -beliefs found expression, what has that to do with the subject of this -chapter which is Chiliasm and Patriotism?" It is to that point we shall -now direct our attention, but what has been said above is necessary to -the proper consideration of the matter. We have endeavored to show that -in Phrygia, Egypt, and North Africa there existed nationalistic -psychologies in the commonality. It will be recalled that we have shown -in an earlier chapter the curious fact that Chiliasm, though originally -a perfectly orthodox doctrine--indeed one of the most important portions -of the true faith, nevertheless in the course of its historical -development, became mixed up with heresies to a degree beyond any -rational explanation by the law of chance or the rule of average. It -would seem almost as though there was some natural affinity between this -particular orthodox doctrine and almost any heresy; which finally -resulted in its being itself condemned as heretical. - -The reason for this was that Chiliasm, like the heresies, was a psychic -equivalent for patriotism. No stranger or more unwarranted delusion is -to be found in the whole range of church history than the one still -unfortunately common, to the effect that for several centuries at the -beginning of the Christian era the populace of whole religions were -obsessed with incredible zeal over the most abstruse, metaphysical -speculations. It is indeed true that the ostensible objects of the -conflict were philosophical ideas but the realities behind these symbols -were tangibles of a very genuinely mundane order; economic exploitation, -social inequality, and suppressed national patriotism. This is evident -enough in cases like the Donatists in Africa, but a little consideration -of the evidence in the light of the developments of the Freudian -psychology, will make it clear in almost all of the heresies, and in the -case of orthodoxy also, when the imperial government chanced to be -itself heretical. So far as the writer is aware no study of any great -length has been made of this matter, which would richly repay -investigation; but our concern is more directly with Chiliasm and the -larger problem must be left to others for solution. - -Freud has shown beyond reasonable hope of successful refutation, that -experiences which the mind has completely forgotten leave emotional -'tones' which remain active and are the determining cause of physical -and mental conditions. A thought 'complex' is a system of ideas or -associations with an especially strong emotional tone. A complex may be -of extreme interest to an individual by reason of his social education -and hereditary mentality and yet be out of harmony with e.g., security -of life and property: so a conflict arises in the mind. This conflicting -complex is gotten rid of in various ways; rationalization, repression, -disassociation, or what not, but the energy or interest which initiated -the complex remains none the less and something must become of its -force. This undirected emotional force is the cause of dreams, neuroses, -and psychic trauma.[8] Such in the most sketchy outline is Freud's idea. -The application to the case under consideration is obvious. Patriotism -was a repressed 'complex' to the peoples of Phrygia, Egypt, and Roman -Africa. The mental conflict brought on by the repression was -rationalized easily enough, no doubt, so far as the conscious mind of -the populace was concerned, but the disassociated emotional energy was -let loose on other concepts with which it had no proper connection -originally, i.e., problems of philosophical speculation. Chiliasm was a -speculative concept of a sort to make an especial appeal under the -circumstances. So far as his conscious mind was concerned the Phrygian -might be perfectly reconciled to Roman political supremacy. He might -rationally prove to his own satisfaction that such political supremacy -was really to his own advantage in the long run. Any idea of resistance -was sure to be repressed by the certainty of losing his property and -life. Yet the emotional energy of his patriotism remained and it -naturally associated itself with any idea that lay at hand. Chiliasm -happened to be at hand. The glorified, divine kingdom of the Saints of -God on earth was the psychic equivalent of that Phrygian kingdom whose -national existence had been forever extinguished by Rome. Similarly that -national patriotism which under other historical circumstances might -have found satisfaction in the glory of an independent Egypt now found -expression in the borrowed phraseology of Jewish and Christian -apocalyptical literature. The same is true of course of the Punic and -Nomadic strata of the population of Roman Africa. To the new Jerusalem -which was to come down out of heaven from God, these peoples transferred -their now useless and hopeless longing for the Carthage of the days of -Hannibal and for Jugurthan Numidia. - -If, as we have endeavored to show, Chiliasm represented the strivings of -repressed, national patriotisms, we can readily understand the -increasing opposition it encountered on the part of the great -dignitaries of the Church. As the Christian hierarchy became -increasingly perfected, the desire of the prelates for unity and -cohesion in the Church became correspondingly greater. But national -patriotism is essentially a disrupting and disintegrating force to any -imperialistic organization, civil or ecclesiastical. Chiliasm being -associated with this separatist tendency, naturally came to be regarded -as heretical, and as such, was suppressed. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Cf. R. Charles, Doctrine of a Future Life. - -[2] Cf. S. J. Case, The Messianic Hope. - -[3] Cf. Il., III, 187. - -[4] Cf. W. M. Ramsay., Art. _Phrygians_, Enc. of Religion and Ethics. - -[5] Cf. Buckle, Intro. to the Hist. of Civilization in England. - -[6] Cf. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., VII, 24 seq. - -[7] Cf. Alex. Graham, Roman Africa. - -[8] Cf. A. H. Ring, Psychoanalysis. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -CHILIASM AND SOCIAL THEORY - - -We have seen that in the first generations of the Church's existence the -rapidly approaching end of the world was a doctrine firmly held by -almost all Christians. We have seen how by the fifth century this -doctrine, though doubtless still believed by small numbers of -individuals and isolated groups, was practically dead. We have -endeavored to show some of the more important political, economic, -social, and religious effects of this belief and of its declension. The -changes which took place almost imperceptibly during the course of more -than three centuries in the status of this doctrine make any evaluation -of its influence very difficult. It is, however, probably well within -the truth to say that the transformation of early Christianity from an -eschatological to a socialized movement is, in some respects, one of the -most important changes in its history. The change was actual and -objective rather than formal and theoretical. It profoundly influenced -the practical lives of Christians, but it produced no alteration -whatever in the creeds of the Church. As has been shown in the preceding -chapters it is for these reasons at once more difficult to investigate -and more troublesome to evaluate. - -The difficulties of the subject itself, considerable as they are; lack -of adequate source material, doubt as to the authenticity and -reliability of such sources as we have; and ever present theological -prepossession, these difficulties after all do not offer such hindrances -to fruitful investigation as another factor, the present condition of -sociological methodology. The writer is not learned in the various forms -of scientific method, but he doubts whether any other science is, in -this respect, in such a chaotic condition as sociology. It is reasonable -to expect of any science that it will have some general rules for the -investigation of the data in its field, and some general principles for -the interpretation of the results of investigation. Sociology is no -exception in this respect. In fact the number of sociological -'principles,' so called, is almost incredibly great. A mere descriptive -enumeration of them, and a by no means exhaustive one, fills a -considerable volume.[1] But so far as the writer is aware, no effort -has been made to apply these principles or any considerable number of -them, systematically, to the elucidation of any movement, contemporary -or historical. In general each principle has had its own advocates who -have applied it to varying ranges of historical phenomena--generally to -the total or at least considerable, exclusion of other principles. - -These sociological principles are not only very numerous--they are of -very various value. No successful classification of them has thus far -been made. It is very possible that in the present state of the science -no successful classification can be made. Yet no study of an historical -movement can, without loss, dispense with the aid given by these general -sociological principles. The writer will, therefore, in the briefest -possible manner, try to show some of the aspects of early Chiliasm as -they appear in the light of a few of these principles. - -The list of principles employed is not an exhaustive one. It can not -even claim to be comprehensive of all the principles which might fairly -be said to be important. On the other hand it perhaps includes some -principles which some sociologists would probably consider of minor -importance. There is as yet, unfortunately, no considerable agreement on -this matter among sociologists of different nationalities and schools. -The reason of course, is that the social reality which these principles -endeavor to explain contains facts which are intellectually incompatible -but which nevertheless, do actually exist together. - -One of the most important and one of the most convenient methods of -investigating social phenomena is the statistical method. In all cases -of social pathology this method is so valuable as to be almost -indispensable. In other cases its use needs to be more carefully -guarded. In the problem we have considered the use of the statistical -method has been evidently impossible except in the most incidental -manner. We do not know how many Christians expected any particular kind -of Second Advent to take place within any given length of time. If we -had information for each decade to the time of Augustine, of the number -of 'convinced' Chiliasts and the number of 'adherents' who were inclined -toward that belief, together with information as to the number of years -within which each of these groups expected the Second Advent, it is -needless to say that such facts would enable us to judge the movement -with a considerable approach to historical certainty. Even such -incidental and fragmentary information as has come down to us in regard -to the number of Chiliastic believers is most valuable and such use has -been made of it as may be. If the use of the statistical method has not -been more extensive, it is because of lack of data. - -Perhaps the most widely known of all sociological principles is that -called Economic Determinism, or the Economic Interpretation of History, -or Historical Materialism. More and more, of recent years, this -principle has been employed by historians. The classic statement of the -doctrine is found in the Communist Manifesto. The Introduction to the -second edition states: "In every historical epoch the prevailing mode of -economic production and exchange and the social organization necessarily -following from it, form the basis upon which is built up, and from which -alone can be explained, the political and intellectual history of that -epoch; that consequently the whole history of mankind (since the -dissolution of primitive tribal society holding land in common -ownership) has been a history of class, struggles, contests between -exploiting and exploited, ruling and oppressed classes."[2] - -In the application of this principle to our subject we are lead to -expect a genuine, though not necessarily direct, connection between the -declension of eschatological expectations, the increase of socialization -in early Christianity and such broad economic movements as resulted from -the soil exhaustion of Western Europe and the decreased productivity of -compulsory associated labor. In the substitution of serfdom for slavery -and in the growth of monasticism we certainly have two movements which -profoundly affected the Church, and had a considerable part in altering -the attitude of mind which made Chiliastic expectations tenable. It is -probably true that what we have here is considerably more than a mere -coincidence of time, i.e., that Chiliasm declined as serfdom developed -and was dead by the time the patronage system was established on the -great estates. Indeed, in the West at least, Chiliasm was dead before -the country regions were to any measurable degree Christian at all. - -It is not too much to say that the apologetic used by St. Augustine to -extirpate primitive, Chiliastic belief was only made plausable, or even -possible, by profound changes, of an economic nature, in the early -Church. The central point of Augustine's apologetic is that the Church, -as actually existing at the time, was the promised kingdom of Christ and -the reign of the Saints on earth. Such an explanation would have been -absurd in the days when the Christian Church consisted only of a few, -small companies of sectaries, lost among the lower strata of the -population of the cities on the Mediterranean litoral. But by -Augustine's time the Church was something quite different. It was -enormously wealthy; owning farms, orchards, vineyards, olive yards, -mines, quarries, timberlands, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, slaves and -serfs, to say nothing of the purely ecclesiastical properties like -Churches, schools, bishops' residences and similar structures, and the -land they occupied. - -The possession of this great wealth inevitably brought with it social -position, prestige, and political power. The psychical reaction produced -by wealth, rank, and power was naturally unfavorable to the growth of -any lively desire for the termination of the existing order of things. -Indeed it was an active force in displacing and eliminating Chiliasm -from the minds of the hierarchy. On the reverse side we have seen that -the times of persecution, when the property of the Church was -confiscated and the lives and liberty of Christians endangered or lost, -coincided with the recrudescence of Messianic expectations. So that, -whichever way the subject is approached, it would seem that the -contentions of the advocates of the economic interpretation of history -can make out a very good case in the instance of the early Christian -Church and Chiliasm. Without raising economic determinism to the rank of -a dogma and while admitting that it has very real limitations, it would -nevertheless appear from the present study, that the following -contention of one of its leading exponents contains an important degree -of truth. "The relations of men to one another in the matter of making a -living are the main, underlying causes of men's habits of thought and -feeling, their notions of right, propriety, and legality, their -institutions of society and government, their wars and revolutions."[3] - -A principle somewhat allied to the doctrine of Economic Determinism, is -that of progress by 'Group Conflict.' Perhaps the most notable exponent -of this principle is the Austrian sociologist, Ludwig Gumplowicz, who -states: "When two distinct (heterogen) groups come together the natural -tendency of each is to exploit the other to use the most general -expression. This indeed is what gives the first impulse to the social -process.[4] - -According to this principle we should expect to find the cause of the -transformation of early Christianity in the conflicts of various groups -within the Christian community and in the conflicts between the -Christians as a group, and various other groups in the world of that -time. The truth of this is so obvious that it is a mere waste of words -to point it out. That Christian theology evolved by a series of -conflicts with various pagan theologies on the one side, and with -various groups within the Church on the other side, which were -successively branded as heretical, is the most patent fact in the -theological history. What is true of the theology in general is true of -Chiliasm in particular. It was very largely during the conflicts with a -long series of heretical groups; Gnostics, Ebionites, Alogi, Montanists -and Apolinarians that the blows were given which finally vanquished -Chiliasm. Its elimination, or at least the rapidity of its elimination, -was very measurably due to the fact that it was involved in these group -conflicts, and as it was almost invariably associated with the losing -group, it suffered the natural fate of the vanquished. - -While the principle of which Gumplowicz was so able a supporter leads us -to expect changes in the Chiliastic doctrine wherever it appears in -connection with the phenomenon of group conflict, both within and -without the Church, this principle does not, in itself, enable us to -state anything definitely concerning the nature of these changes. - -There is, however, another sociological principle which we can call to -our aid--the principle of Imitation. According to M. Tarde: "The -unvarying characteristic of every social fact whatever is that it is -imitative and this characteristic belongs exclusively to social facts. -This imitation however, is not absolute and the various degrees of -exactness in imitation and the complexes resulting from the various -combinations and oppositions of imitations form the dynamic of -progress."[5] - -By the help of this principle we can in a certain measure estimate the -general nature of the changes which took place in early Christianity -during the process of its socialization. The conversion of the Roman -Empire to Christianity is, according to this principle, merely half of -the actual occurrence. The other half might be called the conversion of -Christianity to the Roman Empire. The fact that this second conversion -took place; that the Christian Church became a hierarchic, bureaucratic, -legalistic, monarchical imperialism is evidence enough that the -principle of Imitation operated powerfully in early Christian history. - -What is true of the early Church as a whole is true of Chiliasm in -particular. There was no very powerful Second Adventist or other -Chiliastic influence in the heathen world with which the early -Christians were in contact. Their beliefs were, therefore according to -this theory, weakened by dilution; vice versa the pagans were gradually -converted to an enfeebled eschatological belief by imitation of the -Christians, but the net result was a compromise, i.e., a far off and -indefinite eschatology. - -The concrete evidence in support of this contention is not abundant -being confined to a few lines in the Sibylline Oracles, Hippolytus, -Lactantius and Augustine. Such as the evidence is, however, it is -entirely on the side of the theory of imitation. It is moreover a very -defensible position that if we were not dealing with such a stereotyped -literary form, the evidence would be much stronger. One arresting -feature of the Chiliastic passages that have come down to us, is their -uniformity. They are repetitions, very often actual, verbal repetitions -of one another. What is of real interest in this connection however, is -not the form of words, used, but the varying degrees of earnestness, -sincerity, and eagerness with which the beliefs, embodied in the form, -were held. This is a thing difficult if not impossible of measurement. -Practically our only means of arriving at the facts is to compare the -relatively slight changes in the _form_ of the Chiliastic tradition. -This has already been done[6] and favors the contention which the theory -of Imitation seeks to maintain. The passage in the Oracles, while -undoubtedly Chiliastic, is doubtfully orthodox and is found in a context -showing the influence of paganism in almost every line. Similarly -Hippolytus and still more Lactantius and Augustine being situated so as -to be peculiarly susceptible to the pagan environment show a marked -tendency to make the Second Advent a far off event. St. Augustine, whose -contact with the contemporary pagan world was more complete at more -points than that of any other Church father, puts the Second Advent out -of all connection with his own generation. - -Another sociological principle of considerable importance for our -purpose is that sometimes spoken of as the transfer of the allegiance of -the unproductive laborers. The most prominent upholder of this principle -is probably the Italian economist Achille Loria. According to Loria, the -history of civilization is the history of the struggle for the economic -surplus. The existence of an economic margin above the necessities of -subsistence at once divides society into three classes: exploiters, -unproductive laborers,[7] and productive laborers. "In order to exert -moral suasion enough to pervert the egoism of the oppressed classes, the -cooperation of unproductive laborers is required. The decomposition of -an established system of capitalistic economy carried with it a -progressive diminution of the income from property and consequently -involves a corresponding falling off in the unproductive laborers' share -therein. This in turn dissolves their partnership with capital and puts -an end to their task of psychologically coercing the productive -laborers. The bandage is thus suddenly removed from the eyes of the -oppressed and the systematic perversion of human egoism up to this time -in force, is abruptly brought to an end. - -"But scarcely has the inevitable course of events hounded to its grave -the existing order of oppression, when there arises another. Under the -new system of suppression the ancient alliance between capital and -unproductive labor is reestablished and at once inaugurates a new -process better adapted to pervert the egoism of the productive -laborers."[8] - -The importance of this principle for the understanding of our subject -cannot easily be overstated. The socialization of early Christianity -proceeded in almost direct ratio to the number of 'unproductive' -laborers coming over to it. If Christianity had had in the First -Century, such an array of theologians, philosophers, apologists, -statesmen, and intellectuals generally, as it had in the Fourth Century, -there can be no reasonable doubt that its triumph would have been much -more rapid and complete. On the other hand had the Pagan cults been able -to show as numerous and as able a body of intellectual defenders in the -Fourth Century as in the First, the success of the Church must have been -much retarded. The declension of the artistic, literary, and general -intellectual level of ancient, pagan civilization during the first three -or four centuries of the Christian era is a fact so well known as to -call for no remark. What is not perhaps, so well recognized is that -during the very time that the pagan world presents an almost incredible -degree of intellectual feebleness and sterility, the actual proportion -of intellectually able men in society was remarkably great. Rome, never, -perhaps in her whole history, had to her credit so many men of -statesman-like ability as at the time her empire was falling to pieces. -The explanation is simple. The men of genius and ability were no longer -interested in the political fortunes of the pagan empire. They had gone -over to a new allegiance, and expended in the foundation of the Catholic -Church a degree of intelligence and ability which, had it been placed at -the service of the Empire, might very conceivably have enabled that -Empire to survive to this day. - -It is certain that one of the leading causes of the collapse of the -pagan cults was their increasing inability to command the support of the -intellectual leaders in society, and it is no less true that the -increasing success of the Church was to be ascribed to the ever larger -number of men of intellectual gifts who enrolled themselves in her -support. The fact, of course, is that Christianity offered increasingly -an outlet for the expression of abilities and capacities of mind and -soul such as no pagan cult could provide. The most superficial -comparison of the intellectual forces for and against Christianity in -the first century, with the corresponding array in the fourth or fifth -centuries is sufficient to show the enormous progress made by the -process of socialization in the interval. - -Our more particular concern is, however, with the eschatological -concepts. A comparison of the supporters and opponents of Chiliasm at -different periods brings into clear view the rate of its decline. -Without repeating what has been dealt with already,[9] it is sufficient -to recall that in the first century Chiliasm had the support of men like -St. Paul and the authors of the Gospels and other New Testament books, -notably Revelation. Indeed, as far as we can judge, every intellectual -leader of the Christian movement for nearly a century supported the -apocolyptic concepts. But as time went on the proportionate number and -ability of its defenders declines. Finally in the person of Origen in -the East and Augustine in the West we find the undisputed intellectual -leaders turning the whole intellectual class against it, and so bringing -about its overthrow. - -Still another sociological principle of high importance because of its -pervasiveness and ubiquity is that propounded by Prof. Veblen in what is -perhaps the best known of American works on sociology.[10] This -principle, which may be summed up by the words Conspicuous Honorific -Consumption, is that beliefs and customs, in order to establish -themselves and to survive as socially reputable, must involve their -holders in purely honorific consumption of time and economic goods. This -consumption may be, and in fact very largely is, vicarious. In this case -the functionaries of the vicarious extravagance must be distinguished -from their masters by the introduction of the element of personal -inconvenience into the performance of their functions. - -Of the various sociological principles, so far brought to our attention -this one of Conspicuous Honorific Consumption gives us what is probably -the most useful clew to follow for the understanding of the relatively -rapid decline and the immediately subsequent social disrepute of the -eschatological elements in early Christianity. No set of theological -concepts can be easily imagined which are more antagonistic to the canon -of honorific, conspicuous consumption than are the eschatological ones. - -But the principle of the reputability of waste is so intercalated into -every form of social usage; it plays so large a part in all moral, -religious, literary, artistic, political, military, and other judgments, -that in a society like that of the Roman Empire where pecuniary -emulation and invidious comparison were the forms taken by the 'instinct -of workmanship'--the propensity for achievement--no set of beliefs or -observances which ran counter to this principle could, in a prolonged -contest, stand the smallest chance of success. - -In this respect, early Christianity was the more unequal to the struggle -in so much as it was the strongest in the cities. The trend of affairs -is observable in the Church as early as the appearance of the Epistle of -James. Under urban conditions the law of conspicuous consumption works -with peculiar power and it tended toward the rapid elimination of those -doctrines and observances which operated to keep out of the Church the -wealthy, powerful, and fashionable elements of society. Within a -relatively short time, by the operation of this principle, the -originally respectable doctrine of Millenananism was rendered -disreputable and even heretical. It was an important agency in bringing -into sharp relief the distinction of clergy and laity, while in the -appearance of monasticism we see the working out of this principle among -the strongest (theoretical) opponents. - -Had Christianity in the beginning found a considerable proportion of its -adherents among the laboring classes in the rural regions there can be -very little doubt that it would have maintained the purity of its early -doctrines for a much more considerable period of time than was actually -the case. There is no reason to doubt that, in that event, Chiliastic -expectations would have survived in Christian theology far longer than -they did. "Among the working classes in a sedentary community which is -at an agricultural stage of industry in which there is a considerable -subdivision of property and whose laws and customs secure to these -classes a more or less definite share of the product of their industry, -pecuniary emulation tends in a certain measure to such industry and -frugality as serve to weaken in some degree the full force of the -principle of honorific, and more especially of vicariously honorific -wastefulness." That is to say such conditions tend to conservatism in -general and possibly to religious conservatism in particular. But for -this very reason Christianity made its way only very slowly into the -rural regions. In the West, indeed, Chiliasm was already dead -before the Church had won any great headway among the agricultural -population--which was not until the sixth and seventh centuries. Had -Chiliasm been able to hold its own until the conversion of the rural -regions, it would certainly have survived there for generations if not -centuries--even if it had died out in the urban centers. - -In the East, where Christianity made its way among the rural population, -at least in some degree, considerably earlier than was the case in the -West, Chiliasm did get a hold in certain agricultural regions of -Phrygia, Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere, and it was in precisely such -regions, as we have already seen, that it was held most tenaciously and -abandoned most slowly. - -Prof. F. H. Giddings of Columbia University is the sponsor of the last -sociological principle which will be mentioned in this connection. His -principle is known as the "Consciousness of Kind." According to Prof. -Giddings: "Consciousness of Kind is that pleasurable state of mind which -includes organic sympathy, the perception of resemblance conscious or -reflective sympathy, affection and the desire for recognition."[11] -"This consciousness is a social and socializing force, sometimes -exceedingly delicate and subtle in its action, sometimes turbulent and -all powerful. Assuming endlessly varied modes of prejudice and of -prepossession, of liking and of disliking, of love and of hate, it tends -always to reconstruct and to dominate every mode of association and -every social grouping."[12] - -By means of this very comprehensive principle many otherwise merely -stray and isolated items of information that have come down to use -regarding early Christianity can be given a place and a meaning in the -graduated series of phenomena which mark the transition from the -eschatological to the socialized movement. Such, for instance, are the -exhibitions of consciousness of kind according to differences and -similarities of sex, age, kinship, language, political beliefs, -occupations, rank, locality, wealth, and the like. The very number of -ways in which consciousness of kind exerts influence makes this -principle of very great use when the task is that of forming a general -conclusion from the investigation of sources which are incomplete, -inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. - -The different sociological principles mentioned above are intended as -specimens only. The list is not in any sense complete. No attention is -paid to other principles held as coordinates or as correlates of those -referred to. Whole classes of principles, the anthropological and -geographic, for instance, are consciously omitted. The list is in the -highest degree a hit-and-miss selection and the more casual it is, the -better for the purpose in hand. This purpose is to show that any given -series of principles elucidated by students of our contemporary modern -civilization, will be found to have been operating in discernable -fashion in the case of an obscure form of theological speculation in the -first centuries of the Christian era. That Chiliasm was the natural -result of the heredity and environment of the early Christians, or -perhaps better, the natural result of the reaction of inherited elements -in vital contact with the contemporary world, will probably be admitted -readily enough by anyone who has followed the discussion thus far. But -the aim of this thesis, particularly of this last chapter, is something -more than that. Its aim is to uphold the contention that the forces now -operating in society to shape and reshape beliefs and opinions are the -very same in kind as operated in the society of the Roman Empire. In -short, any explanation of early Christian Chiliasm which seeks to bring -in the operation of any social principles which cannot be shown to be -objectively operative in contemporary society is to be viewed with a -certain measure of doubt, if not of suspicion. - -It may be taken as a safe assumption that all attempts to obtain a -complete explanation of any historical event in terms of one principle -of one science are foredoomed to failure. The same is true, in less -degree, even if we take all the so far discovered principles of any one -science. In order to give anything like a really comprehensive -explanation of the historical process which forms the subject of this -thesis there would be required the contributions of the principles of -economics, political science, psychology, and the other social sciences. -Such a synthesis of principles is beyond the ability of any one -individual. The application of them all to our subject would be a task -requiring the cooperation of many specialists in many lines for some not -inconsiderable period of time. The writer's task will not perhaps have -been utterly in vain, if he has, even in the slightest measure, helped -to bring home to a single reader, this important fact. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] L. M. Bristol, Social Adaptation, _Harvard Economic Studies_, Vol. -XIV. Cambridge 1915. - -[2] Communist Manifesto. Authorized English Translation, Chicago, 1898. - -[3] W. J. Ghent, Mass and Class, Chap. 1. New York, 1905. - -[4] Grundriss der Sociologie; Moore's Translation, p. 85. Annals Am. -Acad. Pol. Sci. Phil. 1899. - -[5] G. Tarde, Social Laws, p. 41. New York, 1899. The Laws of Imitation, -p. 22. New York, 1903. - -[6] See Chap. I. - -[7] i.e., The so-called, Intellectuals. - -[8] Economic Foundations of Society, pp. 51 seq. New York, 1889. - -[9] Cf. Chap. I. - -[10] The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York, 1899. - -[11] Inductive Sociology, p. 99, New York, 1901. - -[12] Descriptive and Historical Sociology, p. 275, New York, 1906. - - - - - Transcriber's notes: - - The following is a list of changes made to the original. - The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. - - In all of them the catastrophy is more or less immediately - In all of them the catastrophe is more or less immediately - - and final judgement which in the preceding form of belief were - and final judgment which in the preceding form of belief were - - is to be preceeded by tremendous portents of the most terrible sort. - is to be preceded by tremendous portents of the most terrible sort. - - Thebiad. In fact a large number of Jewish Apocalyses which the - Thebiad. In fact a large number of Jewish Apocalypses which the - - He maintains that in the Mellennium, death will be abolished - He maintains that in the Millennium, death will be abolished - - Apolinaris was indeed the most Judaising Christian in his Chiliasm - Apollinaris was indeed the most Judaizing Christian in his Chiliasm - - indignantly denounces as 'figments,' 'mere old wives fables' and - indignantly denounces as 'figments,' 'mere old wives' fables' and - - 'doctrines of Jews.'[19] Although Apolinarianism was condemned - 'doctrines of Jews.'[19] Although Apollinarianism was condemned - - of note in the west. It is aboundantly evident however, from the - of note in the west. It is abundantly evident however, from the - - and incongruities as the pagan myths which proviked so many - and incongruities as the pagan myths which provoked so many - - Chiliasts--are held to be insoluable as to the time of their appearance; - Chiliasts--are held to be insoluble as to the time of their appearance; - - dead, and yet to be born. The entity was eternal, indestructable, - dead, and yet to be born. The entity was eternal, indestructible, - - the otherwise unintelligible success of that saint in combatting - the otherwise unintelligible success of that saint in combating - - expression to this accomplished fact and it is no derrogation of his - expression to this accomplished fact and it is no derogation of his - - words restriction in matrimony whether Chilastic or monastic is due - words restriction in matrimony whether Chiliastic or monastic is due - - of the movement, were influenced more by Chilastic concepts than - of the movement, were influenced more by Chiliastic concepts than - - [3] Cf. Parables in I Enoch XXXVII-IXXI. - [3] Cf. Parables in I Enoch XXXVII-LXXI. - - [4] Cf. Apocalypse of Baurch; 4 Ezra, 4 Maccabees. - [4] Cf. Apocalypse of Baruch; 4 Ezra, 4 Maccabees. - - Fourth: What may be distinguished as the specifically Christain - Fourth: What may be distinguished as the specifically Christian - - the pupose of giving him a vest and an overcoat in addition to what - the purpose of giving him a vest and an overcoat in addition to what - - and rightly discharged his service to Him.[13] - and rightly discharged his service to Him."[13] - - The inconsistent and irreconciliable nature of the evidence about - The inconsistent and irreconcilable nature of the evidence about - - references to interest, which may perhpas be due to the fact that in - references to interest, which may perhaps be due to the fact that in - - condeming interest as such. In the minds of the early Christians the - condemning interest as such. In the minds of the early Christians the - - prediliction of certain types of pecuniary interest for that reformer's - predilection of certain types of pecuniary interest for that reformer's - - system of eccliastical polity. The Roman law did indeed fix a - system of ecclesiastical polity. The Roman law did indeed fix a - - or act up to all thay they believe. Imagine a man acting on the - or act up to all that they believe. Imagine a man acting on the - - institution they were perfectly familar and in universal observance - institution they were perfectly familiar and in universal observance - - It was immoral to invest money in the consrtuction company that - It was immoral to invest money in the construction company that - - economic and matters--and on other matters also. The difference in a - economic matters--and on other matters also. The difference in a - - As soon as Christain doctrines became widespread enough to - As soon as Christian doctrines became widespread enough to - - villange or serfdom. But this change cut off the economic margin - villeinage or serfdom. But this change cut off the economic margin - - that of Bibical exegesis. In the well known sermon or essay on: - that of Biblical exegesis. In the well known sermon or essay on: - - pyhsical possessions, but spiritual qualities of greed and avarice. - physical possessions, but spiritual qualities of greed and avarice. - - that shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom," is to be apprehended - that shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom, is to be apprehended - - the reward of which is salvation." "Sell thy possessions." What is - the reward of which is salvation." "Sell thy possessions. What is - - expositions of Christian Scripture, penning the most powerful apologitic - expositions of Christian Scripture, penning the most powerful apologetic - - honors upon the lowliest drugery;[37] they turned princes into plowmen - honors upon the lowliest drudgery;[37] they turned princes into plowmen - - institutions of society can indeed be changed. But they can be changed--or - institutions of society can indeed be changed. But they can be changed--on - - lack theoritical justification tend to accumulate such justification - lack theoretical justification tend to accumulate such justification - - the spread of Chriatian theology by liberating it from the burden - the spread of Christian theology by liberating it from the burden - - influence is economic. Christianity by teaching the virtues of honesty - influence is economic. Christianity by teaching the virtues of honesty, - - Penticost and immediately afterwards was due primarily to the fact - Pentecost and immediately afterwards was due primarily to the fact - - began to develope doctrines and practices even slightly at - began to develop doctrines and practices even slightly at - - motive, the threatened loss of livlihood, entering along with anger - motive, the threatened loss of livelihood, entering along with anger - - of the crowds only after agitation diliberately stirred up by interested - of the crowds only after agitation deliberately stirred up by interested - - also the villages and country places and yet it sees possible to stop it and - also the villages and country places and yet it seems possible to stop it and - - teaching many not to sacrifice or to worship the gods. Speaking - teaching many not to sacrifice or to worship the gods." Speaking - - pagan public. Most noticable of all is the indifference of the mob - pagan public. Most noticeable of all is the indifference of the mob - - clamor and blows and draggings and roberies and stonings and - clamor and blows and draggings and robberies and stonings and - - more through permeation of the public mind by Christianity. There - more thorough permeation of the public mind by Christianity. There - - very extent and throughness and duration of the persecution - very extent and thoroughness and duration of the persecution - - belongs in the reign of Septimus Severns instead of that of Marcus - belongs in the reign of Septimus Severus instead of that of Marcus - - circumstances more or less in obeyance. On the whole it was undoubtedly - circumstances more or less in abeyance. On the whole it was undoubtedly - - more violent at the end of the period tham at the beginning. - more violent at the end of the period than at the beginning. - - Serverus, 202 A.D. In the account given by Eusebius of the martydom - Severus, 202 A.D. In the account given by Eusebius of the martyrdom - - case it was not the product of any spontanious popular movement. - case it was not the product of any spontaneous popular movement. - - They were not called forth by any imperial edict--they preceeded the - They were not called forth by any imperial edict--they preceded the - - governmental, legal precess would ever, or could ever, take on. - governmental, legal process would ever, or could ever, take on. - - persecution among us did not begin with the royal decree but proceeded - persecution among us did not begin with the royal decree but preceded - - accumlated sentiment and social unrest must of necessity discharge - accumulated sentiment and social unrest must of necessity discharge - - perhaps be going beyong the evidence to say that in this interval, - perhaps be going beyond the evidence to say that in this interval, - - away from them and drove the Jews out of the city, permiting the - away from them and drove the Jews out of the city, permitting the - - being reconciled to the bishop. Some of them therefore hurrried - being reconciled to the bishop. Some of them therefore hurried - - people in a struggle over the most obstruse and recondite metaphysical - people in a struggle over the most abstruse and recondite metaphysical - - to the Christians mob movement against the pagans and to the - to the Christians' mob movement against the pagans and to the - - experience. (b) Operation as an isolating device (c) Revolt against - experience. (b) Operation as an isolating device. (c) Revolt against - - were free from its defects as an instrument of hierarchial ambition. - were free from its defects as an instrument of hierarchical ambition. - - town of Phrygia was to become the capitol of the world wide kingdom - town of Phrygia was to become the capital of the world wide kingdom - - produced no alternation whatever in the creeds of the Church. As - produced no alteration whatever in the creeds of the Church. As - - ever possible, by profound changes, of an economic nature, in the - even possible, by profound changes, of an economic nature, in the - - of men to ane another in the matter of making a living are the main, - of men to one another in the matter of making a living are the main, - - associated with the loosing group, it suffered the natural fate of the - associated with the losing group, it suffered the natural fate of the - - But scarcely has the inevitable course of events hounded to its - "But scarcely has the inevitable course of events hounded to its - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Transformation of Early -Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement, by Lyford Paterson Edwards - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRANSFORMATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY *** - -***** This file should be named 40929-8.txt or 40929-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/2/40929/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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