A preliminary survey is the more necessary lest the general reader fail to grant the facts of history a competent hearing and a just consideration. Unconsciously men think of the earliest Christianity as being like that which they profess3. They measure the early centuries by their own. Their Church, its doctrines5, forms, creeds7 and customs, stands as the representative of all Christianity. It seems like a “rude awakening” to ask men to believe that there is a “pagan residuum” in their faith, or in the customs of their fathers. The average Christian2 must pass through a broadening process, before he can justly consider[2] such a question. Unhappily, there are too many who are unwilling8 to undergo such an enlargement of their religious and historical horizon as will make them competent to consider those facts which every earnest student of history must face. But the Christian who believes in the immortality10 of truth, and in the certainty of its triumph, will welcome all facts, even though they may modify the creed6 he has hitherto accepted.
A writer in the Edinburgh Review and Critical Journal, commenting on the revised volumes of Bishop12 Lightfoot on Ignatius and Polycarp, speaking of the tendency to judge the early centuries by our own, thus vitiating our conclusions, says:
“The danger of such inquiries13 lies in the difficulty of resisting the temptation to frame pictures of an imaginary past; and the passion for transferring to the past the peculiarities14 of later times may be best corrected by keeping in view the total unlikeness of the first, second, or third centuries to anything which now exists in any part of the world.”
Protestants in the United States are poorly prepared to consider so great a question as that which this book passes under review, because they have not carefully considered the facts touching17 their relations to Roman Catholicism. The Anglo-Romish controversy18, in England, in the earlier part of the present century made the question of paganism in Christianity prominent for a time. But the discussion[3] was so strongly partisan19 and controversial that it could not produce the best results. Truth was much obscured by the determined20 effort of Protestant writers to show that the pagan residuum was all in the Catholic Church; whereas the facts show that there could have been no Roman Catholic Church had not paganism first prepared the way for its development by corrupting22 the earliest Christianity. The facts show, with equal vividness, that Protestantism has retained much of paganism, by inheritance. Protestantism, theoretically, means the entire elimination23 of the pagan residuum; practically, that work is but fairly begun. It must be pushed, or the inevitable24 backward drift, the historical “undertow” will re-Romanize the Protestant movement. The expectations and purposes of Roman Catholicism all point towards such a result.
This chapter will make a general survey of the field, as it is seen by men of different schools, that the reader may be the better prepared for a more specific treatment of the subject.
Dyer says:
“The first Roman converts to Christianity appear to have had very inadequate25 ideas of the sublime26 purity of the gospel, and to have entertained a strange medley27 of pagan idolatry and Christian truth. The emperor Alexander Severus, who had imbibed28 from his mother,[4] Mamm?a, a singular regard for the Christian religion, is said to have placed in his domestic chapel29 the images of Abraham, of Orpheus, of Apollonius, and of Christ, as the four chief sages30 who had instructed mankind in the methods of adoring the Supreme31 Deity32. Constantine himself, the first Christian emperor, was deeply imbued33 with the superstitions34 of paganism; he had been Pontifex Maximus, and it was only a little while before his death that he was formally received by baptism into the Christian Church. He was particularly devoted36 to Apollo, and he attempted to conciliate his pagan and his Christian subjects by the respect which he appeared to entertain for both. An edict enjoining38 the solemn observance of Sunday was balanced in the same year[1] by another directing that when the palace or any other public building should be struck by lightning, the haruspices should be regularly consulted.”[2]
In a similar strain Professor Lord speaks yet more strongly:
“But the church was not only impregnated with the errors of pagan philosophy, but it adopted many of the ceremonials of Oriental worship, which were both minute and magnificent. If anything marked the primitive39 church it was the simplicity40 of worship, and the absence of ceremonies and festivals and gorgeous rites41. The churches became in the fourth century as imposing42 as the old temples of idolatry. The festivals became authoritative43; at first they were few in number and voluntary. It was supposed that when Christianity superseded44[5] Judaism, the obligation to observe the ceremonies of the Mosaic46 law was abrogated47. Neither the apostles nor evangelists imposed the yoke48 of servitude, but left Easter and every other feast to be honored by the gratitude49 of the recipients50 of grace. The change in opinion, in the fourth century, called out the severe animadversion of the historian Socrates, but it was useless to stem the current of the age. Festivals became frequent and imposing. The people clung to them because they obtained a cessation from labor51, and obtained excitement. The ancient rubrics mention only those of the Passion, of Easter, of Whitsuntide, Christmas, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. But there followed the celebration of the death of Stephen, the memorial of St. John, the commemoration of the slaughter52 of the Innocents, the feasts of Epiphany, the feast of Purification, and others, until the Catholic Church had some celebration for some saint and martyr53 for every day in the year. They contributed to create a craving54 for outward religion, which appealed to the sense and the sensibilities rather than the heart. They led to innumerable quarrels and controversies55 about unimportant points, especially in relation to the celebration of Easter. They produced a delusive56 persuasion57 respecting pilgrimages, the sign of the cross, and the sanctifying effects of the sacraments. Veneration58 for martyrs59 ripened60 into the introduction of images—a future source of popular idolatry. Christianity was emblazoned in pompous61 ceremonies. The veneration of saints approximated to their deification, and superstition35 exalted62 the mother of our Lord into an object of absolute worship. Communion tables became imposing altars typical of Jewish sacrifices, and the relics63 of martyrs were preserved as sacred amulets64....
[6]
“When Christianity itself was in such need of reform, when Christians65 could scarcely be distinguished66 from pagans in love of display, and in egotistical ends, how could it reform the world? When it was a pageant67, a ritualism, an arm of the state, a vain philosophy, a superstition, a formula, how could it save if ever so dominant68? The corruptions70 of the Church in the fourth century are as well authenticated71 as the purity and moral elevation72 of Christianity in the second century. Isaac Taylor has presented a most mournful view of the state of Christian society when the religion of the cross had become the religion of the state, and the corruptions kept pace with the outward triumph of the faith, especially when the pagans had yielded to the supremacy73 of the cross.”[3]
Many of the corrupting elements which entered into early Christianity came from the Orient, by way of Greece and Rome. Tiele speaks of the influx74 of these in the following words:
“The Greek deities75 were followed by the Asiatic, such as the Great Mother of the gods, whose image, consisting of an unhewn stone, was brought at the expense of the state from Pessinus to Rome. On the whole, it was not the best and loftiest features of the foreign religions that were adopted, but rather their low and sensual elements, and these too in their most corrupt21 form. An accidental accusation76 brought to light in the year 186 B.C. a secret worship of Bacchus which was accompanied by[7] all kinds of abominations, and had already made its way among thousands....
“The eyes of the multitude were always turned toward the East, from which deliverance was expected to come forth77, and secret rites brought from there to Rome were sure of a number of devotees. But they were only bastard78 children, or at any rate the late misshapen offspring of the lofty religions which once flourished in the East, an un-Persian Mithra worship, an un-Egyptian Serapis worship, an Isis worship which only flattered the senses and was eagerly pursued by the fine ladies, to say nothing of more loathsome79 practices. And yet even these aberrations80 were the expression of a real and deep-seated need of the human mind, which could find no satisfaction in the state religion. Men longed for a God whom they could worship, heart and soul, and with this God they longed to be reconciled. Their own deities they had outgrown81, and they listened eagerly therefore to the priests of Serapis and of Mithra, who each proclaimed their God as the sole-existing, the almighty82, and the all-good, and they felt especially attracted by the earnestness and strictness of the latter cultus. And in order to be secure of the eradication83 of all guilt84, men lay down in a pit where the blood of the sacrificial animal flowed all over them, in the conviction that they would then arise entirely85 new-born.”[4]
Many Roman Catholic writers, with an honesty which all classes might well emulate86, openly recognize[8] the paganizing of the Church, which took place before the organization of the papacy.
Baronius says:
“It was permitted the Church to transfer to pious87 uses those ceremonies which the pagans had wickedly applied88 in a superstitious89 worship, after having purified them by consecration90; so that, to the greater contumely of the devil, all might honor Christ with those rites which he intended for his own worship. Thus the pagan festivals, laden91 with superstition, were changed into the praiseworthy festivals of the martyrs; and the idolatrous temples were changed to sacred churches, as Theodoret shows.”[5]
Polydore Virgil says:
“The Church has borrowed many customs from the religion of the Romans and other pagans, but it has meliorated them and applied them to a better use.”[6]
Fauchet says:
“The bishops92 of this kingdom employ all means to gain men to Christ, converting to their use some pagan ceremonies, as well as they did the stones of their temples to the building of churches.”[7]
Pierre Mussard says:
[9]
“William de Choul,[8] counsellor to the king and bailiff of the mountains, composed, an age ago, a treatise93 of the religion of the ancient Romans, wherein he shows an entire conformity94 between old Rome and new. On the point of religion he closes with these words[9]: ‘If we consider carefully,’ says he, ‘we shall see that many institutions in our religion have been borrowed and transferred from Egyptian and Pagan ceremonies, such as tunics95 and surplices, priestly ornaments96 for the head, bowing at the altar, the solemnity at mass, music in churches, prayers, supplications, processions, litanies, and many other things. These our priests make use of in our mysteries, and refer them to one only God, Jesus Christ, which the ignorance of the heathen, their false religion, and foolish presumption97 perverted98 to their false gods, and to dead men deified.’”[10]
During the Tractarian controversy in England, John Poynder wrote Popery in Alliance with Heathenism, to show that Roman Catholicism is essentially99 pagan. Cardinal100 Nicholas Wiseman, then a professor in the University at Rome, replied under the title: Letters to John Poynder, Esq., upon his Work Entitled “Popery in Alliance with Heathenism,” London, 1836.
In Letter Second, Wiseman says:
[10]
“I will, for a moment, grant you the full extent of your assumptions and premises101; I will concede that all the facts you have brought forward are true, and all the parallels you have established between our rites and those of paganism, correct; and I will join issue with you on your conclusions, trying them by clearly applicable tests.... The first person who argued as you have done was Julian the Apostate102, who said that the Christians had borrowed their religion from the heathens. This proves at once that even then the resemblance existed, of which you complain as idolatrous. So that it is not the offspring of modern corruption69, but an inheritance of the ancient church. It proves that the alliance between Christianity and heathenism existed three hundred years after Christ, and that consequently so far popery and ancient Christianity are identical. The Manichees also are accused by St. Augustine, writing against Faustus, of having made the same charge.”
Dr. Wiseman enumerates103 many items of resemblance which Poynder does not, and retorts by showing that the English Church yet retains the paganism which it inherited from papacy. He emphasizes the pagan characteristics which appear in the building, adornment104, and services of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, claiming that if a Roman pagan were to be resurrected and brought to St. Paul’s he would recognize the likeness15 to his ancient faith on every hand. Dr. Wiseman’s testimony is of great value, since, as a defender105 of Romanism, he[11] also defends the policy which corrupted106 early Christianity in the West, by conforming it to the popular paganism in order to secure a nominal107 conversion108 of the pagans.
Conyers Middleton, whose Letter from Rome forms one of the standard authorities concerning the paganism of the early Church, says:
“Aringhus, in his account of Subterraneous Rome, acknowledges this conformity between the pagan and popish rites, and defends the admission of the ceremonies of heathenism into the service of the Church, by the authority of their wisest popes and governors, who found it necessary, he says, in the conversion of the Gentiles, to dissemble and wink109 at many things, and yield to the times; and not to use force against customs which the people were so obstinately110 fond of; nor to think of extirpating111 at once everything that had the appearance of profane112; but to supersede45 in some measure the obligation of the sacred laws, till these converts, convinced by degrees, and informed of the whole truth by the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, should be content to submit in earnest to the yoke of Christ.”[11]
Further important testimony is found in the following. Writing of the first three centuries after Christ, Max Müller says:
“That age was characterized far more than all before it, by a spirit of religious syncretism, an eager thirst for compromise.[12] To mould together thoughts which differed fundamentally, to grasp, if possible, the common elements pervading113 all the multifarious religions of the world, was deemed the proper business of philosophy, both in the East and West. It was a period, one has lately said, of mystic incubation, when India and Egypt, Babylonia and Greece, were sitting together and gossiping like crazy old women, chattering114 with toothless gums and silly brains about the dreams and joys of their youth, yet unable to recall one single thought or feeling with that vigor115 which once gave it light and truth.
“It was a period of religious and metaphysical delirium116, when everything became everything, when Maya and Sophia, Mithra and Christ, Viraf and Isaiah, Belus, Zarvan, and Kronos were mixed up in one jumbled117 system of inane118 speculation119, from which at last the East was delivered by the positive doctrines of Mohammed, the West by the pure Christianity of the Teutonic nations.”[12]
Dr. Joseph Priestley says:
“The causes of the corruptions were almost wholly contained in the established opinions of the heathen world, and especially the philosophical120 part of it; so that when those heathens embraced Christianity, they mixed their former tenets and prejudices with it.... The abuse of the positive institutions of Christianity, monstrous121 as they were, naturally arose from the opinions of the purifying and sanctifying virtue122 of rites and[13] ceremonies, which was the very basis of all the worship of the heathens.”[13]
Thebaud says:
“Therefore this same ‘high civilization,’ as it is called, in the midst of which Christianity was preached, was a real danger to the inward life of the new disciple123 of Christ.
“How could it be otherwise, when it is a fact, now known to all, that, even at the beginning of the fifth century, Rome was almost entirely pagan, at least outwardly and among her highest classes; so that the poet Claudian, in addressing Honorius at the beginning of his sixth consulship124, pointed126 out to him the site of the Capitol, still crowned with the temple of Jove, surrounded by numerous pagan edifices127, supporting in air an army of gods; and all around, temples, chapels128, statues without number; in fact, the whole Roman and Greek mythology129, standing130 in the city of the catacombs and of the pope.
“The public calendars, preserved to this day, continued to note the pagan festivals, side by side with the feasts of the Saviour131 and his apostles. Within the city and beyond, throughout Italy and the most remote provinces, idols132 and their altars were still surrounded by the thronging133 populace, prostrate134 at their feet.”[14]
Hardwick describes the tendency to reproduce pagan theories and customs in the early Church as follows:
[14]
“Or take again the swarm135 of heresies136 that soon invaded almost every province of the early Church. Abandoning, as they did, the more essential of the supernatural truths of revelation, they were virtually and in effect revivals137 of paganism, and family likenesses may accordingly be traced among the older speculations139 current in the schools of heathen philosophy. In discussing, for example, the nature of the divine Son-ship, Sabellius and his party taught a doctrine4 very similar to that already noticed in the Trimurrti of India; while Docetism, starting from a notion that the spiritual and the material cannot permanently140 co-exist, had merely reproduced the Hindu doctrine of Avataras. The inward correspondence in the texture142 of ideas had issued in a similar deprivation143 of revealed truth. Or if, penetrating144 below the surface, we investigate the elementary thoughts and feelings that hereafter found utterance145 in monastic institutions of the Church, we find that on one side those ideas are alien from the spirit of primitive Christianity, and on the other that they had long been familiar in the East, before they were appropriated or unconsciously reproduced among one class of Christians in Syria and Egypt. India was the real birthplace of monasticism, its cradle being in the haunts of earnest yogins, and self-torturing devotees, who were convinced that evil is inherent not in man only, but in all the various forms of matter, and accordingly withdrew as far as possible from contact with the outer world. At first, indeed, the Christian hermit146, like the earliest of his Hindu prototypes, had dwelt alone on the outskirts147 of his native town, supporting himself by manual labor, and devoting all the surplus of his earnings148 to religious purposes.
[15]
“But during the fourth century of the present era many such hermits149 began to flock together in the forest, or the wilderness150, where regular confraternities were organized upon a model more or less derived151 from the Egyptian Therapeut?, and the old Essenes of Palestine; the members in their dress and habits most of all resembling those of the religious orders who still swarm in Thibet and Ceylon.”[15]
Maitland bears important testimony touching many points in which Christianity was paganized. He sums up the general results in the following concerning the worship of martyrs:
“The degrees of worship and adoration152, since defined with fatal precision by the Romish Church, were not then fixed153; and the heathen, even less willing than the Christian laity154 to enter into refinements155 on the subject, saw no distinction between one form and another. The consequences were disastrous156 in the extreme; the charge of idolatry, mutually urged by the contending parties, lost the force, or rather was effectively employed by the pagans, after it had become powerless in Christian hands. Thus it was that, although the pure doctrines of our faith speedily displaced the profligate157 polytheism of the empire, the after conflict was long doubtful, being maintained by a religion enfeebled by admixture with foreign elements, against one that had profited by adversity, and had not scrupled158 to borrow largely from its rival. We read in fable159 of the struggle between the man and the[16] serpent, in which at length the combatants become transformed into the shapes of each other. In the last contest between paganism and Christianity we find the sophist contending for the unity160 of God, and accusing the Christian of undisguised polytheism; and on the other side the Christian insisting on the tutelary161 powers of glorified162 mortals, and the omniscience163 of departed spirits.”[16]
Similar testimony is borne by Seymore, who says:
“The apostasy164 of the Church of Rome will be more apparent when we reflect that the character of the mediation165 which Romanism ascribes to its saints is precisely166 the same as that which heathenism ascribes to its demi-gods. It was believed among the heathen that when a man became illustrious for his deeds, his conquests, his inventions, or aught else that distinguished him as a benefactor167 of mankind, he could be canonized and enrolled168 among inferior deities. He thus became a mediator169 whose sympathies with his fellow-men on the one hand, and whose merits with the gods on the other fitted him for the mediatorial office of bearing the prayers and wants of mortals to the presence of the gods. The heathen philosophers, Hesiod, Plato, and Apuleius, all thus speak of those persons. The last named philosopher says: ‘They are intermediate intelligences, by whom our prayers and wants pass unto the gods. They are mediators between the inhabitants of the earth and the inhabitants of heaven, carrying thither171 our prayers, and drawing down[17] their blessings172. They bear back and forwards prayers for us, and supplies for them; or they are those that explain between both parties, and who carry our adorations.’ This was the creed of heathenism, and in nothing but the name does it differ from the corresponding creed of Romanism. When the Church of Rome finds members of her communion whom she regards as signally pious, or illustrious for supposed miraculous173 powers, she holds that they be canonized and enrolled among her saints; that they can mediate170 between God and man; that they have sufficient favor or influence with God to obtain compliance174 with our prayers, and therefore they are fitting objects to whom our confessions175, invocations, and prayers may be offered; or, as she expresses it in her creed, ‘that the saints reigning176 with Christ are to be honored and invoked177, and that they offer prayers to God for us.’ The principle of heathen Romanism, and the principle of Christian Romanism are one and the same, the only difference is in the details of the names. And the origin of the practice is demonstrative of this; for when it was found, after the establishment of Christianity in the times of Constantine, when the great object of the court was to promote uniformity of religion, that many of the heathen would outwardly conform to Christianity if allowed to retain in private their worship of their guardian179 or tutelar divinities, they were so allowed, merely on changing the names of Jupiter to Peter, or Juno to Mary, still worshipping their old divinities under new names, and even retaining old images that were baptized with Christian names. This is apparent in the writings of those times, and was thought a measure of wisdom, a stroke of profound policy, as tending to produce a uniformity of religion among the[18] unthinking masses. The invocations of Juno have been transferred to Mary; the prayers to Mercury have been transferred to Paul. We see not how the substitution of the names of Damian or Cosmo, for those of Mercury or Apollo, or how the substitution of the names of Lucy or Cecelia, for those of Minerva or Diana, can alter the idolatrous character of the practice. In some instances they have not even changed the names, and Romulus and Remus are still worshipped in Italy, under the more modern names of St. Romulo and St. Remugio. The simple people believe them to have been two holy bishops. I have myself witnessed this near Florence, and even Bacchus is not without his votaries180, under the ecclesiastical name of St. Bacco. The principle and practice of papal Rome are identical with the principle and practice of pagan Rome. Every argument to justify181 one may be equally urged to justify or extenuate182 the other. And if the principle and practice of pagan Rome are to be pronounced as idolatrous, I see not why the very same principle and practice in papal Rome should not be pronounced as idolatrous likewise.”[17]
In the light of all the facts Mr. Seymore cannot fasten the pagan residuum upon Romanism alone. The controlling trend into paganism was established before the papacy was developed; and if new forms of expression appeared afterward183, they were but the fruitage of earlier tendencies.
Renan, speaking of the relation between the religious cultus of the Orient and early Christianity, says:
[19]
“This is the explanation of the singular attraction which about the beginning of the Christian era drew the population of the ancient world to the religions of the East. These religions had something deeper in them than those of Greece and Rome; they addressed themselves more fully16 to the religious sentiment. Almost all of them stood in some relation to the condition of the soul in another life, and it was believed that they held the warrant of immortality. Hence the favor in which the Thracian and Sabasian mysteries, the thiasi, and confraternities of all kinds, were held. It was not so chilly184 in these little circles, where men pressed closely together, as in the great icy world of that day. Little religions like the worship of Psyche185, whose sole object was consolation186 for human mortality, had a momentary187 prevalence. The beautiful Egyptian worship, which hid a real emptiness beneath a great splendor188 of ritual, counted devotees in every part of the empire. Isis and Serapis had altars even in the ends of the world. A visitor to the ruins of Pompeii might be tempted37 to believe that the principal worship which obtained there was that of Isis. These little Egyptian temples had their assiduous worshippers, among whom were many of the same class as the friends of Catullus and Tibullus. There was a morning service; a kind of mass, celebrated189 by a priest, shorn and beardless. There were sprinklings of holy water; possibly benediction190 in the evening. All this occupied, amused, soothed191. What could any one want more?
“But it was above all the Mithraic[18] worship which, in the second and third centuries, attained192 an extraordinary prevalence. I sometimes permit myself to say that, if Christianity had not carried the day, Mithraicism would[20] have become the religion of the world. It had its mysterious meetings, its chapels, which bore a strong resemblance to little churches. It forged a very lasting193 bond of brotherhood194 between its initiates195; it had a Eucharist, a supper so like the Christian mysteries that good Justin Martyr the Apologist can find only one explanation of the apparent identity, namely, that Satan, in order to deceive the human race, determined to imitate the Christian ceremonies, and so stole them. A Mithraic sepulchre in the Roman catacombs is as edifying196, and presents as elevated a mysticism, as the Christian tombs.”[19]
Describing the earliest Christianity, Killen bears valuable testimony to the fact that the features of paganism which became prominent at a later period were wholly wanting in the earliest Christianity. He shows that the Church was Judaistic in forms and practice.
These are his words:
“A Roman citizen, when present for the first time at the worship of the Church, might have remarked how profoundly it differed from the ritual of paganism. The services in the great heathen temples were but an imposing scenic197 exhibition. The holy water for lustration, the statues of the gods with wax tapers198 burning before them, the officials robed in white surplices, and the incense199 floating in clouds and diffusing200 perfume all around, could only regale201 the sense or light up the imagination. No stated time was devoted to instruct the assembly; and the liturgy—often in a dead language—as it was mumbled202 over by the[21] priest, merely added to the superstition and the mysticism. But the worship of the Church was, in the highest sense, a ‘reasonable service.’ It had no parade, no images, no fragrant203 odors; for the first hundred years it was commonly celebrated in private houses or the open fields; and yet it addressed itself so impressively to the understanding and the heart that the congregations of the faithful frequently presented scenes incomparably more spirit-stirring and sublime than anything ever witnessed in the high places of Greek or Roman idolatry....
“No individual or church court is warranted to tamper204 with symbolic205 ordinances206 of divine appointment; for as they are the typical embodiment of great truths, any change essentially vitiates their testimony. But their early administrators207 overlooking this grave objection, soon ceased to respect the integrity of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In the third century a number of frivolous208 and superstitious ceremonies—such as exorcism, unction, the making of the sign of the cross on the forehead, and the kiss of peace—were already tacked209 to baptism; so that the beautiful significance of the primitive observance could not be well seen under these strange trappings. Before the middle of the second century the wine of the Eucharist was mixed with water; fifty years afterwards the communicants participated standing; and at length the elements themselves were treated with awful reverence210. The more deeply to impress the imagination, baptism and the Eucharist began to be surrounded with the secrecy211 of the heathen mysteries, and none save those who had received the ordinances were suffered to be present at their dispensation. The ministers of the Church sadly compromised[22] their religion when they thus imitated the meretricious212 decorations of the pagan worship. As might have been expected, the symbols so disfigured were misunderstood and misrepresented. Baptism was called regeneration, and the Eucharist was designated a sacrifice. Thus a door was opened for the admission of a whole crowd of dangerous errors.”[20]
The tendency to religious syncretism, during the early centuries, was a prolific213 source of corruption to New Testament214 Christianity. Speaking of the results of this tendency, and of the composite character of the religious cultus at Alexandria, in the time of Hadrian (117-138 A.D.), Canon Farrar says:
“There was no city in the empire in which a graver task was assigned to the great scholars and teachers of Christianity than the city of Alexandria. It was the centre of the most energetic intellectual vitality215; and there, like the seething216 of the grapes in the vine cluster, the speculations of men of every religion and every nationality exercised a reciprocal influence on each other.
“A single letter of Hadrian presented by Vopiscus will show the confusion of thought and intermixture of religions which prevailed in that cosmopolitan217 city, and the aspect presented by its religious syncretism to a cool and cynical218 observer. ‘Those who worship Serapis,’ he says in a letter to a friend, ‘are Christians, and those who call themselves Bishops of Christ are votaries of Serapis.[23] There is no ruler of a synagogue there, no Samaritan, no presbyter of the Christians, who is not an astrologer, who is not a soothsayer, who is not a gymnast. The patriarch of the Jews himself when he comes to Egypt is forced by one party to worship Serapis, by the other Christ. They have but one God who is no God; him Christians, him Jews, him all races worship alike.’ To the disdainful and sceptical mind of the emperor, who deified his own unhappy minion219, Christianity, gnosticism, Judaism, paganism were all forms of one universal charlatanry220 and sham221.”[21]
In writing of Leo the Great (440-461) founder222 of the papacy, Dean Merivale gives a graphic223 picture of the state of Christianity at that time. Space is here taken for a copious224 extract that the weight of Merivale’s name and words may add force to the facts. He says:
“It will be admitted, I trust, without entering upon disquisitions which would be inappropriate to this occasion, that the corruptions of Christian faith against which our own national Church and many others rose indignantly at the Reformation had for the most part struck their foundations deep in the course of the fifth century; that though they had sprung up even from an earlier period, and though they developed more in some directions, and assumed more fixity in the darker times that followed, yet the working of the true Christian leaven225 among the masses was never more faint, the approximation of Christian usage to the manners and customs of paganism never really closer, than in the age of which we are now speaking.[24] We have before us many significant examples of the facility with which the most intelligent of the pagans accepted the outward rite11 of Christian baptism, and made a nominal profession of the faith, while they retained and openly practised, without rebuke226, without remark, with the indulgence even of genuine believers, the rites and usages of the paganism they pretended to have abjured227. We find abundant records of the fact that personages high in office, such as consuls125 and other magistrates228, while administering the laws by which the old idolatries were proscribed229, actually performed pagan rites, and even erected230 public statues to pagan divinities. Still more did men, high in the respect of their fellow-Christians, allow themselves to cherish sentiments utterly231 at variance232 with the definitions of the Church. Take the instance of the illustrious Bishop Synesius. Was he a Christian, was he a pagan; who shall say? He was famous in the schools of Alexandria as a man of letters, a teacher of the ancient philosophies, an admirer of the pagan Hypatia. The Christian people of Ptolemais, enchanted233 with his talents, demanded him for their bishop. He protests not indeed that he is an unbeliever—but that his life and habits are not suitable to so high an office. He has a wife whom he cannot abandon, as the manners of the age might require of him; whom he will not consort234 with secretly, as the manners of the age would, it seems, allow. ‘But further I cannot believe,’ he adds, ‘that the human soul has been breathed into flesh and blood; I will not teach that this everlasting235 world of matter is destined236 to annihilation; the resurrection, as taught by the Church, seems to me a doubtful and questionable237 doctrine. I am a philosopher, and cannot preach to the people popularly.’ In short, he[25] maintains to all appearance that if he is a believer in Jesus Christ, he is a follower238 of Plato; and such doubtless were many others. The people leave him his wife and his opinions, and insist that he shall be their bishop. He retains his family ties, his philosophy, his Platonism, his rationalism, and accepts the government of the Church notwithstanding. Again we ask, was Synesius a Christian or a pagan? The instance of such a bishop, one probably among many, is especially significant; but the same question arises with regard to other men of eminence239 of the period. Was Bo?thius, a century later, the imitator of Cicero, Christian or pagan? Was Simplicius, the commentator240 on Plato? Was Ausonius, the playful poet and amiable241 friend of the Bishop Paulinus, who celebrates Christ in one poem, and scatters242 his allusions243 to pagan mythology indiscriminately in many others? We know that Libanius, the intimate friend and correspondent of Basil, was a pagan of the pagans; but he did not on that account forfeit244 the confidence of a sainted father of the Christian Church. So indifferent as Christians seem to have been at this period to their own creed, so indifferent to the creed of their friends and associates, we cannot wonder if it has left us few or but slight traces of a vital belief in the principles of divine redemption.
“We must make, indeed, large allowance for the intellectual trials of an age of transition when it was not given to every one to see his way between the demands urged upon an intelligent faith by the traditions of a brilliant past on the one hand, and the intimations of an obscure and not a cheerful future on the other. We hardly realize, perhaps, the pride with which the schools of Athens and Alexandria still regarded their thousand[26] years of academic renown245, while the Christian Church was slowly building up the recent theological systems on which its own foundations were to be secured for the ages to follow. We need not complain of Leo, and other Christian doctors, if they shrank, as I think they did, from rushing again into polemics246 with the remnant of the philosophers, whose day, they might think, was sure to close at no distant date. But the real corruption of the age was shown in the unstinted adoption247 of pagan usages in the ceremonial of the Christian Church, with all the baneful248 effects they could not fail to produce on the spiritual training of the people. There are not wanting, indeed, passages in the popular teachings of St. Leo, in which he beats the air with angry denunciations of auguries249, and sortilege, and magic, stigmatizes250 idolatry as the worship of demons178, and the devil as the father of pagan lies. But neither Leo, nor, I think, the contemporary doctors of the Church, seem to have had an adequate sense of the process by which the whole essence of paganism was throughout their age constantly percolating251 the ritual of the Church and the hearts of the Christian multitude. It is not to these that we can look for a warning that the fasts prescribed by the Church had their parallel in the abstinence imposed by certain pagan creeds, and required to be guarded and explained to the people in their true Christian significance; that the monachism they extolled252 so warmly, and which spread so rapidly, was in its origin a purely253 pagan institution, common to the religions of India, Thibet, and Syria, with much, no doubt, to excuse its extravagance in the hapless condition of human life at the period, but with little or nothing to justify it in the charters of our Christian belief; that the[27] canonizing of saints and martyrs, the honors paid them, and the trust reposed254 in them, were simply a revival138 of the old pagan mythologies255; that the multiplication256 of formal ceremonies, with processions and lights and incense and vestments, with images and pictures and votive offerings, was a mere141 pagan appeal to the senses, such as can never fail to enervate257 man’s moral fibre; that, in short, the general aspect of Christian devotion, as it met the eye of the observer, was a faint and rather frivolous imitation of the old pagan ritual, the object of which, from first to last, was not to instruct, or elevate man’s nature, but simply to charm away the ills of life by adorning258 and beautifying his present existence.”[22]
Witness also the following from Westropp and Wake:
“In popular customs, and even in religious institutions, these things are as plainly perceived to-day as when Adonis and Astarte were the Gods of the former world. The sanctities, the powers, the symbols, and even the utensils259 of the ancient faith have been assumed, if not usurped260 or legitimately261 inherited, by its successors. The two holies of the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists, Sophia and Eirene—Wisdom and Peace—were adopted as saints in the calendar of Constantinople. Dionysius, the god of the mysteries, reappears as St. Denys in France, St. Liberius, St. Eleutherius, and St. Bacchus; there is also a St. Mithra; and even Satan, prince of shadows, is revered262 as St. Satur and St. Swithin. Their relics are in[28] keeping. The holy virgin263 Astr?a or Astarte, whose return was announced by Virgil in the days of Augustus, as introducing a new golden age, now under her old designation of Blessed Virgin and Queen of Heaven, receives homage264 as ‘the one whose sole divinity the whole orb265 of the earth venerates266.’ The Mother and Child, the latter adorned267 with the nimbus or aureole of the ancient sun-gods, are now the objects of veneration as much as were Ceres and Bacchus, or Isis and Horus, in the mysteries. Nuns268 abounded269 alike in Christian and Buddhist270 countries, as they did formerly271 in Isis-worshipping Egypt; and if their maidenhood272 is not sacrificed at the shrine273 of Baal-Peor, or any of his cognate274 divinities, yet it is done in a figure; they are all ‘brides of the Saviour.’ Galli sing in the churches, and consecrated275 women are as numerous as of old. The priestly vestments are like those formerly used in the worship of Saturn276 and Cybele; the Phrygian cap, the pallium, the stole, and the alb. The whole Pantheon has been exhausted277, from the Indus, Euphrates, and the Nile, to supply symbolic adornment for the apostles’ successors. Hercules holds the distaff of Omphale. The Lily has superseded the Lotus, and celibacy278 is exalted above the first recorded mandate279 of God to mankind....
“It is true, doubtless, that there is not a fast or festival, procession or sacrament, social custom or religious symbol, that did not come ‘bodily’ from the previous paganism. But the pope did not import them on his own account; they had already been transferred into the ecclesiastical structure, and he only accepted and perhaps took advantage of the fact. Many of those who protest because of[29] these corruptions are prone280 to imitate them more or less, displaying an engrafting from the same stock.”[23]
A late German writer of note and authority, Lechler, thus states the relative influence of paganism and Judaism on early Christianity:
“Putting together all that has been said, we get the impression that, in respect to the Gentile Christians in the second half of the Apostolic age, heathenism was the vastly predominant power that partly from without threatened the Church, and partly from within prepared the most hazardous281 disputes. It was an anti-Christian gnosis proceeding282 from heathen ideas; frequently also a moral error stained with heathen licentiousness283, that became dangerous to souls. On the other hand, according to all the documents of that later apostolic time that we possess, Judaism, broken as a political power, was no longer a dangerous opponent of the Church of Christ as a spiritual power; the time in which Judaizing errorists possessed284 a powerful influence over spirits was visibly passed.”[24]
With such a preview, made up from writers of such authority and ability, the fact of the existence of an immense amount of pagan residuum in Christianity is placed beyond question. The reader may be surprised; may shrink from such facts. But shrinking from facts, or denying them, does[30] not remove or destroy them. Facts are immortal9. He who will take the trouble to follow through the successive chapters will see by what means, and in what ways, Christianity was corrupted, and whence came the pagan residuum that yet remains285. Suggestions in outline will also be found, as to how the remaining residuum can be removed.
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1
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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corrupting
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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elimination
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| n.排除，消除，消灭 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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medley
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| n.混合 | |
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imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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enjoining
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| v.命令( enjoin的现在分词 ) | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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supersede
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| v.替代；充任 | |
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mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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abrogated
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| 废除（法律等）( abrogate的过去式和过去分词 )； 取消； 去掉； 抛开 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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recipients
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| adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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controversies
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| 争论 | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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corruptions
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| n.堕落( corruption的名词复数 )；腐化；腐败；贿赂 | |
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authenticated
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| v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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aberrations
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| n.偏差( aberration的名词复数 )；差错；脱离常规；心理失常 | |
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outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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eradication
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| n.根除 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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85
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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86
emulate
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| v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿 | |
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87
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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88
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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89
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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90
consecration
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| n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 | |
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91
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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92
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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93
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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94
conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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95
tunics
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| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
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96
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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97
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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98
perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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99
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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100
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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101
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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102
apostate
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| n.背叛者，变节者 | |
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103
enumerates
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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104
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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105
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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106
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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107
nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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108
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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109
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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110
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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111
extirpating
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| v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的现在分词 )；根除 | |
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112
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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113
pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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114
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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115
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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116
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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117
jumbled
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| adj.混乱的；杂乱的 | |
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118
inane
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| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
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119
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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120
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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121
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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122
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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123
disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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124
consulship
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| 领事的职位或任期 | |
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125
consuls
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| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
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126
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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127
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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128
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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129
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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130
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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131
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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132
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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133
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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134
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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135
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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136
heresies
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| n.异端邪说，异教( heresy的名词复数 ) | |
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137
revivals
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| n.复活( revival的名词复数 )；再生；复兴；（老戏多年后）重新上演 | |
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138
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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139
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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140
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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141
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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142
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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143
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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144
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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145
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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146
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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147
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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148
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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149
hermits
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| （尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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150
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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151
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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152
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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153
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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154
laity
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| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
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155
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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156
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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157
profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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158
scrupled
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| v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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159
fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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160
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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161
tutelary
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| adj.保护的；守护的 | |
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162
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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163
omniscience
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| n.全知，全知者，上帝 | |
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164
apostasy
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| n.背教，脱党 | |
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165
mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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166
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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167
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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168
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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169
mediator
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| n.调解人，中介人 | |
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170
mediate
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| vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成 | |
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171
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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172
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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173
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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174
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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175
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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176
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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177
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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178
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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179
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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180
votaries
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| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
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181
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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182
extenuate
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| v.减轻，使人原谅 | |
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183
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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184
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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185
psyche
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| n.精神；灵魂 | |
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186
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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187
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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188
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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189
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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190
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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191
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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192
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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193
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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194
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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195
initiates
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| v.开始( initiate的第三人称单数 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员 | |
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196
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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197
scenic
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| adj.自然景色的，景色优美的 | |
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198
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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199
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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200
diffusing
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| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
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201
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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202
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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203
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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204
tamper
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| v.干预，玩弄，贿赂，窜改，削弱，损害 | |
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205
symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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206
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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207
administrators
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| n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
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208
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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209
tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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210
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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211
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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212
meretricious
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| adj.华而不实的，俗艳的 | |
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213
prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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214
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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215
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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216
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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217
cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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218
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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219
minion
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| n.宠仆；宠爱之人 | |
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220
charlatanry
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| n.吹牛，骗子行为 | |
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221
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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222
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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223
graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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224
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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225
leaven
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| v.使发酵；n.酵母；影响 | |
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226
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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227
abjured
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| v.发誓放弃( abjure的过去式和过去分词 )；郑重放弃（意见）；宣布撤回（声明等）；避免 | |
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228
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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229
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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230
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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231
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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232
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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233
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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234
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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235
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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236
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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237
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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238
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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239
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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240
commentator
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| n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员 | |
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241
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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242
scatters
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| v.（使）散开， （使）分散，驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 )；撒 | |
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243
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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244
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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245
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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246
polemics
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| n.辩论术，辩论法；争论( polemic的名词复数 )；辩论；辩论术；辩论法 | |
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247
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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248
baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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249
auguries
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| n.（古罗马）占卜术，占卜仪式( augury的名词复数 )；预兆 | |
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250
stigmatizes
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| v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的第三人称单数 ) | |
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251
percolating
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| n.渗透v.滤( percolate的现在分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入 | |
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252
extolled
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| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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253
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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254
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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255
mythologies
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| 神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点 | |
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256
multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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257
enervate
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| v.使虚弱，使无力 | |
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258
adorning
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| 修饰，装饰物 | |
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259
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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260
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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261
legitimately
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| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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262
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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263
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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264
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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265
orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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266
venerates
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| 敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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267
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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268
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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269
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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270
Buddhist
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| adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒 | |
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271
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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272
maidenhood
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| n. 处女性, 处女时代 | |
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273
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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274
cognate
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| adj.同类的，同源的，同族的；n.同家族的人，同源词 | |
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275
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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276
Saturn
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| n.农神，土星 | |
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277
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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278
celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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279
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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280
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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281
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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282
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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283
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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284
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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285
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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