xii. These commemorations of the departed were generally

celebrated on the anniversaries of their death--their birthday as it was called--Oblationes pro defunctis pro natalitiis, annua die facimus--Tertul., _De Coron. Mil._, c. 3; cf. _De Monogam._, c. 10.

[727] Quando isthinc excessum fuerit, nullus jam locus poenitentiæ est, nullus satisfactionis effectus.--Cypr. _ad Demet._, § 16; cf. Greg. Naz., _de Rebus suis_, and Hieron. in _Galat._, c. 6. The modern Greek church offers prayers for the dead without believing in the doctrine of purgatory.

[728] The doctrine of purgatory was first preached by Gregory the Great; and this fiery realm, so rich in revenue of tears and blood, was afterward formally annexed to the papal dominions by a bull.

[729] See the barbarous Latinity of the inscription, p. 426.

[730] Some of the examples of alleged invocation of saints given by Romanist writers are altogether gratuitous assumptions. Thus the letters P. T. PR. N. S. have been, without the slightest warrant, expanded thus, _Pete pro nobis_, “Pray for us.” Others are merely requests to be remembered by the dear departed, as ΔΙΟΝΥϹΙΝ ΕΙϹ ΜΝΙΑΝ ΕΧΕΤΕ--“Have ye in remembrance Dionysius.” The _graffiti_ of the pilgrims at the shrines of the more celebrated martyrs, in which are occasional invocations of the dead, are no criteria of primitive belief and practice, for these are of every age down to comparatively late mediæval times. The example in the text is from Burgon.

[731] Qui lumine Christi Cuncta et operta vides, longeque absentia cernis. --Paulin., _Nat._ vi.

See also the Litany of the Saints in Romish Missal.

[732] Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσκυνοῦμεν τοὺς δὲ μάρτυρας ἀγαπῶμεν.--_Euseb._, iv, 35.

[733] Nec ... sacrificemus martyribus, sed uni Deo et martyrum et nostro.--_De Civ. Dei_, 22, 10.

[734] Non sit nobis religio cultus hominum mortuorum.--_De Ver. Relig._, c. 55.

[735] Ὁ διάβολος τὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐπεισήγαγε.--_Hom._, 9.

[736] Οὐ δεῖ Χριστιανοὺς ἀγγέλους ὀνομάζειν.--_Can._, 35. The “saints” of the primitive church, says Schaff, were the whole body of believers, and not a narrow spiritual aristocracy, as in the Romish church. The Council of Constantinople, A. D. 712, decreed that “Whosoever will not avail himself of the intercession of the Virgin Mary, let him be accursed.” “May God Almighty forgive your sin by the merits of Our Lady,” said Gregory VII. to Beatrice and Matilda.--_Harduin_ vi, 1235.

[737] We have frequent evidence of the zeal of the early Christians in the study of the Scriptures. The Bible was not the sealed book that it is in modern Rome. Jerome counsels that it be frequently read and scarcely ever laid aside, that it be studied not as a task but for delight and instruction, and that some of it be learned by heart every day.--Divinas Scripturas sæpius lege, imo nunquam de manibus tuis sacra lectio deponatur.--_Ep. ad Nepotian._, 7. Non ad laborem, sed ad delectationem et instructionem animæ.--_Ep. ad Demetriad._, 15. Nec licebat cuiquam sororum ignorare psalmos, et non de Scripturis sanctis quotidie aliquid discere.--_Ep. ad Eustoch._, 19.

We find no traces in the early period of the church of the fierce intolerance and dreadful anathemas that mark modern Romanism. Tertullian in golden words asserts that liberty of conscience which a Dominic and Torquemada afterward so ruthlessly trampled under foot. “It is a fundamental human right,” he exclaims, “that every man should worship according to his own conviction. It is no part of religion to compel religion.”--_Ad Scap._, 2. Compare also the wise words of Cassiodorus: “Cum divinitas patiatur multas religiones esse, nos unam non audemus imponere. Retinemus enim legisse, voluntarie sacrificandum esse domino, non cujusquam cogentis imperio.”

[738] The pagan Lucian satirizes the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, “one in three and three in one”--Ἓν ἐκ τριῶν, καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς τρία.--_Philopatr._, ad fine. Pliny mentions the Christian worship of Christ as God, “Carmenque Christo quasi Deo.”--_Ep. ad Had._ In response to the heathen accusation of worshipping a mere man, a crucified impostor--ἀνεσκολοπισμένον σοφιστὴν, (Luc., _de Mort. Pereg._,) the Christians reply that he is also God: Υἱος καὶ πατὴρ εἷς ἄμφω κύριος--Clem., _Paed._, iii, 12; “Deus est et Dei Filius, et unus ambo.”--Tertul., _Apol._, 30. In contrast to Christian monotheism, Tertullian ridicules the polytheism of the heathen, and compares the contests of the gods in Homer to those of gladiators.--_Ad. Nat._, 10. Imitating the keen irony of Isaiah, he exclaims, “You make a cooking pot of Saturn, a frying pan of Minerva. Even the mice gnaw, the spiders defoul your gods.”--_Ibid._, ii, 12. The trinity of Plato and the Hindoo sages was a mere speculative subtlety. Tertullian spurned the fusion of philosophy and Christian doctrine. “Away with such mottled Christianity,” he exclaims.--_De Præscrip. Hæret._, c. 7. Compare his noble confession of faith in God, the eternal Spirit, an incorporeal essence, the true Prometheus who gave order to the world, concluding with the noble words, “We say, and before all men we say, and torn and bleeding under your tortures we cry out, ‘We worship God through Christ.’”--_Apol._, 17-22.

[739] Bryant’s _Thanatopsis_.