Part 4

§ 5.5. Almost contemporaneously with Gieseler, =Aug. Neander= of Berlin, † 1850, began the publication of his _Allg. Gesch. d. chr. Kirche_ in xi. divisions down to A.D. 1416 (Ham., 1824-1852. Engl. Transl. 9 vols., Edin., 1847-1855), by which ground was broken in another direction. Powerfully influenced by the religious movement, which since the wars of independence had inspired the noblest spirits of Germany, and sympathizing with Schleiermacher’s theology of feeling, he vindicated the rights of subjective piety in the scientific treatment of church history, and sought to make it fruitful for edification as a commentary of vast proportions on the parable of the leaven. With special delight he traces the developments of the inner life, shows what is Christian in even misconceived and ecclesiastically condemned manifestations, and feels for the most part repelled from objective ecclesiasticism, as from an ossification of the Christian life and the crystallization of dogma. In the same way he undervalues the significance of the political co-efficients, and has little appreciation of esthetic and artistic influences. The exposition goes out too often into wearisome details and grows somewhat monotonous, but is on every side lighted up by first hand acquaintance with the original sources. His scholar, =Hagenbach= of Basel, † 1874, put together in a collected form his lectures delivered before a cultured public upon several periods of church history, so as to furnish a treatise dealing with the whole field (7 vols., Leipz., 1868). These lectures are distinguished by an exposition luminous, interesting, sometimes rather broad, but always inspired by a warm Christian spirit and by circumspect judgment, inclining towards a mild confessional latitudinarianism. What, even on the confessional and ecclesiastical side, had been to some extent passed over by Neander, in consequence of his tendency to that inwardness that characterizes subjective and pectoral piety, has been enlarged upon by =Guericke= of Halle, † 1878, another of Neander’s scholars, in his _Handbuch_ (2 vols., Leipz., 1833; 9th ed., 3 vols., 1866; Eng. transl. “Manual of Ch. Hist.” Edinb., 1857), by the contribution of his own enthusiastic estimate of the Lutheran Church in a strong but clumsy statement; beyond this, however, the one-sidedness of Neander’s standpoint is not overcome, and although, alongside of Neander’s exposition, the materials and estimates of other standpoints are diligently used, and often the very words incorporated, the general result is not modified in any essential respect. Written with equal vigour, and bearing the impress of a freer ecclesiastical spirit, the _Handbuch_ of =Bruno Lindner= (3 vols., Leipzig, 1848 ff.) pursues with special diligence the course of the historical development of doctrine, and also emphasizes the influence of political factors. This same end is attempted in detailed treatment with ample production of authoritative documents in the _Handbuch_ of the author of the present treatise (vol. I. in three divisions, in a 2nd ed.; vol. II. 1, down to the end of the Carlovingian Era. Mitau, 1858 ff.). =Milman= (1791-1868) an English church historian of the first rank (“Hist. of Chr. to Abolit. of Pag. in Rom. Emp.” 3 vols., London, 1840; “History of Latin Christianity to the Pontificate of Nicholas V.” 3 vols., London, 1854), shows himself, especially in the latter work, learned, liberal and eloquent, eminently successful in sketching character and presenting vivid pictures of the general culture and social conditions of the several periods with which he deals. The _Vorlesungen_ of =R. Hasse [Hase]=, published after his death by Köhler (2nd ed., Leipz., 1872), form an unassuming treatise, which scarcely present any trace of the influence of Hegel’s teaching upon their author. =Köllner= of Giessen writes an _Ordnung und Uebersicht der Materien der chr. Kirchengeschichte_, Giess., 1864, a diligent, well-arranged, and well packed, but somewhat dry and formless work. =H. Schmid= of Erlangen has enlarged his compendious _Lehrbuch_ (2nd ed., 1856), into a _Handbuch_ of two bulky volumes (Erlang., 1880); and =O. Zöckler= of Greifswald has contributed to the _Handbuch d. theolog. Wissenschaften_ (Erlang., 1884; 2nd ed., 1885) edited by him an excellent chronological summary of church history. =Ebrard’s= _Handbuch_ (4 vols., Erlang., 1865 ff.) endeavours to give adequate expression to this genuine spirit of the Reformed conception of historical writing by bringing church history and the history of doctrines into organic connection. The attempt is there made, however, as Hase has expressed it, with a paradoxical rather than an orthodox tendency. The spirit and mind of the Reformed Church are presented to us in a more temperate, mild and impartial form, inspired by the pectoralism of Neander, in the _Handbuch_ of =J. J. Herzog= of Erlangen, † 1882 (3 vols., Erlang., 1876), which assumes the name of _Abriss_ or Compendium. This work set for itself the somewhat too ambitious aim of supplying the place of the productions of Gieseler and Neander,--which, as too diffuse, have unfortunately repelled many readers--by a new treatise which should set forth the important advances in the treatment of church history since their time, and give a more concise sketch of universal church history. The _Histoire du Christianisme_ of Prof. =Chastel= of Geneva, (5 vols., Par., 1881 ff.) in its earlier volumes occupies the standpoint of Neander, and we often miss the careful estimation of the more important results of later research. In regard to modern church history, notwithstanding every effort after objectivity and impartiality, theological sympathies are quite apparent. On the other hand, in the comprehensive _History of the Christian Church_ by =Philip Schaff= (in 8 vols., Edinb., 1885, reaching down to Gregory VIII., A.D. 1073), the rich results of research subsequent to the time of Neander are fully and circumspectly wrought up in harmony with the general principles of Neander’s view of history. Herzog’s _ Realencyclopædie für protest. Theol. u. Kirche_, especially in its 2nd ed. by Herzog and Plitt, and after the death of both, by Hauck (18 vols., Leipz., 1877 ff.), has won peculiar distinction in the department of church history from the contributions of new and powerful writers. Lichtenberger, formerly Prof. of Theol. in Strassburg, now in Paris, in his _Encyclopédie des sciences relig. _ has produced a French work worthy of a place alongside that of Herzog. _The Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects, and Doctrines during the first eight centuries_, edited with admirable circumspection and care by Dr. Wm. Smith and Prof. Wace, combines with a completeness and richness of contents never reached before, a thoroughgoing examination of the original sources. (4 vols., Lond., 1877 ff.) =Weingarten’s= Chronological Tables for Church History (_Zeittafeln z. K.G._ 2nd ed., Brl., 1874) are most useful to students as the latest and best helps of that kind.

§ 5.6. In the Catholic Church of Germany too a great activity has been displayed in the realm of church history. First of all in general Church history we have the diffuse work of the convert =von Stolberg= (_Gesch. d. Rel. Jesu_, 15 vols., down to A.D. 430, Hamb., 1806 ff., continued by von Kerz, vols. 16-45, and by Brischar, vols. 46-52, Mainz, 1825-1859), spreading out into hortatory and uncritical details. The elegant work of =Katerkamp= (_K.G._, 5 vols., down to 1153, Münst., 1819 ff.) followed it, inspired by a like mild spirit, but conceived in a more strictly scientific way. Liberal, so far as that could be without breaking with the hierarchy, is the _Handbuch der K.G._ (3 vols., Bonn, 1826 ff.; 6th ed. by Ennen, 2 vols., 1862), by =I. Ign. Ritter=. The ample and detailed _Gesch. d. Chr. Rel. u. d. K._ (8 vols., down to 1073, Ravensb., 1824 ff.) of =Locherer= reminds one of Schröckh’s work in other respects than that of its voluminousness. A decidedly ultramontane conception of church history, with frequent flashes of sharp wit, first appears in =Hortig’s= _Handbuch_ (2 vols., Landsh., 1826). =Döllinger= in 1828 publ. as a 3rd vol. of this work a _Handbuch d. Neuern K.G._, which, with a similar tendency, assumed a more earnest tone. This theologian afterwards undertook a thoroughly new and independent work of a wider range, which still remains incomplete (_Gesch. d. chr. K._, I. 1, 2, partially down to A.D. 630, Landsh., 1833-1835). This work with ostensible liberality exposed the notorious fables of Romish historical literature; but, on the other hand, with brilliant ingenuity, endeavoured carefully to preserve intact everything which on ultramontane principles and views might seem capable of even partial justification. His _Lehrbuch_ (I. II. 1., Rgsb., 1836 ff.), reaching down only to the Reformation, treats the matter in a similar way, and confines itself to a simple statement of acknowledged facts. In the meantime =J. A. Möhler=, by his earlier monographical works, and still more decidedly by his far-reaching influence as a Professor at Tübingen, gave rise to an expectation of the opening up of a new epoch in the treatment of Catholic church history. He represented himself as in spiritual sympathy with the forms and means of Protestant science, although in decided opposition and conflict with its contents, maintaining his faithful adhesion to all elements essential to Roman Catholicism. This master, however, was prevented by his early death, † 1838, from issuing his complete history. This was done almost thirty years after his death by Gams, who published the work from his posthumous papers (_K. G._, 3 vols., Rgsb., 1867 ff.), with much ultramontane amendment. It shows all the defects of such patchwork, with here and there, but relatively, very few fruitful cases. Traces of his influence still appear in the spirit which pervades the _Lehrbücher_ proceeding from his school, by Alzog († 1878) and Kraus. The _Universalgeschichte d. K._, by =J. Alzog= (Mainz, 1841; 9th ed., 2 vols., 1872; transl. into Engl., 3 vols., Lond., 1877), was, in its earlier editions, closely associated with the lectures of his teacher, not ashamed even to draw from Hase’s fresh-sparkling fountains something at times for his own yet rather parched meadows, but in his later editions he became ever more independent, more thorough in his investigation, more fresh and lively in his exposition, making at the same time a praiseworthy endeavour at moderation and impartiality of judgment, although his adhesion to the Catholic standpoint grows more and more strict till it reaches its culmination in the acceptance of the dogma of Papal Infallibility. The 10th ed. of his work appeared in 1882 under the supervision of Kraus, who contributed much to its correction and completion. The _Lehrbuch_ of =F. Xav. Kraus= of Freiburg (2nd ed., Trier, 1882) is without doubt among all the Roman Catholic handbooks of the present the most solid from a scientific point of view, and while diplomatically reserved and carefully balanced in its expression of opinions, one of the most liberal, and it is distinguished by a clever as well as instructive mode of treatment. On the other hand, the Würzburgian theologian, =J. Hergenröther= (since 1879 Cardinal and Keeper of the Papal Archives at Rome), who represents the normal attitude of implicit trust in the Vatican, has published a _Handbuch_ (2 vols. in 4 parts, Freib., 1876 ff.; 2nd ed., 1879, with a supplement: Sources, Literat., and Foundations). In this work he draws upon the rich stores of his acknowledged scholarship, which, however, often strangely forsakes him in treating of the history of Protestant theology. It is a skilful and instructive exposition, and may very fitly be represented as “a history of the church, yea, of the whole world, viewed through correctly set Romish spectacles.” Far beneath him in scientific importance, but in obstinate ultramontanism far above him, stands the _Lehrbuch_ of =H. Bruck [Brück]= (2nd ed., Mainz, 1877). A far more solid production is presented in the _Dissertatt. selectæ in hist. ecclst._ of Prof. =B. Jungmann= of Louvain, which treat in chronological succession of parties and controversies prominent in church history, especially of the historical development of doctrine, in a thorough manner and with reference to original documents, not without a prepossession in favour of Vaticanism (vols. i.-iii., Ratisb., 1880-1883, reaching down to the end of the 9th cent.). The _Kirchenlexikon_ of Wetzer and Wette (12 vols., Freib., 1847 ff.) gained a prominent place on account of the articles on church history contributed by the most eminent Catholic scholars, conceived for the most part in the scientific spirit of Möhler. The very copious and of its kind admirably executed 2nd ed. by Kaulen (Freib., 1880 ff.), under the auspices of Card. Hergenröther, is conceived in a far more decidedly Papistic-Vatican spirit, which often does not shrink from maintaining and vindicating even the most glaring productions of mediæval superstition, illusion and credulity, as grounded in indubitable historical facts. Much more important is the historical research in the _Hist. Jahrbuch der Görres-Gesellschaft_, edited from 1880 by G. Hüffer, and from 1883 by B. Gramich, which presents itself as “a means of reconciliation for those historians with whom Christ is the middle point of history and the Catholic Church the God-ordained institution for the education of the human race.”--In the French Church the following are the most important productions: the _Hist. de l’égl._ of =Berault-Bercastel= (24 vols., Par., 1778 ff.), which have had many French continuators and also a German translator (24 vols., Vienna, 1784 ff.); the _Hist. ecclst. depuis la création_, etc., of =Baron Henrion=, ed. by Migne (25 vols., Par., 1852 ff.); and the very diffuse compilation, wholly devoted to the glorification of the Papacy and its institutions, _Hist. universelle de l’égl. Cath._ of the Louvain French Abbé Rohrbacher (29 vols., Par., 1842 ff.; of which an English transl. is in course of publication). Finally, the scientifically careful exposition of the Old Catholic =J. Rieks=, _Gesch. d. chr. K. u. d. Papstthums_, Lahr., 1882, though in some respects onesided, may be mentioned as deserving of notice for its general impartiality and love of the truth.

HISTORY OF THE PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY.

The pre-Christian World preparing the way of the Christian Church.

§ 6. THE STANDPOINT OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY.

The middle point of the epochs and developments of the human race is the incarnation of God in Christ. With it begins, upon it rests, the fulness of the time (Gal. iv. 4), and toward it the whole pre-Christian history is directed as anticipatory or progressive. This preparation has its beginning in the very cradle of humanity, and is soon parted in the two directions of Heathenism and Judaism. In the former case we have the development of merely human powers and capacities; in the latter case this development is carried on by continuous divine revelation. Both courses of development, distinguished not only by the means, but also by the task undertaken and the end aimed at, run alongside of one another, until in the fulness of the time they are united in Christianity and contribute thereto the fruits and results of what was essential and characteristic in their several separate developments.

§ 7. HEATHENISM.

The primitive race of man, surrounded by rich and luxuriant forms of nature, put this abundance of primeval power in the place of the personal and supramundane God. Surrounded by such an inexhaustible fulness of life and pleasures, man came to look upon nature as more worthy of sacrifice and reverence than a personal God removed far off into supramundane heights. Thus arose heathenism as to its general features: a self-absorption into the depths of the life of nature, a deification of nature, a worshipping of nature (Rom. i. 21 ff.), therefore, the religion of nature, in accordance with which, too, its moral character is determined. Most conspicuously by means of its intellectual culture has heathenism given preliminary aid to the church for the performing of her intellectual task. And even the pagan empire, with its striving after universal dominion, as well as the active commercial intercourse in the old heathen world, contributed in preparing the way of the church.

§ 7.1. =The Religious Character of Heathenism.=--The hidden powers of the life of nature and the soul, not intellectually apprehended in the form of abstract knowledge, but laid hold of in immediate practice, and developed in speculation and mysticism, in natural magic and soothsaying, and applied to all the relations of human life, seemed revelations of the eternal spirit of nature, and, mostly by means of the intervention of prominent personalities and under the influence of various geographical and ethnographical peculiarities, produced manifold systems of the religion of nature. Common to all, and deeply rooted in the nature of heathenism, is the distinction between the _esoteric_ religion of the priests, and the _exoteric_ religion of the people. The former is essentially a speculative ideal pantheism; the latter is for the most part a mythical and ceremonial polytheism. The religious development of heathenism has nevertheless been by no means stripped of all elements of truth. Apart from casual remnants of the primitive divine revelation, which, variously contorted on their transmission through heathen channels, may lie at the foundation or be inwrought into its religious systems, the hothouse-like development of the religion of nature has anticipated many a religious truth which, in the way of divine revelation, could only slowly and at a late period come to maturity, but has perverted and distorted it to such a degree that it was little better than a caricature. To this class belong, for example, the pantheistic theories of the Trinity and the Incarnation, the dualistic acknowledgment of the reality of evil, etc. To this also especially belongs the offering of human victims which has been practised in all religions of nature without exception,--a terrible and to some extent prophetic cry of agony from God-forsaken men, which is first toned down on Golgotha into hymns of joy and thanksgiving. Witness is given to the power and energy, with which the religions of nature in the time of their bloom took possession of and ruled over the minds and emotions of men, by the otherwise unexampled sacrifices and self-inflictions, such as hecatombs, offerings of children, mutilation, prostitution, etc., to which its votaries submitted, and not less the almost irresistible charm which it exercised again and again upon the people of Israel during the whole course of their earlier history. It also follows from this that the religion of heathenism does not consist in naked lies and pure illusions. There are elements of truth in the lies, which gave this power to the religion of nature. There are anticipations of redemption, though these were demoniacally perverted, which imparted to it this charm. There are mysterious phenomena of natural magic and soothsaying which seemed to establish their divine character. But the worship of nature had the fate of all unnatural, precocious development. The truth was soon swallowed up by the lies, the power of development and life, of which more than could possibly be given was demanded, was soon consumed and used up. The blossoms fell before the fruit had set. Mysteries and oracles, magic and soothsaying, became empty forms, or organs of intentional fraud and common roguery. And so it came to pass that one harauspex could not look upon another without laughing. Unbelief mocked everything, superstition assumed its most absurd and utterly senseless forms, and religions of an irrational mongrel type sought in vain to quicken again a nerveless and soulless heathenism.

§ 7.2. =The Moral Character of Heathenism.=--Religious character and moral character go always hand in hand. Thus, too, the moral life among heathen peoples was earnest, powerful, and true, or lax, defective, and perverse, in the same proportion as was the religious life of that same period. The moral faults of heathenism flow from its religious faults. It was a religion of the present, to whose gods therefore were also unhesitatingly ascribed all the imperfections of the present. In this way religion lost all its power for raising men out of the mire and dust surrounding them. The partly immoral myths sanctioned or excused by the example of the gods the grossest immoralities. As the type and pattern of reproductive power in the deified life of nature, the gratification of lust was often made the central and main point in divine service. The idea of pure humanity was wholly wanting in heathenism. It could only reach the conception of nationality, and its virtues were only the virtues of citizens. In the East despotism crushed, and in the West fierce national antipathies stifled the acknowledgment of, universal human rights and the common rank of men, so that the foreigner and the slave were not admitted to have any claims. As the worth of man was measured only by his political position, the significance of woman was wholly overlooked and repudiated. Her position was at most only that of the maid of the man, and was degraded to the lowest depths in the East by reason of the prevalent polygamy. Notwithstanding all these great and far-reaching moral faults, heathenism, in the days of its bloom and power, at least in those departments of the moral life, such as politics and municipal matters, in which pantheism and polytheism did not exert their relaxing influence, had still preserved much high moral earnestness and an astonishing energy. But when the religion of their fathers, reduced to emptiness and powerlessness, ceased to be the soul and bearer of those departments of life, all moral power was also withdrawn from them. The moral deterioration reached its culminating point in the dissolute age of the Roman Emperors. In this indescribable state of moral degeneration, the church found heathenism, when it began its spiritual regeneration of the world.

§ 7.3. =The Intellectual Culture in Heathenism.=--The intellectual culture of heathenism has won in regard to the church a twofold significance. On the one hand it affords a pattern, and on the other it presents a warning beacon. Pagan science and art, in so far as they possess a generally culturing influence and present to the Christian church a special type for imitation, are but the ultimate results of the intellectual

## activity which manifested itself among the Greeks and Romans