A Church History
Format: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781443260251
Paperback|9781443260251
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: ContentsCHAPTER III. textit{{On the Preparations for Christianitytextit{{Religious, Philosophical, Intellectual, Moral, and Social. We have been considering the providential preparations for Christianity in the history of the four great Monarchies which preceded it. But while their acts were being exhibited in the great theatre of the world, many powers were at work in the inner life of men and nations which were ministerial to the same end. When Christianity appeared, the vital energies of the old religions of Greece and Rome were well-nigh effete, and had ceased to exercise their influence on the higher and more intelligent classes of Society. Greek literature and philosophy undermined the faith of Rome, and tended to diffuse scepticism. The philosophical systems introduced from Greece had little influence on the multitude, and did nothing to improve their moral practice. And even among their own professors, they broke down under the trials of life. Stoicism was indeed the antithesis of Epicureanism, in that it was an attempt to reconcile philosophy with religion, whereas Epicureanism divorced the one from the other. But it was equally fatal to Belief with Epicureanism. Epicurus banished the gods out of the world; the Stoics identified the deity C 18 textit{{MORAL FAILURE OF PHILOSOPHY. with the world, and shut him up there as in a prison, and bound him with the chains of fatalism. Jupiter est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris, said Lucan's Cato (i. 580).' The Stoic Seneca, who ridiculed the ignoble rabble of gods,2 affirmed that his wise man was only inferior to Jupiter himself, the king of gods, in duration of existence. Such was his proud boast (Epist. 73). But how little effect had this upon practice. How pitiful are the moanings of Seneca in his exile in Corsica. What a con...
| ISBN-13 | 9781443260251 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 1443260258 |
| Weight | 1.12 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.77 In |
| List Price | $14.77 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 344 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-07-01 |
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