Carus, Paul

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MISCELLANEOUS.JUDGE WAITE ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.Judge Waite, of Chicago, President of the Secular Union, and well known asa radical thinker, is the author of a thick-volumed and learned book entitled :History of the Christian Religio7i to the Year Tzuo Hundred. The work haslately reached its fifth edition, and deserves the special attention of scholars in sofar as it not only gives the results of the author's investigation, but adduces all themain evidences which he has collected and upon the basis of which he formulateshis opinions. We cannot be expected to enter into details or criticise his views, forit is natural that as to the documentary evidence of church history covering so vasta period as two centuries there should be difference of opinion, and many of themooted points are even beyond the possibility of a final settlement. For instance,Judge Waite speaks in the beginning of his book of the Gospel of Paul, to whichthe Apostle himself alludes in his Epistles (ii. 16-25; 2 Thessalonians ii. 14), andbelieves that Paul had actually written a gospel ; while in our opinion Paul referssimply to the burden of his message, the doctrine of salvation through the death ofthe crucified Saviour.Judge Waite divides the first two centuries of the Christian era into six peri-ods : First, the apostolic age, 30-80, the time of Jesus, Paul, Peter, the Jameses,and other apostles; Secondly, the apostolic fathers, 80-120,—Clement of Rome,Ignatius Polycarp, including such men as Apollonius of Tyana and Simon Magus(we would have placed Simon Magus in the apostolic age as being a contemporaryof Peter). Judge Waite thinks that this second period is the age of miracles, claim-ing that the older documents are comparatively free from the belief in the super-natural. The third period is the age of the Apocryphal gospels, the Protevange-lion, the Gospel of Infancy, Acts of Pilate, etc., 120-130. The fourth period com-prises the time of Marcion, Justin Martyr, and other authors of less importance,from 130-170. Judge Waite insists that so far in all this mass of Christian litera-ture, there is not to be found a single mention of any of the canonical gospels; notone of all the writers down to the fourth period in any work which has been pre-served has mentioned Luke, Mark, John, or Matthew as the author of a gospel.He claims that there is not sufficient evidence that Tatian's Diatessaron was aharmony of the four gospels. Eusebius's testimony as to the gospels is so skilfullythrown together as to create the impression that they existed during the time ofwhich he was writing. But in every instance the assertion is by implicationmerely, and his intent to deceive, our author claims, is manifest.The fifth period (170-185) is the time in which the four gospels received a defi-762 THE OPEN COURT.nite shape. It is the time in which the Christian doctrine became settled and thechurch established as a powerful institution.The sixth period, from 185-200, is characterised by the formation of the Ro-man Catholic hierarchy. Here we have such authors as Irenaeus, Clement ofAlexandria, and Tertullian.With the establishment of the Church a deterioration in its character is notice-able. Says our author;"As from a few bones the scientist can reconstruct the entire anatomy, sofrom these fragments can the historian arrive at the frame-work of the orthodoxreligion of the second century. But the complete and living form of Christianityis wanting." With the exception of the epistle of Clement of Rome, written near the closeof the first century, and a few scattering writings afterward, there is but little inthe fathers of that day to remind one of the teachings of Jesus, or the fervid utter-ances of the apostle to the Gentiles. The fathers of the second century were, withunited energies, engaged in the work of suppressing heresy. Justin Martyr waswriting against the Jews, Tertullian against Marcion, and Irenaeus against all theheretics. This raid against those who differed from the established faith, left butlittle time to cultivate the more kindly Christian graces, and finally culminated inthe establishment of a power which should be competent for the suppression ofheresy by force. The teachings of Paul concerning heresy and his bitter denun-ciation of heretics contributed largely to this result."Another thing that strikes the attention in a comprehensive review of theperiod is the ignorance and superstition, even of the most enlightened and besteducated of the fathers. Their bigotry has been noticed,— their ignorance andsuperstition were no less."With rare exceptions, they were men who utterly despised that learning ofthe heathen which consisted in attempting to ascertain the laws of the materialuniverse. Construing in the narrowest and strictest sense the maxim, that thewisdom of this world is foolishness with God, they confined themselves almost ex-clusively to an exposition of the Jewish scriptures, and of the sayings of Christ,construed in the light of those scriptures ; drawing oftentimes, in the applicationof the prophecies, the most fanciful and whimsical analogies."The subject is so vast that even this thick volume, consisting of over 500pages, merely touches upon a number of problems, without exhausting them.Whatever the value be of the results, the book has one advantage which even theauthor's adversaries ought to concede : the author proceeds like a judge by intro-ducing evidence. His training in the juridical profession redounds to the advantageof the reader, who is thus confronted with a great part of the evidences themselves.The book bristles with quotations from the Church fathers, from Latin and Greekauthors, and condensed statements of such books as the Life of ApoUonius ofTyana, etc., etc. Accordingly, those who do not agree with the author find herethe material collected which they can utilise for their own investigations. Therecan he no doubt that the material has been collected with great diligence and cir-cumspection, and if we consider that the bulk of it was done many years ago, atthe time when the first edition appeared, we may be astonished that the collectionis so well done. The author has upon the whole taken into consideration the re-sults of modern research, which have been more rapid in this field than perhaps inany other line of historical inquiry. There are some exceptions, however; e. g.,we are astonished that Judge Waite nowhere mentions the discovery of the frag-MISCELLANEOUS. 763ments of the Gospel According to St. Peter, which are very important in determin-ing our opinion concerning that lost document.While Judge Waite tries to be as impartial as a historian as he was in his ca-pacity as United States Judge of Utah, we see plainly that the tendency of his bookis to reveal the worthlessness of the ancient Christian writers, their lack of educa-tion as well as their dishonesty.Judge Waite says : "Their credulity was unbounded. They had a sublimedisregard for truth ; not so much from perversity, as from carelessness, and indif-ference to its sacred character. Their unscrupulousness when seeking for argu-ments to enforce their positions, is notorious ; as well as the prevalence amongthem of what are known as pious frauds. Jones, himself a zealous Christian writer,says that Justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Lactantius made use of testi-monies out of forgeries and spurious books, to prove the very foundation of theChristian Revelation ; and it is believed, on good grounds, that Irenaeus was nobetter. This father, while engaged in the introduction of gospels which show thatthe ministry of Christ lasted from one to three years, not longer than three and ahalf, himself declares that it lasted about twenty years, and that he had the tradi-tion from the elders of Asia who had obtained it from John and the other apostles."In conclusion, as the result of this investigation, it may be repeated that noevidence is found of the existence, in the first century, of either of the followingdoctrines : the immaculate conception— the miracles of Christ—his material resur-rection. No one of these doctrines is to be found in the epistles of the New Tes-tament, nor have we been able to find them in any other writings of the first cen-tury." As to the four gospels, in coming to the conclusion that they were not writtenin the first century, we have but recorded the conviction of the more advancedscholars of the present day, irrespective of their religious views in other respects." All that is of any value—all that is in harmony with the immutable laws ofthe universe—all that is in accord with the eternal principles of right and justice,still remains. All else is fast passing away, and is destined to pass away forever."p. c.THE HON. CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY.Though a lawyer by profession, the well-known President of the Word's FairAuxiliary Congresses of 1893, the Hon. C. C. Bonney, is a poet of more than aver-age ability. It was a happy event that when the last vacancy in the Chief Justice-ship of the U. S. Supreme Court was filled. Judge Fuller was preferred to Mr.Bonney, the names of both being presented in the last choice ; for Mr. Bonneywas thus spared for other work, not less important than even the paramount in-fluence which is wielded by the members of the highest court in the country, viz.,the realisation of his life's dream—of a great scheme of World's Congresses, cul-minating in the marvellous achievement of a successful Religious Parliament. Mr.Bonney partakes of the nature of a prophet, and a prophet is naturally possessed ofa poetic vein. We publish in the present number of The Opeji Court a poem byMr. Bonney which characterises the high strain of his Muse and gives expressionto the noble sentiments which ensoul his patriotism. Some of the lines, especiallythose in the end, summarising the whole, breathe the true Miltonian spirit. It isto be expected that in some of the passages in the middle of the poem the reader isapt to flag ; but even they are not without significance, for they convey the author's

Judge Waite on the Early History of Christianity

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Judge Waite on the Early History of Christianity

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