Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/79

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. GI umph of the infidel, should cease as soon as they recol- CHAP, lect not only by whom, but likewise to ivhom, the divine ^^" revelation was given. The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the histoi'ian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption, which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beinirs. Our curiosity is naturally prompted to enquire by pive causes what means the christian faith obtained so remarkable '^^ *^^^ a victory over the established religions of the earth. Christianity. To this enquiry, an obvious but satisfactory answer may be returned ; that it was owing to the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling provi- dence of its great Author. But as truth and reason seldom find so favourable a reception in the world, and as the wisdom of providence frequently condescends to use the passions of the human heart, and the general circumstances of mankind, as instruments to execute its purpose ; we may still be permitted, though with becoming submission, to ask, not indeed what were the first, but what were the secondary causes of the rapid growth of the christian church. It will, perhaps, ap- pear, that it was most efl^ectually favoured and assisted by the five following causes: I. The inflexible, and, if we may use the expression, the intolerant zeal of the christians, dei'ived, it is true, from the Jewish religion, br.t purified from the narrow and unsocial spirit, which, instead of inviting, had deterred the gentiles from em- bracing the law of JNIoses. II. The doctrine of a fu- ture hfe, improved by every additional circumstance which could give weight and efiricacy to that important truth. III. The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive church. IV. The pure and austere morals of the christians. V. The union and discipline of the christian republic, which gradually formed an inde- pendent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman empire.