Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/130

 110 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAPTER LIV Origin and Doctrine of Ihe Paulicians — Their Persecution by the Greek Emperors — Revolt in Armenia, tijr. — Transplanlaiion into Thrace — Propagation in the West — The Seeds, Character, and Consequences, oj' the Reformation Supine super- In the profession of Christianity, the variety of national char- Greeifciiurch uctcrs may be clearly distinguished. The natives of Syria and Egypt abandoned their lives to lazy and contemplative devotion ; Rome again aspired to the dominion of the world ; and the wit of the lively and loquacious Greeks was consumed in the dis- putes of metaphysical theology. The incomprehensible mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation, instead of commanding their silent submission, were agitated in vehement and subtle con- troversies, which enlarged their faith, at the expense, perhaps, of their charity and reason. From the council of Nice to the end of the seventh century, the peace and unity of the church was invaded by these spiritual wars ; and so deeply did they affect the decline and fall of the empire that the historian has too often been compelled to attend the synods, to explore the creeds, and to enumerate the sects, of this busy period of ecclesi- astical annals. From the beginning of the eighth century to the last ages of the Byzantine empire the sound of controversy was seldom heard ; curiosity Avas exhausted, zeal was fatigued, and, in the decrees of six councils, the articles of the Catholic faith had been irrevocably defined. The spirit-of dispute, how- ever vain and pernicious, requires some energy and exercise of the mental faculties ; and the prostrate Greeks were content to fast, to pray, and to believe, in blind obedience to the patriarch and his clergy. During a long dream of superstition, the Virgin and the Saints, their visions and miracles, their relics and images, were preached by the monks and worshipped by the people ; and the appellation of people might be extended without in- justice to the first ranks of civil society. At an unseasonable moment the Isauri.i.n emperors attempted somewhat rudely to