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Article ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY ILLUSTRATED BY TOPOG... ← Page 5 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anglo-Saxon History Illustrated By Topog...
the popular deities . The- more ancient philosophers , when they had reached the point of treating the popular deities as phantoms unworthy of true worship , were not necessarily led to the admission of one Supreme Being , but much more readily to pantheism , or to speculative atheism . The Wedenite had a ritual as well as a
philosophical refuge for his neglect of the popular pantheon . It was taught distinctly that the gods of Walhall were doomed to prostration in the fulness of time ; and there was a distinct recognition of the supremacy of the one Supreme Being , Allfather , the Father of all , before whom the gods of men were as nought . This , not merely speculative but practical esoteric , monotheism made the English and Scandinavians tolerant of the exoteric religions of the heathens , whether
the pantheons of the Slavonians and Pins , the picture worship of the Christian Greeks , the Christianity of Rome already tinged with idolatry , or the purer Christianity of the British and Irish churches . There was , however , no more discrimination in this indifference than is now exercised by a Turk ; and the elevated morality of the Culdee monk was no more regarded than Perune and the idols of the East .
Thus the stipulations for Christian worship made on behalf of the lady Bertha were readily conceded by Ethelbert ; and from the earliest periods of the Waring sway the Greek Christians were tolerated . The Welsh and Irish bishops made no impression on the
English , who regarded them as heathens ; but the lady Bertha , as of Germanic blood , could gain a hearing for Christianity , which , thus introduced in one commonwealth , was propagated through all , as much by the indifference of the higher classes of the English as by the active zeal of the Roman , missionaries . The intercourse between the Roman bishops and the Celtic bishops , notwithstanding bitter sectarian differences , led to a recognition of mutual Christianity . The English population , gradually made Christian by conviction or
by force , was subjected to the , vigilant supervision of the clergy . Although at first the changes were as cautious as those of Jesuit missionaries in Asia , the chain was gradually tightened . Sunday was not superseded by the Dies Dominicalis , Easter was the name for the Pascal celebration , and Yule for the Nativity ; the doctrine of
the immortality of the soul required no new teaching—a future state of rewards and punishments was recognized in Walhall and in Hell ; and with a people unsettled in their own convictions , careless in their ritual , and unlettered , the Roman missionary at first earned respect , then acquiescence , and , in due time , power . Men without worldly cravings , self-sacrificing , raised above the
sensual herd by disinterestedness and purity of conduct , commanding esteem not merely by their mental and literary endowments but by their practical teaching of many noble and useful artsthese Boman monks reduced England to their dominion , and were rewarded with the veneration and attributes of sanctity . As they had no longer philosophical athelings , speculative priests ; andimagina-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anglo-Saxon History Illustrated By Topog...
the popular deities . The- more ancient philosophers , when they had reached the point of treating the popular deities as phantoms unworthy of true worship , were not necessarily led to the admission of one Supreme Being , but much more readily to pantheism , or to speculative atheism . The Wedenite had a ritual as well as a
philosophical refuge for his neglect of the popular pantheon . It was taught distinctly that the gods of Walhall were doomed to prostration in the fulness of time ; and there was a distinct recognition of the supremacy of the one Supreme Being , Allfather , the Father of all , before whom the gods of men were as nought . This , not merely speculative but practical esoteric , monotheism made the English and Scandinavians tolerant of the exoteric religions of the heathens , whether
the pantheons of the Slavonians and Pins , the picture worship of the Christian Greeks , the Christianity of Rome already tinged with idolatry , or the purer Christianity of the British and Irish churches . There was , however , no more discrimination in this indifference than is now exercised by a Turk ; and the elevated morality of the Culdee monk was no more regarded than Perune and the idols of the East .
Thus the stipulations for Christian worship made on behalf of the lady Bertha were readily conceded by Ethelbert ; and from the earliest periods of the Waring sway the Greek Christians were tolerated . The Welsh and Irish bishops made no impression on the
English , who regarded them as heathens ; but the lady Bertha , as of Germanic blood , could gain a hearing for Christianity , which , thus introduced in one commonwealth , was propagated through all , as much by the indifference of the higher classes of the English as by the active zeal of the Roman , missionaries . The intercourse between the Roman bishops and the Celtic bishops , notwithstanding bitter sectarian differences , led to a recognition of mutual Christianity . The English population , gradually made Christian by conviction or
by force , was subjected to the , vigilant supervision of the clergy . Although at first the changes were as cautious as those of Jesuit missionaries in Asia , the chain was gradually tightened . Sunday was not superseded by the Dies Dominicalis , Easter was the name for the Pascal celebration , and Yule for the Nativity ; the doctrine of
the immortality of the soul required no new teaching—a future state of rewards and punishments was recognized in Walhall and in Hell ; and with a people unsettled in their own convictions , careless in their ritual , and unlettered , the Roman missionary at first earned respect , then acquiescence , and , in due time , power . Men without worldly cravings , self-sacrificing , raised above the
sensual herd by disinterestedness and purity of conduct , commanding esteem not merely by their mental and literary endowments but by their practical teaching of many noble and useful artsthese Boman monks reduced England to their dominion , and were rewarded with the veneration and attributes of sanctity . As they had no longer philosophical athelings , speculative priests ; andimagina-