Notes on early Church history and the moral superiority of the 'barbarians' to the Romans

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Thus far of y^e almost incredible difference of y^e Barbarians & Romans in those principal Christian virtues, Charity, Abstinence from pleasures & Chastity. In y^e next place we will compare them in respect of persecuting, & here if we consider persecution according to y^e notion of \which/ persecutors co|fr|ame to colour over their persecuting, w^ch is that y^e true Church may punish men by y^e temporary sword for error in Faith: it must be granted y^t if y^e Barbarians were y^e true Church then y^e Homousians during Theodosius's reign & afterwards were very great persecutors & y^e Barbarians none at all. But this is but to return their own argument upon those who are so blind & wicked as to {condemn} applaud that for piety in them selves w^ch they condemn \cry out against/ in others for {wickedness}. We are not to measure Persecution by y^e rule of Persecutors. The Magistrate may punish or cut off {illeg} any for their vices or evil actions but not professors of Christianity for erronious opinions, least they pluck up y^e Wheat w^th y^e Tares. The Church may reprove or excommunicate these but she has as little power to authority to guide y^e arm of y^e Magistrate as to handle his sword: for this is but to make her self y^e judge & him but y^e executioner. In short Whatsoever wears sheeps Shee may excommunicate f|b|ut not force into communion. Christ never instituted that a means of her propagation & preservation. If we would have them once with us we <1v> must {not} use y^e proper means to beget faith in them, & not urge them by violence to do what is contrary to their perswasion, seing whatsoever is not of faith is sin.^[1] By violence a Church may increase her numbers but ever allays & debases her self with impure mixtures, force prevailing with none but Hypocrites. And this I take to be y^e chief reason of y^e great wickedness of y^e Romans w^ch ensued Theodosius's reign, his persecution squeezing out y^e cons{cien}cious & filling y^e persecuting church \only/ with y^e Hipocrytical part of y^e Empire. Every Persecutor is a Wolf Matth 10.16, 17, & every Christian that preaches it is one of y^e fals Prophets called Wolfs in sheeps cloathing Math 7.     These are y^e Christians of whom he said Then shall many be offended & shall betray one another & shall hate one another Matth 24. And to all such belongs that reprehension. Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. Luke 9. In short: whatsoever wears sheeps cloathing if it be as ravenous as a wolf it betrays it self by it's ravenousness to be no sheep. The Wolves may worry y^e sheep but Christ never taught y^e sheep to worry y^e wolves. By their ravenousness we are to know them & not to excuse their ravenousness by pretending they are sheep. For 'tis our Saviour's rule speaking of these wolfs, to judge y^e tree by y^e fruit & not y^e fruit by the tree. Matth. 7.

Hence then we have another character of a true Church. For you have already heard how vehement persecutors y^e Homoüsians were in Theodosius's reign & afterwar besides what they did afterwards; but y^e Barbarians were so free from it that Salvian 40 years after their breaking into the <2r> Empire wrote thus of y^e \general/ state of y^e west. Dicit fortè aliquis, non id esse nunc temporis ut pro Christo nos perferamus quæ tunc Apostoli pertulerunt. Verum est. Non enim sunt Principes Pagani, non Tyranni persecutores, non sanguis sanctorum funditur, nec fides supplicijs comprobatur – – – – – et ideo cùm et Principes Christiani sint, & Persecutio nulla sit & religio non inquietetur, qui ad probandum fidem experimentis durioribus non compellimus inferioribus saltem officijs domino plus placere debemus. Salv. lib. 3 De Gub. Dei. This was y^e generall moderation of y^e Babrbarians for y^e first 40 years of their conquests: w^ch was y^e more admirable in that they absteined from pers retaliliating {sic} persecution on those that had so highly provoked them by it. They shewed themselves Christians in absteining from persecuting: It was more for Conquered|r|s not to persecute a conquered people, but not to retaliate persecution on their conquered persecutors was a high instance of Christian Principles.

This is enough to shew the temper of their religion at y^e f their first breaking into y^e Empire: though if we should prosecute it to later times when their religion abated began more & more to decay, we should find them generally less persecutors then reigning Christians used to be in any ages since. The ^a[2] Ostrogoths never persecuted. (Procop. de {illeg} de Bel. Got. l      ) The Visigoths are not accused for it till y^e reign of Evarix & he did no more then to ^b[3] make a law that at y^e death of each of their Priests y^e Church where that Priest officiated, should be taken from them |no successors should be created to their Bishops dying|: w^ch <2v> Law together w^th y^e Persecution ceased w^th his reign. The Vandals I reccon began not to persecute till Hunneric A C. 484. For Geiseric was rather a Tyrant then a persecutor being as cruel to those of his own religion as to others, & making no Law against y^e Homousian Religion as he must have done to raise a national persecution. But whatever y^e later times were when y^e Barbarians began to degenerate & imitate y^e Romans, its enough as I said to shew y^e temper of their Religion while influenced by those Roman Christians whom y^e Theodosian persecution had made fly to them, that at their first Conquests & for 40 years after, besides some time after Salvian wrote they persecuted not at all, & afterwards not so much as y^e Romans: no not y^e Vandals if acquitted from y^e forgeries of y^e Moncks whose custome it has ever been to cry up Malefactors \of their own party/ for Martyrs.

We have seen out of Salvian how much the Barbarians transcended y^e Romans in their duty towards man: let us now see out of y^e same Salvian how much they differed in piety & devotion towards God. Dicit Deus – – –