A Treatise on Relics
By
John Calvin
Translated from the French Original
With An
Introductory Dissertation
On the Miraculous Images, as Well as Other Superstitions, of the Roman
Catholic and Russo-Greek Churches.
By the Late
Count Valerian Krasinski,
Author of “The Religious History of the Slavonic Nations,” etc.
Second Edition.
Edinburgh:
Johnstone, Hunter & Co.
1870
CONTENTS
Preface.
Preface To The Second Edition.
Introductory Dissertation.
Chapter I. Origin Of The Worship Of Relics And Images In The Christian
Church.
Chapter II. Compromise Of The Church With Paganism.
Chapter III. Position Of The First Christian Emperors Towards Paganism,
And Their Policy In This Respect.
Chapter IV. Infection Of The Christian Church By Pagan Ideas And
Practices During The Fourth And Fifth Centuries.
Chapter V. Reaction Against The Worship Of Images And Other
Superstitious Practices By The Iconoclast Emperors Of The East.
Chapter VI. Origin And Development Of The Pious Legends, Or Lives Of
Saints, During The Middle Ages.
Chapter VII. Analysis Of The Pagan Rites And Practices Which Have Been
Retained By The Roman Catholic As Well As The Græco-Russian Church.
Chapter VIII. Image-Worship And Other Superstitious Practices Of The
Graeco-Russian Church.
Calvin’s Treatise On Relics, With Notes By The Translator.
Postscript.
List Of Works Published By Johnstone, Hunter, & Co., Edinburgh.
Footnotes
PREFACE.
The Treatise on Relics by the great Reformer of Geneva is not so generally
known as it deserves, though at the time of its publication it enjoyed a
considerable popularity.(1) The probable reason of this is: the absurdity
of the relics described in the Treatise has since the Reformation
gradually become so obvious, that their exhibitors make as little noise as
possible about their miraculous wares, whose virtues are no longer
believed except by the most ignorant part of the population of countries
wherein the education of the inferior classes is neglected. And, indeed,
not only Protestants, but many enlightened Roman Catholics believed that
all the miracles of relics, images, and other superstitions with which
Christianity were infected during the times of mediæval ignorance would be
soon, by the progress of knowledge, consigned for ever to the oblivion of
the dark ages, and only recorded in the history of the aberrations of the
human mind, together with the superstitions of ancient Egypt, Greece, and
Rome. Unfortunately these hopes have not been realised, and are still
remaining amongst the _pia desideria_. The Roman Catholic reaction, which
commenced about half a century ago by works of a philosophical nature,
adapted to the wants of the most intellectual classes of society, has,
emboldened by success, gradually assumed a more and more material
tendency, and at length has begun to manifest itself by such results as
the exhibition of the holy coat at Treves, which produced a great noise
over all Germany,(2) the apparition of the Virgin at La Salette, the
winking Madonna of Rimini, and, what is perhaps more important than all,
the solemn installation of the relics of St Theodosia at Amiens; whilst
works of a description similar to the Life of St Francis of Assisi, by M.
Chavin de Malan, and the Lives of the English Saints, which I have
mentioned on pp. 113 and 115 of my Introduction are produced by writers of
considerable talent and learning. These are significant facts, and prove,
at all events, that in spite of the progress of intellect and knowledge,
which is the boast of our century, we seem to be fast returning to a state
of things similar to the time when Calvin wrote his Treatise. I therefore
believe that its reproduction in a new English translation will not be out
of date.
On the other side, the politico-religious system of aggression followed by
Russia has now taken such a rapid development, that the dangers which
threaten the liberties and civilization of Europe from that quarter have
become more imminent than those which may be apprehended from the Roman
Catholic reaction. Fortunately England and France have taken up arms
against the impious crusade proclaimed by the Imperial Pope of Russia. I
think that the term _impious_, which I am advisedly using on this
occasion, is by no means exaggerated; because, how can we otherwise
designate the proceedings adopted by the Czar for exciting the religious
fanaticism of the Russians, as, for instance, the letter of the Archbishop
of Georgia, addressed to that of Moscow, and published in the official
Gazette of St Petersburg, stating, on the authority of the Russian
General, Prince Bagration Mukhranski, that during an engagement between
the Russians and the Turks, which recently took place in Asia, the Blessed
Virgin appeared in the air and frightened the Turks to such a degree that
they took to flight!(3) I have developed this subject in the last chapter
of my Introduction, in order to show my readers the religious condition of
the Russian people, because I think that without it a knowledge of the
policy now followed by their Government cannot be well understood, or its
consequences fully appreciated.
EDINBURGH, _May 1854_.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The valuable Dissertation which forms such a fitting commentary upon John
Calvin’s Treatise on Relics, was written by the late lamented author on
the eve of the Crimean War, in 1854. It has been out of print for several
years, but in these days of Popish assumption and claims to Infallibility,
it has been thought that a new edition would prove acceptable, and be
found useful in directing attention to the mummeries and absurdities
engrafted on the True Christian Faith, by the false and corrupt Church of
Rome.
EDINBURGH, _January 1870_.
INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.
Chapter I. Origin Of The Worship Of Relics And Images In The Christian
Church.
Hero-worship is innate to human nature, and it is founded on some of our
noblest feelings,—gratitude, love, and admiration.—but which, like all
other feelings, when uncontrolled by principle and reason, may easily
degenerate into the wildest exaggerations, and lead to most dangerous
consequences. It was by such an exaggeration of these noble feelings that
Paganism filled the Olympus with gods and demigods,—elevating to this rank
men who have often deserved the gratitude of their fellow-creatures, by
some signal services rendered to the community, or their admiration, by
having performed some deeds which required a more than usual degree of
mental and physical powers. The same cause obtained for the Christian
martyrs the gratitude and admiration of their fellow-Christians, and
finally converted them into a kind of demigods. This was more particularly
the case when the church began to be corrupted by her compromise with
Paganism, which having been baptized without being converted, rapidly
introduced into the Christian church, not only many of its rites and
ceremonies, but even its polytheism, with this difference, that the
divinities of Greece and Rome were replaced by Christian saints, many of
whom received the offices of their Pagan predecessors.(4) The church in
the beginning tolerated these abuses, as a temporary evil, but was
afterwards unable to remove them; and they became so strong, particularly
during the prevailing ignorance of the middle ages, that the church ended
by legalising, through her decrees, that at which she did nothing but wink
at first. I shall endeavour to give my readers a rapid sketch of the rise,
progress, and final establishment of the Pagan practices which not only
continue to prevail in the Western as well as in the Eastern church, but
have been of late, notwithstanding the boasted progress of intellect in
our days, manifested in as bold as successful a manner.
Nothing, indeed, can be more deserving of our admiration than the conduct
of the Christian martyrs, who cheerfully submitted to an ignominious
death, inflicted by the most atrocious torments, rather than deny their
faith even by the mere performance of an apparently insignificant rite of
Paganism. Their persecutors were often affected by seeing examples of an
heroic fortitude, such as they admired in a Scævola or a Regulus,
displayed not only by men, but by women, and even children, and became
converted to a faith which could inspire its confessors with such a
devotion to its tenets. It has been justly said that the blood of the
martyrs was the glory and the seed of the church, because the constancy of
her confessors has, perhaps, given her more converts than the eloquence
and learning of her doctors. It was, therefore, very natural that the
memory of those noble champions of Christianity should be held in great
veneration by their brethren in the faith. The bodies of the martyrs, or
their remnants, were always, whenever it was possible, purchased from
their judges or executioners, and decently buried by the Christians. The
day on which the martyr had suffered was generally marked in the registers
of his church, in order to commemorate this glorious event on its
anniversaries. These commemorations usually consisted in the eulogy of the
martyr, delivered in an assembly of the church, for the edification of the
faithful, the strengthening of the weak, and the stimulating of the
lukewarm, by setting before them the noble example of the above-mentioned
martyr. It was very natural that the objects of the commemoration received
on such an occasion the greatest praises, not unfrequently expressed in
the most exaggerated terms, but there was no question about invoking the
aid or intercession of the confessors whose example was thus held out for
the imitation of the church.
We know from the Acts that neither St Stephen, the first Christian martyr,
nor St James, who was killed by Herod, were invoked in any manner by the
apostolic church, because, had this been the case, the inspired writer of
this first record of the ancient church would not have omitted such an
important circumstance, having mentioned facts of much lesser consequence.
Had such a practice been in conformity with the apostolic doctrine, it
would have certainly been brought forward in the epistles of St Paul, or
in those of other apostles. There is also sufficient evidence that the
fathers of the primitive church knew nothing of the invocation, or any
other kind of worship rendered to departed saints. The limits of this
essay allow me not to adduce evidences of this fact, which may be
abundantly drawn from the writings of those fathers, and I shall content
myself with the following few but conclusive instances of this kind.
St Clement, bishop of Rome, who is supposed to have been instituted by St
Paul, and to be the same of whom he speaks in his Epistle to the
Philippians iv. 3, addressed a letter to the Corinthians on account of
certain dissensions by which their church was disturbed. He recommends to
them, with great praises, the Epistles of St Paul, who had suffered
martyrdom under Nero, but he does not say a word about invoking the aid or
intercession of the martyr, who was the founder of their church, and which
would have been most suitable on that occasion, if such a practice had
already been admitted by the Christians of his time. On the contrary, he
prays God for them, “_because it is He who gives to the soul that invokes
Him, faith, grace, peace, patience, and wisdom_.” St Polycarp, bishop of
Smyrna, who lived in the second century, addressed a letter to the
Philippians, but he says nothing in it to recommend the invocation of St
Paul, who was the founder of their church, and as such would have been
considered as its patron saint, had the worship of the saints been at that
time already introduced amongst the Christians. The most important and
positive proof that the primitive Christians, not only did not pay any
adoration to the martyrs, but decidedly rejected it, is the epistle which
was issued by the church of Smyrna after the martyrdom of its bishop, whom
I have just mentioned. It states that the Pagans had, at the instigation
of the Jews, closely watched the Christians, imagining that they would
endeavour to carry away the ashes of Polycarp in order to worship him
after his death, because these idolaters knew not that the Christians
cannot abandon Jesus Christ, _or worship any one else_. “_We worship_,”
says the same document, “_Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God_; but with
regard to the martyrs, the disciples of Christ and imitators of his
virtues, _we love them, as they deserve it, on account of the
unconquerable love which they had for their Master and King; and would to
God that we should become their disciples and partakers of their zeal_.”
I could multiply proofs of this kind without end, but I shall only
observe, that even in the fourth century the orthodox Christians
considered the worship of every created being as idolatry, because the
opponents of the Arians, who considered Jesus Christ as created and not
co-essential with God the Father, employed the following argument to
combat this dogma:—“If you consider Jesus Christ a created being, you
commit idolatry by worshipping him.”
Admiration is, however, akin to adoration, and it was no wonder that those
whose memory was constantly praised, and frequently in the most
exaggerated terms, gradually began to be considered as something more than
simple mortals, and treated accordingly. It was also very natural that
various objects which had belonged to the martyrs were carefully preserved
as interesting mementoes, since it is continually done with persons who
have acquired some kind of celebrity, and that this should be the case
with their bodies, which have often been embalmed. It is, however,
impossible, as Calvin has justly observed,(5) to preserve such objects
without honouring them in a certain manner, and this must soon degenerate
into adoration. This was the origin of the worship of relics, which went
on increasing in the same ratio as the purity of Christian doctrines was
giving way to the superstitions of Paganism.
The worship of images is intimately connected with that of the saints.
They were rejected by the primitive Christians; but St Irenæus, who lived
in the second century, relates that there was a sect of heretics, the
Carpocratians, who worshipped, in the manner of Pagans, different images
representing Jesus Christ, St Paul, and others. The Gnostics had also
images; but the church rejected their use in a positive manner, and a
Christian writer of the third century, Minutius Felix, says that “the
Pagans reproached the Christians for having neither temples nor
simulachres;” and I could quote many other evidences that the primitive
Christians entertained a great horror against every kind of images,
considering them as the work of demons.
It appears, however, that the use of pictures was creeping into the church
already in the third century, because the council of Elvira in Spain, held
in 305, especially forbids to have any picture in the Christian churches.
These pictures were generally representations of some events, either of
the New or of the Old Testament, and their object was to instruct the
common and illiterate people in sacred history, whilst others were
emblems, representing some ideas connected with the doctrines of
Christianity. It was certainly a powerful means of producing an impression
upon the senses and the imagination of the vulgar, who believe without
reasoning, and admit without reflection; it was also the most easy way of
converting rude and ignorant nations, because, looking constantly on the
representations of some fact, people usually end by believing it. This
iconographic teaching was, therefore, recommended by the rulers of the
church, as being useful to the ignorant, who had only the understanding of
eyes, and could not read writings.(6) Such a practice was, however,
fraught with the greatest danger, as experience has but too much proved.
It was replacing intellect by sight.(7) Instead of elevating man towards
God, it was bringing down the Deity to the level of his finite intellect,
and it could not but powerfully contribute to the rapid spread of a pagan
anthropomorphism in the church.
There was also another cause which seems to have greatly contributed to
the propagation of the abovementioned anthropomorphism amongst the
Christians, namely, the contemplative life of the hermits, particularly of
those who inhabited the burning deserts of Egypt. It has been observed of
these monks, by Zimmerman, in his celebrated work on Solitude, that “men
of extraordinary characters, and actuated by strange and uncommon
passions, have shrunk from the pleasures of the world into joyless gloom
and desolation. In savage and dreary deserts they have lived a solitary
and destitute life, subjecting themselves to voluntary self-denials and
mortifications almost incredible; sometimes exposed in nakedness to the
chilling blasts of the winter cold, or the scorching breath of summer’s
heat, till their brains, distempered by the joint operation of tortured
senses and overstrained imagination, swarmed with the wildest and most
frantic visions.”(8) The same writer relates, on the authority of
Sulpicius Severus, that an individual had been roving about Mount Sinai
nearly during fifty years, entirely naked, and avoiding all intercourse
with men. Once, however, being inquired about the motives of his strange
conduct, he answered, that, “enjoying as he did the society of seraphim
and cherubim, he felt aversion to intercourse with men.”(9)
Many of these enthusiasts imagined, in their hallucinations, they had a
direct intercourse with God himself, who, as well as the subordinate
spirits, appeared to them in a human shape. The monks of Egypt were,
indeed, the most zealous defenders of the corporeality of God. They
violently hated Origines for his maintaining that He was spiritual.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, opposed this error; but the monks
assembled in great force, with the intention of murdering him; and he
escaped this danger by addressing them in the words which Jacob used to
Esau, “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God.”—(Gen.
xxxiii 10.) This compliment, which could be interpreted as an
acknowledgment of a corporeal God, appeased the wrath of the monks, but
they compelled Theophilus to anathematise the writings of Origines.
The following anecdote is characteristic of the strong tendency of human
nature towards anthropomorphism. An old monk, called Serapion, having been
convinced by the arguments of a friend that it was an error to believe God
corporeal, exclaimed, weeping, “Alas, my God was taken from me, and I do
not know whom I am now worshipping!”(10) I shall have, in the course of
this essay, opportunities to show that the monks have always been the most
zealous and efficient promoters of image-worship.
The following rapid sketch of the introduction of image-worship into the
Christian church, and of its consequences, has been drawn by a French
living writer, whose religious views I do not share, but whose profound
erudition, fairness, and sincerity, are deserving of the greatest praise:—
“The aversion of the first Christians to the images, inspired by the Pagan
simulachres, made room, during the centuries which followed the period of
the persecutions, to a feeling of an entirely different kind, and the
images gradually gained their favour. Reappearing at the end of the fourth
and during the course of the fifth centuries, simply as emblems, they soon
became images, in the true acceptation of this word; and the respect which
was entertained by the Christians for the persons and ideas represented by
those images, was afterwards converted into a real worship.
Representations of the sufferings which the Christians had endured for the
sake of their religion, were at first exhibited to the people in order to
stimulate by such a sight the faith of the masses, always lukewarm and
indifferent. With regard to the images of divine persons of entirely
immaterial beings, it must be remarked, that they did not originate from
the most spiritualised and pure doctrines of the Christian society, but
were rejected by the severe orthodoxy of the primitive church. These
simulachres appear to have been spread at first by the Gnostics,—_i.e._,
by those Christian sects which adopted the most of the beliefs of Persia
and India. Thus it was a Christianity which was not purified by its
contact with the school of Plato,—a Christianity which entirely rejected
the Mosaic tradition, in order to attach itself to the most strange and
attractive myths of Persia and India,—that gave birth to the images. And
it was a return to the spiritualism of the first ages, and a revival of
the spirit of aversion to what has a tendency of lowering Divinity to the
narrow proportions of a human creature, that produced war against those
images. But the manners and the beliefs had been changed. Whole nations
had received Christianity, when it was already escorted by that idolatrous
train of carved and painted images. Only those populations amongst whom
the ancient traditions were preserved could favour this reaction. The
clergy were, moreover, interested in maintaining one of their most
powerful means of teaching. The long and persevering efforts of the
Iconoclasts proved therefore ineffective; and the Waldenses were not more
fortunate. Wickliffe, the Hussites, and Carlostad, attacked the images;
but it was reserved only to the Calvinists to establish in some parts of
Europe the triumph of the ideas of the Iconoclasts. The shock was
terrible. The Religionists frequently committed acts of a fanatical and
senseless vandalism; and art had many losses to deplore. But the
idolatrous tendency was struck at its very root; and Catholicism itself
found, after the struggle, more purity and idealism in its own
worship.(11) The Reformed perceived afterwards the exaggeration of their
principles; and though they continued to defend the entrance of their
temples to the simulachres, condemned by God on Mount Sinai, they spared
those which had been bequeathed by the less severe and more material faith
of their fathers.”(12)
The principal cause of the corruption of the Christian church, by the
introduction of the Pagan ideas and practices alluded to above, was,
however, chiefly the lamentable policy of compromise with Paganism which
that church adopted soon after her sudden triumph by the conversion of
Constantine. The object of this policy was to lead into her pale the
Pagans as rapidly as possible; and, therefore, instead of making them
enter by the strait gate, she widened it in such a manner, that the rush
of Paganism had almost driven Christianity out of her pale. The example of
the emperors, who, professing Christianity, were, or considered themselves
to be, obliged, by the necessities of their position, to act on some
occasions as Pagans, may have been not without influence on the church. I
shall endeavour to develop this important subject in the following
chapters; and, in order to remove every suspicion of partiality, I shall
do it almost entirely on the authority of an eminent Roman Catholic writer
of our day.