It is a dull and obtuse mind, that must divide in order to
distinguish; but it is a still worse, that distinguishes in order to
divide. In the former, we may contemplate the source of superstition
and idolatry;[28] in the latter, of schism, heresy,[29] and a
seditious and sectarian spirit.[30]
[28] Το Νοητον διηρηκασιν εις πολλων Θεων Ιδιοτητας.--_Damasc. de
Myst. Egypt_; that is, They _divided_ the intelligible into many and
several individualities.
[29] From αἱρεσις. Though well aware of its formal and apparent
derivation from _haireo_, I am inclined to refer both words to _airo_,
as the primitive term, containing the primary visual image, and
therefore should explain _hæresis_, as a wilful raising into public
notice, an uplifting (for display) of any particular opinion differing
from the established belief of the church at large, and making it a
ground of schism, that is, division.
[30] I mean these words in their large and philosophic sense in
relation to the _spirit_, or originating temper and tendency, and not
to any one mode under which, or to any one class, in or by which it
may be displayed. A seditious spirit may (it is possible, though not
probable) exist in the council-chamber of a palace as strongly as in a
mob in Palace-Yard; and a sectarian spirit in a cathedral, no less
than in a conventicle.