goddess Doorga, at Calcutta, in 1806. After describing the greatness of
the assembly, the profusion of the offerings, and the many strange
peculiarities of the worship, he observes, “The whole produced on my mind
sensations of the greatest honor. The dress of the singers, their indecent
gestures, the abominable nature of the songs, the horrid din of their
miserable drum, the lateness of the hour, the darkness of the place, with
the reflection that I was standing in an idol temple, and that this
immense multitude of rational and immortal creatures, capable of superior
joys, were, in the very act of worship, perpetrating a crime of high
treason against the God of heaven, while they themselves believed they
were performing an act of merit,—excited ideas and feelings in my mind
which time can never obliterate.”
The vast empire of China, misnamed the _Celestial Empire_, is given up to
the vilest idolatry. Idols are encountered at every step, not merely in
the temples, but in the houses, and even in the vessels, where a part of
the forecastle is consecrated to them, as the most honorable place. The
idol is dressed and adorned with a splendor proportioned to the wealth of
the captain of the vessel, and daily receives an offering, composed of
flesh and fruits, together with the smoke of perfumes. Besides this
regular service, the captain makes a solemn sacrifice to his wooden deity,
on all important occasions; as, for instance, in passing from one river
into another, or in time of tempest, or when the sails flap idly in a
calm. The Chinese have likewise a practice of deifying their dead
ancestors, and of prostrating themselves before the monumental tablets
which are erected to their memory. Yet they appear to have no real
veneration for any of their idols; nor do they hesitate to profane the
temples, by smoking their pipes, and taking refreshments, and even by
gambling, within the consecrated precincts. The priests are shameless
impostors. They practise the mountebank sciences of astrology, divination,
necromancy, and animal magnetism, and keep for sale a liquid, which, they
pretend, will confer immortality on those who drink it.
Tortures of various kinds, burning, and burying alive, are considered
religious duties among the pagans.
The festival of Juggernaut is annually held on the sea-coast of Orissa,
where there is a celebrated temple, and an idol of the god. The idol is a
carved block of wood, with a frightful visage, painted black, and a
distended mouth of a bloody color. He is dressed in gorgeous apparel, and
his appellation is one of the numerous names of Vishnu, the preserving
power of the universe, according to the theology of the Bramins. On
festival days, the throne of the idol is placed upon a stupendous movable
tower, about sixty feet in height, resting on wheels, which indent the
ground deeply, as they turn slowly under the ponderous machine. He is
accompanied by two other idols, his brother Balaram, and his sister
Shubudra, of a white and yellow color, each on a separate tower, and
sitting on thrones of nearly an equal height. Attached to the principal
tower are six ropes, of the length and size of a ship’s cable, by which
the people draw it along. The priests and attendants are stationed around
the throne, on the car, and occasionally address the worshippers in
libidinous songs and gestures. Both the walls of the temple and sides of
the car are covered with the most indecent emblems, in large and durable
sculpture. Obscenity and blood are the characteristics of the idol’s
worship. As the tower moves along, devotees, throwing themselves under the
wheels, are crushed to death; and such acts are hailed with the
acclamations of the multitude, as the most acceptable sacrifices. A body
of prostitutes are maintained in the temple, for the use of the
worshippers; and various other systematic indecencies, which will not
admit of description, form a part of the service. A number of sacred bulls
are kept in the place, which are generally fed with vegetables from the
hands of the pilgrims, but, from the scarcity of the vegetation, are
commonly seen walking about, and eating the fresh ordure of the
worshipping crowds. In the temple, also, is preserved a bone of Krishna,
which is considered as a most venerable and precious relic, and which few
persons are allowed to see.
The following is an account of the burning of a Gentoo woman, on the
funeral pile of her deceased husband:—“We found,” says M. Stavorinus, “the
body of the deceased lying upon a couch, covered with a piece of white
cotton, and strewed with betel leaves. The woman, who was to be the
victim, sat upon the couch, with her face turned to that of the deceased.
She was richly adorned, and held a little green branch in her right hand,
with which she drove away the flies from the body. She seemed like one
buried in the most profound meditation, yet betrayed no signs of fear.
Many of her relations attended upon her, who, at stated intervals, struck
up various kinds of music.
“The pile was made by driving green bamboo stakes into the earth, between
which was first laid fire-wood, very dry and combustible; upon this was
put a quantity of dry straw, or reeds, besmeared with grease: this was
done alternately, till the pile was five feet in height; and the whole was
then strewed with rosin, finely powdered. A white cotton sheet, which had
been washed in the Ganges, was then spread over the pile, and the whole
was ready for the reception of the victim.
“The widow was now admonished, by a priest, that it was time to begin the
rites. She was then surrounded by women, who offered her betel, and
besought her to supplicate favors for them when she joined her husband in
the presence of Ram, or their highest god, and, above all, that she would
salute their deceased friends whom she might meet in the celestial
mansions.
“In the mean time, the body of the husband was taken and washed in the
river. The woman was also led to the Ganges for ablution, where she
divested herself of all her ornaments. Her head was covered with a piece
of silk, and a cloth was tied round her body, in which the priests put
some parched rice.
“She then took a farewell of her friends, and was conducted by two of her
female relations to the pile. When she came to it, she scattered flowers
and parched rice upon the spectators, and put some into the mouth of the
corpse. Two priests next led her three times round it, while she threw
rice among the bystanders, who gathered it up with great eagerness. The
last time she went round, she placed a little earthen burning lamp to each
of the four corners of the pile, then laid herself down on the right side,
next to the body, which she embraced with both her arms; a piece of white
cotton was spread over them both; they were bound together with two easy
bandages, and a quantity of fire-wood, straw, and rosin, was laid upon
them. In the last place, her nearest relations, to whom, on the banks of
the river, she had given her nose-jewels, came with a burning torch, and
set the straw on fire, and in a moment the whole was in a flame. The noise
of the drums, and the shouts of the spectators, were such that the shrieks
of the unfortunate woman, if she uttered any, could not have been heard.”
Instances are related of women eighty years of age, or upwards, perishing
in this manner. One case is mentioned, by Mr. Ward, of a Bramin who had
married upwards of a hundred wives, thirty-seven of whom were burnt with
him. The pile was kept burning for _three days_, and when one or more of
them arrived, they threw themselves into the _blazing fire_.
The Pagans worship an immense variety of idols, both animate and
inanimate, and very frequently make to themselves gods of objects that are
contemptible even among brutes. In Hindoo, the _monkey_ is a celebrated
god. A few years since, the rajah of Nudeeya expended $50,000 in
celebrating the marriage of a pair of those mischievous creatures, with
all the parade and solemnity of a Hindoo wedding.
A Bramin of superior understanding gave Mr. Ward the following _confession
of faith_, as the present belief of the philosophical Hindoos, concerning
the nature of God, viz.:—“God is invisible, independent, ever-living,
glorious, uncorrupt, all-wise, the ever-blessed, the almighty; his
perfections are indescribable and past finding out; he rules over all,
supports all, destroys all, and remains after the destruction of all;
there is none like him; he is silence; he is free from passion, from
birth, &c., and from increase and decrease, from fatigue, the need of
refreshment, &c. He possesses the power of infinite diminution and
lightness, and is the soul of all.
“He created, and then entered into, all things, in which he exists in two
ways, untouched by matter, and receiving the fruits of practice. He now
assumes visible forms for the sake of engaging the minds of mankind. The
different gods are parts of God, though his essence remains undiminished,
as rays of light leave the sun his undiminished splendor. He created the
gods to perform those things in the government of the world, of which man
was incapable. Some gods are parts of other gods, and there are deities of
still inferior powers. If it be asked why God himself does not govern the
world, the answer is, that it might subject him to exposure, and he
chooses to be concealed: he therefore governs by the gods, who are
emanations from the one God, possessing a portion of his power: he who
worships the gods as the one God, substantially worships God. The gods are
helpful to men in all human affairs, but they are not friendly to those
who seek final absorption, being jealous lest, instead of attaining
absorption, they should become gods, and rival them.
“Religious ceremonies procure a fund of merit to the performer, which
raises him in every future birth, and at length advances him to heaven,
where he enjoys happiness for a limited period, or carries him towards
final absorption. A person may sink to earth again by crimes committed in
heaven. The joys of heaven arise only from the gratification of the
senses. A person raised to heaven is considered as a god.
“When the following lines of Pope were read to a learned Bramin, he
started from his seat, begged a copy of them, and declared the author must
have been a Hindoo:—
“All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul; ...
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.”
“Such are the best views of the best of men among the Hindoos. Such a
mixture of truth and error, of sense and folly, do they believe and
teach.”
According to the best accounts that can be obtained from missionaries and
others, the number of Pagans, in different countries, exceeds half the
population of the globe.
Considerable attempts have been made, of late years, for the enlightening
of the heathen; and there is every reason to believe good has been done.
From the aspect of Scripture prophecy, we are led to expect that the
kingdoms of the heathen at large shall be brought to the light of the
gospel. (Matt. 24:14, Isa. 60, Ps. 22:28, 29; 2:7, 8.) It has been much
disputed whether it be possible that the heathen should be saved without
the knowledge of the gospel; some have absolutely denied it, upon the
authority of those texts which universally require faith in Christ; but to
this it is answered, that those texts regard only such to whom the gospel
comes, and are capable of understanding the contents of it. “The truth,”
says Dr. Doddridge, “seems to be this—that none of the heathen will be
condemned for not believing the gospel, but they are liable to
condemnation for the breach of God’s natural law: nevertheless, if there
be any of them in whom there is a prevailing love to the Divine Being,
there seems reason to believe that, for the _sake_ of Christ, though to
them unknown, they may be accepted by God; and so much the rather, as the
ancient Jews, and even the apostles, during the time of our Savior’s abode
on earth, seem to have had but little notion of those doctrines, which
those who deny the salvability of the heathen are most apt to imagine.”
(Rom. 2:10-22, Acts 10:34, 35. Matt. 8:11, 12.) Grove, Watts, Saurin, and
the immortal Newton, favor the same opinion; the latter of whom thus
observes: “If we suppose a heathen brought to a sense of his misery; to a
conviction that he cannot be happy without the favor of the great Lord of
the world; to a feeling of guilt, and desire of mercy; and that, though he
has no explicit knowledge of a Savior, he directs the cry of his heart to
the unknown Supreme, to have mercy upon him,—who will prove that such
views and desires can arise in the heart of a sinner, without the energy
of that Spirit which Jesus is exalted to bestow? Who will take upon him to
say that his blood has not sufficient efficacy to redeem to God a sinner
who is thus disposed, though he have never heard of his name? Or who has a
warrant to affirm that the supposition I have made is in the nature of
things impossible to be realized?”
“That there exist beings, one or many, powerful above the human race, is a
proposition,” says Lord Kaimes, “universally admitted as true in all ages
and among all nations. I boldly call it _universal_, notwithstanding what
is reported of some gross savages; for reports that contradict what is
acknowledged to be general among men, require able vouchers. Among many
savage tribes there are no words but for objects of external sense: is it
surprising that such people are incapable of expressing their religious
perceptions, or any perception of internal sense? The conviction that men
have of superior powers, in every country where there are words to express
it, is so well vouched, that, in fair reasoning, it ought to be taken for
granted among the few tribes where language is deficient.” The same
ingenious author shows, with great strength of reasoning, that the
operations of nature and the government of this world, which to us loudly
proclaim the existence of a Deity, are not sufficient to account for the
universal belief of superior beings among savage tribes. He is, therefore,
of opinion that this universality of conviction can spring only from the
image of Deity stamped upon the mind of every human being, the ignorant
equally with the learned. This, he thinks, may be termed the _sense of
Deity_.
SATANIANS.
A branch of the Messalians, who appeared about the year 390. It is said,
among other things, that they believed the devil to be extremely powerful,
and that it was much wiser to respect and adore than to curse him.
ABELIANS, OR ABELONIANS.
A sect which arose in the diocese of Hippo, in Africa, in the fifth
century. They regulated marriage after the example of Abel, who, they
pretended, was married, but lived in a state of continence: they therefore
allowed each man to marry one woman, but enjoined them to live in the same
state. To keep up the sect, when a man and woman entered into this
society, they adopted a boy and a girl, who were to inherit their goods,
and to marry upon the same terms of not having children, but of adopting
two of different sexes.
SUPRALAPSARIANS.
Persons who hold that God, without any regard to the good or evil works of
men, has resolved, by an eternal decree, _supra lapsum_, antecedently to
any knowledge of the fall of Adam, and independently of it, to save some
and reject others; or, in other words, that God intended to glorify his
justice in the condemnation of some, as well as his mercy in the salvation
of others, and, for that purpose, decreed that Adam should necessarily
fall.
DANCERS.
A sect which sprung up, about 1373, in Flanders, and places about. It was
their custom all of a sudden to fall a-dancing, and, holding each other’s
hands, to continue thereat, till, being suffocated with the extraordinary
violence, they fell down breathless together. During these intervals of
vehement agitation, they pretended to be favored with wonderful visions.
Like the Whippers, they roved from place to place, begging their victuals,
holding their secret assemblies, and treating the priesthood and worship
of the church with the utmost contempt.
EPICUREANS.
The disciples of Epicurus, who flourished about A. M. 3700. This sect
maintained that the world was formed not by God, nor with any design, but
by the fortuitous concourse of atoms. They denied that God governs the
world, or in the least condescends to interfere with creatures below; they
denied the immortality of the soul, and the existence of angels; they
maintained that happiness consisted in pleasure; but some of them placed
this pleasure in the tranquillity and joy of the mind, arising from the
practice of moral virtue, and which is thought by some to have been the
true principle of Epicurus: others understood him in the gross sense, and
placed all their happiness in corporeal pleasure. When Paul was at Athens,
he had conferences with the Epicurean philosophers. (Acts 17:18) The word
_Epicurean_ is used, at present, for an indolent, effeminate, and
voluptuous person, who only consults his private and particular pleasure.
SKEPTICS.
The word _Skeptic_ properly signifies considerative and inquisitive, or
one who is always weighing reasons on one side or the other, without ever
deciding between them. The word is applied to an ancient sect of
philosophers founded by Pyrrho, who denied the real existence of all
qualities in bodies, except those which are essential to primary atoms,
and referred every thing else to the perceptions of the mind produced by
external objects; in other words, to appearance and opinion. In modern
times, the word has been applied to Deists, or those who doubt of the
truth and authenticity of the sacred Scriptures.
WICKLIFFITES.
The followers of the famous John Wickliffe, called “the first reformer,”
who was born in Yorkshire, in the year 1324. He attacked the jurisdiction
of the pope and the bishops. He was for this twice summoned to a council
at Lambeth, to give an account of his doctrines, but, being countenanced
by the duke of Lancaster, was both times dismissed without condemnation.
Wickliffe, therefore, continued to spread his new principles, as usual,
adding to them doctrines still more alarming; by which he drew after him a
great number of disciples. Upon this, William Courtney, archbishop of
Canterbury, called another council in 1382, which condemned 24
propositions of Wickliffe and his disciples, and obtained a declaration of
Richard II. against all who should preach them; but while these
proceedings were agitating, Wickliffe died at Lutterworth, leaving many
works behind him for the establishment of his doctrines. He was buried in
his own church, at Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, where his bones were
suffered to rest in peace till the year 1428, when, by an order from the
pope, they were taken up and burnt. Wickliffe was doubtless a very
extraordinary man, considering the times in which he lived. He discovered
the absurdities and impositions of the church of Rome, and had the honesty
and resolution to promulgate his opinions, which a little more support
would probably have enabled him to establish: they were evidently the
foundation of the subsequent reformation.
DIGGERS.
A denomination which sprung up in Germany, in the fifteenth century; so
called because they dug their assemblies under ground, in caves and
forests. They derided the church, its ministers, and sacraments.
ZUINGLIANS.
A branch of the Reformers, so called from Zuinglius, a noted divine of
Switzerland. His chief difference from Luther was concerning the
eucharist. He maintained that the bread and wine were only
_significations_ of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whereas Luther
believed in _consubstantiation_.
SEEKERS.
A denomination which arose in the year 1645. They derived their name from
their maintaining that the true church ministry, Scripture, and
ordinances, were lost, for which they were seeking. They taught that the
Scriptures were uncertain; that present miracles were necessary to faith;
that our ministry is without authority; and that our worship and
ordinances are unnecessary or vain.
WILHELMINIANS.
A denomination in the 13th century, so called from Wilhelmina, a Bohemian
woman, who resided in the territory of Milan. She persuaded a large number
that the Holy Ghost was become incarnate in her person, for the salvation
of a great part of mankind. According to her doctrines, none were saved by
the blood of Jesus but true and pious Christians, while the Jews,
Saracens, and unworthy Christians, were to obtain salvation through the
Holy Spirit which dwelt in her, and that, in consequence thereof, all
which happened in Christ during his appearance upon earth in the human
nature, was to be exactly renewed in her person, or rather in that of the
Holy Ghost, which was united to her.
NON-RESISTANTS.
This is a name assumed by those who believe in the inviolability of human
life, and whose motto is, RESIST NOT EVIL,—that is, by the use of carnal
weapons or brute force. They cannot properly be called a religious sect,
in the common acceptation of that term, and they repudiate the title; for
they differ very widely among themselves in their religious speculations,
and have no forms, ordinances, creed, church, or community. Some of them
belong to almost every religious persuasion, while others refuse to be
connected with any denomination, and to be called by any sectarian name.
Like the friends of negro emancipation, or of total abstinence from all
intoxicating substances, their eyes are fastened upon a common object, and
their hearts united together by a common principle; and whatever calls for
the violation of that principle, or for the sacrifice of that object, they
feel in duty bound to reject.
In the autumn of 1838, an association was formed in Boston, called the
“NEW ENGLAND NON-RESISTANCE SOCIETY,” the principles of which are
comprehensively imbodied in the second article of its constitution, as
follows:—
“The members of this society agree in opinion that no man, or body of men,
however constituted, or by whatever name called, have the right to take
the life of man as a penalty for transgression; that no one, who professes
to have the Spirit of Christ, can consistently sue a man at law for
redress of injuries, or thrust any evil-doer into prison, or fill any
office in which he would come under obligation to execute penal
enactments, or take any part in the military service, or acknowledge
allegiance to any human government, or justify any man in fighting in
defence of property, liberty, life, or religion; that he cannot engage in
or countenance any plot or effort to revolutionize, or change, by physical
violence, any government, however corrupt or oppressive; that he will obey
‘the powers that be,’ except in those cases in which they bid him violate
his conscience—and then, rather than to resist, he will meekly submit to
the penalty of disobedience; and that, while he will cheerfully endure all
things for Christ’s sake, without cherishing even the desire to inflict
injury upon his persecutors, yet he will be bold and uncompromising for
God, in bearing his testimony against sin, in high places and in low
places, until righteousness and peace shall reign in all the earth, and
there shall be none to molest or make afraid.”
On the same occasion, a DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS was adopted, in which
the views of Non-Resistants are set forth in the following positive and
argumentative form:—
“We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we
oppose any such government by a resort to physical force. We recognize but
one KING and LAWGIVER, one JUDGE and RULER of mankind. We are bound by the
laws of a kingdom which is not of this world; the subjects of which are
forbidden to fight; in which MERCY and TRUTH are met together, and
RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE have kissed each other; which has no state lines,
no national partitions, no geographical boundaries; in which there is no
distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex; the
officers of which are PEACE, its exactors RIGHTEOUSNESS, its walls
SALVATION, and its gates PRAISE; and which is destined to break in pieces
and consume all other kingdoms.