rstition. It may,
therefore, have been deemed expedient to supersede more objectionable
forms by something of a Christian complexion; and the use of the sign of
the cross here probably presented itself as an observance equally
familiar and convenient. [318:1] But the disciples would have acted more
wisely had they boldly discarded all the puerilities of paganism; for
credulity soon began to ascribe supernatural virtue to this vestige of
the repudiated worship. As early as the beginning of the third century,
it was believed to operate like a charm; and it was accordingly employed
on almost all occasions by many of the Christians. "In all our travels
and movements," says a writer of this period, "as often as we come in or
go out, when we put on our clothes or our shoes, when we enter the bath
or sit down at table, when we light our candles, when we go to bed, or
recline upon a couch, or whatever may be our employment, we mark our
forehead with the sign of the cross." [318:2]

But whilst not a few of the Christians were beginning to adopt some of
the trivial rites of paganism, they continued firmly to protest against
its more flagrant corruptions. They did not hesitate to assail its gross
idolatry with bold and biting sarcasms. "Stone, or wood, or silver,"
said they, "becomes a god when man chooses that it should, and dedicates
it to that end. With how much more truth do dumb animals, such as mice,
swallows, and kites, judge of your gods? They know that your gods feel
nothing; they gnaw them, they trample and sit on them; and if you did
not drive them away, they would make their nests in the very mouth of
your deity." [319:1] The Church of the first three centuries rejected
the use of images in worship, and no pictorial representations of the
Saviour were to be found even in the dwellings of the Christians. They
conceived that such visible memorials could convey no idea whatever of
the ineffable glory of the Son of God; and they held that it is the duty
of His servants to foster a spirit of devotion, not by the contemplation
of His material form, but by meditating on His holy and divine
attributes as they are exhibited in creation, providence, and
redemption. So anxious were they to avoid even the appearance of
anything like image-worship, that when they wished to mark articles of
dress or furniture with an index of their religious profession, they
employed the likeness of an anchor, or a dove, or a lamb, or a cross, or
so