ion to the future life was unquestionably fear
springing from belief, the wedlock of superstitious faith and
horror.

During the six centuries now under review the Roman Catholic
Church and theology were the only Christianity publicly
recognised. The heretics were few and powerless, and the papal
system had full sway. Since the early part of the period
specified, the working theology of the Roman Church has undergone
but few, and, as pertaining to our subject, unimportant, changes
or developments. Previous to that time her doctrinal scheme was
inchoate, gradually assimilating foreign elements and developing
itself step by step. The principal changes now concerning us to
notice in the passage from patristic eschatology as deducible, for
instance, from the works of Chrysostom, or as seen in the
"Apostles' Creed" to mediaval eschatology as displayed in the
"Summa" of Thomas Aquinas or in the Catechism of Trent are these.
The supposititious details of the under world have been definitely
arranged in greater subdivision; heaven has been opened for the
regular admission of certain souls; the loose notions about
purgatory have been completed and consolidated; and the whole
combined scheme has been organized as a working instrument of
ecclesiastical power and profit.

These changes seem to have been wrought out, first, by
continual assimilations of Christianity to paganism,1 both in
doctrine and ceremony, to win over the heathen; and, secondly, by
modifications and growths to meet the exigencies of doctrinal
consistency and practical efficiency, exigencies repeatedly
arising from philosophical discussion and political opposition.

The degree in which papal Christianity was conformed to the
prejudices and customs of the heathen believers, whose allegiance
was sought, is astonishing. It extended to hundreds of
particulars, from the most fundamental principles of theological
speculation to the most trivial details of ritual service. We
shall mention only a few instances of this kind immediately
belonging to the subject we are treating. In the first place, the
hierophant in the pagan Mysteries, and the initiatory rites, were
the prototypes of the Roman Catholic bishop and the ceremonies
under his direction.2 Christian baptism was made to be the same as
the pagan initiation: both were supposed to cleanse from sin and
to secure for their subject a better fate in the future life: they
were both, therefore, sometimes delayed unt