[637] “The virtues of the intellect, freedom and boldness of thought and the power to doubt, the vital principle of scientific research, are, in the eyes of primitive Christianity, worthless and dangerous.”--PAULSEN, _A System of Ethics_, tr. Thilly (1906), p. 68. [638] Cf. Harnack, _The Expansion of Christianity_ (1904), vol. i, chap. v, “The Religion of Authority and Reason.” [639] See Paulsen, _System of Ethics_, tr. Thilly (1906), bk. i, chap. iii. [640] The ascetic movement was a reaction not only against the moral dissoluteness of pagan society, but also against the moral degeneracy which, before the end of the third century, had set in within the Christian community itself. The Church had become to a lamentable degree conformed unto the world, and had lost much of that moral fervor which characterized it during the first two centuries. [641] Alban Butler, _The Lives of the Saints_ (the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal Saints, compiled from monuments and other authentic sources), 12 vols. (1854). Orig. ed. pub. 1754–1760. [642] “If you do any good beyond what is commanded by God, you will gain for yourself more abundant glory, and will be more honored by God than you would otherwise be,” was the teaching of the Church respecting the meritoriousness of ascetic practices. Cf. Newman Smyth, _Christian Ethics_ (1892), p. 313. [643] The “Dialogue” is of course a purely literary creation of some monk. Oisin was not a contemporary of St. Patrick. [644] J. H. Simpson, _Poems of Oisin_ (1857), pp. 42 ff. We have reproduced only a small part of the poem. [645] _History of European Morals_, 3d ed., vol. ii, p. 34. [646] Westermarck, _The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_ (1908), vol. ii, p. 252. [647] Cf. Dante, _Inf._ xiii. [648] See above, pp. 175, 215. [649] Ireland was foremost in this missionary movement because she was so given over to the monastic spirit. See Montalembert, _The Monks of the West_ (1861), vol. ii, p. 397. [650] According to Westermarck (_The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_ (1906), vol. i, pp. 565–569) charity took the place of sacrifice in the primitive cults, and for this reason became such a prominent religious duty in all the higher faiths. [651] Montalembert, _The Monks of the West_ (1861), vol. i, pp. 397 f. [652] Lecky, _History of European Morals_, 3d ed., vol. ii, pp. 86 ff. [653] _The Moral Ideal_, 3d ed., p. 369. [654] See above, p. 245. [655] “The suppression of all religions but one by Theodosius, the murder of Hypatia by the monks of Cyril, and the closing by Justinian of the schools of Athens, are the three events which mark the decisive overthrow of intellectual freedom.”--LECKY, _History of European Morals_, 3d ed., vol. i, p. 428. [656] See above, p. 6. [657] _Physics and Politics_ (1873), pp. 70 f.