登陆注册
4699400000121

第121章

THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM AND UNBELIEF

NEW CONTROVERSIES AND ERRORS

The centralisation movement, that began in the fifteenth century, and that tended to increase the power of the sovereign at the expense of the lesser nobles and of the people, was strengthened and developed by the religious revolt. The Protestant reformers appealed to the civil rulers for assistance against the ecclesiastical authorities, and in return for the aid given to them so generously they were willing to concede to the king all power in civil and ecclesiastical matters.

Thenceforth the princes were to be so supreme in spirituals as well as in temporals that their right to determine the religion of their subjects was recognised as a first principle of government. During the days of the Counter-Reformation, when religious enthusiasm was aroused to its highest pitch, the Catholic sovereigns of Europe fought not so much for the aggrandisement of their own power as for the unity of their kingdoms and the defence of the religion of their fathers, threatened as it was with complete overthrow.

But once the first fervour had passed away, and once it was recognised that religious harmony could not be secured by the sword, Catholic sovereigns began to understand that the Protestant theory of state supremacy meant an increase of power to the crown, and might be utilised to reduce the only partially independent institution in their kingdoms to a state of slavery. Hence they increased their demands, interfered more and more in ecclesiastical matters, set themselves to diminish the jurisdiction of the Pope by means of the /Royal Placet/and other such legal contrivances, and asserted for themselves as much authority as could be reconciled with Catholic principles interpreted in their most liberal sense. They urged the bishops to assert their independence against the Holy See, and the bishops, forgetful of the fact that freedom from Rome meant enslavement by the State, co-operated willingly in carrying out the programme of their royal masters. Men like Bossuet, carried away by the new theories of the divine right of kings, aimed at reducing the power of Rome to a shadow. They were more anxious to be considered national patriots than good Catholics. They understood only when it was too late that in their close union with the Holy See lay their only hope of resisting state aggression, and that by weakening the authority of the Pope they were weakening the one power that could defend their own rights and the rights of the Church. Their whole policy tended to the realisation of the system of national churches, and were it not for the divine protection guaranteed by Christ to the society that He Himself had founded, their policy might have been crowned with success.

The principle, too, of individual judgment introduced by the Reformers was soon pushed to its logical conclusions. If by means of this principle Luther and his disciples could reject certain doctrines and practices that had been followed for centuries by the whole Catholic Church, why could not others, imitating the example that had been given to them, set aside many of the dogmas retained by Luther as being only the inventions of men, and why could their successors not go further still, and question the very foundation of Christianity itself? The results of this unbridled liberty of thought made themselves felt in religion, in philosophy, in politics, in literature, and in art. Rationalism became fashionable in educated circles, at the courts, and at the universities. Even Catholics who still remained loyal to the Church were not uninfluenced by the spirit of religious indifference. It seemed to them that many of the dogmas and devotions of the Church were too old-fashioned, and required to be modernised. The courts in many cases favoured the spread of these anti-religious views because they meant the weakening of the power of the Church. They joined with the apostles of rationalism in attacking the Society of Jesus, because the rationalists realised that the Jesuits were their strongest opponents, while the politicians believed them to be the most strenuous supporters of the jurisdiction of Rome.

It was only when the storm of revolution was about to burst over Europe that the civil rulers understood fully the dangerous tendency of the movement which they had encouraged. They began to open their eyes to the fact that war against Christianity meant war against established authority, and that the unbridled liberty of thought and speech which had been tolerated was likely to prove more dangerous to the cause of monarchy than to the cause of religion.

(a) Gallicanism.

Richer, /De ecclesiastica et politica potestate/, 1611. Puyol, /Edm. Richer, Etude sur la renovation du gallicanisme au XVIIe siecle/, 2 vols., 1877. Lavisse, /Histoire de France/ (vii.), 1905. Bossuet, /Defensio declarationis cleri gallicani/ (ed.

1885). Gerin, /Recherches historiques sur l'assemblee de 1682/, 1878. De Maistre, /De L'Eglise gallicane/, 1821. Gerin, /Louis XIV. et le Saint-Siege/, 1894. Mention, /Documents relatifs au rapport du clerge avec la royaute de 1682 a 1705/, 1893. Picot, /Memoires pour servir a l'histoire ecclesiastique pendan le XVIIIe siecle/, 7 vols., 1853-57.

同类推荐
  • 博济方

    博济方

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上清三真旨要玉诀

    上清三真旨要玉诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 医学从众录

    医学从众录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 杂纂之广杂纂

    杂纂之广杂纂

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 瘟疫门

    瘟疫门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 西方大学改革史略

    西方大学改革史略

    众所周知,现代大学诞生于中世纪欧洲,迄今已有九百多年的历史了,但大学改革的历史,严格地说只有两百年。改革的含义是指改掉事物中陈旧的、不合理的部分,使之合理、完善且更加切合需要。
  • 从零开始读懂社交学

    从零开始读懂社交学

    生活中,我们不能缺少朋友。一个没有良好人际关系的人,即使再有知识,再有技能,那也得不到施展的空间,工作、事业会困难重重。如果你的人脉资源越丰富,你所拥有的能量就越大。拥有了有效而丰富的人脉关系。也就获得了通往财富和成功的门票。《从零开始读懂社交学》介绍了现代社会人际关系的重要性,教你如何运用社交技巧来博得他人的好感,建立起扎实而强大的人脉关系,成为一个人脉高手。
  • 夜王追冷妻

    夜王追冷妻

    21世纪G国某佣兵组织,一名冰冷的绝色女主被一众佣兵包围,“上官璃月,不要做无谓的抵抗了,乖……
  • 小镇奇遇

    小镇奇遇

    这个故事还要从现代说起,话说四个外出写生的大学生,无意中找到一个荒芜人烟且风景绝佳的地方,由于贪恋美景,不知不觉中天色将晚,恰逢天公不作美,瞬息之间乌云四合,眼看一场大雨即将倾盆而下。仓皇之中,一行四人踏入了一座不知荒废了多少年没有人居住的村子。从此就拉开了整个恐怖源头的序幕。一夜之间,先后两人以一种离奇的方式死于非命,死状说不出的诡异狰狞。然而两个人的死亡并没有使悲剧结束,反而是一切恐怖、死亡的开始,恐惧像影子一样笼罩在和这件事情有关联的每一个人身上,让他们饱受着精神上的摧残和折磨——直到死去!
  • 情感风铃(校园美文)

    情感风铃(校园美文)

    "生命不是一张永远旋转的唱片,青春也不是一张永远不老的容颜,在岁月的年轮上,没有什么比青春的花朵更艳,在时空的隧道里,没有什么比青春的价格更高,青春是一个永恒的故事,从冬说到夏,又从绿说到黄。……"本书的语言就是如此,清新而舒畅,令人读来,爱不释手,更能深刻的体会到青春的意义、青春的别致!
  • 爱你,是最灿烂的遗忘

    爱你,是最灿烂的遗忘

    我会很天真的以为,爱你,是一件从一而终的事,你只是你,而不是--------他们。但是,直到我走到人生接近三四分之一的时候,我才发现,原来,他们,是组成你的元素,而那些被我摒弃的,错过的,所谓缘分的,都只是最灿烂的遗忘,是人生成熟,坦然之前残酷兼且最美好的前情提要。
  • Under Western Eyes

    Under Western Eyes

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 汽车上

    汽车上

    那张肖像,老师画得很慢。每天晚上六点,女孩都会像天仙一样飘然而至。乡下的天色暗得特别早,那是因为乡下的晚上没有内容的缘故。像恋人都喜欢电影院里的昏暗,老师也希望他头顶的夜幕越暗越好,他一个人呆在校舍里,觉得这整座学校都是他的,甚至连学校外面的街道也是他的。他会把传达室那扇小门故意打开,这无疑是给女孩一个信号——里面有一个人在等她,颜料和画笔准备好了,椅子和背景也布置好了,只等她落座,只等她摆好姿势。他会焦急地一趟趟地往门口跑,他希望能在半道上碰上她,装出无意间碰上的惊讶,噢,这么早就来啦。
  • 人理之上

    人理之上

    我看见了鱼飞翔在天空通道的附近,而人们却一无所知。我曾通过存在于传说中的时间之门,就像穿越一条小溪。我来到了前人不可到达的领域,永恒且不可湮灭的世界。——伊丽莎白·乌尔
  • 极品闪婚

    极品闪婚

    她是一个才貌兼备的新世纪强强女性,圣嘉学院的一院之长!为人狂傲,办事雷厉风行,一向喜欢以暴制暴!他是S市的商业龙头老大,外表冷漠,性格怪异,绝对腹黑!典型的双面人!在黑暗世界里可以任意纵横,叱咤风云,威风凛凛!这两个毫不相干,未曾谋面的人,却因为各自长辈擅自主张搞的一个征婚启事,就把结婚证直接给领了!尼玛的!啥意思?历史在退步了么?都什么年代了!咋还有这种老掉牙的包办婚姻的事情出现?但是,还真别说人家闪婚滴,有啥滴好!人家还是很有爱滴!不信,你看——片段一:某天一大早。某下属,“少爷,你怎么了?怎么看起来闷闷不乐的?”某少爷顿时咬牙切齿大声的咆哮道,“那天杀的女人!昨晚竟然敢不给我进房间!”某下属,“老大,您别着急,您看!”说着从衣兜里掏出一本厚厚的书籍。“《如何让她疯狂的爱上你》!”某少爷拎着那本书,随口念道,随手翻开书页。哼哼,某少爷脸红中…“咳咳!你可以下去了,不许跟少夫人讲,听到没有!”某少爷冷冷喝道,然后便是屁颠屁颠抱着书冲进了书房。片段二:某个饭后的夜晚。某少爷正翘着二郎腿,津津有味的看着电视,嘴里还哼着不知名的小曲。“尼玛的,你还在那里朗里格朗格朗、朗、朗个P啊!厨房里的碗你洗了么!你要是不洗,下一顿你就接着用那个碗!”女人怒气冲冲的站在厨房门口,两眼冒火的看着像巅公一样在那里直抽风的男人。某少爷顿时立刻‘嗖’的一声,一阵龙卷风似的往厨房狂奔而去。片段三:某个月色清凉如水的晚上。“枫儿!我们出去晒晒月亮吧!”某少爷对女人说。女人翻了个身,翻了白眼,“你疯了吗!现在外面寒风凛凛,冷得要死,看啥鸟月亮?”“不冷!哪里冷了?”“冷!唉,你不睡就一边去,让我睡!”“你去不去!不去我就拖你去!”看到女人没反应,某少爷发火了!“不去!”于是某少爷二话不说,直接连着被子将女人抗了起来,往外面走了去…温馨那是必须滴!强势那是绝对滴!味道那是肯定滴!此文是某云闪婚系列的第二部,当然,故事跟第一部《契约闪婚》肯定是不同的,但依然还是走温馨路线,语言风格上,想挑战一下温馨中带幽默的风格,亲们要是喜欢,请支持某云!推某云的新文《盛世军婚》——一个集团军参谋长跟一位姑娘的故事~~~推某云的完结文《契约闪婚》某云华丽丽的领养榜俊美腹黑,尊贵深情的步祈夜由亲【zcr321488】领养~~