Brief History of Latin Christianity and the Popes ebook

Latin Christianitywas the religion of Western Europe for ten centuries after the extinction ofpaganism. It became gradually a monarchy, with all the power of a concentrateddominion. The clergy formed a second universal magistracy, exercising alwaysequal, asserting, and for a long time possessing, superior power to the civilgovernment. Western monasticism rent from the world the most powerful minds,and having trained them by its stern discipline, sent them back to rule theworld. Its characteristic was adherence to legal form; strong assertion of, andsevere subordination to, authority. It maintained its dominion unshaken till,at the Reformation, Teutonic Christianity asserted its independence.

The Churchof Rome was at first, so to speak, a Greek religious colony; its language,organisation, scriptures, liturgy, were Greek. It was from Africa, Tertullian,and Cyprian that Latin Christianity arose. As the Church of the capital--beforeConstantinople--the Roman Church necessarily acquired predominance; but no popeappears among the distinguished "Fathers" of the Church until Leo...