in such a way, as may prove most useful in assisting us, both to understand and to retain it. It would be in vain to look for much of systematic theology in the fathers or earlier writers of the Christian Church. They lived too near the times of the apostles to feel the necessity or importance of this kind of writing: nor were their circumstances at all favourable to it. Most of them were incapable of any thing profound; the body of the people were of the same description; and both teachers and taught were so much conversant with a state of suffering, as to have scarcely either time or inclination for anything but what bore immediately on the practice or the consolations of the gospel. Origen and Cyril, of Jerusalem, were the first among the Greeks who did anything in this way. The former, in his work, epi ȧpxwv-or Four Books concerning Principles, while he gives some information, astounds us with allegories and absurdities; the latter, in his Catechetical Discourses," which were written in his youth, conveys some useful instruction in a less objectionable manner. Augustine, in his Enchiridion, or Treatise on Faith, Hope, and Charity, presents a kind of system, while, in some of his other writings, he discusses many of those questions which at a future period were reduced into more regular form, and occasioned interminable disputes. It was in the middle ages that scholastic theology combined into regular system the principles and duties of religion; but unfortunately it presented the subject in a shape, not only opposed to sound philosophy, and repugnant to all correct taste, but calculated to do the most serious injury to religion. The works of Abelard, Lombard, Aquinas, and other angelic or seraphic doctors of the dark ages, afford proofs of no inconsiderable talent, especially in dialectics; but unhappily it was employed rather to bewilder the mind than to aid the discovery of truth. The metaphysics of Plato, the logic of Aristotle, and the corrupt theology of the Church of Rome, were amalgamated into one crude, incoherent mass of unintelligible dogmas, which was honoured with the title of the orthodox faith, and the slightest departure from which was deemed a pernicious heresy. To these succeeded the Roman casuists, who occupied themselves not so much with the metaphysics of doctrine as with metaphysics of practice. See CASUIST. Their works are storehouses of logical subtleties, and magazines of moral combustibles, sufficient to distract and destroy the universe. This style of writing in the department of systematic and casuistic theology among the Romanists, gave place to a simpler and more practical mode of treating such subjects, under the denomination of "Common places" among the reformers. Disgusted with the metaphysical absurdities and logomachies of the schoolmen, Melanc thon, Luther, and others, produced compendiums, or brief systems of religion, in which, arranged under various heads, the principal articles of Christian faith and duty were plainly stated. The confessions of the reformed churches necessarily assumed a systematic form, and expositions or commentaries on them brought the doctrines and duties of religion in regular digests before the people of every country in which they were adopted. In most of these productions, while both occupy one book, the credenda and the agenda are always treated distinetly. In systematic theology the institutions of Calvin, though not the first in order of time, carried off the palm from all its predecessors, and has not yet been surpassed by any competitor. Diversity of opinion may exist respecting some of the positions of the Genevese reformer, and even among those who hold his general views of Christian doctrine there may not be an entire concurrence in every sentiment or expression; but while profound piety, masculine energy of mind, acuteness and strength of argument, perspicuity of statement, and purity of language continue to be respected among men, the Christian Institutes of John Calvin will secure for their author immortal honour. The following are some of the principal writers in this department of theology:-Polanus, Alingius, Turretin, Pictet, Markius, Mastrecht,__ Stapfer, Witsius, Braunius, Ames, Buddaeus, Perkins, Downham, Baxter, Leigh, Limborch, Ridgley, Stackhouse, Doddridge, Gill, Hopkins, Dwight, Watson, Storr and Flatt, and Knapp; Campbell on System. Theology, and Orme's Life of Baxter. THEOPASCHITES, a denomination, in the fifth century, who held that Christ had but one nature, which was THEOPHILANTHROPISTS, a sect of deists, who, in September, 1796, published at Paris a sort of catechism or directory for social worship, under the title of Manuel des Théanthrophiles. This religious breviary found favour; the congregation became numerous; and in the second edition of their Manual they assumed the less harsh denomination of Theophilanthropists, i. e. lovers of God and man. According to them, the temple the most worthy of the Divinity is the universe. Abandoned the divine, and, consequently, that this preserved the remembrance. There you divine nature suffered. will see that their religion was what we now call natural religion, because it has for its principle even the Author of nature. It is he that has engraven it in the heart of the first human beings, in ours, in that of all the inhabitants of the earth; this religion, which consists in worshipping God and cherishing our kind, is what we express by one single word, that of Theophilanthropy. Thus our religion is that of our first parents; it is yours; it is ours; it is the universal religion. As to our worship, it is also that of our first fathers. See even in the most ancient writings, that the exterior signs by which they rendered their homage to the Creator were of great simplicity. They dressed for him an altar of earth; they offered him, in sign of their gratitude and of their submission, some of the productions which they held of his liberal hand. The fathers exhorted their children to virtue; they all encouraged one another, under the auspices of the Divinity, to the accomplishment of their duties. This simple worship the sages of all nations have not ceased to profess, and they have transImitted it down to us without interruption. sometimes under the vault of heaven to the contemplation of the beauties of nature, they render its Author the homage of adoration and gratitude. They, nevertheless, have temples erected by the hands of men, in which it is more commodious for them to assemble, to hear lessons concerning his wisdom. Certain moral inscriptions; a simple altar, on which they deposit, as a sign of gratitude for the benefits of the Creator, such flowers or fruits as the seasons afford; a tribune for the lectures and discourses, form the whole of the ornaments of their temples. The first inscription, placed above the altar, recalls to remembrance the two religious dogmas which are the foundation of their moral. First inscription. We believe in the existence of God, in the immortality of the soul. Second inscription. Worship God, cherish your kind, render your selves useful to your country. Third inscription. Good is everything which tends to the preservation or the perfection of man. Evil is everything which tends to destroy or deteriorate him. Fourth inscription. Children, honour your fathers and mothers, obey them with affection, comfort their old age. Fathers and mothers, instruct your children. Fifth inscription. Wives, regard your husbands, the chiefs of your houses. Husbands, love your wives, and render yourselves reciprocally happy. 66 From the concluding part of the Manual of the Theophilanthropists, we may learn something more of their sentiments. If any one ask you," say they, "what is the origin of your religion and of your worship, you can answer him thus: Open the most ancient books which are known, seek there what was the religion, what the worship of the first human beings of which history has "If they yet ask you of whom you hold your mission, answer, we hold it of God himself, who, in giving us two arms to aid our kind, has also given us intelligence to mutually enlighten us, and the love of good to bring us together to virtue; of God, who has given experience and wisdom to the aged to guide the young, and authority to fathers to conduct their children. "If they are not struck with the force of these reasons do not further discuss the subject, and do not engage yourself in controversies, which tend to diminish the love of our neighbours. Our principles are the eternal truth: they will subsist, whatever individuals may support or attack them, and the efforts of the wicked will not even prevail against them. Rest firmly attached to them, without attacking or defending any religious system; and remember, that similar discussions have never produced good, and that they have often tinged the earth with the blood of men. Let us lay aside systems, and apply ourselves to doing good: it is the only road to happiness." So much for the divinity of the Theophilanthropists; a system entirely defective, because it wants the true foundation, the word of God; the grand rule of all our actions, and the only basis on which our hopes and prospects of success can be built. THEOSOPHISTS, a sect who pretend to derive all their knowledge from divine illumination. They boast that, by means of this celestial light, they are not only admitted to the intimate knowledge of God, and of all divine truth, but have access to the most sublime secrets of nature. They ascribe it to the singular manifestation of divine benevolence, that they are able to make such a use of the element of fire in the chemical art, as enables them to discover the essential principles of bodies, and to disclose stupendous mysteries in the physical world. To this class, it is said, belonged Paracelsus, R. Fludd, Van Helmont, Peter Poiret, and the Rosicrucians. THERAPEUTÆ, so called from the extraordinary purity of their religious worship, were a Jewish sect, who, with a kind of religious frenzy, placed their whole felicity in the contemplation of the divine nature. Detaching themselves wholly from secular affairs, they transferred their property to their relations or friends, and withdrew into solitary places, where they devoted themselves to a holy life. The principal society of this kind was formed near Alexandria, where they lived, not far from each other, in separate cottages, each of which had its own sacred apartment, to which the inhabitant retired for the purposes of devotion. After their morning prayers, they spent the day in studying the law and the prophets, endeavouring, by the help of the commentaries of their ancestors, to discover some allegorical meaning in every part. Besides this, they entertained themselves with composing sacred hymns in various kinds of metre. Six days of the week were, in this manner, passed in solitude. On the seventh day they met, clothed in a decent habit, in a public assembly; where, taking their places according to their age, they sat with the right hand between the breast and the chin, and the left at the side. Then some one of the elders, stepping forth into the middle of the assembly, discoursed with a grave countenance and a calm tone of voice, on the doctrines of the sect; the audience, in the mean time, remaining in perfect silence, and occasionally expressing their attention and approbation by a nod. The chapel where they met was divided into two apartments, one for the men, and the other for the women. So strict a regard was paid to silence in these assemblies, that no one was permitted to whisper, nor even to breathe aloud; but when the discourse was finished, if the question which had been proposed for solution had been treated to the satisfaction of the audience, they expressed their approbation by a murmur of applause. Then the speaker, rising, sang a hymn of praise to God; in the last verse of which the whole assembly joined. On great festivals, the meeting was closed with a vigil, in which sacred music was performed, accompanied with solemn dancing; and these vigils were continued till morning, when the assembly, after a morning prayer, in which their faces were directed towards the rising sun, was broken up. So abstemious were these ascetics, that they commonly ate nothing before the setting sun, and often fasted two or three days. They abstained from wine, and their ordinary food was bread and herbs. Much dispute has risen among the learned concerning this sect. Some have imagined them to have been Judaizing Gentiles; but Philo supposes them to be Jews, by speaking of them as a branch of the sect of Essenes, and expressly classes them among the followers of Moses. Others have maintained, that the Therapeuta were an Alexandrian sect of Jewish converts to the Christian faith, who devoted themselves to a monastic life. But this is impossible; for Philo, who wrote before Christianity appeared in Egypt, speaks of this as an established sect. From comparing Philo's account of this sect with the state of philosophy in the country where it flourished, it seems likely that the Therapeuta were a body of Jewish fanatics, who suffered themselves to be drawn aside from the simplicity of their ancient religion by the example of the Egyptians and Pythagoreans. How long this sect continued is uncertain; but it is not improbable that, after the appearance of Christianity in Egypt, it soon became extinct. THOUGHT, an image of anything formed in the mind; sentiment, reflection, opinion, design. As the thoughts are the prime movers of the conduct; as in the sight of the Divine Being they bear the character of good or evil; and as they are, therefore, cognizable at his tribunal, the moral regulation of them is of the greatest importance. It is of consequence to inquire what thoughts ought to be rejected, and what to be indulged. Those of an evil nature, which ought to be banished, are, 1. Fretful and discontented thoughts. 2. Anxious and apprehensive thoughts. 3. Angry and wrathful thoughts. 4. Malignant and revengeful thoughts. 5. Such as are foolish, trifling, and unreasonable. 6. Wild and extravagant, vain and fantastical. 7. Romantic and chimerical. 8. Impure and lascivious. 9. Gloomy and melancholy. 10. Hasty and volatile. 11. Profane and blasphemous. The thoughts we ought to indulge, are those which give the mind a rational or religious pleasure; tend to improve the understanding: raise the affections to divine objects; to promote the welfare of our fellow-creatures, and withal the divine glory. To bring the mind into a habit of thinking as we ought to think, there should be a constant dependence on, and imploring of, divine grace; an increasing acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; an improvement of every opportunity of serious conversation; a constant observance of the works of God in creation, providence, and grace: and lastly, a deep sense of the realities of an eternal world as revealed in the word of God. Mason on Self-knowledge; Watts on the Mind; Godwin's Vanity of Thoughts. See his Works, vol. iii. p. 232. TIARA, the name of the pope's triple crown. The tiara and keys are the badges of the papal dignity, the tiara of his civil rank, and the keys of his jurisdiction; for as soon as the pope is dead, his arms are represented with the tiara alone, without the keys. The ancient tiara was a round high cap. John XIII. first encompassed it with a crown. Boniface VIII. added a second crown; and Benedict XII. a third. TIME, mode of duration marked by certain periods, chiefly by the motion and revolution of the sun. The general idea which time gives in everything to which it is applied, is that of limited duration. Thus we cannot say of the Deity that he exists in time, because eternity, which he inhabits, is absolutely uniform, neither admitting limitation nor succession. Time is said to be redeemed or improved when it is properly filled up, or employed in the conscientious discharge of all the duties which devolve upon us, as it respects the Divine Being, ourselves, and our fellow-creatures. Time may be said to be lost when it is not devoted to some good, useful, or at least some innocent purpose; or when opportunities of improvement, business, or devotion, are neglected. Time is wasted by excessive sleep, unnecessary recreations, indolent habits, useless visits, idle reading, vain conversation, and all those actions which have no good end in them. We ought to improve the time, when we consider, 1. That it is short. 2. Swift. 3. Irrecoverable. 4. Uncertain. 5. That it is a talent committed to our trust. And, 6. That the improvement of it is advantageous and interesting in every respect. See Shower on Time and Eternity; Fox on Time; J. Edwards's Posthumous Sermons, ser. 24, 25, 26; Hale's Contemplations, p. 211; Hervey's Meditat.; Young's Night Thoughts; Blair's Grave. TITHES, the tenth part of any acquired possession, or of the increase annually arising and renewing from the profits of land, stock upon lands, personal industry, &c., and appropriated to religious or ecclesiastical purposes. They are very ancient, and were exacted, in the earliest times, among almost all nations. Abraham voluntarily offered the tithes of his spoil to Melchisedek, as priest of the Most High God, and Jacob vowed that he would devote a tenth of all his income to Jehovah; but they specially claim attention as exacted in the Jewish and Christian churches. 1. In the Jewish Church. These were of two kinds: the first, a tenth of all the fields and herds given for the support of the Levites, who, having no landed property, yet performing important services in the Israelitish state, were entitled to a liberal remuneration. Of these, however, the Levites had to pay one-tenth to the priests, who thus received a hundredth part of the produce above specified. Lev. xxvii. 30-33; Num. xviii. 21, 22. The second tithes were appropriated to the maintenance of the feasts and sacrifices, Deut. xii. 11— 17-19; xiv. 22, 23; with the exception, that every third year, the people might make a feast of them at their own houses, for the servants, widows, orphans, the poor, and the Levites, Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12—15. ordained respecting tithes, the divine right by which they were raised necessarily ceased. Nothing whatever is said in reference to them in the New Testament, though the principle is there distinctly recognized and enforced, that the ministers of the Gospel should be liberally maintained by those among whom they labour. Nor do we find any mention made of them in the earliest and purest ages of the Church. It was not till the fourth and fifth centuries, after Christianity had been desecrated by its being forced into a state-alliance, that we find the tithe-system introduced and carried into effect. The tithes, however, as then levied, were divided into three portions:-1. One-third went to the bishop, who had to sustain the onus hospitalitatis, which was often very great, in consequence of the number of travel. lers, both clergy and laity, who repaired to the episcopal residence for entertainment. 2. Another third was distributed among the clergy in proportion to their different circumstances and claims. 3. And the last third went to defray the expenses of repairing the churches, &c., and to the support of the poor. Much has been said by the clergy relative to the jure divino of tithes; but the more prudent have generally insisted on their right to them as a matter of human institution. And on no other ground can they, with any degree of consistency, exact them from those who reside in their parishes, whether they attend their ministry or not. They were first introduced into England by Athelwolf, and devoted by him to God, to the blessed Virgin, and to all the saints, for the averting of temporal calamities, for the health of his royal soul, and the pardon of his sins, and for the saying of masses for himself and his nobles when deceased. At first, though every man was obliged to pay tithes in general, yet he might give them to what priests he pleased, which was called the "arbitrary consecration of tithes;" or he might pay them into the hands of the bishop, who distributed among his diocesan clergy the revenues of the church, which were then common. But when dioceses were divided into parishes, the tithes of each parish were allotted to its own particular minister; first by common consent, or the appointment of the lords of manors, and afterwards by the written law of the land. Tithes are of three kinds: first, predial, as of corn, grass, hops, and wood. Secondly, mixed, as wool, milk, pigs, &c., consisting of natural produce, but nurtured and preserved in part by the care of man, and of these the tithe must be paid in gross. Thirdly, personal, as of occupations, trades, fisheries, and the like; and of these, only the tenth part of the clear gains and profits is due. Lands, and their occupiers, however, may be exempted, or discharged, from the payment of tithes, either in part or totally: First, by a real composition, when an agreement is made between the owner of the lands and the parson or vicar, with the consent of the ordinary and the patron, that such lands shall, for the future, be discharged from payment of tithes, by reason of some land, or other real recompense, given to the parson in lieu of them. Secondly, a discharge, by custom or prescription, which is either de modo decimandi, or de non decimandi. The former is any means by which the general law of tithing is altered, and a new method of taking them introduced, as a couple of fowls instead of the tithe eggs, twopence an acre for the tithe of land, &c. latter appertains to the king by prerogative, to spiritual persons, or corporations, as bishops, monasteries, &c. See Blackstone's Comm.; Rees's Cyclop., and Stratten's English and Jewish Tithe Systems compared. The TITLE, a presentation to some yacant ecclesiastical preferment, or a certificate of such presentation, required by bishops from those who apply to them for ordination. Should any ordain without a sufficient title, he must keep and maintain the person whom he so ordains, with all things necessary, till he can prefer him to some ecclesiastical living, upon pain of suspension from giving orders for the space of one year. TOLERATION, in matters of religion, is either civil or ecclesiastical. Civil toleration is an impunity, and safely granted by the state to every sect that does not maintain doctrines inconsistent with the public peace. Ecclesiastical toleration is the allowance which the Church grants to its members to differ in certain opinions not reputed essential. See Dr. Owen, Locke, and Dr. Furneaux, on Toleration; Milton's Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes; Hints on Toleration, by Philagatharches; Réflexions Philosophiques et Politiques sur la Tolérance Religieuse, par J. P. De N***, |