At the same epoch, all nations were divided into two great classes,—those of masters and slaves. Religion could exercise a powerful influence on the masters only, because they alone were free to act according to their will. At this epoch, morality must have been the department of religion the least developed, since there was no reciprocity of common duty between the two great classes which divided society. Worship and dogma must then have presented themselves in a far more imposing manner than morality. Religious ceremonies, as well as discussions upon the utility of these ceremonies, and the creeds upon which they were founded, were the departments of religion which necessarily have occupied most frequently the ministers of the altar and the mass of the faithful.
In one word, the material part of religion employed a character so much the more considerable as this religion was nearer its source; and the spiritual or moral department has always acquired a preponderance in proportion as the intelligence of man was developed.
Worship ought now to be regarded only as the means of calling, on the days of repose, the attention of men to subjects and sentiments of general philanthropy; and doctrine ought only to be regarded as a collection of commentaries, having for their object general applications of these subjects and sentiments to the great political events which occur, or for the purpose of facilitating to the faithful the applications of morality in the daily relations which exist amongst them.
I proceed now to examine Luther's opinion of doctrine, what he has said of it, and what he has prescribed to the Protestants.
Luther considered Christianity as having been perfect in its origin, and as having always degenerated since the epoch of its foundation. This reformer has directed all his attention to the faults committed by the clergy during the middle ages, and has entirely overlooked the immense progress which the ministers of the altar had given to civilization, and the great
