The Essays of Francis Bacon/III Of Unity in Religion

by Francis Bacon

III. Of Unity In Religion.

Religion being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing when itself is well contained within the true band of Unity. The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief. For you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors^[1] and fathers of their church were the poets. But the true God hath this attribute, that he is a jealous God;^[2] and therefore his worship and religion will endure no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak a few words concerning the Unity of the Church; what are the Fruits thereof; what the Bounds; and what the Means.

The Fruits of Unity (next unto the well pleasing of God, which is all in all) are two; the one towards those that are without the church, the other towards those that are within. For the former; it is certain that heresies and schisms are of all others the greatest scandals; yea, more than corruption of manners. For as in the natural body a wound or solution of continuity^[3] is worse than a corrupt humour; so in the spiritual. So that nothing doth so much keep men out of the church, and drive men out of the church, as breach of unity. And therefore, whensoever it cometh to that pass, that one saith Ecce in deserto,^[4] another saith Ecce in penetralibus;^[5] that is, when some men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's ears, Nolite exire,— Go not out.^[6] The Doctor of the Gentiles^[7] (the propriety^[8] of whose vocation^[9] drew him to have a special care of those without) saith, If an heathen come in, and hear you speak with several tongues, will he not say that you are mad?^[10] And certainly it is little better, when atheists and profane persons do hear of so many discordant and contrary opinions in religion; it doth avert^[11] them from the church, and maketh them to sit down in the chair of the scorners.^[12] It is but a light thing to be vouched^[13] in so serious a matter, but yet it expresseth well the deformity. There is a master of scoffing, that in his catalogue of books of a feigned library sets down this title of a book, The morris-dance of Heretics.^[14] For indeed every sect of them hath a diverse^[15] posture or cringe^[16] by themselves, which cannot but move derision in worldlings and depraved politics,^[17] who are apt to contemn holy things.

As for the fruit towards those that are within; it is peace; which containeth infinite blessings. It establisheth faith. It kindleth charity. The outward peace of the church distilleth into peace of conscience. And it turneth the labours of writing and reading of controversies into treatises of mortification and devotion.

Concerning the Bounds of Unity; the true placing of them importeth exceedingly.^[18] There appear to be two extremes. For to certain zelants^[19] all speech of pacification is odious. Is it peace, Jehu? What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.^[20] Peace is not the matter, but following and party. Contrariwise, certain Laodiceans and lukewarm^[21] persons think they may accommodate^[22] points of religion by middle ways, and taking part of both, and witty^[23] reconcilements; as if they would make an arbitrement^[24] between God and man. Both these extremes are to be avoided; which will be done, if the league of Christians penned by our Saviour himself were in the two cross clauses thereof soundly and plainly expounded: He that is not with us is against us;^[25] and again, He that is not against us is with us;^[26] that is, if the points fundamental and of substance in religion were truly discerned and distinguished from points not merely^[27] of faith, but of opinion, order, or good intention. This is a thing may seem to many a matter trivial, and done already. But if it were done less partially, it would be embraced more generally.

Of this I may give only this advice, according to my small model. Men ought to take heed of rending God's church by two kinds of controversies. The one is, when the matter of the point controverted is too small and light, not worth the heat and strife about it, kindled only by contradiction. For as it is noted by one of the fathers, Christ's coat indeed had no seam, but the church's vesture was of divers colours;^[28] whereupon he saith, In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit:^[29] they be two things, Unity and Uniformity. The other is, when the matter of the point controverted is great, but it is driven to an over-great subtilty and obscurity; so that it becometh a thing rather ingenious than substantial. A man that is of judgment and understanding shall sometimes hear ignorant men differ, and know well within himself that those which so differ mean one thing, and yet they themselves would never agree. And if it come so to pass in that distance of judgment which is between man and man, shall we not^[30] think that God above, that knows the heart, doth not^[30] discern that frail men in some of their contradictions intend the same thing; and accepteth of^[31] both? The nature of such controversies is excellently expressed by St. Paul in the warning and precept that he giveth concerning the same, Devita profanas vocum novitates, et oppositiones falsi nominis scientiaæ:^[32] Men create oppositions which are not; and put them into new terms so fixed, as^[33] whereas the meaning ought to govern the term, the term in effect governeth the meaning. There be also two false peaces or unities: the one, when the peace is grounded but upon an implicit ignorance; for all colours will agree in the dark: the other, when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries in fundamental points. For truth and falsehood, in such things, are like the iron and clay in the toes of Nabuchadnezzar's image;^[34] they may cleave, but they will not incorporate.

Concerning the Means of procuring Unity; men must beware, that in the procuring or muniting^[35] of religious unity they do not dissolve and deface the laws of charity and of human society. There be two swords amongst Christians, the spiritual and temporal; and both have their due office and place in the maintenance of religion. But we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's sword, or like unto it; that is, to propagate religion by wars or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences; except it be in the cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against the state; much less to nourish seditions; to authorize conspiracies and rebellions; to put the sword into the people's hands; and the like; tending to the subversion of all government, which is the ordinance of God. For this is but to dash the first table against the second;^[36] and so to consider men as Christians, as we forget that they are men. Lucretius the poet, when he beheld the act of Agamemnon,^[37] that could endure the sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed:

Tantum Relligio potuit suadere malorum:^[38]

What would he have said, if he had known of the massacre in France,^[39] or the powder treason^[40] of England? He would have been seven times more Epicure^[41] and atheist than he was. For as the temporal sword is to be drawn with great circumspection in cases of religion; so it is a thing monstrous to put it into the hands of the common people. Let that be left unto the Anabaptists,^[42] and other furies. It was great blasphemy when the devil said, I will ascend and be like the Highest;^[43] but it is greater blasphemy to personate God, and bring him in saying, I will descend, and be like the prince of darkness: and what is it better, to make the cause of religion to descend to the cruel and execrable actions of murthering princes, butchery of people, and subversion of states and governments? Surely this is to bring down the Holy Ghost, instead of the likeness of a dove,^[44] in the shape of a vulture or raven; and set out of the bark of a Christian church a flag of a bark of pirates and assassins. Therefore it is most necessary that the church by doctrine and decree, princes by their sword, and all learnings, both Christian and moral, as by their Mercury rod,^[45] do damn and send to hell for ever those facts and opinions tending to the support of the same; as hath been already in good part done. Surely in counsels concerning religion, that counsel of the apostle would^[46] be prefixed, Ira hominis non implet justitiam Dei:^[47] And it was a notable observation of a wise father, and no less ingenuously confessed; that those which held and persuaded^[48] pressure of consciences were commonly interessed^[49] therein themselves for their own ends.

1. Doctor. Teacher, instructor. "And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." Luke ii. 46.
2. "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Exodus xxxiv. 14. Compare also the Second Commandment, Exodus xx. 5.
3. A wound makes a solution of continuity by severing muscles, nerves, arteries, and the like.
4. "Behold, he is in the desert." Matthew xxiv. 26.
5. "Behold, he is in the secret chambers." Matthew xxiv. 26.
6. "Go not forth." Matthew xxiv. 26.
7. The Apostle Paul is the 'Doctor of the Gentiles.' In Acts xxii. 21, Paul relates how he was specially called to his apostleship among the Gentiles: "And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."
8. Propriety. Peculiar quality, especial concern.
9. Vocation. Calling in life.
10. "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" I. Corinthians xiv. 23.
11. Avert. To turn from; to repel.
12. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Psalms i. 1.
13. Vouch. To bear witness to; to confirm.
14. Bacon alludes to François Rabelais, born about 1483, died April 9, 1553. Among the books which Pantagruel, son of Gargantua, found in the Library of St. Victor in Paris was, La Morisque des hérétiques. (Les Cinq Livres de F. Rabelais. Tome I. p. 255. Édition Jouaust. Paris. 1885.) The morris, or morris-dance, is a dance performed with bells, castanets, or tambours. It comes from the Spanish morisco, a Moorish dance; from moro, a Moor.
15. Diverse. Different. "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." Daniel vii. 3.
16. Cringe. A deferential, servile, or fawning obeisance; derisively, a bow. "Why should history go on kneeling to the end of time? I am for having her rise off her knees, and take a natural posture: not to be forever performing cringes and congees like a court-chamberlain, and shuffling backwards out of doors in the presence of the sovereign. In a word, I would have history familiar rather than heroic: and think that Mr. Hogarth and Mr. Fielding will give our children a much better idea of the manners of the present age in England, than the Court Gazette and the newspapers which we get thence." Thackeray. Henry Esmond. I. 1.
17. Politics. Politicians.
18. Importeth exceedingly. That is, in modern phrase, is exceedingly important.
19. Zelants. Zealots.
20. "So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me." II. Kings ix. 18.
21. "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write ; . . . So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Revelation iii. 14, 16.
22. Accommodate. To adjust, reconcile (things or persons that differ); to bring into harmony or agreement.
23. Witty. Ingenious.
24. Arbitrement. Compromise, friendly agreement.
25. "He that is not with me is against me." Matthew xii. 30 and Luke xi. 23.
26. "For he that is not against us is on our part." Mark ix. 40.
27. Merely. Absolutely, wholly, completely.
    

    ⁠"I wish ye all content, and am as happy,
    ⁠In my friend's good as if 't were merely mine."
    Beaumont and Fletcher. The Honest Man's Fortune, v. 3.

28. The allusion is to Psalms xlv. 14. "She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework," but the phrase in raiment of needlework is in the Vulgate, circumamicta varietatibus, 'enveloped with varieties.'
29. Let there be many colors in the garment, but let there be no rending of it. St. Bernard. Letter CCCXXXIV. To Guy of Pisa. Against the same Abaelard. Life and Works of Saint Bernard. Edited by Dom John Mabillon. Translated by Samuel J. Eales. II. 865.
30. So in the original. One of the nots should obviously be struck out; the reader can choose which. S.
31. Accept. To receive (a thing or person) with approval; frequently followed by 'of.' "And ye say moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; per-adventure he will accept of me." Genesis xxxii. 20.
32. "Avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." I. Timothy vi. 20.
33. As. That.
34. "His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." Daniel ii. 33.
35. Muniting. From the Latin munio, fortifying, strengthening.
36. "And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount." Exodus xxxii. 19.
37. Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks before Troy, made a vow to Artemis that he would offer up to her the dearest possession that came to him within the next twelvemonth. This happened to be a child, his daughter, Iphigeneia. When, some years later the Trojan fleet was wind-bound at Aulis, Calchas, the priest, said it was on account of the wrath of the goddess because Agamemnon had not kept his vow. Iphigeneia was thereupon bound to the altar to be sacrificed, but Artemis substituted a hind in her stead and carried off the maiden to Tauris to become her priestess. Note the likeness of the story to that of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, Genesis xxii. 1-19; and to Jephthah's vow, Judges xi. 30–40.
    
    Iphigeneia's story was treated by Euripides, in his tragedy, Iphigeneia in Tauris, and by Goethe, in Iphigenie auf Tauris.
38. To ills so dire could religion prompt. T. Lucreti Cari De Rerum Natura. Liber I. 101.
39. The massacre of the Huguenots in France on St. Bartholomew's day, August 24, 1572, by the order of Charles IX. and his mother, Catharine de' Medici.
40. The Gunpowder Plot, of Guy Fawkes (1570–1606) and other conspirators, who proposed to blow up the House of Lords at the opening of Parliament, Nov. 5, 1605, when the King, the royal family, and the House of Commons would be present.
41. Epicure. Epicurean.
42. Anabaptists. The followers of John Matthiesen and John Bockold, or John of Leyden, who attempted to set up a socialistic kingdom of New Zion or Mount Zion at Münster in Westphalia, about 1530–1535. Anabaptize means to baptize again; an Anabaptist in the literal sense is one who believes in re-baptism, or adult baptism. Bacon compares the Anabaptists to furies from their vicious doctrines, one of which was polygamy.
43. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Isaiah xiv. 14. "For so we see, aspiring to be like God in power, the angels transgressed and fell; Ascendam, et ero similis altissimo." Advancement of Learning. II. xxii. 15.
44. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him." Matthew iii. 16.
45. Mercury rod. The caduceus, a rod entwined with two serpents and surmounted by two wings. With it Mercury, the messenger of the gods, summoned souls to Hades.
46. Would = should, as frequently in Elizabethan English.
47. "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." James i. 20.
48. Persuade. To commend a statement or opinion to acceptance; to inculcate. "And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing, and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God." Acts xix. 8.
49. Interessed. Earlier form of interested.