His Views and Principles
to the Hebrews, the elaborate ritual of John's heaven—for it seems to me that from the nature of the case early Christianity could not fail to be a ceremonial and ritual religion; and such, accordingly, we find that it had become when it emerged from the darkness and the dangers of the catacombs. How should it not be so? If we find a censor in the hands of an angel in the Revelation, why should we be astonished to find a censor in the hands of the Bishop of Jerusalem in the fourth century?
And for the life of me I cannot understand why this truth should perplex and distress earnest and devout Christians. Our morals are a development; are we to expect then that our worship should be an exception and refuse to follow the great law of evolution? Of course John and his fellow disciples were Ritualists, but I have given excellent reasons why we should not follow their example. John no doubt believed that the earth was immovable, that the sun rose and set, and that the Psalms were written by King
195
