Читать книгу Oriental Religions and Christianity - Frank F. Ellinwood - Страница 7

The Coincidences of the Present Struggle with that of the First

Christian Centuries—The Mediæval Missionary Work of a Simple

Character—That of India, Japan, China, and the Turkish Empire a

Severe Intellectual Struggle as well as a Spiritual

Conquest—Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Islam, present

Obstacles and Resistances Similar to those of Ancient Greece and

Rome—How far Contrasts Appear between the Early and the Present

Conquests—The Methods of Paul—His Tact in Recognizing Truth

wherever Found, and Using it for his Purpose—The Attitude of the

Early Christian Fathers toward the Heathen—Augustine's

Acknowledgment of the Good which he Received from Cicero and

Plato—The Important Elements which Platonism Lacked, and which

were Found Only in the Gospel of Christ—The Great Secret of Power

in the Early Church Found in its Moral Earnestness, as Shown by

Simplicity of Life, and especially by Constancy even Unto a

Martyr's Death—The Contrast between the Frugality of the Early

Church and the Luxury and Vice of Roman Society—The Great Need of

this Element of Success at the Present Time—The Observance of a

Wise Discrimination in the Estimate of Heathen Philosophy by the

Great Leaders of the Early Church—The Generality with which

Classical Studies were Pursued by the Sons of the more Enlightened

Christian Fathers—Method Among the Leaders—The Necessity for a

thorough Knowledge of the Systems to be Met, as it was then

Recognized—The thorough Preparation of Augustine, Ambrose,

Iræneus, and Others for their Work—Origen's Masterly and

Successful Reply to Celsus—The Use Made by the Early Fathers and

by the Churches of a Later Day, of the Philosophy of Plato and

Aristotle—Heathenism thus Conquered with its Own Weapons.