Politics are intended to maintain union and concord among the citizens.  Christianity, though it preaches universal love, and commands its followers to live in peace; yet, by a strange inconsistency, consequentially annihilates the effect of these excellent precepts, by the inevitable divisions it causes among its followers, who necessarily understand differently the Old and New Testaments, because the latter is not only irreconcilably contradictory to the former, but it is even inconsistent with itself.  From the very commencement of Christianity, we perceive very violent disputes among its founders and teachers; and through every succeeding century, we find, in the history of the Church, nothing but schism and heresy.  These are followed by persecutions and quarrels, exceedingly well adapted to destroy this vaunted spirit of concord, said by its defenders to be peculiar to Christianity; and the existence of which is, in fact, impossible in a religion which is one entire chaos of obscure doctrines and impracticable precepts.  In every religious dispute, both parties thought that God was on their side, and, consequently, they were obstinate and irreconcilable.  And how should it have been otherwise, since they confounded the cause of God with the miserable interests of their own vanity?  Thus, being little disposed to give way on one part or the other, they cut one another’s throats; they tormented, they burnt each other:  they tore one another to pieces; and having exterminated or put down the obnoxious sects, they sung Te Deum.

It is not my intention to pursue, in this place, the horrid detail of ecclesiastical history, as connected with that of the Roman empire.  Mr. Gibbon has exhibited in such colours this dreadful record of follies, and of crimes, that it is difficult to see how the maxim of judging the tree by its fruit, will not fatally affect the cause of the Christian religion.  I refer to Mr. Gibbon’s history as a cool and impartial narrative; for I am well satisfied that, so far from having reason to complain of him, the advocates of Christianity have very great reason, indeed, to thank him for his forbearance, since, with his eloquence, he might have drawn a picture that would have made humanity shudder.  For, throughout the whole history, if a man had wished to know what was then the orthodox faith, the best method of ascertaining it, would have been, undoubtedly, to ask, " What is the catechism of this public executioner.”

The Christian religion was, it is evident from his history, the principal, though by no means the only cause of the decline and fall of the Roman empire.  Because it degraded the spirit of the people, and because it produced monks and hermits in abundance, but yielded no soldiers.  The heathen adversaries of Christianity were in the right when they said, that “if it prevailed, Rome was no more!” The Christians would not serve in the armies of the emperor, if they could possibly avoid it.  They