Quote#God & Faith
The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion…
Quote byEdward Gibbon · 1737–1794
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776–1788), Chap. 15..
English (original)
The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings.
— Edward Gibbon
More from Edward Gibbon
The writer who aspires to the name of historian, is obliged to consult a variety of original testimonies, each of which, taken separately, is perhaps imperfect and partial. By a judicious reunion and arrangement of these dispersed …
There are some advocates who would disgrace Christianity, if Christianity could be disgraced, by the manner in which they defend her cause.
I disdain to add a single reflection; nor shall I qualify the conduct of my adversary with any of those harsh epithets, which might be interpreted as the expressions of resentment, though I should be constrained to use them as the only …
Mr. Gibbon may still maintain the character of an historian; but it is difficult to conceive how Mr. Davis will support his pretensions, if he aspires to that of a gentleman.
It is the misfortune of controversy, that an error may be committed in three or four words, that cannot be rectified in less than thirty or forty lines.
My readers, if any readers have accompanied me thus far, must be satisfied, and indeed satiated, with the repeated proofs which I have made of the weight and temper of my adversary's weapons. They have, in every assault, fallen dead and …