Essenius, Andrew, a Dutch theologian, was born at Bommel in Februarj', 1618, and was educated at Utrecht, where he became pastor in 1651. In 1653 he was made professor of theology in the University' of Utrecht. He died May 18, 1677. Among his writings ire Trlumphus Crucis (Amst. 1649): — De Hforalitate {^Sabbati 1658) : — Systema Theologicum (1659) : — Com- pendium Theol. Dogniat. (1669).— Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, xvi, 441.
Essentia. See Essence.
Establishment. This term is applied to the po- sition of that religious denomination in any countrj^ which solely or peculiarly enjoys the patronage of the state, and the clergy of which have, in consequence, their several endowments and incomes especially set- tled and maintained by the Legislature or government. The general tendencj' of opinion in all countries is now against established churches, and in favor of the voluntary principle for the support of churches. The subject is discussed at length, historically and other- wise, in the article Church and State (ii, 329). W^ IIL— U
present here a summary of the arguments on l)oth sides, chieflj' taken from Buck (Theolog. Diet. s. v.).
(I.) The partisans for religious establishments ob- serve (1.) that they have prevailed universally in ev- ery age and nation. The office of prophet, priest, and king were united in the same patriarch (Gen. xviii, 19 ; xvii and xxi ; xiv, 18). The Jews enjoyed a religious establishment dictated and ordained by God. In turn- ing our attention to the heathen nations, we shall find the same incorporation of religious with civil govern- ment (Gen. xlvii, 22 ; 2 Kings xvii, 27, 29). Every one who is at all acquainted with the history of Greece and Rome knows that religion was altogether blended with the policy of the state. The Koran ma}' be con- sidered as the religious creed and civil code of all the Mohammedan tribes. Among the Celts, or the origi- nal inhabitants of Europe, the Druids were both their priests and their judges, and tlieir judgment was final. Among the Hindoos the priests and sovereigns are of different tribes or castes, but the priests are superior in rank ; and in China the emperor is sovereign pon- tiff, and presides in all public acts of religion. (2.) Again: it is said that, although there is no form of Church government absolutely prescribed in the New Testament, j-et from the associating law, on which the Gospel lays so much stress, by the respect for civil government it so carnestlj' enjoins, and by the practice which followed and finall}' prevailed. Christians can- not be said to disapprove, but to favor religious estab- lishments. (3.) Religious establishments also, it is ob- served, are founded on the nature of man, and inter- woven with all the constituent principles of human so- ciety : the knowledge and profession of Christianitj' cannot be upheld without a clergy ; a clergy cannot be supported without a legal provision ; and a legal pro- vision for the clergj' cannot be constituted without the preference of one sect of Christians to the rest. An established church is most likely to maintain clerical respectability and usefulness bj' holding out a suitable encouragement to young men to devote themselves earlj' to the service of the Church, and likewise ena- bles them to obtain such knowledge as shall ciualify them for the important work.
(II.) They who reason on the contrary side observe, (1. ) tliat the patriarchs sustaining civil as well as re- ligious offices is no proof at all that religion was incor- porated with the civil government in the sense above referred to, nor is there the least hint of it in the sacred Scriptures. That the case of the Jews can never be considered in point, as they were under a theocracy and a ceremonial dispensation that was to pass awaj', and consequently not designed to be a model for Chris- tian nations. That, whatever was the practice of heathens in this respect, this forms no argument in fa- vor of that system which is the verj' opposite to pagan- ism. (2.) The Church of Christ is of a spiritual na- ture, and ought not, yea, cannot in fact be incorpo- rated with the state without sustaining material in- jur}'. In the three first and purest ages of Christi- anitj' the Church was a stranger to any alliance with temporal powers ; and, so far from needing their aid, religion never flourished so much as while they wero combined to suppress it. (3.) As to the support wliicli Christianitj', when united to civil government, jields to the peace and good order of societj-, it is observed that this benefit will be derived from it in at least as great a degree without an establishment as with it. Religion, if it have anj' power, operates on the con- science of men; and, resting solelj' on the belief of in- visible realities, it can derive no weight or solcmnitj' from human sanctions. Human establishments, it is said, have been, and are, productive of the greatest evils ; for in this case it is requisite to give the prefer- ence to some particular sj-stem ; and as the magistrate is no better judge of religion than others, the chances are as great of his lending his sanction to the false as the true. The thousands that have been persecuted