Moph. See Memphis.
Mopinot, SiJiox, a learned French ecclesiastic, was born at Rheims in 1685 ; took the vows of a Benedictine in 1703 at the monastery of St. Farom, where he had been educated, and largely devoted himself to literary labors. After having assisted Didier in his edition of Tertullian, he was summoned to Paris about the year 1715 by his superiors, and was there associated with fa- ther Peter Constant in preparing his collection of the Lettres des Rapes. The first volume of this work was published in 1721 (fol.), with a dedication to Innocent XIII, and a preface by Mopinot ; and he was preparing to print a second volume when he was attacked by a violent dysentery, of which he died in 1724. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, xxxvi, 434.
Mopsuestia, Church Council of {Condlium Mopsuestanum), was held June 17, 550, by order of the emperor Justinian, on account of the troubles excited by the Three Chapters (q. v.). There were in attend- ance nine bishops. Examination was made whether the name of Theodore of Mopsuestia was to be found in the diptychs of that church, and, if not, whether it had been there within the memory of man. It appeared from the testimony of irreproachable witnesses far ad- vanced in years that his name had either never been inserted, or had been erased before their time. Notice of this was sent to the pope and the emperor. — Landon, Manual of Councils, s. v.
Moqiiamo, a designation of the temples or chap- els of the inhabitants of the island of Socotra, on the coast of Africa. These islanders are idolaters, and wor- ship the moon as the parent of all things. The moqua- mos are very small and low. They have three little doors, and in order to enter any one of them a person must stoop almost to the ground. In each of them is an altar, on which are deposited several sticks formed like flower-de-luces, which have something of the re- semblance of a cross. Every raoquamo has a priest, called hodamo, who is annually chosen, and the gen- eral insignia of office are a staff and cross, which he must not presume to give away on any pretence what- ever, or suffer any person to touch on pain of losing one of his hands. The usual time set apart for divine service in these chapels is when the moon sets, or when she rises. They then strike a certain number of blows on a long staff with a shorter one, and walk around the chapel three times. This ceremony is accompanied with an oblation of some odoriferous wood, put in an iron ba- sin, which hangs by three chains over a large fire. After this the altar is incensed three times, and the doors of the temple as often, and the devotees make the most solemn vows and earnest supplications to the moon. In the mean time the hodamo sets on the altar a lighted taper made of butter, and besmears the crosses and other utensils with this favorite grease. On certain days they make a solemn procession around the temple, when one of the chief men of the country carries a sacred staff. After the procession is over very singular honors are paid him. — Broughton, Biblioth. Historica, s. v. See Socotra.
Mor. See Myrrii.
Moral Ability. See Inability.
Moral Agency. See Will.
Moral Attributes. See God.
Moral Faculty. See Moral Sense.
Moral Inability. See Inability.
Moral Intuitions. See Moral Sense.
Moral La"w may be contemplated under three as- pects : first, as a branch of the Decalogue [for this, see Law of Moses] ; secondly, in a practical point of view [see Ethics] ; and, thirdly, in a metaphysical light, as a department of theology or theosophy, which is the only relation under which we here propose to treat it. Un- der the head Moral Sense, we suggest that a. law emanating from a beneficent Creator for the govern- ment of responsible intelligences can be essentially no other than a transcript of his own benignant nature, hence the deep philosophy as well as cogent value of the Gospel axiom that love is the one essential require- ment of the law (Matt, xxii, 36-40; Rom. xiii, 8-10; 1 John iv, 21); and this applies no less to angelic than to human creatures, and extends through time and through eternity. It is proper to consider more dis- tinctly these questions of the origin, universality, per- manence, and sanction of the divine law.
1. Its Source. — Some philosophers have been in the habit of representing — either expressly or by implica- tion— the basis of morality as independent of, if not pri- or to and externally stringent upon the divine Being himself. They have used such expressions as "the eternal principles of right," " God was absolutely bound to do so and so," " he could not have done otherwise," etc. ; and although these phrases are usually accompa- nied with some caveat of reverence or disclaimer of limit- ing the Almighty's perfection, they yet savor of fatalism, or at least of dualism, and do not attribute the moral system of the universe to its precise cause. That origin is no other than God himself, simply and purely. To his sovereign will everything that exists owes its be- ing, with all the qualities that relate to it ; and this grand postulate includes the Deity himself, with all the laws that he has promulged and now administers. He is self -existent, the " I am," the " one that is, and was, and is to be ;" and he is what he is and as he is merely because he pleases it himself. In the same absolutely autocratic yet unconstrained manner he has produced the substance, mechanism, organic forces, and mutual relations — which we call kms — of the material and spir- itual creation ; and they are all, therefore, intrinsically copies of his own nature. This view differs essentially from pantheism, which confounds the universe with God himself; and at the same time from atheism, which dis- severs it from his being or control. That this is the\ true doctrine of Scripture may be easily' and abundantly proved (Gen. i, 1 ; Isa. xlv, 6; John i,'3; Col. i, 16, 17, etc.). Both sides of this universal proposition — the self- constitution of the Infinite, and the externalitj' of the finite — are necessarily and impenetrably mysteries to our mind ; yet we can sufficiently comprehend them by a comparison with our own microsmic nature — in which our wills are self-conditioned, and our bodies are extrin- sic to our spirit — to enable us to receive them as intel- ligible truth. There is, therefore, no essential difference between the " moral laws" of God and the so-called laws of nature: they are both neither more nor less than his own will as expressed in the material and spiritual de- partments of his dominion. Human nature, in so far as it is a just reflection of this will, is a correct transcript of these laws; and is generally recognised as such, wherever not perverted by the effects of free agency. This latter is but an extension of the externality of cre- ation, adding merely — and a very important increment it is— the godlike productive power, to be exercised within a certain range ever subordinate to the divine agency. It is thus that God retains full jurisdiction, without incurring the responsibility of human conduct. The divine law, of course, continues its claims over the accountable creature, whether he acknowledge or sub-