The Anatomy of Melancholy

MEMBER 2 SUBSECTION 1 Religious Melancholy from Deficiency: Those Affected—Epicures, Atheists, Hypocrites, the Worldly and Complacent, Carnalists, All Impious People, Impenitent Sinners, and Others

At the other extreme, where this love of God, knowledge, faith, fear, hope and so on are deficient, stand those who err in both doctrine and conduct: Sadducees, Herodians, Libertines, political schemers, every kind of atheist, Epicure and unbeliever who is complacent, has a corrupted understanding and does not fear God at all; also those who are excessively distrustful and fearful, as despairing people are.

Melanchthon calls that great sin of atheism or impiety monstrous melancholy—monstrous melancholy—or poisoned melancholy—poisoned melancholy. They are a band of Cyclopes or Giants warring against the gods, as the poets imagined, the opposite of Christians: they mock all religion and God himself, denying him and all his attributes—his wisdom, power, providence, mercy and judgment.

That there are ghosts and kingdoms underground, A boatman’s pole, and black frogs in the Styx’s pool, And thousands crossing the water in one boat— Not even boys believe, except those too young to pay for baths.

That there is either heaven or hell, resurrection of the dead, suffering, happiness or a world to come—let Apella the Jew believe it! For their part, they regard these as so many poets’ tales and bogeys, like Lucian’s Alexander. Moses, Muhammad and Christ are all the same in their creed.

When those bloody religious wars in France were fought so fiercely between Huguenots and Catholics, says Richard Dinothus, a band of merry companions laughed them all to scorn as superstitious fools for losing their lives and fortunes. They considered faith, religion and the immortality of the soul mere nonsense and delusion.

Such dissolute, atheistical spirits are all too prevalent in every kingdom. Let others dispute, pray, tremble and torment themselves if they will; these people fear neither God nor devil, but behave like the Cyclops in Euripides:

They fear none of the heavenly powers, But offer sacrifice to one, the greatest god, Their belly, and acknowledge no other gods.

They fear no god but one; They sacrifice to none But Belly, whom they adore, And know no gods besides.

Their god is their belly, as Paul says: holy mother Fullness!

—— whose only reason for living lies in their palate.

The idol they worship and adore is their mistress. Like the man in Plautus, I would rather this woman loved me than the gods did—they would rather have her favour than the gods’. Satan is their guide, the flesh their teacher, hypocrisy their counsellor, vanity their fellow soldier, their own will their law, ambition their captain, custom their rule; rashness, audacity and shamelessness are their art, trifles their business and damnation their end.

All their efforts go towards satisfying their lust and appetite, indulging their own inclinations and making merry for the present: