The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-08-29
Religious Ignorance.

The Eost signiAcant phenomenon In tn
American NON religious press 10 Its uttsr is
norance In religious matters. 1t must b
remembered that in Americs all that Is no
; Catholic IL claimed - Protestant. Wha
can moro clearly show that Professionalism
10 falling into utter contempt and losing al
control over the maases Newspapers art
but orgapa Of public taste and feeling
Their ignorance Is . sure indication that nj
great interest IL taken by the public in the
subject 90 little Investigated.
This popularity 10 exempli6ed in very
amusing editorial of the N. Y. Herald in
its issue of the 22nd inst. It's subject H.
"Religious Questions in Europe-The Con-
ference at Bonn" In the course of this
wonderful article the Herald says, speak
iug Of Doctor DolliDger:
In this address the Doctor proposed that the
| Englfsh and American and Greek churches,
| which accept the Christian religion, should
unite " on mutual recognition of primitive
| truth which may enable each Church TO admit
other members Of other communions to its
privileges"
Prinsitire truth! Well, that is good for
the Herald. The expression 10 really the
| very beat and most accurate that could
have possibIy been selected. Not having
had the pleasure of seeing DR.. DolliDger's
address, We are at o loss whom TO credit
himself or. the Her0ld-with the touch of
genius here revealed. PRIMITIVE TRUTH,
- basis Of union for all the anti Catholic
| sectst Lets see. The primitive truth
taughtin tho Bible 10 that all was chaos, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep"
II there could be any condition Of things
more illustrative Of the nature Of sectarian-
ism, II there can DO found word better
calculated than the word chaos to define
the only kind Of union that can exist among
those unfortunate revoIted spirits who
throw of all authority and abandon the
Church Of God, we can not conceive il. ALI
bond of union being rejected, the primitive
truth" of chaos il ct once reached and is the
only possible condition of CO. existence.
That DR.. Dollinger or the Herald, must
have meant this, not sarcastically, but in
sober earnest, is clear. For what other
primitive truth is mutually recognized
among the Thousand islands" of heresy
Some Of them deny the existence of He'll,
Others that.of the Trinity. They agree on
one thing only, the existence of God, which
does not of itself amount to Christianity.
They have therefore no primitive Christian
truth but chaos.
The Herald continues:
In this confederation the Doctor does not
propose an "actual fusion of creeds" or "a sac
rifce of national or traditional peculiarities
OF FORM" The real bond of the proposed
union will be "a declaration of belief in the
and In oil
as taught by the Bible and by the fathers of
the ancient Church"
How innocent of the Doctor. The fathers
Of the Church Why, this is rank fdolatry
for PresbyterianS, Methodiste, Baptists,
etc. "Taught by the fathers of the ancient
Church." indeed! These gentlemen will
not be taught by anybody. They interpret
the Bible for themselves, they do, and
scorn the "fathers." The idea exhibits a
most absurd degree of ignorance in the
Doctor, and the Herald evidently doesn't
know any better, because it says:
Tho declaration which DIR. Doiliuger pro-
poses, is broad enough, we think, for Metho-
dist and Episcopalian, for Old Catholics and
Presbyterians.
Then again the Herald is at loss to &C
count for the tendency which it discovers
nowadays towards union against Rome
among all shades of opposition. Thus:
From political or other reasons there has
always been IN animosity between the Protes.
tant churches in England and America and the
Roman Catholic Church that never has been
shown toward the Eastern churches. 1t is not
long since the English people welcomed with
tnmultnous joy the marriage of the Duke of
Edinburg to a Russian princess, raised in the
Greek Church. There has always been an
unusual feeling of courtesy between the pre-
lates of the English Church ard those of the
Eastern Church.
And again:
The tendency OF Christian churches toward
union is a marked feature of this generation,
that is, union between the bodies of ali
religious denominations opposed to the pc wer of
Rome. Although the Presby terians have
protested in many ways against prelacy and
dislike the English Church as warmly as thew
do the Church OF Rome, it 10 still possible that
there might be found a common ground upon
which even the Presbyterian churches wonld
maintain fraternSl relations with the Old
Catholics and the Eastern Church.
OF course, there is common ground
among all Sects, schismatical or beretical,
Al 4