Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-26
REVELATION A DIVINE FACT.
The Religion Of Christ Dom.
pared with To.day's Ma
terialism.
Unbelief the Most "Deeolate,
Dismal and Ghaslieet Of
Times Phenomena."
Lecture of Father Calmsr NJ Holy
Family Church

| VI
Rev. H.. M. Calmer, s. j., OF st.
Louis, delivered his lecture on "Re.
violation, a Divide Fact" In the
ohurca of the Holy Family last even
ing Despite the unpleasant condition
Of the streets, the attendance was
large, indeed filling the spacious body
Of the church. 1t was an excellent
tribute to the ability ofthe gentleman
Father Calmer has not been unoccu.
pied since his arrival In this oity. Be.
sides his lecture on st. Patrick, and
the mi of which a synopsis 10 herewith
presented, the reverend gentleman has
delivered several sermons at intervals
during the Holy Week, just closed. In
all of these his shining qualities as an
elocutionist, student and orator have
been greatly displayed.
In the lecture last evening these
features were not less ~noticsablc than
in his previous efforts. Father Calm.
or returns in a day OIL twoto st. Louis.
He will long be remembered by many
of our people, a mi of the most sue.
cersful of the pulpit orators who have
visited Us.
In opening his lecture, Father Gal.
mer said: 1t 10 . singular fact that
free.thinking has made no original ad.
vance. The difference proposed and
the arguments-if assertions made
pslatable to the crowd by sarcasm and
broad faced humor can be called hu.
mor-are as threadbare a. q wall.worn
garment. What the in6del Of to-day
advances Is q rehearsal of what Thos.
Paine said in his Gage Of r ~,ason;"
and the contents of that work 10 a new
dressing up of Voltaire and the ency.
COZ e lists of the seventeenth century,
the tore runner Of whom were the ra-
tionslists OF the middle ages, whose
champion of old was Paracelsus, whose
precursor was he of whom the wise.
man speaks: "The fool hath said in
his heart there Ia no God. To-day let
us crown Ourselves with roses, for to
morrow we shall die" This q the
g%enealogy of free-th!nking. Bot why
has 1t made no original advauok3--for
advance 1t has made. 1t 10 a desolate,
dismal, nay n Of the ghastii9st of
times phenomena, that the sppstasy
of unbelief Is making converts; aud,
to the best of my knowledge, i an
not speasi Ing at random. III man
has watohful eyes and u wish 10 oh.
serve, let him go In any society be.
yond that of o single SIT and nj III
see the signs all around him OF COT.
versions to the modern apostasy. Al
some one has strikingly said, that In
tropical forests one can almost hea,
the vegetation growing, so one may
also say that nowadays one can hes,
faith decaying. The causes of THU
decay, says q late gifted writer, have
been maturing for 300 years, over
since the Protestant reformation, and
their effects prophesied for 30; indeed
not prophesied only, but In some de-
gree accomplished. But what is now
beginning is their general action.
Hitherto they have influenced few
except the 80 called protested think.
ers. Now their work Is beginning on
the m of the people, whose various
powers of thinking may be great OF
small, but whose special occupation Il
not thought. "There seemed to be-
said the lecturer, "a power In the ali
around "a, by which faith Is paralyxsd.
They that boast of the progress of the
century imagine that their intellectl
have acquired q new vigor and O
clearer v%ision; but the result of its
growth is, with many, to have made
1t an incubus-and 1t lies upon all
their deepest hopes and wishes
Like q weight
Heavy as frost and deep almost as life.
Advance, therefore, but why not
originate This results partly from
the natural limitations Of the system
OF so chaotic a medley as free thought
deserves the name) as regards Ameri-
can free thinking, from the mstaphys.
icsl character of the American intel.
lect. A practical people by eminenoe,
we deem it loss of time and power to
speculate about questions, which rea.
son tells us must be settled, If at all, by
facts and historical evidence. Rsve.
lstion Is simply q question of fact, to
be proved as all facts are, by compe
tent testimony"
"It Is clear that to confuse the fact
and record of revelation with the ma.
ture of Its contents, Is to be guilty OF
a sophism. Yet that is what the
apostles of .unbelief have been, and
are still doing. The confusion which
ensues from keeping these two ideas
separate, run through all the answers
and rejoinders which have wearied
the readers Of the literature of free
thought. The simple question that
should be insisted on, Is: Is charity q
divine revelation2 in other words, 'i
the revelation, of which christianity
Is the supreme embodiment, and Of
which the Catholic church Is the con-
crete exemplifcation, a divine fact2''
ST." said the lecture, 1--WE are once
convinced tina. revelation or Chris
tianty is a divine fact, no matter
what be tho difficulties, 1t Is most
rational to eubmit q intellect sno
submit our will to the tenets of itl
belief"
In support of the affirmative answer
to the question, the lecturer proposed
the argument which, he claimed, haG
never been answered, that Christianity
or Catholicity ls a divine fact because
Its universal propagation and oonser
walton are the ful6iment Of the proph
coy, and the great standing miracle II
the moral order.
SIT must DO evident to sveryon,
that II God sanctions q religion b,
sealing 1t with his divine signst RIM