New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

BUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE BY James James S Sn 5ss.
Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore i-"o' PIP
baltimore; John Murphy d w. 49,,
Cardinal Gibbons states, in the introaucuoh " .as
So,,me that n is .afectionatey addressed 10 is
and 1 fear an increasing class OF persons
through association, the absence OF Chrlsuan 80,
n distorted education and pernclous N~0us' -,
not only become estranged nom inc sPcoiNo -
fngs of tho Gospel, but whose msrai anu 'ee 81,
ratnre has received such shock that they nave e",
- ana unclaimed faith even in the truths OF
,ursl religion underlying Christianity" IL Is 'nen
In regard to its aptitude for the persuasion an"
ve,son Of this class Of unbelicvers that Caroai CIV
bons,s book must be estimated. As a volume pioPs
for the use OF believers in the Cathohc isi'' is
cou,s he moro suitable. perhaps but 1t Is no' 10 p0
regarded from that point Of view, as the 'uuii''i
,a,an,ent Of its objects clearly demonstrates ana
an. main question therefore mast be, whether IL is
the requirements of the situation TO when os au'oi
addresses himself Viewed in this light IL can h"r"is
DO said that ths work seems sufficient to the END
sought Most of the arguments employed by 'he auor
would we are in lined to think, not be leit Dy 'hoso
% whom they are addressed as really touching thc
vital ouestions concerned. The Agnostic, Tor en-
ample. would not be likely to admit inc ioroe vi
what the Cardinal says about Revelation lie "ouiu
object that the first thing TO be done by inc 0hls'
advocate was to prove the reality OF Revelation for
himself he would probably say, nothing IN NATURE
or science suggested the existence OF personal uou
w
less did any proof present itself that communication
between such God and Man had ever occurred In
the absence of adequate answer TO THESE pos'ons
the Agnostic woud almost necessarily oeolhe 10 COZ"
slider what further the Cardinal mas 10 say DC
cause he would contend that until the foundatoh OF
supernatura religion established, the whole super
structure is in the air.
OF course the Christian finds no such difficulty in
the case But this book is avowedly not written for
The Christian or not primarily for him. 1t is written
in the hope OF convincing and converting those VINO
do not believe in Christianity; people who through
"a distorted education" or through "pernicious read
ing have become agnostlcs. We arc not surprised
that Cardinal Gibbons should have failed to measure
The character force and extent of the agnostic
positions That Is nothing unusual, and precisely
tie same bounded view is frequently encountered in
the writings Of Of science who attack theology
But in both it is obviously of the first Importance
that the antagonists should begin by understanding
one another. for unless they attain to such com
prchension they will waste their energies in mere
beating OF the air. What has been said concerning
the crucial questions of revelation applies with equal
force to the Cardinals remarks upon miracles. What
he says would not be admitted at all by an agnostic.
who would assert the antecedent incredbility OF
miracles, would point to the ignorance and superst
ton of the dawn of the Christian era would insist
upon the absence of all authoritative and contemporary
evidence, and in short would begin by denying the
genuineness of what the Cardinal treats established
facts. The difficulty runs all through the
Cardinals argument. He rests upon assumptions the
tenabiity Of which his opponents certain TO dis
pute and he does not devote any space to demonstra
tion. ''
The representations made by the Cardinal as to
the attitude of the Catholic Church toward Science
afford another illustration of the almost hopeless
divergence between the views Of the author and those
for whose behoof he writes To him ii Is eminently
reasonable and conclusive to The Church fosters
aud encourages every department Of Science. But
lust because she is the friend of true science she Is
opposed to all false prctensions of science: and
TO proceed with the assumption that all science which
IS at variance with the received doctrines of revela
tom Is therefore and necessarily false But to the
Aenostic this position begs the whole question. and
he would probably decline TO argue upon such premises
at all. The old QuesOn-what is Truth ?-lies at the
bottom Of this conflict Of opinion, in fact and the
parties 10 the controversy employ such radically
different measures of truth that agreement between
them is scarcely TO be hoped for. Cardinal Giobonss
book will doubtless be read with pleasure by numbers
who are already Christians, though even of these
many will differ from his views of the American
school system. The unbeevng public, on the other
hand. not likely TO find his arguments more con-
vncing than those they have long been familiar with,
md by which they have been unaffected in the past