The record-union., 1896-02-22

measurably greater than our certainty
Of the truth we discover. Between a.
aThus saith reason or Thus saith
Plato and veritable Thus saith the
Lord, there intervenes the whole diam
eter between the surmises of man and
the revelation of God. No men discern
this fact more clearly than those who
by various theories are seeking to min
ilrlze the supernatural factor in the
Scriptures to a vanishing point. If the
Bible is simply book like other books,
il the human element so predominates
in it that the divine element is as diff
cult of detection as the new element the
chemists have discovered in the air,
then, indeed, it may remain as an ad-
mIabIe specimen of religious litera-
ture, but it does not speak to the human
soul with an authority Independent of
that with which the human soul endows
it, and in the crisis Of life. when our
own reason reveals its fallibility, and
we seek something frmer and stronger
than the insights Of men, there is no
Word of God upon which we may rest
upshaken.''
1T is self-evident," remarks the
Congregation of Boston, that
our church sociability must be popular
in its methods-for that is only saying
that it must be effective as soeiability.
In one sense this is the first thing TO be
considered, but it can by no means be
the only thing. The law of popularity
must be joined with an unvarying law
rF So+xv Ja ha
high, and the world Of taste and SEN
timent should never be called upon to
look down to discover where the church
stands. Public opinion is to be re-
strained, as well as nodded, by our
Christian thinking, and what the
church does and admits in its own eff
forts to minister to the social nature of
it's members ought to be well above the
lowest point allowed by the social con-
ventions of the community. The
thought of Christ's presence, who is al
ways with his people, ought to guard
this point and insure that dignity of
bearing in enjoyment as well as wor-
ship which alone can hold the respect
Of the world. On the other hand, there
are diversities of opinion among US,
both in different localities and within
the limits of single churches, and COM
promise is as essential here as in any
other part of common life Conserva-
tism must not be too much disturbed
by the breaking of its conventions, and
liberalism must not be too eager to
have its way If all deliberations were
Of the apostles fashion of the Christian
walk, in all lowliness and meekness,
with long suffering, forbearing one an
other in love, giving diligence to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace there would be little trouble on
this score
"Canonical censures are no trifing
thing" observes the New York "Inde-
pendent" They threaten not only the
editor and writer's for a Catholic paper
who dare to criticise a Bishop, but also
all who aid and favor him-that is, his
subscribers. Accordingly, Catholic
newspapers Go not dare, as a rule, to
print the slightest criticism of a Bishop.
One that does is almost sure to be re-
buked, and may have to make the most
humble apology, dictated by the Bishop,
on threat of being interdicted. Such
cases have occurred. If a Catholic
paper desires to criticise a Bishop, it
may be understood that it imagines it
has some higher Archbishop or Apos-
tolic delegate behind it. If Catholic
wants to crlticise anything in his
church, he will write it anonymously
for a non-Catholic journal The result
of all this is that, fearing to criticise,
the journalist devotes himself to full
some praise. That, he assumes, is al
ways agreeable. The Bishop, Arch
bishop, Cardinal, Pope can do no wrong
He is little god, infallible, and prac-
tically omnipotent, but not Indifferent
to praise, if we may judge from the
language of those who seem to think
that thrift may follow fawning. This
is an evil not easily corrected, because
it is inherent in the constitution of the
Roman Catholic Church That church
is, in this country at least, still prac-
tically a despotism. a despotism makes
fiattery a certainty in Turkey or in
America. We wish we could hope that
it would do any good to tell our Catholic
contemporaries how much all this adu-
lation looks to outsiders like syco-
phancy, but so long as human nature is
what it is, and ecclesiastical rulers are
above criticism while they hold the ec-
clesiastical rod, we must expect hands
OF deprecatory worship to be lifted UP
to them"