The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-05-01


croft. Why should Prof. Fiske escape
criticism any more than other men9 Is
there man in this country from the
President of the United States down to
the mayor of Minneapolis who is ex-
empt from criticism on his public utter
ances? But Prof. Fiske was IAN hon
ored guest Of the city" and 1T does not
rebound to the credit Of the city for in
tellect and hospitality to have Father
Cleary criticise him." says the sapient
Times. "Such an outburst," continues
the Times, would justify scholars in
the East in assuming that we of the
barbarous west do not know who Prof.
Fiske u.s." The fact of the matter is
that Prof. Fiske was not the guest of
the city at all, but of a small coterie of
liberal people who are so transcendental
in their conception of heavenly things
that they deny the divinity Of Christ,
and imagine. they are not descended
from Adam and Eve like the rest of the
Christian community. With there highly
cultured people Prof. Fiske is a demi-god
and they almost worship him. While
we entertain the highest respect for
them as citizens we cannot endorse
their heterodexy, no more than they can
endorse our orthodoxy.
When they see f1t to have Prof. Fiske
lecture under their auspices to suppress
and distort the plainest facts Of history
and to make an attack upon orthodox
Christianity, they ought to know that
Father Cleary or some other champion
of revealed religion will be heard from
in reply. When Ingersoll lectured here
Father Cleary criticised him, and why
should he not criticise Fiske? In his
address Prof. Fiske said, according to
the Pioneer Press: I'm the free cities
of northern Italy, in Germany and the
Netherlands, priestcraft had less sway
and the general trend of thought was
more modern. Venice, In particular,
came more under the liberal spirit, and
it is significant that the Papacy utterly
failed to force the inquisition upon the
republic of merchants" In speaking Of
Maryland, the first home Of religious
federation for all men on this continent,
he simply said that IAN attempt was
made to take care of the Catholics
there"
That assertion differs very widely
from the statement made by our great
est of American historians, George Ban
croft, and shows that Prof. Fiske is not
so broad and liberal, when Catholics are
concerned, as the Times and his other
admirers would like the public to be-
lieve.
The Times in it's structures upon FIR.
Cleary refers to lone DR.. Shanahan,
who, it seems, has written book in
reply to Prof. Fiske's Idea Of GOD, y
and then fippantly says that the major
ity of people would, perhaps, not accept
the professors misunderstanding Of St..
Augustine and St. Thomas as a grave
impeachment of his book. We will say
to the Times that "the majority of peo-
pie" are not competent to decide one
way or the other. 1t requires a scholar
to appreciate Dr. Shanahan's review OF
Prof. Fiske's book, which appeared in
the January number of the Catholic
University Bulletin, and which has been
extolled in the press of the East.
Though Prof. Fiske does not pretend
to be theologian he delyes deeply into
ecclesiastical literature. In discussing
the idea of God as affected by modern
knowledge and especially by the doc
trine of evolution, he makes the rather
astonishing statement that st. Angus
tine was an anthropomorphist,. Or ono
who represents the deity under human
form or with human attributes. That
statement and others Of like nature DR..
Shanahan completely refutes and proves
that Prof. Fiske takes Augustjne's writ
ings when a pagan and ignores mis- writ
ings as a Christian, and thus puts Au-
gustine in false light as the great doc
tor of the early Christian church. That
kind of work is not done by men who
are Intellectually honest, and though
Dr. Shanahan only shows his faults Of
Interpretation, faults of methods, faults
of inference and lack Of acquaintance
with the writings Of the fathers above
mentioned, the impression is left en- the
mind of the ordinary reader that Prof.
Fiske was imposing on the creduli!y Of
his disciples and followers. OF course,
he has not condesceEde.l to notice DR..
Shanahan's review Of his book, but the
University Of Pennsylvania has taken
ccgnizance of it and has invited the
clever young Catholic professor Che is
| only rs years old) to deliver ten lee
lures on scholastic philosophy within
it's walls during the coming summer.
The Irish Stanard has no inclination
to appear as the defender Of Father
Cleary from the structures Of its es-
teemed contemporary. lie is sufficient
ly we'll able to take care Of himself
| without aid from us, but We believe in