The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-12-30
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! THE RARAL SYLLABUS
With a Recitation Of the Errors Which It Condemns
Translated from the italian of L'Falconi
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MARTYR to the doctrine Of one supreme
God, paid divine honors to the false
gods of his country, and few hours
( before his death, ordered pullet to be
sacrificed at the shrine of EsculaDius.
as we are informed by Zenophon, his
/ biographer and apolOgist. 1t was,
moreover. an established principle
among the philosophers that the popu-
( lace should be kept in ignorance of
their real religious sentiments lex
pedlre falIi in religiOne civitates); nor,
{ in case they ventured to openly promUI-
gate them, could they enforce respect
for their teachings by the sanction of
everlasting punishments and rewards.
In like manner the Deists and Ration
alists Of modern times are wholly destt-
tute of unity, and. imbued with a
proud consciousness of the superiority
/ Of their own opinions, despise all who
/ refuse to believe as they Go. Invested
With no divine authority to teach. they
nay win a transient applause, but will
never succeed in rescuing man from the
dominion of the senses, or in placing
under proper restraint those two great
motive powers of corrupt humanity.
sef-interest and passion. Unable to at
| tract the docile by the promise of re-
wards, or the indocile by the terrify-
ing prospects of future retribution
their doctrines will always remain with.
out a sanction Revealed religion hav-
ing in itself principle of unity, of SUI
preme authority and Of just and efica-
cious sanction, is therefore, the only
force which can successfully combat
moral discords.
Fifth Error: Divine revelation is
imperfect, and. therefore, subject to
constant and indefinite progression in
keeping with the development Of hui
man reason"
Refutation: Revelation imperfect
What do rationalists mean by this
broad assertion? They refer. evidently,
to the revelation Of which the Catholic
Church is actually in possession Now,
by characterizing it as imperfect, they
mean that revelation does not embrace
all the truths essential to the perfect
Church, which constitute it a perfect
society, capable of attaining the end
for which it was established, viz, the
salvation of men. Nothing could be
more unfOunded than this assumption
of the rationaIistic school. Jesus Christ
communicated all truth to the Apes
ties, and through them to the Church
After he had assembled into Heaven he
sent the Holy Ghost to enIighten their
minds concerning the truth and teach
them how to interpret it according to
the words of the Evangelist He will
teach you all things and bring ali things
to your mind. The Apostles transmitted
to the Church the truths which they
had themselves received; and the
Church has taught them uninterrupt-
edly through all succeeding ages, pro-
claiming them to all nations in accord
ance with the command of her Divine
Founder. With These truths she en-
hghtened the minds of men and Won
them to the service of the Lord, send
ing her ministers to the remotest cor
ners Of the earth. and bidding them
endure all suffering, and lay down their
lives, if necessary. in the effort to pro-
cure the salvation Of their fellow crea-
lures.
But Jesus Christ did not merely com
all truths to his Church; he
likewise appointed an infallible teacher
to explain them and to define such as
were implicitly contained in some other
revealed truth. thus putting an end to
any controversy which might arise con-
corning them.
Far, then, from conforming to the re-
1uirements of that so-called progress
which can lead only to destruction,
revelation. will on the contrary, con-
-inue to be, as it has been for the
past eighteen centuries, the beacon
light of the nations, guiding the bark
Of humanity on the tempestuous sea Of
time. and pointing out with unnerring
eertitude the haven of eternal saliva
ton
Sixth Error.-'Faith is opposed to
reason; and divine revelation is. not
only useless, but even prejudiciaI to the
of humanity"
Refutation.-Fafth cannot be opposed
20 reason, and much less, prejudicial
10 the improvement of man, since both
emanate from the same source. which
S God What is reason? A reflection
If the light which issued forth from the
OF God. And what is
'aith? A gift of a still higher order.
coming from the same God. One,
therefore, cannot be at variance with
he other. On the contrary. faith IL
umines and perfects reason. since
9od, by means of the truths, which he
reveals to man, disclOses to him many
,ther truths which belong strictly to
he natural order, and which reason it
elf could at least discover only in
INITIATED form. Is it not monstrOUs
ngratftude on the part of those who
lave participated in the benefits Of
eveIation, to combat It as an enemy,
ind that, too, with the very means with
which it has itself supplied them? The
utilization, which has achieved for
europe its present intellectual suprem-
ICY over the rest of the world, is the
,roduct of revelation. If, in the designs
# Divine Providence. Europe had
zen deprived of the light of revelation,
t would today be an impossible tract
# land, covered with wilderness and
Inhabited by the descendants of those
erocious barbarians. who laid in the
lust the gangTened civilization Of
sreece and Rome Who curbed the
,roud spirit of, those savage tribes2
Vas il not the church through the in
of revealed truth? Who