The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-31

Testament. There has been attained also 6
better philosophical method for meeting the
difficulties and perplexities Of the age.
But these attempts at the better interpre'
tation Of revealed religion. and the forma-
ton Of more consistent theological systems
have found a temporary rival in efforts to
! create, first of all, a better system of mat
ural theology" as 1t may be called. which
shall take account of the doctrine of evolu-
ton and other discoveries of natural science
since Paley's time and the day Of the
Bridgewater Treatises.
III
It remains now to turn to another most
! potent motive which has affected the for
tunes of religion in the Nineteenth Century.
1t may be called Nationalism. meaning by
the term that higher conception of the life
of the state or nation, slowly but most
effectively asserting itself throughout the
Nineteenth Century, never apart from re-
ligious convictions. always. indeed. in their
support and furtherance. In illustration OF
this point. We turn again to the French
Revolution. as giving the momentum, both
directly and by way of reaction. to the
conception of the sacredness of the State.
as an ultimate fact In Gods government
Of the world. In that fearful outburst Of
the French people, their long pentup indig-
nation was vented no less against the state
than against the church-the one a device
Of Kings and law givers for holding man
Kind in subsection, as the other was a
scheme for the same end by a designing
priesthood.
The failure Of the French nation. its
demonstrated inability to do the proper
work Of a state. as well as the fact that
the career of a Napoleon was possible, in
dicates inherent weakness In all the nations
OF Europe at the beginning Of the Nine
teenth Century. They existed either in re-
pose and even stagnation, after the long
turmoil of the age of the Protestant refor-
nation. averse to change. distrustful Of en-
thusiasm. or were content to strive for
purely selfish aims. In accordance with the
principle hat the people existed for the
state, rulers followed their personal whims.
Indifferent to moral sanctions. needless of
the growing evils calling aloud for redress.
Such In particular was the condition in
France. It was better in England, but even
there the national selflshness. hardness and
cupidity were so strong that England be-
came offensive to the world. and especially
to the American Colonies. so that after the
lapse of a hundred years the dislike of Eng
land still remains deeply rooted in America.
and It seems as II any alliance between these
peoples of common descent were forever
impossible. However this may be. there has
been q reaction against nationality during
the Nineteenth Century.
Nationalism Related
to Religion.
The subject is connected with the for
tunes Of religion in many ways. The indif-
ference to nationality, the distrust of the
nation as incompetent for the exigencies of
life. the placing Of an abstract humanity as
an ideal above nationality. 50 that to labor
directly for the interests of humanity apart
from the well-being Of the nation. and even
in its defiance. became the motive of re-
formers-these characteristics. when seen in
the religious sphere, ave led to a reaction
against the various forms Of Professionalism, |
and especially as represented in the state
churches. The Roman Catholic Church.
which in all its history has subordinated
national distinctions to the higher interests
of a common Christendom. had fallen into
ineficiency in the Eighteenth Century, and
was no longer reckoned a force worthy OF
consideration. either by religious thinkers
or by statesmen. But in the first third Of
the Nineteenth Century there came a |
change. when the Roman Church arose
from its lethargy to meet the demand i'm +,
posed upon it by the timid fears Of states
men and ecclesiastics, as the safeguard of |
religion and morality, where national
churches or particular churches were
thought to hav failed. The Napoleonic
aspirations after universal empire and the
effort to realize it by ~rearranging or |
suppressing nationalities has its counter
part in the religious world in the effort to !
restore a Christian empire with the Papocy l