The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-02-21
Authority Essential to Religion,

THE progress of our age and country
are unparalleled in past history
We justly boast of greater intel
lectual strides in numberless new dis
coveries. and of more fabulous wealth,
than any of the old European nations
But these temporal blessings are not real
blessings, when mans spiritual nature
is taken into consideration. Intellec.
tual progress. which sacrifices the
knowledge of God, and mans duties to
the Creator cannot be a real blessing.
The accumulation of great wealth when
concentrated in the hands of few
persons does not mean prosperity.
Both. instead of building up, and ce-
menting a nations greatness, lead to
disintegration and disloyalty.
From all quarters we hear the sad
warming that faith, if not in God, at
least in Christian principles, is on the
wane. That total eclipse of Chris
tan faith has not yet set in is due to
two causes % Old traditions, or the
I habits infused by parents cannot be
entirely effaced in two or three gen
erations. O. Man is naturally relig-
icus, and must, in spite of himself, be-
lieve something. Hence to satisfy this
natural craving new creeds are daily
invented. These creeeds are becoming
broader and broader each day so as to
suit the religious instincts of religious
doubters. Whilst the religion of the
child remained the same as that of
the parent, it was in a certain sense
hereditary, but in an age of doubt,
when the most sacred things, even the
existence of a Supreme Being, are ques-
toned, the child reaching maturity
doubts the mothers pious belief, and
as the mothers authority was the
ground work of the child's faith, when
that is weakened, either an entire loss
of faith, or a change, which embraces
the broadest and most liberal views
takes place. This process of disinte-
grafton has been taking place in the
ranks of evangelical churches during
the last quarter of century to an
alarming extent 1t has been the
source of many new creeds during the
same period. The reason is, because the
principle. on which the childs faith is
founded. is wrong. When hereditary
bias looses it's sting and intolerance,
the answer usually given to the ques-
tions. why do you believe, and how
do you know that your faith is true?"
will not satisfy the demands of reason.
That answer invariably is, Because l
am convinced that it is true" The rea-
son is all right whilst the child is under
the tutelage of the mother. 1t will be
prolonged after the child passes from
the mother to the first teacher who
processes the same creed, but sooner
or later the child will meet with teach
ers VINO differ widely from his parents
creed. Those latter teachers, or it may
be his companions smile at his SIM
plicity when he points his finger at his
heart, saying, as he accounts for his
faith: Because I am convinced that
my faith is true" To survive the
shock, when the mind of the youth is
matured, and begins to reason, the only
antidote is the affectionate entreaties
of a fond mother who appeals to the
childs love- But this does not eradi-
cate the doubts already entertained,
and what is still worse, the parents
own faith has yielded to the inherent
weakness of the Protestant principle
OF authority, which is the primary and
real cause of the disintegration in the
of
the last twenty-five years.
But it may be said that the faith of
Catholics, like that of Protestants is, |
in great measure, hereditary, that down !
through the centuries it remained un-
changed, because the child inherited it
from his parents. Yes. but the author
ity on which the Catholic child re-
ceives his faith is entirely different. |
The child. as he passes from his mother !
to the Catholic teacher learns the same |
religious teaching without change or |
The teacher, be he bish- /
op, priest, Sister of Charity or lay /
teacher, only gives the child !
what he himself received from di-
vinely recognized authority. namely, |
the church. All teach the same truths. /
use the same language, namely, that of .
the living, visible authority of the .
church, to which all appeal, and which /
is ever the same, one, invariable and
divine. They know that true religion I
requires an authorized divine teacher.
one who cannot mislead or teach error,
and will continue always in the same
course. This is in harmony with the
divine plan. God sent his Son in full
hllment of the promise made in Para