The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-01-22

HHdl happiness CONSIST In our kn0Wl-
edge of the infinite, which knowledge
will be accompanied by a correspond
ing delight in the WILL Heaven then /
is the only place where man can reach |
his full development, and supreme
and final happiness consists in an act. |
But the activity of Heaven is not |
that of Simmel or Paulsen, neither is |
it passiyity and forgetfulness, the
Nirvana of Schopenhauer. That is |
the reason it does not attract the idle |
and the lazy or those who seek only |
pleasure, pleasure after a fashion,
which is good enough for contented
pig.
This is what it means to be led
astray by vain learning. 1t is deplor-
able that our age will accept the raw
ings of men like this as the ne plus
ultra of scholarship. If it requires a
sense Of hurnor to keep a man from
making himself ridiculous the great
fault Of men Of DR. Halls stamp is
that they take themselves altogether
too seriously.
| Not only is DR.. Halls knowledge of
theology amazingly profound but he
is something of a higher critic also in
addition to his other varied accom-
plishments. We gather this from his
views Of the Resurrection. His
theory has a striking resemblance to
that of Herr Harnack and the most
advanced modernist position of Loisy
as set forth in "L'Evangile ct
| fEglise." Of course, the professor of
psychology disdains to acknowledge
his Indebtedness by using inverted
commas. Still it is no great wonder
that man Of DR.. Halls extraordinary
critical acumen should hit on this
long exploded and now antiquated
and untenable explanation of the fact
of the Resurrection without perhaps
ever reading "Das Wesen des Chris
tentums" or "Autour dun petit livre.
Still the fact remains, as the school
master told his pupil who tried to
pass one Of Shakespeare sonnets as
his own, Harncak thought of it first
That there may be no hard feelings
the learned editor of the American
Journal of Psychology condescends to
make some concessions in the way of
acknowledging that after all the doc
trine of personal immortality must
not be thrown entirely overheard:
"The doctrine of personal immortality
has still a very important role to play
for children and adolescents. Pedagogy
is now sufficiently advanced Greatly
helped out, to be sure, by pragmatism,
which is nothing less than the
pedagogization of TRUTH, so that we
may boldly affirm that the highest,
truest truth is that which works best
rather than that which satisfies the
criterion of abstract logical reason.
Hence we may plead that the doctrine
is an educational necessity, and should
be inculcated to the young irrespective
OF the creed or scientific belief of
their elders" The highest, truest
truth is the lie that gets you out of
the hole the best. The end justifies
the means, all Jesuit protestations to
the contrary Notwithstanding. Though
it be scientifically false and, judged by
the canons of abstract logical reason,
absurd, we may plead that the doc
} trine of personal immortality is an
educational necessity and should be
instilled into the minds of unsus-
: pecting youths irrespective of the
} creed or scientific belief of their
, elders. o tempora! o mores. No
wonder teachers are complaining of
} want of respect for their authority.
Poor undergraduates and this is the
} sort of stuff that is being put over on
you in the name of a liberal education,
and these be the professors who used
to call Plus x reactionary for crush
ing out that snare of Rationalism-
too great condescension on the part
of weakened Catholics to this sort
of scholarship so common outside the
Church,!