The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-02-10
THE CARDINAL GIVES EXPRESS
SION TO VIEWS ON DR.. ELIoT's
RECENT UTTERANcE WITH RE-
GARD TO CHRISTIANITY AND
THE WAR-lNTERVlEW IN NEW
YORK AMERICAN.

oNnO " Nr1nIS IANl ! AMI
THE WAR-lNTERVlEW IN NEW
YORK AMERICAN.
is Christianity a failure? When a
man OF the prominence of eX-President
Eliot, of Harvard, asks this question
and answers it in the affirmative it is
incumbent upon the Church to accept
the gauntlet thus thrown down and to
bring TO bear against her antagonists
her strongest controversial weapons"
DR.. Eliot said: For nineteen hun
dred years the ethics of Jesus of
Nazareth have been in the world, but
have had no effect to prevent or even
reduce the evils of war, the greatest
of the evils which afflict mankind
The ethical doctrines of Christianity
in regard 10 justice, humility and
mercy have not found expression in
the relations between Christian ma
tions, whether in peace or war, or in
deed in the history of institutional
Christianity ITSELF
The Cardinal declared, 'Dr. Eliot
has had a great career. His achieve
ments in various lines of high en-
deavor are worthy of respect and ad-
miration.
Nevertheless, l am amazed at his
sweeping denunciation of Christianity
1t seems incredible that a man of his
learning, experience and opportunities
for observation, should not realize
that Christianity has been for cen
turies a softening, elevating, civilizing
influence upon the human race.
rs DR.. Eliot blind? When he can
remove from my sight our schools, our
asylums, our homes for the old and
the poVerty-stricken, our institutions
for helping the afflicted of all kinds,
for providing for the orphans and the
friendless; when | can no longer see
colleges and hospitals and temples for
prayer and meditation scattered
throughout the world, then only will
admit that Christianity is failure
When | can no longer see dis
persed over the groaning earth that
magnificent army of sanity men and
women who are warning, in the name
of Christ, against sin, and disease, and
all forms of human weakness and
error, then-and then only-will /
acknowledge that Dr. Eliot is right
and that |, and my Church, are wrong.
Let us take, for example, our hos
pitals. | wonder if ex-President Eliot
ever reflects upon the significant fact
that hospital, in our sense of the
term, is an institution having its
direct origin in Christianity?
"The great pagan civilizations pro-
duced nothing of this nature To
Greece and Rome, in their days of
greatest material splendor, hospitals
were unknown. You may go through
the writings of the classic authors of
old with the most minute care and
find nothing therein to suggest that
before the time of Christ the basic
idea underlying our word hospital
had come to the minds of men.
IF Christianity had done nothing
more in the world than to make hos
pitals an adjunct of civilization, it
could, upon that fact alone, base it's
claim that it had been something
more praiseworthy than a dire fail
ure."
"Jesus of Nazareth was not Pacifist"
"How dare DR.. Eliot imply that
| Christ ever said anything against war?
Surely, they have heard at Harvard
the prophecy, There shall be wars
and rumors of wars DR.. Eliot must
know that Christ said that He came
| to earth to bring not peace, but a
sword
do not mistake my meaning. Do
| not imagine for moment, that | am
advocating warfare as desirable, or
even necessary, human activity. But
| | deny that there is anything in the
authenticated teachings of Jesus of
| Nazareth that would place Him among
| those whom we know today as
pacifists On the contrary, He repeat
edly recognized the moral value of
strife and conflict among men, and
| implied in all His teachings that war
| fare, the eternal struggle between
good and evil, is inherent in the ma
| ture of the universe. Render unto
| Caesar the things that are Caesars,
and unto God the things that are
| Gods. In these words Christ makes
distinction that comes logically
from the lips of Him Who came to
bring not an olive branch but sword
| to earth.
when we discuss the subject of
war, we need historical bases for any
conclusion we may reach. War,
| though it apparently has received
divine sanction, is inherently per.
nicious and abnormal manifestation OF
| human nature. We get the right light
upon it only by employing long per.
'spective and comparing recent cen,
turies with those more remote.
'In former ages war was universal
and continuous; the main occupation
| 80 ,,,oY, IN, fhoCo dorIy fiyoac