The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-07-14
POPULAR APoLoGETIcs.
Adapted from the German of Rev.
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev.
James Watcher.
/. The Religion of Humanity.

BOOu ana JnG DcduJllul. MAN SnOulu
not strive after the supernatural, but
should unfold his natural faculties
here on earth, develop his understand
ing, perfect his morals, and beautify
life for himself and for others. That
is the ideal, the true humanity.
Answer: y This ideal is realized
in Christianity and only there. Christ
is the most perfect model of the
noblest humanity, only great deal
more than that. 1.-The goodness and
kindness of God our Saviour appeared"
(Tit. 3:4. Without Christ and
Christianity this highly praised hui
manity is mostly show and jingle of
words.
The attempt has been made in the
old classic heathenism. Greece and
Rome with their blue southern sky
and the Oiympian gods, with Apollo
and the Muses., with their philos-
ophers, poets and artists, with the
grand works of art and literature
THAI indeed was the cradle and home
of humanity.
culture? Terrible superstition, skep-
ticism to desperation, slavery in its
most unworthy form, wars Of the most
barbarous kind with the greatest
cruelty to the vanquished-vae victis-
woe to the conquered!-the most re-
fined exploitation of the subdued ma
tions with unheard of arbitrary cruel
ty, unspeakable immortality, destruc-
ton of married life, so that Roman
women counted their age by the num-
Der of husbands, as the age of the
City (Rome) was determined by the
number of the consuls, public human
sacrifices even in the century of
Cicero (the first before Christi,
cruelty against slaves greater than
against animals, the brutal and
bloody gladiatorial games, where
thousands had to butcher one another
for the Romans to gloat upon.
In highly cultured Athens three
fourths of the inhabitants were slaves,
The two thousand rich in Rome
owned about a million slaves; besides
these there were about $4,000 poor
in the greatest misery. Some Romans
had about 10000 slaves. Cato used
to feed his fish with the flesh of
slaves.
Not trace of mercy! All heathen
dom had not a single charitable in
stitution in the Christian sense for
the poor and sick. Nothing that in
any way resembled a Sister of Mercy
in the whole Roman Empire!
st. Paul the apostle pictures to us
the heathens of old as foolish, dis
solute, without affection, without
mercy" (Rom. 1:3D.
That was a humanity for the Lord
to pity! Hettinger CISCO, the great
apologist, writes (Aus Welt und
Kirche-From World and church,
Humanity without divinity is brutal
ity."
p If our modern humanitarians
have sometimes more charitable
disposition than the old heathens, it
is only due to the influence of Chris
tianity. And how often is their char
ity-they prefer to call it philanthropy
-IAdI1Gu ny StlI-llIClCo COT, oOShAhS
after honors, and selfishness!
The freemason helps the free
mason at the expense of the non
freemason-a nice philanthropy Glove
Of mani! The mere humanitarian
brotherly love is limited by the
sphere of honor and profit.
The poet Goethe (f1S32) is con-
sidered a leader of humanitarianism
and by many as the ideal man. Of
him the poet Schiller (f1S05) writes:
ITO be often with Goethe would make
me miserable; he has not moment
of effusion for his nearest friends; |
believe him to be an egoist to an I'M
usual degree
But let us look only at our own
"philanthropists. They seek only
honor for their deeds of charity. Ii
they would not acquire honor and
fame by their large donations, which
are often accumulated in a doubtful
manner, to put it very mildly, they
would not be charitable"
Without Christ and His grace this
general brotherly love, is an empty
phrase.
Vosen (f1S7D, the Catholic theol-
ogian and apologist, writes (Das#
Christentum p. 569): He who
talks of general love of man without
adhering to Christ, has certainly not
tried to do what He prescribes; other
wise he would have found very soon
how impossible this is. Only if one
loves Christ, one can love all men
for the love of Him; only il we are
supported by His grace can we break
the force of passion and check it, and
overcome selfishness without earthly
recompense.''
81 Why do these admirers OF
humanity oppose Christianity? Be-
cause Christ is in such dead earnest
about true humanity, because He de-
,mands the improvement and culture
of the whole man and does not con-
nive at certain pet inclinations" and
'noble passions
Let a man be ever SO noble, good,
and friendly" and let him put down
his name for every charitable purpose
for $100 or $1,000, but if his private
life is at variance with the sixth or