Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-20
DEAN INCE SEES UPHILL
FIGHT FOR CHRISTIANITY
Battle Against Heavy Odds or an Inward
Apostasy and Unholy Alliances
Is Alternative Now.

synod.
! In the West there was no Caesar
opapism, because there was no real
Caesar. In the contest between the |
| Holy Roman Empire and the papacN |
| the theocraCy won. 1t took to itself !
all the attributes of the dead empire
the boundess prestige of the name |
| of Rome. the claim to universe
| sovereignty. the autocracy with a !
graded hierarchy of officials, the !
| praetorian guard of priests and |
monks. and the right to extinguish by |
fire and sword any rebellion against |!
the central authority. Like the late |
empire. it was type of government |
| fundamentally alien to the European |
peoples, but a type which has often |
| shown great strength.
The Dark Ages were a long night /
mare OF savage anarchy and oppres- !
sion. At no other time have the |
gains of civiliZat ton been SO nearly !
| lost. The dawn came very gradual !
| ly: the sun rose again at what we call |
the Renaissance. The city-state once |
more fouriShed in Italy. and proved |
Itself again marvellous forcing house
OF genius. though terribly wasteful Of ,
its human material. Then the mod
ern European system of sovereign in |
dependent states came into being !
Henry VIII led the way by proclaim |
ing that this realm of England is an |
empire"-that is, nation which |
acknowledges no allegiance to any
other power The Reformation natu-
| rally followed. The pretensions of the |
priestly Caesar of the Vatican were
no more valid than those of the Holy |
Roman Empire. Thenceforward and !
forever the twin ideas of A universal |
empire and of a universal church be- !
came reactionary or sentimental !
| dream. Roman Catholicism became !
sectarian: its claims to a monopoly |
of divine grace We're only a familiar |
| trick of trade. |
Modern history has been record of |
! progressive emancipation The nations !
| or the West have freed themselves |
/ from absolute monarchy. from reli- !
glous persecution, from oligarchy and |
| from alien domination The liberation !
| Is now complete. and we may soon be |
| looking for some new indignation to /
save us from dissolution. The further !
evolution of democracy is quite uncer- !
tain. Extremists on both sides are in !
oined to abandon constitutional politi !
cal methods. SO far. there has been |
no tendency to revert to theocracy or |
Caesaropapism.
Reformation Reaction
The Reformation period was in /
sense reactionarY. inasmuch as the !
fierce wars of religion checked the hui !
manist movement which accompa MED !
the Renaissance. Humanism was I'M
dermininS the Catholic Church. but in
stead of putting in its place more
spiritual form of religion, ii tended To
organism or pantheiSm. and was ac-
companied by moral license. North
ern Europe wanted not this but politi-
&c. independence. reformation of
manners, and return to the primitive
tfOSOel This IL ronld NOT from, !
Erasmus, still less from the Italian |
scholars and artists. But the wars of |
religion dragged the Reforma ton out
of it's orbit
They compelled Professionalism. which |
is essentially a religion of individual |
inspiration. free inquiry, and ethical !
strictness. to become rival religion !
Of authority. buttressed by the infal-
lible book, as its enemies relied on the
infallibe church. 1t was diSa strous
that these struggles followed the great
astronomical discoveries. which shat
tered the medieval cosmography. The
necessary adjustments were never
made: the book of Genesis foreclosed
inquiry no less than the DEGREES of
the church. When it was proclaimed
that the Bible is the religion of Prot
eStantS. A large part of the gains of
the Reforma ton were tempora rily lost
An infallble book is at best poor
substitute for an infallihle institution:
and when criticism began to do its
work on the sacred text. the founda-
tons of Professionalism gave way. At
the present time ii shows less vicor. !
less power OF attraction. even less
adaptablitY. than the rival system 1t
is also naturally fssiparous. and the
divisions in the Reformed Churches
! have long been a scandal
And yet it is, in my judgment. from
Professionalism that we have most to
hope. ! have said that the Gospel Of I
Christ is the religion of the Spirit in
its purest form. In st. Pauls Epistles.
in the Epistles to the Hebrews. and in
the Fourth Gospel we have Chris
tian theology and philosophy raised
on this founda ton. hut brought into
line with European thought. From
that time to the advent of the Dark
Ages there was a type Of Christian
teaching which is sometimes called
Platonic. distinguished by it's friendly
attitude towards secular culture. by its
insstence on divine immanence. by its
1esolute determination to find the seat
of authority, not in tradition. or in the
arbitrary commands of God or in an
external and supernatural revelation,
but in the heart and mind Of man. illu-
minated by the Spirit Of Christ. This
illumination must he earned. or rather
prepared for. by strenuous course
of moral discipline. The religious life
begins with faith. which has been de-
fined by Frederick Myers AS the reso-
luton to stand or fall by the noblest
hypothesis. This venture of the will !
and conscience progressively verifies
itself we progress on the upward
path That which began as an expert
ment ends as an experience. We be-
come accustomed to breathe the atmo-
sphere OF the spiritual world.
Faith knowledge of Essentials.
Writers like Clement Of Alexandria
protest that faith is not an unreason-
inE acceptance OF doctrines imposed
by authority. Faith" he says. lis a
cop>pendious knowledge Of essentials.
Willie knowledge is a sure and firm I
dc inonstration of the things received !
through faith. carrying us on to un-
broken conviction and scientific GER !
tainty. There is first kind of saving !
change from heathenism to faith, a
second from faith to knowledge. and !
knowledge, as it passes into love. be- ,
gins at once to establish mutual !
friendship between the knower and the |
known. Perhaps he who has reached !
this stage is equal to the angels"
This kind of teaching will be found in !
Origen and the Cappadocian Fathers. !
and even in Augustine. 1t is the faith |
of the medieval mystics. of the Re- |
naissance on it's truly religious side |
and it has been alive continuously |
since the Reformation. The little |
group. called the Cambridge Platonists |
in the seventeenth century, exhibit |
! this type of religion in singularly |
pure and attra ctive form.
I We find it again, in the prosaic |