New Britain herald., 1930-07-19
COMMUNICATED
The Death of Adolphus Harnack q
 Loss to Christianity

l ;. For the last thirty years of his life he acted as professor of Pro- testant Theology at the University Of Berlin, Germany, and during this time he published many volumes of | dogmatic and historical treatises and has won for himself the high | est esteem and admiration among | serious students and scholars so far so that from Professor Doctor Adolf Harnack, he became The Harnack. He was always regarded as one of the most learned Protestant theolo- gians and historians by his corelg- ionists. He is also highly respect ed by Catholic scholars for his sci- entifc methods and for the final so- lutions of several doubtful historical questions, in accordance with the teachings of Catholic church.
 First of all. Harnack believed anl ] proclaimed openly the necessity of religion for humanity together with and even above. the purely intellec- tual achievements. "Only religion can give full satisfaction to human life; in vain do we expect and de- mand it from science alone. And religion is love of God and of ones neighbor It is the certitude Of Gods existence, Of this God whom Jesus defined as His Father, and who is also our Father" These are the concluding words of Har- nacks most widely known book The Essence of Christianity" which, during two years. 1S99-19OO, has been published in thirty editions and has been translated into nearly all languages Of the civilized world
 And again, in the same volume he , says: Humanity would be reduced 10 despair if the sublime peace to which she aspires. if the certitudc. clearness and strength which she wishes to acquire. would depend solely on science and knowledge"
 In our days when materialism is spreading rapidly and the superna- tural is scorned or looked upon as something inferior and antiquated, those sincere words of one of our greatest minds should help us in realizing the eternal and inborn truth that all the riches of this world are s nothing in comparison [ with the greatest treasure of man. kind-religion!
 Secondly, with the immense popu- larity and authority which he en- Joyed Harnack brought much order 1 and system into the disintegrating ranks Of Protestantism. To a large i degree he succeeded in an almost impossible task of establishing a minimum Of beliefs necessary to be- ing a. real and true Christian. Har- mack IS the founder. at least in Ger many, Of the 'unionism" in religion Of Christianity as opposed to an ab- solute and uncontrolled principle O. ! private interpretation" which must lead logically to q complete de-Pro- testantlzation and e-Christianiza ton, and to q state where everybody ! becomes his own Pope and consti- tutes a church for himself. Of course, even this minimum required by HarnaCk is more or less arbi- trary, because with this system Of establishing a Christian religion We are always confronted with ques tion and an objection: By what authority"
 Thirdly, an immense merit of . Harnack's interchangeable and pro- found studies lies in the fact that he succeeded in solving scientifcal- ly many questions regarding the history Of Christianity within the first two centuries of our era
 ] With those historical and dogma l tic results he authoritatively refut- ed many theories upheld by Protest ant theologians of the German ex- ! treme rationalistic rank, originating with David Strauss and developed 1 by the so-called School of Tubing en-" The most prominent facts es tabllshed beyond dispute by liar l mack are the following.
 Historical authenticity of the syn- ] optic gospels; truthfuiness of the 1 accounts Of the gospels with regard to Chrlst's miracles; St. Peters resi- dence in Rome as bishop. "monu- mental evidence" that already dur ing the first and second centuries there existed within the church a 1 dogmatlc system Of religious truths a hierarchy and a developed liturgy.
 No Protestant scholar in the last century has done more valuable service in the application of the historical method to the interpreta- tion of Christianity than Adolphus Harnack.
 Summing up the great scientific and moral importance Of Harnack's works We may state with gratitude that he, more than any other Pro- Sestant divine, has stressed the es- sential necessity Of religion in gen. 1 eral; he pointed out and cmphasizo l the superiority of Christian religion objectively defined; and. finally, by his undisputed authority hc proved the basic truths about the carly his tory Of Christianity, thus burvin.. once for ever many false and preju- diced opinions against Catholicism.
 s. NJ. de Torosiewicz,
 Professor of Sisters College
 of Sacred Heart Parish.