The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-10-24
Just Among Ourselves
Passing cennnnsnt considsred or Ineonsidsrsis

Ours is an age that loves to talk of science When
IT talks of faith, it does so in somewhat conde.
scending manner. II seems to imply that faith,
whether in religion or in worldly matters answers
an emotional need in man, and therefore has
value. But the tacit assumption seems to be that
science progresses into the realm of stark reality
and demonstrable fact the need for faith will
1t is temporary necessity is faith, the answer to
currently prevailing weakness and ignorance, but
"therelI come day" Belief in Santa Claus is pleas
ant for children, and has its social value too, But
as people grow up, the need and usefulness o. this
belief passes away Faith will eventually give way
to science Such is the childish faith of scientists
who take each others word for it.
If you told modern man of science that he like
other men, actually lives by faith he would
slider you foolish and impertinent. But the thing is
so, none the less. All human history is matter Of
faith even current history all knowledge Of geogra.
ply rests faith What know about the world,
what know about mankind. is almost entirely
matter of accepting somebody's word Modern
materialiSts are fond OF telling that cannot
turn back the clock. They should understand upon
their principle, that we cannot take the past
into our laboratories cannot have history reen-
acted before eyes. If the story of mankind is
not taken on faith ii is simply not taken. There is
no other way in which it can become possession of
the human mind
Faith means the acceptance Of testimony. II
is the taking OF somebody's word But true faith is
far from mere credulity} II is the accepting of the
word that has backing, that be shown as the
word Of who knows what he is talking about
and who is not a Tar And there are ways Of get
ting this evidence The most notable events Of
history are known with full certainty, even though
they are known by faith, and cannot be known 9th
erwise.
For the chief facts of history there are many and
various Witnesses Testimony can be checked and
cross-checked. The archeoogist and the historian
can be scientific they please in their nVestl-
CATION and comparison of sources,-the testimony
OF writer's OF official annals Of buildings of monu-
ments OF inscriptions of coins of instruments from
varied and opposed groups.-all such things
may be studied compared evaluated, and out of II
all can come clear and unmlstakable evidence. But
remember it is always evidence of credibty it
bePetS faith not science, in the human mind. And
this faith gives reliable and certain knowledge,
In passing il is worth noting that while human
faith,-such faith in the main events Of history
gives us gertrude, this is what call mordt certi
tude: il is not absolute gertrude Divine Faith how.
ever gives us absolute gertrude For human faith
is founded on the truthfulnesS of witnesses, who
are fallible. But Divine Faith is founded God
who is Truth Itself
Beyond the main facts of history, human testi
mony extends 10 give us many probability
and many fancy That is to say, the great facts OF
history-facts of first importance.-may be known
with gertrude: yet sometimes these facts dress
cd up with circumstances which are not known
with certude. And oftentimes historians offer con
lectures as facts and quote old preiudces as facts,
when these things not facts at all. Thus the his
torca picture true in the main, is often distorted
in detail logged with fables
One such historical fact.-the discovery of
America by Columbus in l492-has thus been fog
tod Aduatr at
the National Convention of the Knights of Columbus
in Los Angeles last summer called forcefu atten
ton to this matter. He said that many textbooks
even those prepared for parochal schools, tell
us that Columbus was the first man to recognize
the fact that the earth is round and that he had TO
convince the scholars of Salamanca of this truth be
fore he could enlist the aid of the Spanish soyer
igns in fitting out his expedition.
An of which is shecrest nonsense Washington
Irving says So but Washington Irving delight
ful composer Of fetions, and in this matter he was
at his best The sphericity Of the earth had been
propounded fact as far back as the third cen
nry before Christ -Four hundred years before Co,
lumbus was born, Hermann Contractus Benede
inc, had worked out a means of determining the
length of a degree Of longitude on the Equator. II
is safe TO say that all Of any education in Co.
umbus' day knew that the earth is round
Columbus did not have to argue about the spher
of this truth; il was generally recognized fact
What he had to do was TO convince people in power
that his expedition worth investing in; that
had real promise of success as means of finding
new and unhampcred route TO the far cast. Coium-
bus knew that the earth is round he did not
realize how far would have to 20 to get all the
way around It,
The history books say that the sailors of Colum
bus time we're fearful of long voyage into the un
known; that they were "superstitious, which is
modern materiast's way OF saying that they were
Catholics Well, sailors had gone out into unknown
seas before. they had discovered distant Islands,
Madeira the Cape Verde Islands, the Canary Islands
the Azores Doubtless they had prudent fears for
their equipment might not serve in wider seas and
adverse winds But their fears we're not "supersti-
tious' fears of meeting seamonSters or of getting
out so far they might fall off the edge"
There is neither enlightenment nor science IN
this filling of history books with fables incidental to
the main story of events There is neither justice
education TO be served by trying TO impress pu
pills falsely especially with the myth that medieval
people were all simple minded and ignorant while
we bright moderns are perfectly alert and we'll IN