Year: 1879




To THE EDrron THE HERALD


trust to the impartisity of the HERALD for per
mission dispute the correctness Of every PROPOSE
tion advanced In editorial which appeared in its
last Sundays issue on "Reigion and Science-The
Popcs Encyclical" No in full possession of his
Intellectual faculties regarded tho
necessary opposite of faith" The Church regards
tho dogmas apprehendcd by faith q divine rela-
ZION made TO Of truths It could never have
discovered Of itself There has been any such
thing as An "ecciosiastical crusade against the
progress 0f science" The hostility Of the Church,
as was that OF st. Paul. is only to oPositio1es fis'
i,its scientific"


Plus TX. nevor dcolared,that "human science-the
use of in all sorts of philosophical inquiries
WAS the great abomination." He declared. tho
contrary. Faith frees from error. and fore
arms il against II, while at tho same time IL endo
1t with varied knowledge" And hc urged with the
utmost impressedness upon men of letters and pub
lcists tho duty Of devot,ng all their energies to
combating the alse philosophy of the day with the
weapons of reason and argument Plus IA did
"make catalogue OF modern scientific truths IN
order to denonnce them in o mass dangerous
errors. The Syllabus Of that great Pope OF un-
truths scientific only in name. 1t is . ridiculous
abuse OF terms to describe the conclusions of few
speculative philosophers scientific truths"


1t is solemn trifing to father on His Holiness the
reigning Pope anything so monstrously absurd as
to iiken the errors condemned by Plus IX. to tho
Of which the children of Israel bid
despoh the Egyptians, or SO improbable as to ''re-
tract the cdtkedra decisions of his immediate
predecessor That would be to abandon the claim
OF the Catholic Church to be the nfalibe teacher
OF mankind all questions of faith and morals. the
necessary corollary of which would be that there
no such thing divine revelation of truth


On the contrary His Holiness strings together in
his encyclical cdtena of quotations from the early
fathers of the Church, and especially from tho dec-
OF the recent Vatican Council to show that the
Church has held that reason is powerful ally
OF the faith; that the noblest effort of philosophy
is to defend the faith that reason must be always
subordinate to tho faith and that any philosophical
conclusion, hypothesis theory whatsoever that
contrary to the faith is at is the duty Of
phosophic science" says tho encyclical,
''relgiously to sustain truths divinely
vealed and boldly to resist those who at
tack them" Again-Thus with respect to
those numerous truths of the supernatural order,
which evidently much surpass the force of all
intelligence, let human reason in the con-
scousness of it's weakness, guard itself from pre-
tensions beyond its power; let it never dispute or
deny these Same truths. judge them by its own
ideas interpret them according TO its caprice. but
rather let it receive them with an humble and sim
cere faith. and hold itself highly honored at being
admitted to fulfil in presence Of these celestial
sciences the functions of faithful and submissive
servants and at being able, by the grace of God to
approach them in some fashion.


q r. HARDER