It was as a result of the loss of its civil power that the Roman Church
evolved the modern doctrine of infallibility. This claim, as Dr. Figgis
points out, is not the culmination but the (implicit) surrender of
the notions embodied in the famous papal bull, _Unam Sanctam_. The
Pope could no longer claim the political sovereignty of the world; he
then asserted supreme rights as the religious teacher of the Catholic
communion. “The Pope, from being the Lord of Lords, has become the
Doctor of Doctors. From being the mother of states, the Curia [p082]
has become the authoritative organ of a teaching society.”
6. _The Dissolution of a Sovereignty_
Thus there has gradually been dissolving the conception that the
government of human affairs is a subordinate part of a divine
government presided over by God the King. In place of one church which
is sovereign over all men, there are now many rival churches, rival
states, voluntary associations, and detached individuals. God is no
longer believed to be a universal king in the full meaning of the
word king, and religious obedience is no longer the central loyalty
from which all other obligations are derived. Religion has become
for most modern men one phase in a varied experience; it no longer
regulates their civic duties, their economic activities, their family
life, and their opinions. It has ceased to have universal dominion,
and is now held to be supreme only within its own domain. But there
is much uncertainty as to what that domain is. In actual affairs,
the religious obligations of modern men are often weaker than their
social interests and generally weaker than the fiercer claims of
patriotism. The conduct of the churches and of churchmen during the
War demonstrated that fact overwhelmingly. They submitted willingly or
unwillingly to the overwhelming force of the civil power. Against this
force many men claim the right of revolution, or at least the right of
passive resistance and conscientious objection. Sometimes they base
their claims upon a religious precept which they hold sacred. But even
in their disobedience to Caesar they are forced to acknowledge that
loyalty in the modern world is complex, that it has become [p083]
divided and uncertain, and that the age of faith which was absolute
is gone for them. However reverent they may be when they are in their
churches, they no longer feel wholly assured when they listen to the
teaching that these are the words of the ministers of a heavenly king.
CHAPTER VI [p084]
LOST PROVINCES
1. _Business_
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