The Catholic World, Vol. 02, October, 1865 to March, 1866: A Monthly Eclectic MagazineVarious
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 02, October, 1865 to March, 1866: A Monthly Eclectic Magazine
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
It must be admitted, however, that the endeavor to reunite the two
churches has far more hope of success in the nineteenth than it had
either in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. On the one hand, the
teaching of the Puseyites has spread widely among the Anglican clergy.
Men of distinction who have made their studies at Oxford and Cambridge
are beginning more and more to suspect that apostolicity is an
essential note of the church of Jesus Christ, and that it is very
difficult to discover this in a church which dates only from the time
of Henry VIII.; they are gradually giving up the principle of private
judgment, and are learning to appreciate more and more the value of
tradition, of the fathers, and of the general councils of the Church.
On the other hand, adherence to {69} orthodoxy has, in the East, lost
somewhat of its deep, sincere, and inflexible character. Some years
since we had occasion to show, in the pages of this review, that in
her theological teaching the Russian Church had been materially
affected by Protestant influence. This is no longer so in our own day,
if we may judge by the public writings of the Russian bishops, and
there has been a very general return to doctrines much more in harmony
with the traditions of the churches of the East. But at the same time
one must admit that rationalism and infidelity have made fearful
ravages in the East as well as in the West. Talk with young men from
Russia, Greece, Romania, and Servia who have made their studies in
either Russian or German universities, who have attended the course of
lectures given by professors from either Athens or Paris, and you will
see how feeble, cold, and wavering their faith has become. The result
has been a prevailing atmosphere, both intellectual and moral, which
enervates the firmness of convictions, and generates a certain laxity
in one's hold on the teachings of the faith. People have become more
ready to conform to public opinion, and I should be greatly surprised
if an attempt similar to that made by Cyril Lucar should find in the
East of to-day an equally universal and prompt condemnation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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