Men will raise such objections as these:--"But the Gospel itself declares. ... Those great men who are called the Fathers on account of their piety and genius have said ... The Catholic Church, armed with its infallible authority, says ... God Himself has declared ... And as against these witnesses what is the word of a mere man to me? Moreover, I will not submit; I will not bow down to human authority. Am not I a man as well as he? Am I not endowed with reason? He affirms, I deny; he denies, I affirm; my word is as good as his, even were he what is called a man of genius. {126} Granted that genius commands respect--and I respect it when it yields to what is superior to it--but, as compared with the law of God, what is a man of genius? A poor pigmy, who labors and drudges for forty years to acquire some traces of a superior mind; who more frequently possesses the _amour propre_ of a silly woman; and who, while pretending to govern the world from his study, allows himself to be led by his own female domestic. For my part, I require something better than that; a greater, a higher authority, and one much more self-reliant." You will best restrain and meet these objections by having God always at your side. Entrench yourself behind the Divine authority; efface the man and hold up God; impose silence on the earth and let Him speak, but with power and loving-kindness. Unhappily, we have not maintained this high standing. The Divine word has been brought down too much to a human level; it has been made too much to reflect man's image. The incessant attacks of the enemies of religion, and, it may be, our own scholastic studies also, have inspired us with a combative, and querulous humor. Christianity is now discussed, proved, philosophically demonstrated. You constantly meet men who are going to _prove_ this to you, then to _prove_ that, and then again to _prove_ something else. In God's name, don't repeat this so often, but do it a little better. {127} These attempts to prove certain propositions generally result in obscuring and confounding them. A preacher states a truth; you understand and enjoy it. He demonstrates it; and you understand it less, and perchance begin to doubt it. Some years ago especially, we were seized with the malady of dogmatic conferences. Every one wished to hold conferences to prove the _reasonableness_ of Christianity. The epidemic has abated, but we are not wholly free from it. ... That there should still be one or two of these conference-men in certain large towns is all well enough; yet even that is to be regretted, for the genus is an offshoot of the misfortune of the age, and is by no means apostolic. In order to treat Christianity in that way, extraordinary talent is required, together with a thorough knowledge of the dogmas of our religion, a knowledge equally profound of the human heart, of philosophical systems and errors, and a mathematical precision of language.