An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant
Kant · en
through representatives of God, and if the truth is that which they
assert, then in the last analysis what they assert is truth. If one has
given in to such authority because one distrusts his reason, then it is
querulous to complain that the deliverances of authority do not comport
with reason. There may be, of course, the greatest interest in the
struggle as to the instance in which this authority is to be lodged.
This interest attaches to the age-long struggle between Pope and
Council. It attaches to the dramatic struggle of Döllinger, Dupanloup,
Lord Acton and the rest, in 1870. Once the Church has spoken there is,
for the advocate of authoritative religion, no logic but to submit.
Similarly as to the _Encyclical_ and _Syllabus of Errors_ of 1864, which
forecast the present conflict concerning Modernism. The _Syllabus_ had a
different atmosphere from that which any Englishman in the sixties would
have given it. Had not Newman, however, made passionate warfare on the
liberalism of the modern world? Was it not merely a question of degrees?
Was Gladstone's attitude intelligible? The contrast of two principles in
life and religion, the principles of authority and of the spirit, is
being brought home to men's consciousness as it has never been before.
One reads _Il Santo_ and learns concerning the death of Fogazzaro, one
looks into the literature relating to Tyrrell, one sees the fate of
Loisy, comparing the really majestic achievement in his works and the
spirit of his _Simple Reflections_ with the _Encyclical Pascendi_, 1907.
One understands why these men have done what they could to remain within
the Roman Church. One recalls the attitude of Döllinger to the
inauguration of the Old Catholic Movement, reflects upon the relative
futility of the Old Catholic Church, and upon the position of Hyacinthe
Loyson. One appreciates the feeling of these men that it is impossible,
from without, to influence as they would the Church which they have
loved. The present difficulty of influencing it from within seems almost
insuperable. The history of Modernism as an effective contention in the
world of Christian thought seems scarcely begun. The opposition to
Modernism is not yet a part of the history of thought.
ROBERTSON