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Show : THE FMl STLL5 : ; . X With a Refutation of the Errors Which It Condemns -f Translated from, the Italian of L'FalconL I Tenth Error "As the philosopher i3 one thing, and philosophy another, it is the right and duty of the philosopher to submit to that authority which he shall himself have proved to be legitimate; legiti-mate; but philosophy should not and cannot subject itself to any authority whatever." Refutation Before the Savior of the .World came upon earth and repeated those sublime words uttered at the creationFiat cre-ationFiat lux, philosophy, oppressed beneath the burden of its own inordinate inordi-nate pride, groped about in the dark ness, which enveloped the human intellect. intel-lect. Guided solely by the faint, inconstant incon-stant light of reason, it grappled with the mysterious problems which underlie under-lie tha origin, the nature, the duties and the destiny of man. But it was utterly ut-terly unequal to the task of explaining them satisfactorily. The solution offered of-fered by its exponents were diverse and frequently contradictory. And herein we have an explanation of the fact that certain philcophefs of more than ordinary acutenesd of intellect, who had approached more or less closely to the truth and were skilled in. the art oi persuasion, were able to secure a nu- merous following among other philosophers philoso-phers ls capable than themselves. Socrates, Piato and Aristotle are notable nota-ble examples! of such men. These philosophers phil-osophers enjoyed the reputation of having hav-ing penetrated deep into the mysteries of life, and by the sheer force of native genius, were enabled to found authoritative authori-tative systems to which a numerous I array of adherents returriedETAOIN j array of adherents rendered willing obedience iso true is it that man is naturally nat-urally inclined to listen to the voice of authority even in those matters which are strictly within the sphere of reason. We render all the more willing obedience to such authority, if I we find it to be in conformity with our I own private opinions, for in that cane j it strengthens our convictions and seems to afford conclusive proof of their correctness. And when we desire to impresa upon others the truths we have ourselves discovered, it is gratifying, grati-fying, after having first adduced the reasons of our own belief, to be able to add: Such and such learned men hold the same opinion and agree With ua perfectly. It is, therefore, evident that the philosophers, that is, those who searched after wisdom, placed themselves them-selves under the guidance of these schools, whose teachings were in accord ac-cord with their own idea of truth. Every system of philosophy is a collection col-lection of doctrines, speculative as well as practical, derived from certain fundamental fun-damental principles, which in their turn are the reyult of the gradual de-A-elopment of consequences, inferences and corrollaries. If the principles are false or erroneous, or if the consequences conse-quences be incorrectly drawn, the system sys-tem itself is necessarily false, and rx authority can make it true. In such caitc-s the only remedy i9 to remove the foundation upon which the system-is system-is based, or, in other words, to subject the consequences to a rigid examination examina-tion conducted in accordance with the rules of a rigorous and unbending unbend-ing logic. The poor pagans were to be pitied because they did net pce-Ees pce-Ees an infallible authority capable of correcting their errors, or of assuring them of the troth of their opinions. They were directed solely by the glimmering glim-mering light of reason, by the aid of which they could at beat attain but very meagre results. Reason is a sure guide, only when illumined by faith; and reason thus illumined is the exclusive exclu-sive prerogative of the true Catholic, who receives witJh humility and gratitude grati-tude all the truths which God designs to reveal through the ministry of His infallible Church. Conscious of the truth, he has no other duty than to render that truth evident. On the contrary, con-trary, those who reject the authority of the Church are even worse than the pagans themselves, because the latter would have joyfully accepted this authority, au-thority, had it been given them to participate par-ticipate in the benefits of revelation. Infidels despise the truth and obstinately obstinate-ly clcse their eyes to the light; silese-runt silese-runt mages tenabrar., and hence their philosophy is, and will continue to be, a poisonous fountain of error. Eleventh error: "The Church should not only never censure philoscphy, but should, on the contrary, tolerate the errors of philosophy, leaving it to correct cor-rect itself." Refutation Modern infidels not only desire to utterly discard the teaching of the Church, but force her to remain ei-, ei-, lent in the face of their pernicious errors, er-rors, forgetting that theseerrors are either directly or indirectly connnected with principles which clanh with the dogmas of revealed religion, and that, in all matters pertaining to faith or morals, it is the right, as it is the duty of the Church to epoak with the voice of authority, and thus preserve unity of doctrine among all her children. The Church, they say, not only must ne t interfere in-terfere with philosophy, but must even tolerate the errors of philosophy, leaving leav-ing it to correct itself. What felly! Christ commands the Church in the most solemn, manner to teach all nations na-tions and to feed Hia lambs and cheep; and yet in the face of this positive injunction, in-junction, infidels would compel her to maintain .i ignoble silence! The Church has for eighteen centuries obeyed obey-ed the command of her Divine Foun- Aaf lanrl ,clHa w'iU rrkr Mrum t,- fin crt lin- I til the end of the world. Let not her enemies flatter themselves that she will j fail in her mission. She is enlightened by the Spirit o Truth., and the sound cf her tremendous voice, d-'atingulshing between truth and error, will always miak? itself hoard above the din and confusion of conflicting opinions. Her children will be comforted by her as-suranceD. as-suranceD. The pre-ordained will accept ac-cept her maternal invitation to unite themselves within the true fold, and all the Juliana whom the spirit of darkness shall send forth will not be able to prevent pre-vent her glorious progression through the age:. The desire of the wicked rlhall perish. Seeking to destroy the kingdom of Him who, in His infinite goodness, came to redeem and enlighten enlight-en all ..mankind, they will be overwhelmed over-whelmed with confusion. The Church rthall triumph oyer those who, like the birds of night, s-hun the. brightness of the da;- and endeavor in, eecrecy and 3arknes.-i to accomplish their designs. She will warn her children against their arts, and inflamed with an ardent lovo for truth and a holy interest in the welfare wel-fare of humanity, she. will continue t feed her lamin and .'deep, despite ail opposition, until time shall be no more. Twelfth Error: "The decrees of the Apostolic See and of the Roman congregations con-gregations impede the true progress of science." Refutation. The Apostolic See and the Roman congregations' address themselves to man as man; or, in other words, to man as a Catholic an. I a reasonable being. Man, considered .s a reasonable being, is guided by reason and not by force; as a Catholic, he submits to the divinely constituted authority of the Church, who, through tho instrumentality of her decrees, warns him against prevailing errors, and thus enables him to tread in security the path of true science Such action on the part of the Apostolic-. Sev; and the holy congregations is highly favorable to the advancement nf science: for the errors which th- Church condemns are obstacles in th. way of progress, error being the enemy of truth, which is the object of all science. A knowledge of the truth is the great benefit which the human race h;is reaped from the coming of the Savior. For this was I born and for this cam-I cam-I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. He who sincere in his search after truth hearkens to the voice of tho Church, which is the voice of Christ Himself: Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. Those who oppose the decrees de-crees of the Apostolic See and of its congregations, seek to retard rather than to promote the advancement of science; they would envelop all things in darkness, in order to succeed in thwir endeavor, to give the lie to the writ- I ings of Moses, the Prophets and the Evangelists, and thus sap the foundations founda-tions of the Catholic religion For tho j past SOO years they have waged a war to the knife against Christ and against His Church, calling to their aid philosophy phil-osophy and history as well as the physical and natural sciences. They have falsified principles, misrepresented misrepresent-ed facts and causes, disfigured history and made use of every species of sophistry. But truth, however often it may be crushed, always rises from its ashes. Almighty God raises up from time to time great men who refute the enemies of Christianity, and cause the light of truth to shine as resplendently as when the Church first proclaimed it to the world; and however desperate-may desperate-may be the conflict, truth always triumphs tri-umphs in the end. Rome, by means of her Bishops, her Priests and her Monks, preserved the sciences from ruin in ages past; Rome today is the great bulwark of progress. which she advances by purging it of the taint of error. The very enemies of tho Church owe to Rome all the science which they m?v employ against their benefactor. Rome stands upon a rock and will not perish so soon as her enemies imagine. The day of the great defection is not yet at hand that day when shall be revealed the man of pin, the son of perdition, who oppt)?';:h and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that hn sitteth in the temple of God, showing I himself as if he were God. This day of calamity has not yet arrived. The entire episcopacy, with all its clergy and its laity, continues joined by the closest bonds to the Holy See and the Roman Pontiff; and the secret societies so-cieties gnash their teeth with rage in the vain attempt to break the golden link of unity. But woe to the world and woe to the sciences on that tremendous tre-mendous day when Rome shall fail: Let us then continue in union with the Holy See, and gratefully accept all the instructions imparted to us by means of its decrees. Thus will we ! advance in science with a sure progress, pro-gress, certain that, with Rome for our i guide, we can make no false step, nor ever deviate from the straight and narrow nar-row path of truth. Thirteenth Error: "The method and the principles by which the old scholastic scholas-tic doctors cultivated theology, are not in keeping with the requirements of the age and the progress of the sciences." Refutation: "Scientific methods" consist in the due and systematic treatment treat-ment of any given subject; it is, consequently, con-sequently, the proper means for this discovery and elucidation of the truth. Method is of two kinds; analytical and synthetical. The analytical meth- " od proceeds from particulars to univer- V sals, from compounds to simple bodies: it resolves the whole into its parts and examines each individual part, thus enabling'those who employ it, to arrive at a knowledge of midden, and mysterious mysteri-ous truths. The synthetical method is a process directly the reverse of this; it goes from universals to particulars, from simple elements to their compounds; from ono 'truth already known to others therewith there-with connected; properly speaking, it does not investigate, but rather aims if the demonstration of the truth. Now, theology has received its principles prin-ciples directly from Gcd through the instrumentality of revelation. By which of the two methods above mentioned should these principles be treated? Cer- tain modern philosophers, not content - . .n-- i...:l vV,1 !,- ' ! witn Dringing uie tumiy ncai mnuw i bear upon the natural science?, have also been pleased to apply it to those which are purely rational and psychol- . ogical, undoubtedly with a view of ar- . riving at a clearer understanding of he ; principles upon which those sciences are based.; but they say that the same -method should be adopted in theology, and that, were it so adopted, great advantage ad-vantage would accrue to this science. Moreover, some philosophers affirm that all the dogmas of theology must naturally natur-ally be enveloped in obscurity, if they ' be not subjected to a rigorous analysis, analy-sis, that is, unless they be treated in accordance with a method exactly the reverse of that hitherto employed. They 1 also assert that theologians have adopted the synthetical method with no other view than, to keep the pePIs in ignorance and by the aid cf the mysteries mys-teries to strengthen and perpetuate their own domination. . For the purpose of clearrueiss, let ua I dialingnifh dogmatic theology properly so-called, which embraces all the truths revealed by Gad. from that which is called preparatory, and which deals with the fundamental principles of theology, such as the existence of divine revelation, the true Church, her authority, etc., etc. , Now, in teaching1 theology proper, what method can be more appropriate than the synthetical or demonstrative? Tiro very nature of theological science roqu'.iras th? acoption. of this method. Theology teaches, not occult truths?, but truths proposed for our belief by the proximate rule of faith; that is, by the express authority of the Church-truths which both master and disciples must accept unconditionally. Its principles are not the inventions of theologians, not the labored results of human genius', gen-ius', but a sacred deposit received from, on high. In teaching others how to arrive ar-rive at results to which you have attained at-tained only by dint of patient and por-r por-r Hstent effort, it may be well to cause them to ias over the same rugged paths which you yourself had bean obliged to traverse; but there can be no justifiable motive for adopting this method in the teaching of truths, the certainty of which is matter of faith. The duty of 'the theologian consigns, therefore, not in making laborious researches re-searches after truth, but rather in explaining, ex-plaining, illustrating and defending the doctrines of the Church, and in showing show-ing that thoe dioctrin-es are in perfect uc-eord wuh the remote rule of fafth; that is, with tradition and the Holy Scripture. The advantages of this method are immea'sureable. For the things to ba . explained being already known, they may be classified in such a manner that they will all be mutually connected and ecienaifically arranged. The principles princi-ples upon which the conclusions arrived ar-rived at are based having been previously pre-viously laid down, and the preliminary notions accurately defined, it only remains re-mains to establish by appropriate arguments ar-guments . each particular proposition advanced. By this arrangement we are enabled not only to economize time, but nlfo to impart clearness and solidity t our treatment of the various rub-.ifols rub-.ifols under consideration. The analytical analyt-ical method, on the other hand, does net possess a ftingle cne of thej?e advantage, advan-tage, and if applied to theology, can only serve to involve this beautiful science sci-ence in subterfuge and confusion. Because Be-cause whenever the subject concerning which an inquiry is instituted for the purpose of determining whether it is embraced in revelation, and. if so, in what manner, it will be reeeissary, in accordance with the analytic method, to first resolve it into all its parts and take into consideration all its various relations, and then to subject these parts and relations to a further analy-pis, analy-pis, keeping constantly in view the sources of revelation, whence they are supposed to flow. Moreover, the objections objec-tions which present themselves must be answered, and the difficulties' which beset the investigator's path overcome; and care must be taken that the con- t 'lUNit-'HC dlincu civ uo jiul 1-Uiinii.i any known truth of revelation, or any principle of sound reason. Who does noit perceive the difficulties which muist nofcssarily attend this winding and intricate in-tricate process? How eai-'y is it not for error to creep in and lie concealed amid its labyrinthian mazes! And what an ample field dees it not present for the employment of subtle distinctions distinc-tions and fine-spun sophisms! This is carta inly not the method best adapted to the minds of young theologians, but it is of great service to those who -despise revelation and would gladly envelop en-velop it in uncertainty ani confusion; con-fusion; who ieek to involve our youthful theologians in universal doubt, in orrfcw to convince them that they are the adherents of. arc irrational faith, or to precipitate them into the abyea of indifferentisim. They thus hope to extinguish in the brcafts of faithful Priests that "fervent zeal in fighting the battles of the Lord, which is the reault of strong and earnest ear-nest conviction. This is the secret of the opposition manifested by unbelievers unbeliev-ers in common with Luther, their patriarch, pa-triarch, to the synthetical and their strenuous advocacy of the analytical method. The former opposes an insurmountable insur-mountable barrier to all their efforts, while the latter operates directly in their favor. They desire to bring about the ruin of the Church of Christ; and, us a preliminary step, they seek the doixuetion cf its bulwarks and all its means of defence. They would fain have their dogmas of faith regarded in the light of r.Kre problems, entirely dc;H r.'ient upon the judgment of individual indi-vidual reason. The doubt which their prir.i.-'iplco engender, at flrjit purely hypothetical, hy-pothetical, poon becomes positive and real; because the mind soon accustoms i tts-elf to discard eternal sources of con-vi con-vi otion, to reli- sjlely upon its own powers, to despise the authority of the ablest theologians, and to accommodate the teaching: of the Church to its own peculiar views. Thus reiaon is enthroned en-throned and recognized as the sole arbiter ar-biter of the true faith. The Progrns-fion:.U5 Progrns-fion:.U5 honor as their progenitor the famous Abclard, of whom St. Bernard says that if you hear him speak of the Trir.ity, you would imagine that Arius was addressing you; that, when he d:e- eus-e-l the nature of grace, he seemed irust im-t with the spirit of Pelagius; and that, when he discoursed concerning the incarnation, you could with difficulty diffi-culty conceive that you were not listening lis-tening to Neatorius. He fell into the errors of these heresiarchs, as the ame . Saint observes, through too strict an "adherence to the analytical method, or, in o-iher words, by constantly refusing to accc?t. as an article of faith any doctrine which his reason could not ,jt demonstrate. 'V'- 4. |