The rule of
conduct of the parochial clergy has appeared to me to be to keep their
influence over their flocks in purely ecclesiastical matters, and run
no risk of straining that influence by interfering with their personal
morality, or by making Christianity the difficult rule of life which
it is in Puritan countries.
I have no hostility to Roman doctrine or dogma, for the distinction I
make between the different forms of anthropomorphic religion is only
one of degree, and I have so many personal friends amongst Roman
Catholics in whom I see the fire of pure and living spirituality
glowing through the forms and superstitions of their creed that I
cannot join in that indiscriminate denunciation which is common
amongst Protestants. My experience in these matters has taught me that
to certain natures the anthropomorphic forms of religion are a Jacob's
ladder to that spiritual life which is the end of religion. Nor can I
see that a little more or a little less of the credulity which is, in
all human minds, mingled with pure faith in the Divine, can make a
vital difference in the character of the religion, whatever it may
make in the creed. The most earnest man is hampered by an heredity of
credence that makes the conception of the Supreme Being a matter of
an intellectual struggle which is to some minds insuperable, and to
deprive such of the symbols which lead to a final comprehension of the
truth is no service to humanity or truth.
Pages:
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344