CHAP. II.] THE Difficulties of THEISM.

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He

sistibly as Cardinal Newman finds the doctrine of the existence of God borne in upon him, he must not be supposed to be without a keen consciousness of the number and weight of the objections which may be raised against it-of the insoluble questions, the inconceivable, inexplicable mysteries which attend it—of the imperfection and incompleteness of the body of proof adducible for it-of the plausible excuses which may be urged for doubting it.1 recognises that "the main difficulty to an inquirer is firmly to hold that there is a Living God, the Creator, Witness, and Judge of men." And he thinks that, when once the mind is broken-in "to the belief of a power above it, when once it understands that it is not itself the measure of all things in heaven and earth, it will have little difficulty in going forward:" not, indeed, that it necessarily must, but that it has passed a line-that "the great obstacle to faith is taken away. 12 The very difficulties of nature, he judges, make it likely that a Revelation should be given.

1 See sermon on "Mysteries of Nature and Grace" in Discourses to Mixed Congregations, p. 263. So in Oxford University Sermons, p. 194, he remarks, "It is a great question whether Atheism is not. as philosophically consistent with the phenomena of the physical world, taken by themselves, as the doctrine of a creative and sovereign Power." But see the note in the last edition upon the words in italics. It must not be supposed that Cardinal Newman denies the validity of the argument from design in its place.

2 Discourses to Mixed Congregations, p. 276.

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That earnest desire which religious minds cherish leads the way to the expectation of it. Those who know nothing of the wounds of the soul, are not led to deal with the question, or to consider its circumstances. But, when our attention is roused, then the more steadily we dwell upon it, the more probable does it seem that a revelation has been, or will be, given to us. This presentiment is founded on our sense, on the one hand, of the infinite goodness of God, and, on the other, of our extreme misery and need. You know there is a God, yet you know your own ignorance of Him, of His will, of your duties, of your prospects. A revelation would be the greatest of possible boons which could be vouchsafed to you. After all, you do not know, you only conclude, that there is a God; you see Him not, you do but hear of Him. He acts under a veil; He is on the point of manifesting Himself to you at every turn, yet He does not. He has impressed on your heart anticipations of His majesty; in every part of creation has He left traces of His presence and given glimpses of His glory; you come up to the spot, He has been there, but He is gone.. The news, then, of a revelation, far from suspicious, is borne in upon our hearts by the strongest presumptions of reasons in its behalf. It is hard to believe that it is not given, as, indeed, the conduct of mankind has ever shown. You cannot help expecting it from the hands of the All-merciful, unworthy as you feel yourselves of it. It is not that you can claim it, but that He inspires hope of it; it is not you that are worthy of the gift, but it is the gift which is worthy of your Creator. It is so urgently probable, that little evidence is required for it, even though but little were given. Evidence that God has spoken you must have, else were you a prey to impostures; but its extreme likelihood allows you, were it necessary, to dispense with all proof that is not barely sufficient for your purpose. The very fact, I say, that there is a Creator, and a hidden one, powerfully bears you on and sets you down at the very threshold of revelation, and leaves you there looking up earnestly for divine tokens that a revelation has been made.2

This is the second stage of his argument. His

1 Grammar of Assent, p. 423.

2. Discourses to Mixed Congregations, p. 277-279.

CHAP. II.] IS THERE A REVELATION?

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third point is, If there is a Revelation, where should we seek it? Christianity he considers to be the truest complement of natural religion. But which of its innumerable varieties is the truest form of Christianity? And here comes in the testimony of history. Christianity is a great fact in the world. Its founders set it up as a Church, a Visible Society, a Kingdom. This was their work, not to write a book, nor to put together a collection of documents, the Bible being, in fact, the creation of the Church, and deriving from her sanction an authority the actual extent of which she has never defined. But where is this kingdom which Christ set up, if, indeed, it is still on earth? "If," he argues-

all that can be found of it is what can be discerned at Constantinople or Canterbury, I say, it has disappeared. . . . We must either give up the belief in the Church as a divine institution altogether, or we must recognise it in that communion of which the Pope is the head. We must take things as they are; to believe in a Church is to believe in the Pope.2 The question lies between the [Catholic] Church and no divine messenger at all; there is no revelation given us, unless she is the organ of it; for where else is there a Prophet to be found? Your anticipation, which I have been speaking of, has failed, your probability has been falsified, if she be not that Prophet of God. Not that this conclusion is an absurdity, for you cannot take it for granted that your hope of a revelation will be fulfilled; but in whatever degree it is probable that it will be fulfilled, in that degree it is probable that the Church, and nothing else, is the means of fulfilling it. .. Turn away from the Catholic Church, and to whom will you go?

1 Grammar of Assent, p. 486.

2 "Letter to the Duke of Norfolk," Anglican Difficulties, vol. ii.

p. 207.

There is nothing between it and scepticism, when men exert their reason freely. Private creeds, fancy religions, may be showy and imposing to the many in their day; national religions may lie huge and lifeless, and cumber the ground for centuries, and distract the attention or confuse the judgment of the learned; but on the long run it will be found that either the Catholic religion is verily and indeed the coming in of the unseen world into this, or that there is nothing positive, nothing dogmatic, nothing real in any of our notions as to whence we come and whither we are going.1

Such is, in substance, the solution of the great question of the day which commends itself to Cardinal Newman. Of those who are farthest from accepting it, there are, I think, not a few who will recognise that he has done much to clear the ground, and to present to the world the true issue and this, perhaps, is the chief significance for us of the Tractarian Movement.

1 Discourses to Mixed Congregations, p. 279-283.

CHAPTER III.

RELIGIONS AND RELIGION.

CHRISTIANITY, after all, is only one out of many forms of Ancient Religion, claiming the allegiance of mankind, and there are few more noteworthy tokens of that widening of men's thoughts, so observable in the present day, than the great and growing interest taken in the non-Christian systems, which have played, and are playing, so vast a part in the career of humanity. Of all facts about our race in any age, or in any clime, the most momentous, assuredly, are the religious; according to the profound saying of the Bhagavat Gita: "Faith is the dominant principle in man: whatever is a man's faith that is a man's self." What men really believe and lay to heart about the meaning and end of human existence, about their own nature and destiny-these, it may be safely affirmed, are the first things

about them for the lives of men are but the expression of their ideas and notions: our deeds are the results of our thoughts. We could not act at all without some sort of creed-even if it be only