Occasional Paper (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876 edition. Excerpt: ...popularly accepted. Secondly, that all the sad results which attend on this sort of playing with fire are gradually diffusing themselves among the young and inexperienced. There is a sort of dim feeling in many a young heart, that old opinions are untenable, or if to any extent tenable that they will have to be totally reconstituted, that the attack is overwhelmingly strong, and the defence, very orthodox, but very weak," &c. Again, " It may be easy enough to say, as is often said, that there are really no grounds for supposing that matters are now worse than they have ever been before; that there was quite as much infidelity in the days of Bishop Butler as there is now; that the present movement of modern thought is transitory, and is only prelusive to a re-actionary return to the old and true principles of the Catholic faith. It is easy to say these things; but it is by no means easy to support them by satisfactory proofs. Infidelity we well know there has ever been; but it has certainly not been the form, or rather forms of infidelity, which are now confronting us It is certainly an unbelief of a very different kind, for it begins by denying on presumed scientific evidence, that very truth which Butler and his opponents alike regarded as sufficiently established, the existence of an intelligent Author of nature, and of a moral Governor of the world." We strongly recommend our readers to procure this work, if they wish to form a clear conception of the present aspects of the controversy. We believe that they will arise from its perusal with the conviction, that not only is the existence of a Society, like our own, justified by the present aspects of unbelieving thought, but that its operations require to be greatly extended....