Their rivalry persisted at the
Peace Conference, disappointing all the hopes of idealists. Must it
not always persist, must not horrible carnage, awful desolation,
ruinous destruction, and, at any rate, dangerous and provocative
rivalries, always dog the steps of humanity until Christendom is
one?
* * * * *
Personally, I think reunion with Rome is so far off that it need
not trouble us just now; there are other things to do; but I would
certainly refrain from anything which made ultimate reunion more
difficult. And so I hold fast to my Catholic doctrines. But I tell
you where I find a great difficulty. A man comes to me for adult
baptism. I have to ask him, point by point, if he verily believes
the various doctrines of the Church, doctrines which a man baptised
as an infant may not definitely accept and yet remain a faithful
member of Christ's Church. What am I to say to one who has the
passion of Christian morality in his heart, but asks me whether
these verbal statements of belief are essential? He might say to
me, "It would be immoral to assert that I believe what I have not
examined, and to examine this doctrine so thoroughly as to give an
answer not immoral would take a lifetime. Am I to remain outside
the Church till then?" Here, I think, the Church can take a step
which would widen its influence enormously.
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