Leigh!" he said gently, "I begin to
understand you now! I see that you have studied deeply, and you have
thought still more. If you will continue your studies and your
thinking also, you will see how difficult it is for us to move as
rapidly with the times as you would have us do. You must remember
that it would be quite possible for Holy Mother Church to rise at
once to the high scientific and psychical position you wish her to
adopt, if it were not for the mass of the ignorant, with whom one
must have patience! You are a man in the prime of life--you are
zealous--eager for improvement,--yes!--all that is very admirable
and praiseworthy. But you forget the numerous and widely differing
interests with which we of the Church have to deal. For the great
majority of persons it would be useless, for example, to give them
lessons on the majesty of God's work in the science of Astronomy.
They would be confused, bewildered, and more or less frightened out
of faith altogether. They must have something tangible to cling to--
for instance,"--and he pressed the tips of his fingers delicately
together, "there are grades of intelligence just as there are grades
of creation; you cannot instruct a caterpillar as you instruct a
man.
Pages:
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479