It would seem rather late in the day to put forth an Apology of the Christian Religion. For that religion has stood before the world nearly two thousand years, and it has made good its contention of having been divinely established. The historic credentials of its institution by Jesus Christ, God's own Son, are absolutely without flaw. Its divine origin and purpose are, moreover, clearly demonstrated by the moral regeneration which it has wrought during every century of its existence. It is, therefore, a religion that is obviously true, and as such there appears little need of defending its claims.
Still more uncalled for would it seem to say anything in defense of religion in general, abstracting from its natural or supernatural character. For the need of some kind of religion is so deeply engraven on the human heart, that the common voice of humanity has ever proclaimed it as an incontrovertible fact. "In traveling over the earth," wrote Plutarch nearly two thousand years ago, "you may find cities without walls, without literature, without the arts and sciences of civilized life, but a people without God, without prayers, without religious oaths, without religious rites, without sacrifices, is nowhere seen." And this bold statement of the Greek historian is fully borne out by the findings of modern savants. There is in man a religious instinct by reason of which he reaches out spontaneously, in thought and affection, to a Being beyond and above this changeable universe -- to a personal God from whom he is conscious of having received his existence, and to whom, in consequence, he must pay the tribute of religious veneration. This instinct manifests itself as Nature's own voice, proclaiming with unmistakable clearness both the existence of God and His inalienable right to man's service and worship.
And why, then, insist upon a necessity that is so obvious and so generally acknowledged? Primarily because this general acknowledgment is with many a matter of theory rather than of practice. It has been stated by men who claim to have investigated existing conditions carefully, that in this country, for instance, only about one-fifth of the people are regular church-goers; that of the remaining four-fifths only a small fraction attend divine services occasionally, whilst the rest never cross the threshold of a church. Even this latter class does not deny that there is need of religion but in practice it fails to act up to this need. "God is in heaven and man is on earth," men of this class will tell you, "and whatever relation there may exist between the two, in the ordering of one's life it is more satisfactory to allow each one to be interested in his own little world." Ultimately, therefore, these men assume the position of religious indifferentists, to whom the theoretical necessity of religious service and worship offers no practical interest.
The proximate cause of this indifference, it may be assumed, is an undue desire to secure and enjoy the good things of this world; to get out of life's material surroundings all that is in them: yet the real reason of it all appears to reach down deeper into men's minds and hearts. They are out of touch with their God. The materializing influences of men's lives tend to make of God a mere metaphysical concept. Many have lost sight of the fact that God is their Creator and Preserver, and the one Supreme Good in whose possession alone they can find rest and contentment. They no longer realize what the fact of creation necessarily implies for each single individual and for society in general. Thus they live in an unreal world, where eternal facts are supplanted by fleeting fancies, and where the stern demands of duty give way before the appeals of mere expediency. Practically forgetful of their Creator, they are necessarily careless of their most solemn obligations, and so they abandon themselves to the enjoyment of the passing hour.
This absorption in material interests appears to have shortened the range of men's intellectual vision. They have come to look upon this little world of ours as something altogether complete in itself and independent in the operation of its laws. Even the Master Mechanician is in nowise allowed to interfere. That nature depends on God, not only for its existence, but also for its operations, is a fact which the modern world finds extremely difficult to understand. As a necessary consequence, any occurrence that presupposes the intervention of a higher power than is provided for by the laws of nature, is by that very fact set aside as inadmissible.
That such a mental attitude is thoroughly inimical to so dogmatic a religion as is taught by the Catholic Church is quite obvious. Where man is practically looked upon as being a law unto himself, religious dogmas cannot be tolerated. And if these dogmas are furthermore represented as wholly supernatural in their origin and scope, they must be put down as the foolish fancies of idle dreamers. Hence the widespread religious indifferentism of to-day, although in principle tolerant of all religions, is nevertheless in fact openly hostile to Catholic teaching. Catholicism and Religious Indifferentism are op posed to one another as light and darkness; where the one finds an entrance the other must make its exit. There is no room for them in the same inn.
It is this condition of things that makes apologetic literature at the present time an urgent necessity. The Church is indeed a living fact patent to all; her very existence no less than her work points to a divine origin; but people. have grown so myopic that they cannot see what lies at their very doors. There is need of pointing out the obvious, even if one thereby runs the risk of being considered a bore. Many will perhaps dismiss the subject with an impatient shrug of the shoulders, but at least a few may stop to consider, and considering may find their way to the truth.
In order to make this contribution to Apologetics serviceable to all, it was thought well to begin with the very elements of religion. Hence starting from the fact of creation, it is first of all made clear that religious service and worship of some kind is imperative under every conceivable condition of man's estate here on earth. This idea is evolved in the first part, which, therefore, deals with the question more or less in the abstract. In the second part, the subject is narrowed down to a consideration of supernatural religion, both as an abstract possibility and as a concrete fact. As this supernatural religion is in fact identified with Christianity, the third part deals with the question of Christ's divinity, which is quite commonly denied by religious indifferentists of the present day. The fourth and last part contains an answer to the question: Which of the hundreds of professedly Christian denominations, scattered over the face of the earth, represents the true Church of Christ? Thus the whole field of Apologetics is fairly well covered, although the treatment is necessarily somewhat brief.
Finally, it is but just to observe that the contents of this book have, to a large extent, already appeared in pamphlet form. These pamphlets have in a short time run through several editions, and are still in considerable demand. But as numerous requests have been made for a continuous treatment of the subjects in question, this present attempt is offered by the author as a token of his good will.
BERNARD J. OTTEN, S. J.
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, 1912.