THE NEW ORDER 



If we are guided by the spirit of Au- 

 gustine and of Dante we cannot fail to 

 see that the Church has passed through 

 a very critical period of scepticism as 

 regards Nature. This is perhaps an 

 original view of scepticism, but there 

 is no way of evading its application; 

 if Nature represents the wisdom and 

 goodness of God, to be blind to its 

 interpretation is a form of scepticism 

 devout and well-intentioned though 

 it may be. Especially the Roman 

 Church has been led away from its 

 pristine faith in Nature as a mani- 

 festation of the divine, while the Prot- 

 estant Church, in consequence of this 

 loss of faith during the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, has suffered a loss of influence in 

 the world which it will require a long 

 period to regain. If the laws of Na- 

 ture are manifestations of the divine 

 power and wisdom, as we proclaim in 



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