xv INFALLIBILITY AND TOLERATION 273 



But some one must have it, else it would not exist, and 

 then there would be no truth at all. Even if it is among 

 the prerogatives of deity, it is reasonable to suppose that 

 it has been deposited with some human representative. 

 Let us search the world, therefore, for one whom we can 

 regard as such a depositary of absolute truth, and submit 

 to his authority. And whom shall we find to satisfy 

 these conditions better than the Pope ? His infallibility 

 is infinitely more credible than that of the man in the 

 street. 



Such a train of thought must surely appeal very 

 powerfully to all who feel a spiritual craving to submit 

 themselves to authority, who long to shuffle off the 

 responsibility for their acts, and to find some one who 

 will guide and direct them. And their name is legion. 

 If, therefore, there were no Pope, he would have to be 

 invented for such souls. His Holiness need not fear that 

 his faithful will desert him. There is no reason to think 

 that the anima naturalitcr Vaticana is becoming extinct. 

 He must, however, eschew the restriction of his claim to 

 faith and morals. The absolutistic view of truth logically 

 demands that truth be fully unified. A plurality of 

 authority implies a plurality of truth ; and this is inadmis 

 sible. The Pope, therefore, must be the infallible 

 authority in art, politics, and science, as well as in 

 religion. There is, moreover, a practical reason for this 

 arrangement. If there is no single infallibility to cover 

 the whole realm of thought, if there are a number of 

 authorities all claiming to speak infallibly in the name 

 of their respective sciences, it is impossible to avoid con 

 flicts and collisions between them ; and this must dis 

 credit, weaken, and perhaps destroy, the whole principle 

 of authority as such. 



Before, however, this unification of authorities is finally 

 achieved, it is easy to predict that a prolonged period of 

 painful contention must ensue. The world at present 

 contains a great number of conflicting authorities, of 

 which it is by no means clear that the Roman Church 

 is the strongest and best fitted to survive ; it contains also 



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