Religion and Ecclesiasticism 79 



the following extract from a Pastoral address 

 by the Bishop of Newport, which accident- 

 ally I saw reported in The Tablet^ shows that 

 the danger is not wholly imaginary, if unwise 

 opinions are pressed to their logical practical 

 issue : 



" If the formulas of modern science contradict 

 the science of Catholic dogma, it is the former 

 that must be altered, not the latter." 1 



1 In case it is unfair to wrench a sentence like this from 

 its context, I quote the larger portion of that instructive 

 report in this note : 



Extract from " The Tablet? Aug. 27 th, 1904 An 

 Address by the Bishop of Newport. 



" If the Abbe Loisy has followers within the Church, as we 

 are informed he has, it cannot be doubted that the danger 

 for Catholics is by no means imaginary. For Loisy teaches 

 that the dogmatic definitions of the Church [on the 

 Incarnation], although the best that could be given at the 

 time and under the circumstances, are only a most in- 

 adequate expression of the real truth, which they represent 

 merely relatively and imperfectly. These definitions, he 

 says, should now be stated afresh, because the traditional 

 formula no longer corresponds to the way in which the 

 mystery is regarded by contemporary thought. In his view, 

 our present knowledge of the universe should suggest to 

 the Church a new examination of the dogma of Creation ; 

 our knowledge of history should make her revise her ideas 

 of revelation; and our progress in psychology and moral 

 philosophy should suggest to her to re-state her theology 

 of the Incarnation. Every one can see that there is a 



