MODERNISM : ITS ORIGIN AND TENDENCIES. 



135 



infallible developing authority," in the speaker's judgment if the 

 Roman hierarchy laid claim to " development " it could not at the 

 same time claim to be " semper eadeni." 



The Rev. J. Tuckwell concurred Mdth Mr. Faithfull Davies in 

 what he had said as to the wideness of the subject and its want of 

 definition. There were, however, some threads of a scientific 

 character to be found, and a ]Modernist Philosophy was developing 

 which was l^ecoming very attractive to some. There was, however, 

 a desire to prove a Unity in all natural things which could only 

 lead to Pantheism, and too great a leaning on modern methods of 

 criticism which were too often subjective and too apt to ignore 

 external evidence and fact. He v/as amazed at the frequent 

 ignoring of archaeological evidence to the falseness of theories 

 accepted by the Modernists. The position adopted by the Modernist 

 critic of to-day, e.g., Loisy, could be traced to French Deism which 

 was transferred to Germany after the Napoleonic era. They should 

 rejoice in the revolt if it led back to truth and simplicity and not 

 to rationalism and an anti-christian pseudo-philosophy. The 

 rejection of all Christian doctrine and all supernatural religion in 

 France, seemed to be a great danger to Modernism, with which it 

 was brought so much into contact. 



The Rev. S. Pike was glad to have heard Chancellor Lias' sentence 

 (p. 124) on the higher critics. It had often happened that theories had 

 been developed which were later on overthrown by the spade of the 

 investigator ; the critics pass from their theories but still forget why. 

 It would be a pity if the Modernists should forget that true advance 

 was generally founded on historical fact and not on theory alone. 

 Owing to the system of the Roman Church Modernism was in a 

 manner stultified. Its followers were trained in blind faith, and 

 . seeing a revolt they were too anxious to adapt the system to those 

 who were drifting away. 



Colonel Alves asked those present to consider how many so- 

 called reformers had practically thrown the Old Testament overboard. 

 Christian people were too apt to give a flat denial to statements in 

 the Old Testament which have not as yet been fulfilled, as for 

 example the statement often made that the Jews shall not go back 

 to their own land, denials that the Temple shall be rebuilt, or that 

 the recurrence of the animal sacrifice is once again to be witnessed. 



The Rev. Chancellor Lias, in replying, said that he had really 



