The tasks of the two competing
organisations are not radically different in their nature; on the
one side it may be said that had not the Christian religion found
civil order already in existence, had it come, like Islam, in
contact with the anarchy of Arabia instead of the Empire of Rome
it must have founded not the Church, but the state; on the other
side it is well known that the state has everywhere entered into
possession of fields first reclaimed to cultivation by the Church.
Now we must acknowledge that the nation is more certainly created
by God than the Church, and that God works more powerfully in the
history of the nations than in Church history. The Church, at
first a substitute for the nation which was wanting, is affected by
the same evils incident to an artificial cultivation as meet us in
Judaism. We cannot create for ourselves our sphere of life and
action; better that it should be a natural one, given by God.
And yet it would be unjust to deny the permanent advantages of
the differentiation of the two. The Church will always be able
to work in advance for the state of the future.
Pages:
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134