CAUSES OF THE CONTINUANCE OF PROTESTANTISM.
After having clearly shown the intrinsic weakness of Protestantism,
it is natural to ask this question: If it be so feeble, owing to
the radical defects of its constitution, why has it not by this
time completely disappeared? If it bear in its own breast the seeds
of death, how has it been able so long to withstand such powerful
adversaries, as Catholicity, on the one hand, and irreligion
or Atheism, on the other? In order to resolve this question
satisfactorily, it is necessary to consider Protestantism in two points
of view; as embodying a fixed creed, and as expressing a number of
sects, who, in spite of their numerous mutual differences, agree in
calling themselves Christians, and preserve a shadow of Christianity,
although they reject the authority of the Church. It is necessary
to consider Protestantism in this double point of view, since its
founders, while endeavoring to destroy the authority and dogmas of the
Roman Church, were compelled to form a system of doctrines to serve as
a symbol for their followers. Considered in the first aspect, it has
almost entirely disappeared; we should rather say it scarcely ever had
existence. This truth is sufficiently evident from what I have said of
the variations and actual condition of Protestantism in the various
countries of Europe; time has shown how much the pretended Reformers
were deceived, when they fancied that they could fix the columns of
Hercules of the human mind, to repeat the expression of Madame de Staël.
Who now defends the doctrines of Luther and Calvin? Who respects the
limits which they prescribed? What Protestant Church distinguishes
itself by the ardor of its zeal in preserving any particular dogmas?
What Protestant now holds the divine mission of Luther, or believes the
Pope to be Antichrist? Who watches over the purity of doctrine, and
points out errors? Who opposes the torrent of sectarianism?
Do we find, in their writings, or in their discourses, the energetic
tones of conviction, or the zeal of truth? In fine, what a wide
difference do we find when we compare the Protestant Church with the
Catholic! Inquire into the faith of the latter, and you will hear from
the mouth of Gregory XVI., the successor of St. Peter, the same that
Luther heard from Leo X. Compare the doctrine of Leo X. with that of
his predecessors, you will always find it the same up to the Apostles,
and to Jesus Christ himself. If you attempt to assail a dogma, if you
try to attack the purity of morals, the voice of the ancient Fathers
will denounce your errors, and in the middle of the nineteenth century
you will imagine that the old Leos and Gregories are risen from the
tomb. If your intentions are good, you will find indulgence; if your
merits are great, you will be treated with respect; if you occupy an
elevated position in the world, you will have attention paid to you.
But if you attempt to abuse your talents by introducing novelty in
doctrine; if, by your power, you aspire to demand a modification of
faith; and if, to avoid troubles or prevent schism, or conciliate
any one, you ask for a compromise or even an ambiguous explanation;
the answer of the successor of St. Peter will be, "Never! faith is a
sacred deposit which we cannot alter; truth is immutable; it is one:"
and to this reply of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, which with a word will
banish all your hopes, will be added those of the modern Athanasiuses,
Gregories of Nazianzen, Ambroses, Jeromes, and Augustins. Always
the same firmness in the same faith, the same unchangeableness, the
same energy in preserving the sacred deposit intact, in defending it
against the attacks of error, in teaching it to the faithful in all
its purity, and in transmitting it unaltered to future generations.
Will it be said that this is obstinacy, blindness, and fanaticism?
But, eighteen centuries gone by, the revolutions of empires, the most
fearful catastrophes, an infinite variety of ideas and manners, the
most severe persecutions, the darkness of ignorance, the conflicts of
passion, the lights of knowledge,--none of these have been able to
enlighten this blindness, to bend this obstinacy, or extinguish this
fanaticism. Certainly a reflecting Protestant, one of those who know
how to rise above the prejudices of education, when fixing his eyes on
this picture, the truth of which he cannot but acknowledge, if he is
well informed on the question, will feel strong doubts arise within him
as to the truth of the instruction he has received; he will at least
feel a desire of examining more closely this great prodigy which the
Catholic Church presents to us. But to return.
We see the Protestant sects melting away daily, and this dissolution
must constantly increase; nevertheless, we have no reason to be
astonished that Protestantism, inasmuch as it consists of a number of
sects who preserve the name and some remains of Christianity, does
not wholly disappear; for how could it disappear? Either Protestant
nations must be completely swallowed up by irreligion or atheism, or
they must give up Christianity and adopt one of the religions which are
established in other parts of the world. Now both these suppositions
are impossible; therefore this false form of Christianity has been and
will be preserved, in some shape or other, until Protestants return to
the bosom of the Church.
Let us develop these ideas. Why cannot Protestant nations be completely
swallowed up by irreligion and atheism, or indifference? Because such
a misfortune may happen to an individual, but not to a nation. By
means of false books, erroneous reasonings, and continual efforts,
some individuals may extinguish the lively sentiments of their hearts,
stifle the voice of conscience, and trample under foot the dictates of
common sense; but a nation cannot do so. A people always preserves a
large fund of candor and docility, which, amid the most fatal errors
and even the most atrocious crimes, compels it to lend an attentive
ear to the inspirations of nature. Whatever may be the corruption of
morals, whatever may be the errors of opinion, there will never be
more than a small number of men found capable of struggling for a long
time against themselves, in the attempt to eradicate from their hearts
that fruitful germ of good feelings, that precious seed of virtuous
thoughts, with which the beneficent hand of the Creator has enriched
our souls. The conflagration of the passions, it is true, produces
lamentable prostration, and sometimes terrible explosions; but when
the fire is extinguished, man returns to himself, and his mind becomes
again accessible to the voice of reason and virtue. An attentive study
of society proves that the number of men is happily very small who
are, as it were, steeled against truth and virtue; who reply with
frivolous sophistry to the admonitions of good sense; who oppose with
cold stoicism the sweetest and most generous inspirations of nature,
and venture to display, as an illustration of philosophy, firmness,
and elevation of mind, the ignorance, obstinacy, and barrenness of
an icy heart. The generality of mankind, more simple, more candid,
more natural, are consequently ill-suited to a system of atheism, or
indifference. Such a system may take possession of the proud mind of
a learned visionary; it may be adopted, as a convenient opinion, by
dissipated youth; and in times of agitation, it may influence a few
fiery spirits; but it will never be able to establish itself in society
as a normal condition.
No, by no means. An individual may be irreligious, but families and
society never will. Without a basis on which the social edifice must
rest; without a great creative idea, whence will flow the ideas of
reason, virtue, justice, obligation, and right, which are as necessary
to the existence and preservation of society as blood and nourishment
are to the life of the individual, society would be destroyed; without
the sweet ties by which religious ideas unite together the members of
a family, without the heavenly harmony which they infuse into all its
connections, the family would cease to exist, or at least would be only
a rude and transient union, resembling the intercourse of animals.
God has happily gifted all his creatures with a marvellous instinct
of self-preservation. Guided by that instinct, families and society
repudiate with indignation those degrading ideas which, blasting by
their fatal breath all the germs of life, breaking all ties, upsetting
all laws, make both of them retrograde towards the most abject
barbarism, and finish by scattering their members like dust before the
wind.
The repeated lessons of experience ought to have convinced certain
philosophers that these ideas and feelings, engraven on the heart of
man by the finger of the Author of nature, cannot be eradicated by
declamation or sophistry. If a few ephemeral triumphs have occasionally
flattered their pride, and made them conceive false hopes of the result
of their efforts, the course of events has soon shown them, that to
pride themselves on these triumphs was to act like a man who, on
account of having succeeded in infusing unnatural sentiments into the
hearts of a few mothers, would flatter himself that he has banished
maternal love from the world. Society (I do not mean the populace or
the commonalty)--society will be religious, even at the risk of being
superstitious; if it does not believe in reasonable things, it will in
extravagant ones; and if it have not a divine religion, it will have a
human one: to suppose the contrary, is to dream; to struggle against
this tendency, is to struggle against an eternal law; to attempt to
restrain it, is to attempt to restrain with a weak arm a body launched
with an immense force--the arm will be destroyed, but the body will
continue its course. Men may call this superstition, fanaticism, the
result of error; but to talk thus can only serve to console them for
their failure.
Since, then, religion is a real necessity, we have therein an
explanation of the phenomenon which history and experience present
to us, namely, that religion never wholly disappears, and that when
changes take place, the two rival religions, during their struggles,
more or less protracted, occupy successively the same ground. The
consequence is, that Protestantism cannot entirely disappear unless
another religion takes its place. Now, as in the actual state of
civilization, no religion can replace it but the Catholic, it is
evident that Protestant sects will continue to occupy, with more or
less variation, the countries which they have gained.
Indeed, how is it possible, in the present state of civilization among
Protestant nations, that the follies of the Koran, or the absurdities
of idolatry, should have any chance of success among them? The spirit
of Christianity circulates in the veins of modern society; its seal
is set upon all legislation; its light is shed upon all branches of
knowledge; its phraseology is found in all languages; its precepts
regulate morals; habits and manners have assumed its form; the fine
arts breathe its perfume, and all the monuments of genius are full
of its inspirations. Christianity, in a word, pervades all parts of
that great, varied, and fertile civilization, which is the glory of
modern society. How then, is it possible for a religion entirely to
disappear which possesses, with the most venerable antiquity, so many
claims to gratitude, so many endearing ties, and so many glorious
recollections? How could it give place, among Christian nations, to
one of those religions which, at the first glance, show the finger
of man, and indicate, as their distinctive mark, degradation and
debasement? Although the essential principle of Protestantism saps
the foundations of the Christian religion, although it disfigures its
beauty, and lowers its sublimity, yet the remains which it preserves of
Christianity, its idea of God, and its maxims of morality, raise it far
above all the systems of philosophy, and all the other religions of the
world.
If, then, Protestantism has preserved some shadow of the Christian
religion, it was because, looking at the condition of the nations who
took part in the schism, it was impossible for the Christian name
wholly to disappear; and not on account of any principle of life
contained in the bosom of the pretended Reformation. On the other
hand, consider the efforts of politicians, the natural attachment of
ministers to their own interests, the illusions of pride which flatter
men with the freedom they will enjoy in the absence of all authority,
the remains of old prejudices, the power of education, and such like
causes, and you will find a complete solution of the question. Then
you will no longer be surprised that Protestantism continues to retain
possession of many of those countries where it unfortunately became
deeply rooted.