Volume > Issue > The Realm of Faith, Continued

The Realm of Faith, Continued

EPISTLE 4

By Douglass H. Bartley | December 2010
Douglass H. Bartley of Ely, Minnesota, a former judge, is the author of a treatise on the Constitution, The Kiss of Judice: The Constitution Betrayed: A Coroner's Inquest and Report, the first parts of which have been published on his blog, "Pastoral Republican," found at http://douglassbartley.wordpress.com/. Epistle 3, "The Realm of Faith," appeared in the September issue of the NOR.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned. — Mark 16:16

The Sermon on the Mount…is meant to inspire us with an active principle of charity which ought to make obligations and prohibitions unnecessary to us….— Ronald Knox

It is sometimes spoken of as a hardship that a Catholic is not allowed to inquire into the truth of his Creed; — of course he cannot, if he would retain the name of believer. He cannot be both inside and outside of the Church at once. It is merely common sense to tell him that, if he is seeking, he has not found. If seeking includes doubting, and doubting excludes believing, then the Catholic who sets about inquiring, thereby declares that he is not a Catholic. He has already lost faith.— John Henry Newman

Prologue

“Words are like leaves, and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.” Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, Part Third.

The aim below, ’tis my wish and my hope:
Comply with the decree of Master Pope,
And squander not words, nor waste precious time,
And blight not Doctrine put to verse and rhyme.
For Canons ought not the foolish to bear.
So, please God, as I write this prayer,
Give content, balance, junction to each part,
And let faith be enhanc’d by reason’s art.

Recap of Epistle 3: The Realm of Faith (First Part)

Faith evidences things appearing not;
It goes forth caring not for the world’s lot.
It craves not to espy the journey’s end,
And it does not to measures of chance bend.

The Apostle’s Creed

In God, Almighty Father, I believe,
Creator Heaven and the Earth I cleave.
And Jesus Christ, His only Son, Logos,
Became incarnate by the Holy Ghost.
To blessed Virgin Mary He was born,
And under Pontius Pilate crown’d with thorn.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Letter to the Editor: December 2008

The Old & New Guard... Limbo: An Enigma... What is the Life of an Unborn Baby Worth... The Target of Evil... Prayer in Adoration... The Pleasure of Kalpakgian... How to Kick the Bad Music Habit... Medjugorje Contradictions... Why Jesus Ordained Only Men... Three Marys... Traditional Catholic Resources... and more

A Deficit of Heroes

We must maintain an emotional distance even from those who project an aura of holiness. Often, God’s holy ones are known only to Him.

Hocus-Pocus Catholicism?

Fr. Kevin Codd would appear to be denying that Transubstantiation is a miracle.