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      • Adeste Fideles (O Come all ye faithful)
      • Adoremus (Let us adore)
      • Adoro Te Devote (I adore you devoutly)
      • Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
      • Angele Dei (Angel of God)
      • Angelicum Trisagium (Angelic Trisagion)
      • Angelus (Angelus)
      • Anima Christi (Soul of Christ)
      • Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
      • Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail Queen of Heaven)
      • Ave verum corpus (Hail true body)
      • Benedictio Ante Mensam (Blessing Before Meals)
      • Benedictio Post Mensam (Blessing After Meals)
      • Benedictus Deus (Divine Praises)
      • Confiteor (I confess)
      • Credo (Apostle's Creed)
      • Credo Niceanum (Nicene Creed - I believe in one God)
      • Deus meus ex toto corde meo (Act of Contrition)
      • Gloria Patri (Glory be)
      • Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest)
      • Litanies Laurentanae (Litany of Loreto)
      • Litaniae Sanctorum (Litany of all the Saints)
      • Magnificat (My soul magnifies the Lord)
      • Memorare (Remember)
      • O Maria (O Mary)
      • O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Victim)
      • O Sanctissima (O most holy one)
      • Oratio Dominica (Our Father)
      • Oratio Sancti Bonaventurae (Prayer of St. Bonaventure)
      • Oratio Sancti Thomae Aquinatis (Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas)
      • Oratio ad Joseph (Prayer to St. Joseph)
      • Pater Noster (Our Father)
      • Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen)
      • Sancte Michael Archangele (St. Michael the Archangel)
      • Signum Crucis (The sign of the Cross)
      • Sub Tuum Praesidum (Under Your Protection)
      • Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling)
      • Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come O Holy Spirit)
    • Liturgical Calendar
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    • Marian Prayers >
      • The Angelus
      • Ave Maris Stella
      • Hail Holy Queen
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      • Magnificat
      • Memorare
      • Prayer to the Immaculate Conception
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      • Regina Caeli
      • Sub Tuum Praesidum
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    • Saint Prayers >
      • St. Anthony
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    • Stations of the Cross
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  • Litanies
    • Litany of Humility
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    • Litany of St. Philomena
    • Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
    • Litany to the Infant Jesus
    • Litany to the Sacred Head of Jesus
  • Novenas
    • Novena in Honor of St. Blase
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    • Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
    • Novena to St. Anthony Mary Claret
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    • Novena to St. Joseph
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  • Early Church Fathers
    • Vol. 1 - Preface and Introduction >
      • The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
      • The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
      • The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
      • The Epistle Concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp
      • The Epistles of Ignatius - Introduction >
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnæans
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
      • The Ignatian Epistles (Syriac Version) >
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp (Syriac Version)
        • The Second Epistle Of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Syriac Version)
        • The Third Epistle of the Same St. Igantius (Syriac Version)
      • Introductory to the Spurious Epistles of Ignatius >
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Antiochians (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to Mary at Nepalis, Near Zarbus (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to St. John the Apostle (Spurious)
        • A Second Epistle of Ignatius to St. John (Spurious)
        • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Virgin Mary (Spurious)
      • Introductory Note to the Martyrdom of Ignatius >
        • The Martyrdom of Ignatius
      • The Epistle of Barnabas
      • The Fragments of Papias
      • Introduction to the Writings of Justin Martyr >
        • The First Apology of Justin Martyr >
          • Epistle of Adrian in behalf of the Christians
          • Epistle of Antoninus to the common assembly of Asia
          • Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the senate, in which he testifies that the Christians were the cause of his victory
        • The Second Apology of Justin for the Christians Addressed to the Roman Senate
        • Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho, a Jew
        • The Discourse to the Greeks - Justin Martyr
        • Justin's Hortatory Address to the Greeks
        • Justin on the Sole Government of God
        • Fragments of the Lost Work of Justin on the Resurrection
        • Other Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin
        • The Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Justin, Chariton, Charites, Pæon, and Liberianus, who Suffered at Rome
      • Introductory Note to Irenæus Against Heresies >
        • Against Heresies: Book 1 - Irenaeus
        • Against Heresies: Book 2 - Irenaeus
        • Against Heresies: Book 3 - Irenaeus
        • Against Heresies: Book 4 - Irenaeus
        • Against Heresies: Book 5 - Irenaeus
        • Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus
    • Vol. 2 - Fathers of the Second Century >
      • The Pastor of Hermas - Introduction >
        • The Pastor of Hermas: Book 1
        • The Pastor of Hermas: Book 2
        • The Pastor of Hermas: Book 3
      • Tatian the Assyrian's Address to the Greeks >
        • Fragments - Tatian the Assyrian
      • Theophilus of Antioch - Introduction >
        • Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus: Book 1
        • Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus: Book 2
        • Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus: Book 3
      • Athenagoras >
        • A Plea For the Christians By Athenagoras the Athenian: Philosopher and Christian
        • The Treatise of Athenagoras the Athenian, Philosopher and Christian, on the Resurrection of the Dead
      • Clement of Alexandria - Introductory Note >
        • Exhortation to the Heathen
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 1
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 2
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 3
        • Elucidations - Clement of Alexandria
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 1
        • Elucidations - Purpose of the Stromata
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 2
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 2
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 3
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 4
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 4
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 5
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 5
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 6
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 6
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 7
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 7
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 8
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 8
        • Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus
        • Clemens Alexandrinus on the Salvation of the Rich Man
        • Elucidations - Clemens Alexandrinus on the Salvation of the Rich Man
    • Vol. 3 - Tertullian >
      • Section 1 - Apologetic - Tertullian >
        • The Apology
        • On Idolatry
        • The Shows, or De Spectaculis
        • The Chaplet, or De Corona
        • To Scapula
        • Ad Nationes - Book 1
        • Ad Nationes - Book 2
        • A Fragment Concerning the Execrable Gods of the Heathen
        • An Answer to the Jews
        • The Soul's Testimony
        • A Treatise on the Soul
      • Section 2 - Anti-Marcion - Tertullian >
        • The Prescription Against Heretics
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 1
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 2
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 3
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 4
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 5
        • Against Hermogenes - Containing an Argument Against His Opinion that Matter is Eternal
        • Against the Valentinians
        • On the Flesh of Christ
        • On the Resurrection of the Flesh
        • Against Praxeas
        • Scorpiace
        • Against all Heresies
      • Section 3 - Ethical - Tertullian >
        • On Repentance
        • On Baptism
        • On Prayer
        • Ad Martyras
        • Introductory Notice to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas
        • The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas
        • Of Patience
    • Vol. 4 - Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodianus, Origen >
      • Tertullian >
        • On the Pallium
        • On the Apparel of Women
        • On the Veiling of Virgins
        • To His Wife
        • On Exhortation to Chastity
        • On Monogamy
        • On Modesty
        • On Fasting (In Opposition to the Psychics)
        • De Fuga in Persecutione
        • Appendix
      • Minucius Felix >
        • The Octavius of Minucius Felix
  • Books
    • John Henry Cardinal Newman >
      • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1: Doctrinal Developments Viewed in Themselves >
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 1: On the Development of Ideas
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 2: On the Antecedent Argument in Behalf of Developments in Christian Doctrine
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 3: On the Historical Argument in Behalf of the Existing Developments
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 4: Instances in Illustration
        • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2: Doctrinal Developments Viewed Relatively to Doctrinal Corruptions >
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 5: Genuine Developments Contrasted with Corruptions
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 6: Application of the Seven Notes to the Existing Developments of Christian Doctrine
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 7: Application of the Second Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 8: Application of the Third Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 9: Application of the Fourth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 10: Application of the Fifth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 11: Application of the Sixth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 12: Application of the Seventh Note of a True Development
      • Apologia Pro Vita Sua By John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 1: Mr. Kingsley's Method of Disputation
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 2: True Mode of Meeting Mr. Kingsley
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 3: History of My Religious Opinions
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 4: History of My Religious Opinions--1833 - 1839
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 5: History of My Religious Opinions--1839 - 1841
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 6: History of My Religious Opinions--1841 - 1845
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 7: General Answer to Mr. Kingsley
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Appendix: Answer in Detail to Mr. Kingsley's Accusations
      • The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 1: Introductory
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 2: Theology A Branch Of Knowledge
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 3: Bearing Of Theology On Other Branches Of Knowledge
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 4: Bearing Of Other Branches Of Knowledge On Theology
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 5: Knowledge Its Own End
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 6: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Learning
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 7: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Professional Skill
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 8: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Religion
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 9: Duties Of The Church Towards Knowledge
        • University Subjects, Discussed in Occasional Lectures and Essays >
          • Lecture 1 - Christianity And Letters. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters
          • Lecture 2 - Literature. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters
          • Lecture 3 - English Catholic Literature
          • Lecture 4 - Elementary Studies
          • Lecture 5 - A Form Of Infidelity Of The Day
          • Lecture 6 - University Preaching
          • Lecture 7 - Christianity and Physical Science. A Lecture in the School of Medicine
          • Lecture 8 - Christianity And Scientific Investigation. A Lecture Written for the School of Science
          • Lecture 9 - Discipline Of Mind. An Address To The Evening Classes
          • Lecture 10 - Christianity And Medical Science. An Address to the Students Of Medicine
      • Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 11
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 12
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 13
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 14
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 15
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 16
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 17
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 18
        • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 11
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 12
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 13
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 14
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 15
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 16
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 17
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 18
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 19
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 20
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 21
        • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 11
    • Saint Augustine of Hippo >
      • The Confessions of Saint Augustine by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo >
        • Book 1 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 2 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 3 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 4 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 5 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 6 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 7 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 8 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 9 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 10 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 11 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 12 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 13 - Confessions by St. Augustine
    • G K Chesterton >
      • Heretics by G.K. Chesterton >
        • Heretics, Chapter 1: Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy
        • Heretics, Chapter 2: On the Negative Spirit
        • Heretics, Chapter 3: On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small
        • Heretics, Chapter 4: Mr. Bernard Shaw
        • Heretics, Chapter 5: Mr. H.G. Wells and the Giants
        • Heretics, Chapter 6: Christmas and the Aesthetes
        • Heretics, Chapter 7: Omar and the Sacred Vine
        • Heretics, Chapter 8: The Mildness of the Yellow Press
        • Heretics, Chapter 9: The Moods of Mr. George Moore
        • Heretics, Chapter 10: On Sandals and Simplicity
        • Heretics, Chapter 11: Science and the Savages
        • Heretics, Chapter 12: Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson
        • Heretics, Chapter 13: Celts and Celtophiles
        • Heretics, Chapter 14: On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family
        • Heretics, Chapter 15: On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set
        • Heretics, Chapter 16: On Mr. McCabe and a Divine Frivolity
        • Heretics, Chapter 17: On the Wit of Whistler
        • Heretics, Chapter 18: The Fallacy of the Young Nation
        • Heretics, Chapter 19: Slum Novelists and the Slums
        • Heretics, Chapter 20: Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy
      • Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton >
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 1: Introduction in Defense of Everything Else
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 2: The Maniac
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 3: The Suicide of Thought
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 4: The Ethics of Elfland
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 5: The Flag of the World
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 6: The Paradoxes of Christianity
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 7: The Eternal Revolution
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 8: The Romance of Orthodoxy
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 9: Authority and the Adventurer
    • Saint Thomas Aquinas >
      • On Prayer and the Contemplative Life by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXI: Of the Virtue of Religion
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXII: Of Devotion
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXIII: Of Prayer
        • On Prayer, Question LXXII: Of the Prayers of the Saints who are in Heaven
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXIX: Of the Division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXX: Of the Contemplative Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXI: Of the Active Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXII: Of the Comparison between the Active and the Contemplative Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXVI: On the Religious State
      • Summa Theologica Part 1 ("Prima Pars") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica (Questions 1 - 26)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Most Holy Trinity (Questions 27 - 43)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Creation (Questions 44 - 49)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Angels (Questions 50 - 64)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Work of the Six Days (Questions 65 - 74)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on Man (Questions 75 - 102)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Conservation and Government of Creatures (Questions 103 - 119)
      • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on the Last End (Questions 1 - 5)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Human Acts: Acts Peculiar to Man (Questions 6 - 21)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on the Passions (Questions 22 - 48)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits (Questions 49 - 54)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits in Particular (Questions 55 - 89): Good Habits, i.e., Virtues (Questions 55 - 70)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits in Particular (Questions 55 - 89): Evil Habits, i.e., Vices and Sin (Questions 71 - 89)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Law (Questions 90 - 108)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Grace (Questions 109 - 114)
      • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the Theological Virtues (Questions 1 - 46)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the Cardinal Virtues (Questions 47 - 122)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on Fortitude and Temperance (Questions 123 - 170)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on Gratuitous Graces (Questions 171 - 182)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the States of Life (Questions 183 - 189)
      • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars"): Treatise on the Incarnation (Questions 1 - 59)
        • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars"): Treatise on the Sacraments (Questions 60 - 90)
    • The Baltimore Catechism >
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 1
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 2
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 3
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 4
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Heretics
Chapter 12: Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson


XII. Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson

Of the New Paganism (or neo-Paganism), as it was preached flamboyantly by Mr. Swinburne or delicately by Walter Pater, there is no necessity to take any very grave account, except as a thing which left behind it incomparable exercises in the English language.  The New Paganism is no longer new, and it never at any time bore the smallest resemblance to Paganism. The ideas about the ancient civilization which it has left loose in the public mind are certainly extraordinary enough. The term "pagan" is continually used in fiction and light literature as meaning a man without any religion, whereas a pagan was generally a man with about half a dozen.  The pagans, according to this notion, were continually crowning themselves with flowers and dancing about in an irresponsible state, whereas, if there were two things that the best pagan civilization did honestly believe in, they were a rather too rigid dignity and a much too rigid responsibility. Pagans are depicted as above all things inebriate and lawless, whereas they were above all things reasonable and respectable. They are praised as disobedient when they had only one great virtue--civic obedience.  They are envied and admired as shamelessly happy when they had only one great sin--despair.

Mr. Lowes Dickinson, the most pregnant and provocative of recent writers on this and similar subjects, is far too solid a man to have fallen into this old error of the mere anarchy of Paganism. In order to make hay of that Hellenic enthusiasm which has as its ideal mere appetite and egotism, it is not necessary to know much philosophy, but merely to know a little Greek. Mr. Lowes Dickinson knows a great deal of philosophy, and also a great deal of Greek, and his error, if error he has, is not that of the crude hedonist.  But the contrast which he offers between Christianity and Paganism in the matter of moral ideals--a contrast which he states very ably in a paper called "How long halt ye?" which appeared in the Independent Review--does, I think, contain an error of a deeper kind.  According to him, the ideal of Paganism was not, indeed, a mere frenzy of lust and liberty and caprice, but was an ideal of full and satisfied humanity. According to him, the ideal of Christianity was the ideal of asceticism. When I say that I think this idea wholly wrong as a matter of philosophy and history, I am not talking for the moment about any ideal Christianity of my own, or even of any primitive Christianity undefiled by after events.  I am not, like so many modern Christian idealists, basing my case upon certain things which Christ said. Neither am I, like so many other Christian idealists, basing my case upon certain things that Christ forgot to say. I take historic Christianity with all its sins upon its head; I take it, as I would take Jacobinism, or Mormonism, or any other mixed or unpleasing human product, and I say that the meaning of its action was not to be found in asceticism.  I say that its point of departure from Paganism was not asceticism.  I say that its point of difference with the modern world was not asceticism. I say that St. Simeon Stylites had not his main inspiration in asceticism. I say that the main Christian impulse cannot be described as asceticism, even in the ascetics.

Let me set about making the matter clear.  There is one broad fact about the relations of Christianity and Paganism which is so simple that many will smile at it, but which is so important that all moderns forget it.  The primary fact about Christianity and Paganism is that one came after the other.  Mr. Lowes Dickinson speaks of them as if they were parallel ideals--even speaks as if Paganism were the newer of the two, and the more fitted for a new age. He suggests that the Pagan ideal will be the ultimate good of man; but if that is so, we must at least ask with more curiosity than he allows for, why it was that man actually found his ultimate good on earth under the stars, and threw it away again. It is this extraordinary enigma to which I propose to attempt an answer.

There is only one thing in the modern world that has been face to face with Paganism; there is only one thing in the modern world which in that sense knows anything about Paganism: and that is Christianity. That fact is really the weak point in the whole of that hedonistic neo-Paganism of which I have spoken. All that genuinely remains of the ancient hymns or the ancient dances of Europe, all that has honestly come to us from the festivals of Phoebus or Pan, is to be found in the festivals of the Christian Church. If any one wants to hold the end of a chain which really goes back to the heathen mysteries, he had better take hold of a festoon of flowers at Easter or a string of sausages at Christmas. Everything else in the modern world is of Christian origin, even everything that seems most anti-Christian. The French Revolution is of Christian origin.  The newspaper is of Christian origin. The anarchists are of Christian origin.  Physical science is of Christian origin.  The attack on Christianity is of Christian origin. There is one thing, and one thing only, in existence at the present day which can in any sense accurately be said to be of pagan origin, and that is Christianity.

The real difference between Paganism and Christianity is perfectly summed up in the difference between the pagan, or natural, virtues, and those three virtues of Christianity which the Church of Rome calls virtues of grace.  The pagan, or rational, virtues are such things as justice and temperance, and Christianity has adopted them. The three mystical virtues which Christianity has not adopted, but invented, are faith, hope, and charity.  Now much easy and foolish Christian rhetoric could easily be poured out upon those three words, but I desire to confine myself to the two facts which are evident about them.  The first evident fact (in marked contrast to the delusion of the dancing pagan)--the first evident fact, I say, is that the pagan virtues, such as justice and temperance, are the sad virtues, and that the mystical virtues of faith, hope, and charity are the gay and exuberant virtues. And the second evident fact, which is even more evident, is the fact that the pagan virtues are the reasonable virtues, and that the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity are in their essence as unreasonable as they can be.

As the word "unreasonable" is open to misunderstanding, the matter may be more accurately put by saying that each one of these Christian or mystical virtues involves a paradox in its own nature, and that this is not true of any of the typically pagan or rationalist virtues. Justice consists in finding out a certain thing due to a certain man and giving it to him.  Temperance consists in finding out the proper limit of a particular indulgence and adhering to that.  But charity means pardoning what is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all. Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith means believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all.

It is somewhat amusing, indeed, to notice the difference between the fate of these three paradoxes in the fashion of the modern mind. Charity is a fashionable virtue in our time; it is lit up by the gigantic firelight of Dickens.  Hope is a fashionable virtue to-day; our attention has been arrested for it by the sudden and silver trumpet of Stevenson.  But faith is unfashionable, and it is customary on every side to cast against it the fact that it is a paradox. Everybody mockingly repeats the famous childish definition that faith is "the power of believing that which we know to be untrue." Yet it is not one atom more paradoxical than hope or charity. Charity is the power of defending that which we know to be indefensible. Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.  It is true that there is a state of hope which belongs to bright prospects and the morning; but that is not the virtue of hope. The virtue of hope exists only in earthquake and, eclipse. It is true that there is a thing crudely called charity, which means charity to the deserving poor; but charity to the deserving is not charity at all, but justice. It is the undeserving who require it, and the ideal either does not exist at all, or exists wholly for them. For practical purposes it is at the hopeless moment that we require the hopeful man, and the virtue either does not exist at all, or begins to exist at that moment. Exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful. Now the old pagan world went perfectly straightforward until it discovered that going straightforward is an enormous mistake. It was nobly and beautifully reasonable, and discovered in its death-pang this lasting and valuable truth, a heritage for the ages, that reasonableness will not do.  The pagan age was truly an Eden or golden age, in this essential sense, that it is not to be recovered. And it is not to be recovered in this sense again that, while we are certainly jollier than the pagans, and much more right than the pagans, there is not one of us who can, by the utmost stretch of energy, be so sensible as the pagans. That naked innocence of the intellect cannot be recovered by any man after Christianity; and for this excellent reason, that every man after Christianity knows it to be misleading. Let me take an example, the first that occurs to the mind, of this impossible plainness in the pagan point of view.  The greatest tribute to Christianity in the modern world is Tennyson's "Ulysses." The poet reads into the story of Ulysses the conception of an incurable desire to wander.  But the real Ulysses does not desire to wander at all. He desires to get home.  He displays his heroic and unconquerable qualities in resisting the misfortunes which baulk him; but that is all. There is no love of adventure for its own sake; that is a Christian product.  There is no love of Penelope for her own sake; that is a Christian product.  Everything in that old world would appear to have been clean and obvious.  A good man was a good man; a bad man was a bad man.  For this reason they had no charity; for charity is a reverent agnosticism towards the complexity of the soul. For this reason they had no such thing as the art of fiction, the novel; for the novel is a creation of the mystical idea of charity. For them a pleasant landscape was pleasant, and an unpleasant landscape unpleasant.  Hence they had no idea of romance; for romance consists in thinking a thing more delightful because it is dangerous; it is a Christian idea.  In a word, we cannot reconstruct or even imagine the beautiful and astonishing pagan world. It was a world in which common sense was really common.

My general meaning touching the three virtues of which I have spoken will now, I hope, be sufficiently clear. They are all three paradoxical, they are all three practical, and they are all three paradoxical because they are practical. it is the stress of ultimate need, and a terrible knowledge of things as they are, which led men to set up these riddles, and to die for them. Whatever may be the meaning of the contradiction, it is the fact that the only kind of hope that is of any use in a battle is a hope that denies arithmetic.  Whatever may be the meaning of the contradiction, it is the fact that the only kind of charity which any weak spirit wants, or which any generous spirit feels, is the charity which forgives the sins that are like scarlet. Whatever may be the meaning of faith, it must always mean a certainty about something we cannot prove.  Thus, for instance, we believe by faith in the existence of other people.

But there is another Christian virtue, a virtue far more obviously and historically connected with Christianity, which will illustrate even better the connection between paradox and practical necessity. This virtue cannot be questioned in its capacity as a historical symbol; certainly Mr. Lowes Dickinson will not question it. It has been the boast of hundreds of the champions of Christianity. It has been the taunt of hundreds of the opponents of Christianity. It is, in essence, the basis of Mr. Lowes Dickinson's whole distinction between Christianity and Paganism.  I mean, of course, the virtue of humility. I admit, of course, most readily, that a great deal of false Eastern humility (that is, of strictly ascetic humility) mixed itself with the main stream of European Christianity. We must not forget that when we speak of Christianity we are speaking of a whole continent for about a thousand years.  But of this virtue even more than of the other three, I would maintain the general proposition adopted above.  Civilization discovered Christian humility for the same urgent reason that it discovered faith and charity--that is, because Christian civilization had to discover it or die.

The great psychological discovery of Paganism, which turned it into Christianity, can be expressed with some accuracy in one phrase. The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else. Mr. Lowes Dickinson has pointed out in words too excellent to need any further elucidation, the absurd shallowness of those who imagine that the pagan enjoyed himself only in a materialistic sense. Of course, he enjoyed himself, not only intellectually even, he enjoyed himself morally, he enjoyed himself spiritually. But it was himself that he was enjoying; on the face of it, a very natural thing to do.  Now, the psychological discovery is merely this, that whereas it had been supposed that the fullest possible enjoyment is to be found by extending our ego to infinity, the truth is that the fullest possible enjoyment is to be found by reducing our ego to zero.

Humility is the thing which is for ever renewing the earth and the stars. It is humility, and not duty, which preserves the stars from wrong, from the unpardonable wrong of casual resignation; it is through humility that the most ancient heavens for us are fresh and strong. The curse that came before history has laid on us all a tendency to be weary of wonders.  If we saw the sun for the first time it would be the most fearful and beautiful of meteors. Now that we see it for the hundredth time we call it, in the hideous and blasphemous phrase of Wordsworth, "the light of common day." We are inclined to increase our claims.  We are inclined to demand six suns, to demand a blue sun, to demand a green sun. Humility is perpetually putting us back in the primal darkness. There all light is lightning, startling and instantaneous. Until we understand that original dark, in which we have neither sight nor expectation, we can give no hearty and childlike praise to the splendid sensationalism of things.  The terms "pessimism" and "optimism," like most modern terms, are unmeaning. But if they can be used in any vague sense as meaning something, we may say that in this great fact pessimism is the very basis of optimism.  The man who destroys himself creates the universe. To the humble man, and to the humble man alone, the sun is really a sun; to the humble man, and to the humble man alone, the sea is really a sea. When he looks at all the faces in the street, he does not only realize that men are alive, he realizes with a dramatic pleasure that they are not dead.

I have not spoken of another aspect of the discovery of humility as a psychological necessity, because it is more commonly insisted on, and is in itself more obvious.  But it is equally clear that humility is a permanent necessity as a condition of effort and self-examination. It is one of the deadly fallacies of Jingo politics that a nation is stronger for despising other nations.  As a matter of fact, the strongest nations are those, like Prussia or Japan, which began from very mean beginnings, but have not been too proud to sit at the feet of the foreigner and learn everything from him.  Almost every obvious and direct victory has been the victory of the plagiarist. This is, indeed, only a very paltry by-product of humility, but it is a product of humility, and, therefore, it is successful. Prussia had no Christian humility in its internal arrangements; hence its internal arrangements were miserable.  But it had enough Christian humility slavishly to copy France (even down to Frederick the Great's poetry), and that which it had the humility to copy it had ultimately the honour to conquer.  The case of the Japanese is even more obvious; their only Christian and their only beautiful quality is that they have humbled themselves to be exalted. All this aspect of humility, however, as connected with the matter of effort and striving for a standard set above us, I dismiss as having been sufficiently pointed out by almost all idealistic writers.

It may be worth while, however, to point out the interesting disparity in the matter of humility between the modern notion of the strong man and the actual records of strong men.  Carlyle objected to the statement that no man could be a hero to his valet. Every sympathy can be extended towards him in the matter if he merely or mainly meant that the phrase was a disparagement of hero-worship. Hero-worship is certainly a generous and human impulse; the hero may be faulty, but the worship can hardly be.  It may be that no man would be a hero to his valet.  But any man would be a valet to his hero. But in truth both the proverb itself and Carlyle's stricture upon it ignore the most essential matter at issue.  The ultimate psychological truth is not that no man is a hero to his valet. The ultimate psychological truth, the foundation of Christianity, is that no man is a hero to himself. Cromwell, according to Carlyle, was a strong man.  According to Cromwell, he was a weak one.

The weak point in the whole of Carlyle's case for aristocracy lies, indeed, in his most celebrated phrase. Carlyle said that men were mostly fools.  Christianity, with a surer and more reverent realism, says that they are all fools. This doctrine is sometimes called the doctrine of original sin. It may also be described as the doctrine of the equality of men. But the essential point of it is merely this, that whatever primary and far-reaching moral dangers affect any man, affect all men. All men can be criminals, if tempted; all men can be heroes, if inspired. And this doctrine does away altogether with Carlyle's pathetic belief (or any one else's pathetic belief) in "the wise few." There are no wise few.  Every aristocracy that has ever existed has behaved, in all essential points, exactly like a small mob. Every oligarchy is merely a knot of men in the street--that is to say, it is very jolly, but not infallible.  And no oligarchies in the world's history have ever come off so badly in practical affairs as the very proud oligarchies--the oligarchy of Poland, the oligarchy of Venice. And the armies that have most swiftly and suddenly broken their enemies in pieces have been the religious armies--the Moslem Armies, for instance, or the Puritan Armies.  And a religious army may, by its nature, be defined as an army in which every man is taught not to exalt but to abase himself.  Many modern Englishmen talk of themselves as the sturdy descendants of their sturdy Puritan fathers. As a fact, they would run away from a cow.  If you asked one of their Puritan fathers, if you asked Bunyan, for instance, whether he was sturdy, he would have answered, with tears, that he was as weak as water.  And because of this he would have borne tortures. And this virtue of humility, while being practical enough to win battles, will always be paradoxical enough to puzzle pedants. It is at one with the virtue of charity in this respect. Every generous person will admit that the one kind of sin which charity should cover is the sin which is inexcusable.  And every generous person will equally agree that the one kind of pride which is wholly damnable is the pride of the man who has something to be proud of. The pride which, proportionally speaking, does not hurt the character, is the pride in things which reflect no credit on the person at all. Thus it does a man no harm to be proud of his country, and comparatively little harm to be proud of his remote ancestors. It does him more harm to be proud of having made money, because in that he has a little more reason for pride. It does him more harm still to be proud of what is nobler than money--intellect.  And it does him most harm of all to value himself for the most valuable thing on earth--goodness. The man who is proud of what is really creditable to him is the Pharisee, the man whom Christ Himself could not forbear to strike.

My objection to Mr. Lowes Dickinson and the reassertors of the pagan ideal is, then, this.  I accuse them of ignoring definite human discoveries in the moral world, discoveries as definite, though not as material, as the discovery of the circulation of the blood. We cannot go back to an ideal of reason and sanity. For mankind has discovered that reason does not lead to sanity. We cannot go back to an ideal of pride and enjoyment.  For mankind has discovered that pride does not lead to enjoyment.  I do not know by what extraordinary mental accident modern writers so constantly connect the idea of progress with the idea of independent thinking. Progress is obviously the antithesis of independent thinking. For under independent or individualistic thinking, every man starts at the beginning, and goes, in all probability, just as far as his father before him.  But if there really be anything of the nature of progress, it must mean, above all things, the careful study and assumption of the whole of the past.  I accuse Mr. Lowes Dickinson and his school of reaction in the only real sense. If he likes, let him ignore these great historic mysteries--the mystery of charity, the mystery of chivalry, the mystery of faith. If he likes, let him ignore the plough or the printing-press. But if we do revive and pursue the pagan ideal of a simple and rational self-completion we shall end--where Paganism ended. I do not mean that we shall end in destruction.  I mean that we shall end in Christianity.

NEXT:
Chapter 13: Celts and Celtophiles

SUBMENU

Heretics by G.K. Chesterton

Chapter 1: Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy

Chapter 2: On the Negative Spirit

Chapter 3: On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small

Chapter 4: Mr. Bernard Shaw

Chapter 5: Mr. H.G. Wells and the Giants

Chapter 6: Christmas and the Aesthetes

Chapter 7: Omar and the Sacred Vine

Chapter 8: The Mildness of the Yellow Press

Chapter 9: The Moods of Mr. George Moore

Chapter 10: On Sandals and Simplicity

Chapter 11: Science and the Savages

Chapter 12: Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson

Chapter 13: Celts and Celtophiles

Chapter 14: On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family

Chapter 15: On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set

Chapter 16: On Mr. McCabe and a Divine Frivolity

Chapter 17: On the Wit of Whistler

Chapter 18: The Fallacy of the Young Nation

Chapter 19: Slum Novelists and the Slums

Chapter 20: Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy

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      • Athenagoras >
        • A Plea For the Christians By Athenagoras the Athenian: Philosopher and Christian
        • The Treatise of Athenagoras the Athenian, Philosopher and Christian, on the Resurrection of the Dead
      • Clement of Alexandria - Introductory Note >
        • Exhortation to the Heathen
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 1
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 2
        • The Instructor (Paedagogus) - Book 3
        • Elucidations - Clement of Alexandria
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 1
        • Elucidations - Purpose of the Stromata
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 2
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 2
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 3
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 4
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 4
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 5
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 5
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 6
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 6
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 7
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 7
        • The Stromata, or Miscellanies - Book 8
        • Elucidations - The Stromata, Book 8
        • Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus
        • Clemens Alexandrinus on the Salvation of the Rich Man
        • Elucidations - Clemens Alexandrinus on the Salvation of the Rich Man
    • Vol. 3 - Tertullian >
      • Section 1 - Apologetic - Tertullian >
        • The Apology
        • On Idolatry
        • The Shows, or De Spectaculis
        • The Chaplet, or De Corona
        • To Scapula
        • Ad Nationes - Book 1
        • Ad Nationes - Book 2
        • A Fragment Concerning the Execrable Gods of the Heathen
        • An Answer to the Jews
        • The Soul's Testimony
        • A Treatise on the Soul
      • Section 2 - Anti-Marcion - Tertullian >
        • The Prescription Against Heretics
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 1
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 2
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 3
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 4
        • The Five Books Against Marcion - Book 5
        • Against Hermogenes - Containing an Argument Against His Opinion that Matter is Eternal
        • Against the Valentinians
        • On the Flesh of Christ
        • On the Resurrection of the Flesh
        • Against Praxeas
        • Scorpiace
        • Against all Heresies
      • Section 3 - Ethical - Tertullian >
        • On Repentance
        • On Baptism
        • On Prayer
        • Ad Martyras
        • Introductory Notice to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas
        • The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas
        • Of Patience
    • Vol. 4 - Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodianus, Origen >
      • Tertullian >
        • On the Pallium
        • On the Apparel of Women
        • On the Veiling of Virgins
        • To His Wife
        • On Exhortation to Chastity
        • On Monogamy
        • On Modesty
        • On Fasting (In Opposition to the Psychics)
        • De Fuga in Persecutione
        • Appendix
      • Minucius Felix >
        • The Octavius of Minucius Felix
  • Books
    • John Henry Cardinal Newman >
      • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1: Doctrinal Developments Viewed in Themselves >
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 1: On the Development of Ideas
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 2: On the Antecedent Argument in Behalf of Developments in Christian Doctrine
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 3: On the Historical Argument in Behalf of the Existing Developments
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 1, Chapter 4: Instances in Illustration
        • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2: Doctrinal Developments Viewed Relatively to Doctrinal Corruptions >
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 5: Genuine Developments Contrasted with Corruptions
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 6: Application of the Seven Notes to the Existing Developments of Christian Doctrine
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 7: Application of the Second Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 8: Application of the Third Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 9: Application of the Fourth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 10: Application of the Fifth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 11: Application of the Sixth Note of a True Development
          • An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine - Part 2, Chapter 12: Application of the Seventh Note of a True Development
      • Apologia Pro Vita Sua By John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 1: Mr. Kingsley's Method of Disputation
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 2: True Mode of Meeting Mr. Kingsley
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 3: History of My Religious Opinions
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 4: History of My Religious Opinions--1833 - 1839
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 5: History of My Religious Opinions--1839 - 1841
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 6: History of My Religious Opinions--1841 - 1845
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Part 7: General Answer to Mr. Kingsley
        • Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Appendix: Answer in Detail to Mr. Kingsley's Accusations
      • The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 1: Introductory
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 2: Theology A Branch Of Knowledge
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 3: Bearing Of Theology On Other Branches Of Knowledge
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 4: Bearing Of Other Branches Of Knowledge On Theology
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 5: Knowledge Its Own End
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 6: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Learning
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 7: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Professional Skill
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 8: Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Religion
        • The Idea of a University, Discourse 9: Duties Of The Church Towards Knowledge
        • University Subjects, Discussed in Occasional Lectures and Essays >
          • Lecture 1 - Christianity And Letters. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters
          • Lecture 2 - Literature. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters
          • Lecture 3 - English Catholic Literature
          • Lecture 4 - Elementary Studies
          • Lecture 5 - A Form Of Infidelity Of The Day
          • Lecture 6 - University Preaching
          • Lecture 7 - Christianity and Physical Science. A Lecture in the School of Medicine
          • Lecture 8 - Christianity And Scientific Investigation. A Lecture Written for the School of Science
          • Lecture 9 - Discipline Of Mind. An Address To The Evening Classes
          • Lecture 10 - Christianity And Medical Science. An Address to the Students Of Medicine
      • Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert by John Henry Cardinal Newman >
        • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 11
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 12
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 13
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 14
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 15
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 16
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 17
          • Loss and Gain, Part 1, Chapter 18
        • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 11
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 12
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 13
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 14
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 15
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 16
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 17
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 18
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 19
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 20
          • Loss and Gain, Part 2, Chapter 21
        • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 1 >
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 2
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 3
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 4
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 5
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 6
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 7
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 8
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 9
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 10
          • Loss and Gain, Part 3, Chapter 11
    • Saint Augustine of Hippo >
      • The Confessions of Saint Augustine by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo >
        • Book 1 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 2 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 3 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 4 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 5 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 6 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 7 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 8 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 9 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 10 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 11 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 12 - Confessions by St. Augustine
        • Book 13 - Confessions by St. Augustine
    • G K Chesterton >
      • Heretics by G.K. Chesterton >
        • Heretics, Chapter 1: Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy
        • Heretics, Chapter 2: On the Negative Spirit
        • Heretics, Chapter 3: On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small
        • Heretics, Chapter 4: Mr. Bernard Shaw
        • Heretics, Chapter 5: Mr. H.G. Wells and the Giants
        • Heretics, Chapter 6: Christmas and the Aesthetes
        • Heretics, Chapter 7: Omar and the Sacred Vine
        • Heretics, Chapter 8: The Mildness of the Yellow Press
        • Heretics, Chapter 9: The Moods of Mr. George Moore
        • Heretics, Chapter 10: On Sandals and Simplicity
        • Heretics, Chapter 11: Science and the Savages
        • Heretics, Chapter 12: Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickinson
        • Heretics, Chapter 13: Celts and Celtophiles
        • Heretics, Chapter 14: On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family
        • Heretics, Chapter 15: On Smart Novelists and the Smart Set
        • Heretics, Chapter 16: On Mr. McCabe and a Divine Frivolity
        • Heretics, Chapter 17: On the Wit of Whistler
        • Heretics, Chapter 18: The Fallacy of the Young Nation
        • Heretics, Chapter 19: Slum Novelists and the Slums
        • Heretics, Chapter 20: Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy
      • Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton >
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 1: Introduction in Defense of Everything Else
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 2: The Maniac
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 3: The Suicide of Thought
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 4: The Ethics of Elfland
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 5: The Flag of the World
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 6: The Paradoxes of Christianity
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 7: The Eternal Revolution
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 8: The Romance of Orthodoxy
        • Orthodoxy, Chapter 9: Authority and the Adventurer
    • Saint Thomas Aquinas >
      • On Prayer and the Contemplative Life by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXI: Of the Virtue of Religion
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXII: Of Devotion
        • On Prayer, Question LXXXIII: Of Prayer
        • On Prayer, Question LXXII: Of the Prayers of the Saints who are in Heaven
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXIX: Of the Division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXX: Of the Contemplative Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXI: Of the Active Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXII: Of the Comparison between the Active and the Contemplative Life
        • On Prayer, Question CLXXXVI: On the Religious State
      • Summa Theologica Part 1 ("Prima Pars") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica (Questions 1 - 26)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Most Holy Trinity (Questions 27 - 43)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Creation (Questions 44 - 49)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Angels (Questions 50 - 64)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Work of the Six Days (Questions 65 - 74)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on Man (Questions 75 - 102)
        • Summa Theologica: Treatise on the Conservation and Government of Creatures (Questions 103 - 119)
      • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on the Last End (Questions 1 - 5)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Human Acts: Acts Peculiar to Man (Questions 6 - 21)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on the Passions (Questions 22 - 48)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits (Questions 49 - 54)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits in Particular (Questions 55 - 89): Good Habits, i.e., Virtues (Questions 55 - 70)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Habits in Particular (Questions 55 - 89): Evil Habits, i.e., Vices and Sin (Questions 71 - 89)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Law (Questions 90 - 108)
        • Summa Theologica Part 1-2 ("Prima Secundae"): Treatise on Grace (Questions 109 - 114)
      • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the Theological Virtues (Questions 1 - 46)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the Cardinal Virtues (Questions 47 - 122)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on Fortitude and Temperance (Questions 123 - 170)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on Gratuitous Graces (Questions 171 - 182)
        • Summa Theologica Part 2-2 ("Second Secundae"): Treatise on the States of Life (Questions 183 - 189)
      • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars") by St. Thomas Aquinas >
        • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars"): Treatise on the Incarnation (Questions 1 - 59)
        • Summa Theologica Third Part ("Tertia Pars"): Treatise on the Sacraments (Questions 60 - 90)
    • The Baltimore Catechism >
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 1
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 2
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 3
      • The Baltimore Catechism, Vol. 4
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