There is a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be stopped. That is the ultimate evil against which all religious authority was aimed. It only appears at the end of decadent ages like our own: and already Mr. H. G. Wells has raised its ruinous banner; he has written a delicate piece of scepticism called "Doubts of the Instrument." In this he questions the brain itself, and endeavours to remove all reality from all his own assertions, past, present, and to come. But it was against this remote ruin that all the military systems in religion were originally ranked and ruled. The creeds and the crusades, the hierarchies and the horrible persecutions were not organized, as is ignorantly said, for the suppression of reason. They were organized for the difficult defence of reason. Man, by a blind instinct, knew that if once things were wildly questioned, reason could be questioned first. The authority of priests to absolve, the authority of popes to define the authority, even of inquisitors to terrify: these were all only dark defences erected round one central authority, more undemonstrable, more supernatural than all -- the authority of a man to think. We know now that this is so; we have no excuse for not knowing it. For we can hear scepticism crashing through the old ring of authorities, and at the same moment we can see reason swaying upon her throne. In so far as religion is gone, reason is going. For they are both of the same primary and authoritative kind. They are both methods of proof which cannot themselves be proved. And in the act of destroying the idea of Divine authority we have largely destroyed the idea of that human authority by which we do a long-division sum. With a long and sustained tug we have attempted to pull the mitre off pontifical man; and his head has come off with it.
The above quote was from Chapter 3, for those playing along at home.
Cheers!
Thanks for the ping!
Dreadfully off topic but I recently discovered that anybody with an iPhone or iPod touch can download pretty much everything by H.G. Wells free with an application called Stanza - its very worthy.
Thanks, and that precisely sums up what became of the early corrupted Catholic church in general (Note, there were, and remain so, many fien bible believing catholic churches that preach salvatio nthrough Christ alone, and not through some pope, bishop or father’s approval’, and hwo have reamined true to hte word) had become currupted, and this is who the author fro myour quote is speaking and does not represent TRUE CHristians who appeal to God’s authority, not man’s self imposed authority. TRUE Christians have stayed true to God’s authority- those churches (and I’m not just picking on catholics- many offshoots and other religions have doen the exact same in the past) have sold hteir souls for the temporary gain of power of prestige and state approval in times past, and will do so once again when the antichrist comes on the scene and a one world religion is temporarily established- but htis churhc will be betrayed by those they sold their soul to, and will be sold out and sent down the river- getting hteir just reward.
The church of england was as corrupt as they came, but let it not be said that those who sold hteir souls for political favor and power are representative of any TRUE beleivers who remained faithful and subserviant to God despite incredible pressures against them to break their alliance with God supreme, and to sell their souls too- they did not break, they remained true to the only power that is worth staying true to- God- NOT man!