J. W. Vahey
Published: 2015-06-17
Total Pages: 284
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Excerpt from A Catholic Priest and Scientists Under the following circumstances I introduce this book, entitled "A Catholic Priest and Scientists," to the public. During the winter of 1878, while residing in Milwaukee, I was informed that scientists expressed a desire to hold a discussion with me on the eternal being of matter, the non-existence of God and revealed religion. Under the impulse of the moment I assented; but after having consulted Archbishop Henni, now deceased, declined from a conviction that with men who rejected the authority of divine revelation it would be folly to argue. The challenging party then concluded "that I feared to meet them in open debate, owing to the inherent truth of their systems which would clearly establish the eternal being of matter, disprove the existence of a First Cause, the Blessed Trinity, and Christianity, which were purely mythical." Although I was aware of the force of the adage Noli contendere verbis, ad nihil enim utile est, and although I was aware of the fact that it is folly to argue with atheists on things ineffable which surpass human thought, yet, lest my unwillingness to meet these men might promote error and injure the cause of truth, I consented, on condition that two reporters would be admitted; but this they declined on the plea that, until some future time, "they did not wish to give their arguments publicity." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.