Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/66

 believe in  God,  and  live  a  good  life. This unconcern in  matters  of  religion  is  termed "indifferentism."

2. It  is  easy  to  perceive  how  false  and ruinous is  such  a  view  of  life,  as  far  as  religion is  concerned. It is  doubtless  the  will of the  Saviour  that  all  nations  should  accept His saving  religion,  from  the  time  of  the apostles and  their  immediate  successors,  until the end  of  the  world;  hence  it  is  also  His  will that all  nations  should  listen  to  the  Roman Catholic Church  since  she  alone  bears  the marks of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  and  it  is, therefore, impossible  that  it  should  be  a matter  of  no  moment  to  Him  whether  her teaching should  be  adopted  or  not. To assert the  contrary  would  be  equivalent  to saying  that  one  has  an  equal  chance  of  saving one's  soul  whether  one  does  the  will  of Christ  or  does  it  not.

3. How  false  and  foolish  is  the  saying: "Live right  —  then  believe  what  you  like!" Tell me,  how  would  you  answer  any  one  who declared that  it  does  not  matter  whether  one has feet  or  not,  if  only  one  can  walk? You would certainly  say  to  such  a  person:  "A truce  to  this  foolish  talk,  how  could  one  walk without  feet?" But mark  this,  dear  reader, feet are  not  more  necessary  for  walking  than is faith  in  a  life  which  is  to  be  counted  up right  in  the  eyes  of  God. Faith is  the  root of an  upright  life;  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference to  a  tree  whether  it  is  without  roots,