Page:The True Story of the Vatican Council.djvu/203

Rh tenth and eleventh chapters of the schema on the Church of Christ. It was, as we have seen, taken out of the general schema on the Church, and, with the addition of the chapter on the infallibility, it was made into a schema by itself. But further it was decided that the schema on the Roman Pontiff should be brought on before the other. It may be asked, Why was this change of order made? In answer we may call to mind that in like manner the first schema on Catholic faith had been set aside, and out of eighteen chapters four only had been cast into a new schema by itself. It was found that the prolixity and vastness of the original schema gave no hope of its being discussed, unless everything else should be made to give way. Therefore such points as had never been hitherto defined, and such truths as at this time are both especially contradicted and vitally necessary to the very foundations of the faith, were selected for immediate treatment. We have already seen this in the last chapter. These topics, therefore, could not, without grave danger, be postponed. The rest might well be deferred. For instance, the fall of man, original sin, grace, the Incarnation, the Holy Trinity, have all been defined, but the religion of nature, revelation, faith, the relation of faith to reason, have never been defined; and they are the truths on