ISBN: 2940150618879

The Holy Blissful Martyr; Saint Thomas of Canterbury, written by Robert Hugh Benson (1871 - 1914). Published in New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago in 1910. (200 pages)The Publisher has cop… More...

The Holy Blissful Martyr; Saint Thomas of Canterbury, written by Robert Hugh Benson (1871 - 1914). Published in New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago in 1910. (200 pages)The Publisher has copy-edited this book to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the text to make it readable. This did not involve changing the substance of the text. Some books, due to age and other factors may contain imperfections. Since there are many books such as this one that are important and beneficial to literary interests, we have made it digitally available and have brought it back into print for the preservation of printed works of the past.Contents:IntroductionChapter I. Birth, Youth and RiseChapter II. Chancellor and ArchbishopChapter III. Troubles in EnglandChapter IV. Exile and ReturnChapter V. Passion and DeathChapter VI. CoronationIntroduction (excerpts)...THERE is hardly any character in history that rouses such feeling as the character of Saint Thomas of Canterbury. On one side there are those who say that he was a tiresome fanatic — a fanatic because he glorified Church against State, and tiresome because he did this with regard to a number of trifling details involving no particular principle. On the other side there is the verdict of the Catholic Church that he lived a saint and died a martyr....Now it is perfectly natural, especially in these days, that there should be these two opinions, for there was scarcely ever a time when the State was more glorified at the expense of the Church. We are informed by thousands of voices that the State is the true Church, that citizenship is the whole duty of man, and that all interests that conflict with patriotism or the service of Humanity are contemptible and treacherous. This movement, in England at least, began in the sixteenth century, when the country was separated from allegiance to Rome, and religion itself became more or less a department of the State; it is reaching its maturity now in the position that the State is all, and that religion, if it is in any sense established, must conform utterly to the will of its protector....This view of the State has affected, as we know, even those who cling to Christianity. We have heard lately a chorus of English voices, from the throats of professing Christians, acclaiming recent events in France, and declaring that Pius X, through his self-assertive mediaevalism, is the sole cause of his own troubles. If he had only recognised the sanctity of the State and allowed his spiritual children to conform to its requirements in the matter of appeals and associations, all this anti-clericalism would have disappeared long ago!...Now here is almost the precise quarrel in which Thomas laid down his life. If Erastianism is right, certainly Saint Thomas was wrong. If it is proper that Edward VII should be even the nominal head — and by law he is much more — of an institution claiming to be Christ's Church; and that M. Fallieres should be the ultimate arbitrator between French priests and people; then it was equally proper for Henry II to insist upon the Constitutions of Clarendon and the royal customs, and highly improper, as well as absurd, for St. Thomas to resist them. Certainly some of these constitutions and customs seem very trifling matters if they are judged by worldly standards. Digital Content>E-books>Undefined>Undefined>Undefined, Digital Text Publishing Company Digital >16<

ISBN: 2940150618879

The Holy Blissful Martyr; Saint Thomas of Canterbury holy-blissful-martyr-Saint-Thomas-of-Canterbury~~Robert-Hugh-Benson Undefined>Undefined>Undefined NOOK Book (eBook), Digital Text Publ… More...

The Holy Blissful Martyr; Saint Thomas of Canterbury holy-blissful-martyr-Saint-Thomas-of-Canterbury~~Robert-Hugh-Benson Undefined>Undefined>Undefined NOOK Book (eBook), Digital Text Publishing Company<