A DECLARATION OF FAITH

by Herbert Agar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 1952

This is the mature philosophy of the author of A Time for Greatness (Little, Brown-1942). Where, in that memorable book, he challenges our thinking as Americans and demands that we look inward- and backward- at our failures to know the path we must choose, so in this he extends his view to embrace a world that should be ""one world"". A statement of faith, he feels, must be a statement of continuity, an acceptance of a natural law to supersede all government, that guards our duty to our neighbor, that reflects the will of God. He explores the past:- the religious wars, the rise and fall of empires, the periods of temporary surcease of hostilities, the wars in which each side felt divinely inspired, the successive emergence of nationalism, the dominance of the idea of sovereignty, the periods of complacency leading to ultimate despair, the failures of pure democracy through the very tyranny of the peoples, the Christian dualism with politics and religion intertwined -- the dangers we face today, not only in communism. Difficult reading, as he shifts back and forth, using periods, trends, men, nations to illustrate his points. Recurrently he returns to the core of his idea, that dualism must prevail, that Natural Law is the guardian of our entities, the one constant doctrine that the state may not coerce the conscience. Painfully, with many setbacks, the definition has expanded through as varied interpreters as St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Gratian, Grotius, Jefferson, Lincoln, Emerson- and many others. The book is disturbing, challenging, difficult of comprehension. One is tempted to extract quotations: ""We must put our own house in order- the house where men believe in the higher law and the inner freedom and pursuit of a truth that is absolute"". And in final conclusion he urges a united West which might yet give the world a chance for renewal. We have the power. We have the duty.... Not an easy book to sell, but pick those who will read it and appreciate being introduced to its precepts.

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1952

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1952

Categories: NONFICTION