But under the name of orthodoxy
and the banner of High Church, they have willingly received truth
against which, had it come to them in another shape, they would have
closed their ears and hearts. A better spirit has thus been breathed
into hundreds who but for this new movement would have remained as their
fathers were before them, mere Nimrods, Ramrods, or Fishing-rods."[206]
Of all the men engaged in the Tractarian enterprise there was no one in
whose religious and personal history a deeper public interest
concentrated than in John Henry Newman. His ardent espousal of the High
Church cause collected many friends about him at the same time that it
organized numerous enemies. But he did not inquire concerning the number
of his friends or foes, for he valued sincerity higher than favor or
opposition. His previous history was not without incident. Thirteen
years before the _Tracts for the Times_ were published, he had been
engaged in a controversy concerning baptismal regeneration, in which he
defended the evangelical side.
Pages:
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826