[207] Subject to various inner conflicts,
and greatly influenced by the party-spirit which ran high, he finally
entered the communion of the Roman Catholic Church. His view of the
development of Christian doctrine is very favorable to his adopted
faith. Development can be applied to anything which has real vital
power; it is the key that unlocks the mystery of all growth; any
philosophy or policy, Christianity included, requires time for its
comprehension and perfection. The highest truths of inspiration needed
only the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation, for
perfection can be reached only by trials and sore conflicts. A
philosophy or sect is purer and stronger when its channel has grown deep
and broad by the flow of time. Its vital element needs disengagement
from that which is foreign and temporary, and its beginning is no
measure of its capabilities or scope. At first no one knows what it is
or what it is worth, since it seems in suspense which way to go; but
notwithstanding this, it strikes out and develops all its hidden world
of force.
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