Democracy in the Church
HAZY memory of the great days of the Roman republic was important to the Middle Ages; but the very active and living presence of the Roman church .was more important still, It stood for the most fundamental principle of all: that the human being is important in himself. He had a soul -to be developed and to be saved; and in theory the soul of the peasant was every bit as- important as the soul of the noble. More than this: the Church did actually behave like a comparatively democratic society. True; it had to organise itself under a leader, and set up a hierarchy of officers to administer its vast property and influence. That was the condition of remaining alive in a turbulent society. | It was also true that in some circumstances the man with powerful friends had a better chance than the poor man. Nevertheless, the poor man was wel-
comed in, he could rise to the highest places, and through the Church could often escape altogether from the rigid social and military system in which most of mankind lived. Furthermore, the Church was continually throwing up rebels who fought for their own point of view-often a democratic point of view.-(" Democracy in the Dark Ages,’ Professor F, L. Wood, 2YA.)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 113, 22 August 1941, Page 5
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217Democracy in the Church New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 113, 22 August 1941, Page 5
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