Books, Arts & Manners: A Fetish of Pluralism

An Invitation to American Catholic History, by Martin Marty (Thomas More Press, 221 pp., $14.95)

The liberal Protestant churchman is an interesting amalgam of contradictory sentiments. His moderation and openness are his marks of distinction, and yet they never quite go so far as to cause him to shed his encrustations of good old-fashioned anti-Romanism. Take, for example, W. E. Gladstone, the Liberal Party leader of the late nineteenth century, who established a reputation as an advocate of religious toleration, constantly doing battle in Parliament to extend liberties to oppressed religious minorities—including Roman Catholics—within the British realm. Gladstone’s various ministries are replete with land bills, disestablishment bills, even an early, though unsuccessful, Irish home-rule bill.

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David Rooney

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An Invitation to American Catholic History, by Martin Marty (Thomas More Press, 221 pp., $14.95)

The liberal Protestant churchman is an interesting amalgam of contradictory sentiments. His moderation and openness are his marks of distinction, and yet they never quite go so far as to cause him to shed his encrustations of good old-fashioned anti-Romanism. Take, for example, W. E. Gladstone, the Liberal Party leader of the late nineteenth century, who established a reputation as an advocate of religious toleration, constantly doing battle in Parliament to extend liberties to oppressed religious minorities—including Roman Catholics—within the British realm. Gladstone’s various ministries are replete with land bills, disestablishment bills, even an early, though unsuccessful, Irish home-rule bill.