The goods and evils of eternity

James Archer

God and Reason

In defending revelation, I wish not to deprecate human reason, much less to establish Christianity on its ruins. Reason is the most beautiful ornament of our nature, the distinguishing excellence of our being. We were gifted with it by our bountiful Creator, that by its light we might direct our steps through life and determine the part we should act with respect to all the concerns of this world, and particularly those most important of all concerns, the goods and evils of eternity. Hence St. Paul tells the Romans that their submission to the law of Christ must be reasonable. Indeed, were the doctrines which are delivered as revealed truths demonstratively repugnant to reason, we should be bound to reject them, because the Deity is incapable of acting in contradiction with himself. He is the author of reason; therefore that which is contrary to reason cannot have been revealed by him.

From On the Evidence and Comforts of Christianity by James Archer

James Archer (1751-1832) was an English missionary priest who began his road to the priesthood at an English pub, The Ship, which also served as a secret gathering place for Catholics at a time when the English government’s penal laws largely outlawed the Catholic Church. It was here that English bishop Richard Challoner met Archer and encouraged him to study for the priesthood in 1769 at Douai College in France. He returned after ordination in 1780 to The Ship and carried on missionary work with the pub as headquarters.