"You should have lived in the early days of the Faith," he said, "You are too literal—too exact in your following of Christian ethics. That sort of thing does not work nowadays. Dogma must be maintained!"
"What is dogma?" asked Manuel suddenly.
Gherardi gave him a careless glance.
"Cardinal Bonpre must teach you that in extenso!" he replied, with a little smile—"But briefly,—dogma is an opinion or theory derived from the Gospels, and formulated as doctrine, by the Church."
"An opinion or theory of man, founded on the words of Christ?" said
Manuel.
"Just so!"
"But if Christ was divine, should any man presume to formulate a theory on what He Himself said?" asked Manuel. "Are not his own plain words enough?"
Gherardi stared at the young speaker half angrily.
"His own plain words enough?" he repeated mechanically. "What do you mean, boy?"
"I mean," answered Manuel simply, "that if He were truly a
Manifestation of God in Himself, as the Church declares Him to be, I
WONDER THAT MAN CAN DARE TO FORMULATE MERE DOGMA ON GOD'S OWN
UTTERANCE!"