ABSTRACT
Aseverysociologistknows,comparisonsbetweentheindividual andsocietyareasarulehighlyproblematic.Tosay,forinstance, thatprimitivelifeisakindofcollectivechildhood,orthatall mankindislikeonemanwholivesonandgoesonlearning,isto suggestparallelswhichdonotreallyexist,indeed,whichare misleading.Butthisdoesnotmeanthattherearenotcertain limitedsimilaritiesbetweenpersonalandcollectivelifewhich arereal,interestingandinstructive.Oneofthemisthefactthat neithertheindividualnorasocietyliketheChurchappearstobe capableofcontinuallykeepingtothestraightandnarrowpathof reasonandrectitude.Theindividualerrsandmustretracehis steps;notonlyonce,buteveranewandeveragain;butthesame istrueoftheChurchalso.Tobetrulyuniversal,tobewhatshe oughttobe,shewouldhavetoavoidcloseidentificationwithany countryoranyclassor,indeed,withtheworldingeneral;but thisshehasnotalwaysmanagedtodo.Itisdifficulttobeinthe worldandnotoftheworld;timeisagreatcorrupter,andallthe moresobecauseadjustmenttothingsastheyareisinvariablya slowprocess,theindividualstagesofwhicharehard,ifnot impossible,toperceive.Yet,afterawhile,thedamageisdone.The tentaclesoftheworldhaveclosedaroundtheChurch,andshe isonthewaytobecomingasortofestablishment,even ifoldformulaetothecontraryarekeptaliveandcontinually repeated.
