In 1938, the Catholic Herald invited young Catholics to give an account of their faith. This is an abridged version of what the young philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe wrote in response.
8 July, 1938
OXFORD is so full of people who know what is going to happen to population and trade, and whether war will break out, and whose fault it will be, and what will happen after that, that I feel it necessary to apologise for not issuing judgments on such things, when I set out to write in this series. I know nothing about them, and in my ignorance I must suppose that the gloomiest forecasts of the experts who surround me may be true – in which case it will not be very necessary to plan one’s future in detail – but here I can only make a guess at life supposing that things will go on much as they are. I am to consider how far it is possible for me to express my Catholic views, in religion, philosophy, sociology, and the like, in the kind of life I am likely to lead.
