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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35682-8.txt b/35682-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8a682a --- /dev/null +++ b/35682-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5047 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chapters of Bible Study, by Herman J. Heuser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chapters of Bible Study + A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures + +Author: Herman J. Heuser + +Release Date: March 25, 2011 [EBook #35682] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY + + +OR + + +A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES + + +BY + +THE REV. HERMAN J. HEUSER + +PROF. OF SCRIPTURAL INTRODUCTION AND EXEGESIS, ST. CHARLES SEMINARY, +OVERBROOK, PA. + + + + +THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION + +123 E. 50th Street + +New York + +1895 + + + + +Nihil Obstat: + D. J. McMAHON, + _Censor Librorum_. + + + +Imprimatur: + MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, + _Archbishop of New York_. + + + + +COPYRIGHT BY JOSEPH H. MCMAHON, 1895. + + + + +PREFACE. + +The following pages are printed from notes used in a series of lectures +before the "Catholic Summer School of America" at Pittsburgh. They are +neither an exhaustive nor a scientific exposition, but are meant as a +suggestive introduction, in popular form, to the intelligent reading of +the Bible. Some of the answers to questions proposed by members of the +"School" during the course have been inserted where it seemed most +suitable. + +I take occasion here to express my deep appreciation of the courtesy +shown to its visitors by the Directors of the "Catholic Summer School." +Their self-sacrificing spirit has secured to the organization the +earnest co-operation of many gifted men and women animated by that +refined Catholic feeling which constitutes the highest type of a truly +cultured society. Nothing could have placed the institution on a +firmer basis, or could better have given it that guarantee of success +to which the last session has borne witness. + +H. J. H. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. The Ancient Scroll + II. Strange Witnesses + III. The Testimony of a Confession + IV. The Stones Cry Out + V. Heavenly Wisdom + VI. The Vicious Circle + VII. The Sacred Pen + VIII. The Melody and Harmony of the "Vox Coelestis" + IX. The Voice from the Rock + X. A Source of Culture + XI. The Creation of New Letters + XII. English Style + XIII. Friends of God + XIV. The Art of Prospecting + XV. Using the Kodak + XVI. The Interpretation of the Image + XVII. "Deus Illuminatio Mea" + XVIII. Bush-Lights + XIX. The Use and the Abuse of the Bible + XX. The Vulgate and the "Revised Version" + XXI. The Position of the Church + XXII. Mysterious Characters + XXIII. Conclusion + XXIV. Appendix + + + + +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY. + + + +I. + +THE ANCIENT SCROLL. + +If a mysteriously-written document were brought to you, and its bearer +assured you that it contained a secret putting you in possession of a +great inheritance by establishing your relationship to an ancient race +of kings, of which you had no previous knowledge, how would you regard +such a document? + +You would examine its age, the character of the manuscript, the quality +of the paper or parchment; you would ask how it had come to you, and by +whom it had been transmitted through successive generations before it +reached you. And when, after careful inquiry, you had established the +age and authenticity of the document, then you would study its +contents, examine the nature of its provisions, and, having clearly +understood its meaning, ask yourself: How can I carry out the +conditions laid down in this testament, in order that I may obtain the +full benefit of the generous bequest left by my noble ancestor? + +It is on similar lines that I propose to treat our subject. We shall +take up the Bible just as we would take up any other written work, +requiring, for the time being, simply so much faith--no more, but also +no less than we would exact in the fair examination of any other work, +whether of fact or of fiction. + +When we have assured ourselves that the Bible is really as old and as +truthful a record of history as it pretends to be, and that it has for +it such human testimony as leads us to admit historic facts in general, +we shall occupy ourselves with its contents, with the influence which +this wonderful book, this ancient testament of our royal Sire, +exercises upon the heart, the mind, the general culture, by which it +leads us to our inheritance, and enables us to assume our place in our +destined home. + +The Bible, looking upon it as a merely human production, is a +collection of documents of various antiquity, containing historic +records of successive generations, going back to a very remote period. +It relates the valiant deeds of valiant men and women, written either +by themselves or by men of their own race. It contains, furthermore, a +great number of principles, doctrines, rules, and laws for the moral +and external government of individuals and communities, particularly of +the families and tribes of the Hebrew nation. Finally, we find in this +ancient scroll certain predictions and prophecies which, if we can show +that they were definitely made long in advance of the events foretold +by them, become a strong argument in favor of the supernatural origin +of the work. However, this last point we shall leave entirely out of +view for the present. + +It is very clear that the book which we have in our hands, and which we +call the Bible, or The Book _par excellence_, has been printed and +reprinted during four hundred years, in millions of copies, all of +which agree substantially, not excepting the Bible of the so-called +"reformers," with whom, on the whole, we differ rather in the +interpretation than in the wording of its contents. There are indeed +some disagreements on subjects touching religious doctrines, which, +whilst very important if we accept the Sacred Scriptures as the +inspired word of God, hardly count for anything in a merely historical +work; and this is the light in which we regard the Bible just at +present. + +The Bibles which are printed to-day are practically and substantially +the same as those which were printed four hundred years ago. A great +number of copies of first editions in different languages may still be +found in public and private libraries. The New Testament version, from +which Luther principally made his translation, was an edition by the +well-known humanist, Erasmus. All the modern European translations, +including that made into English five hundred years ago by Wiclif, had +for their original an ancient Latin version which was employed in the +service of the churches, and of which copies in manuscript, made over a +thousand years ago, are still extant. One of the oldest uncial Latin +manuscripts is the "Vercelli Gospels," attributed to the hand of +Eusebius. The Corpus Christi College Library at Cambridge has a +manuscript copy said to have been made by St. Augustine. Of Greek +copies we have a very famous one in the Vatican Library, probably the +oldest preserved in the world--about 350; another manuscript, called +the Codex Sinaiticus, is in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg; and +a third, of nearly the same age (IV. century), is the "Codex +Alexandrinus," at present in the British Museum. Manuscripts older +than these are wanting, not only of the Bible, but of any other book, +except fragments of writings on parchment and certain manuscripts +rescued from Egyptian tombs, and papers discovered in the recent +excavations of Herculaneum, near Naples, in Italy. Parchment, on +account of the expensive preparation required to make it suitable +material for writing, was sparingly used by the ancients at any time. +They preferred to employ the so-called papyrus, made of the fibrous +pith of a kind of rush growing abundantly in Egypt, and brought to +Europe by Eastern merchants. This, and other kinds of vegetable fibre +from which paper suitable for writing was prepared since the days when +Moses, as we must presume, practised the art of writing in the schools +of Egypt, do not withstand the destructive influence of time. +Experience proves that the ordinary atmosphere has completely corroded +cotton paper of nine hundred years ago; the same is true of the linen +paper made in the time of Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas. Those +exceptional treasures of Egyptian papyrus referred to above, which have +been found of late years, owe their preservation to the fact that they +were enclosed in almost air-tight tombs, in a singularly dry climate; +the same is the case with regard to the manuscripts discovered in +Herculaneum, which have been kept hermetically sealed by the tight +lava-cover from Mount Vesuvius for a space of more than seventeen +hundred years. + +However, among such manuscripts as have been preserved under ordinary +conditions, by far the greatest number are copies, in various tongues, +of the Bible, and some of these carry us back to the fourth century. +We have Bible manuscripts written on paper in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, +Latin, in the dialects of the Copts, the Arabs, the Armenians, the +Persians, the Ethiopians, the Slavs, and the Goths, who were among the +earliest nations converted to Christianity. Now all these manuscript +Bibles, more than fourteen centuries old, substantially correspond to +our Catholic Bibles of this day. + +The early Christian missionaries who introduced the word of God to the +pagan nations speaking a strange tongue must have had some uniform +source whence to make their translations. So many persons in different +parts of the world, unacquainted with one another's language, could +not, except by some incredible miracle, have composed out of their +fancy so large a book, agreeing page for page, nay, line for line. +They must have had some original at their disposal whence to make a +uniform copy. The fact is, we find that original book in the churches +of Italy, Greece, Asia, and Africa. The apostolic Fathers speak of it +as known to everybody; they read from it on Sundays and festivals; they +quote long passages, and the young candidates for Holy Orders are +taught, like the Hebrew levites of old, to memorize the psalms and +moral books of the Bible. Among these witnesses is St. Clement of +Koine. According to Tertullian, who lived near his time, he was +ordained by St. Peter the Apostle; at any rate, St. Paul speaks of him +in his Epistle to the Philippians. Other disciples of the Apostles +were St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, St. Polycarp, the friend of St. +John. These are followed by St. Justin, who wrote a famous defence of +the Catholic faith called the "Apology," which he presented to the +Emperor Antoninus. The latter, convinced of the young convert's +sincerity, put a stop to the cruel persecutions which were then going +on against the Christians. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius also received a +copy of the "Apology" from St. Justin. In this well-known work the +Saint states that "_the Gospels, together with the writings of the +prophets, are publicly read in the assemblies of the Christians._"[1] +He also affirms that they were written in part by the Apostles +themselves and partly by their disciples. This was shortly after the +year 138, when men were still alive who had conversed with St. Paul, +and who could well remember the sweet admonitions of brotherly love +given by the aged St. John, who tells us that he had seen with his own +eyes the things which he writes.[2] The chain of apostolic writers +from St. Peter to St. Augustine, _i.e._, from the first century to the +fourth or fifth, bears witness that this wonderful book was used in +every Christian community from the regions of the Jordan, whence St. +Justin came, to the confines of Spain, where Isidore of Cordova wrote +his commentaries; from the northernmost part of Dalmatia, where Titus +had preached the doctrine delivered him by St. Paul, to the limit of +the African desert, whence one of the oldest Latin versions of the +Scriptures was brought to St. Ambrose. + +It is interesting to be able to cite the testimony of pagan as well as +of Jewish writers concerning the great events which the Christian +Gospels record. We have the historic fact of Christ's person and work +attested in the "Annals" of Tacitus, the greatest of Roman +historians,[3] who was consul of Rome in 97. His statements are +corroborated by Suetonius, secretary to the Emperor Adrian, by Pliny, +the Viceroy of Bithynia and friend of the Emperor Trajan, by the Jewish +writers Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Christ, and the +historian Flavius Josephus, and by the rabbis who collated the +traditions of the Talmud. All these, whilst they wrote but briefly of +the subject, bear indirect witness to the belief and to the practice by +the earliest Christians of the Gospel precepts, although the books of +the New Testament had not at that time been formed into a definite +canon. Thus the unbroken evidence of the existence of the Christian +Scriptures goes back to the very time of their first composition. + +We come to the Old Testament. That the Jews in the time of Christ +possessed a collection of sacred books is recorded on every page of the +New Testament, of whose authentic source there can be no reasonable +doubt. There are altogether about two hundred and seventy passages in +the New Testament books which are quotations from the Old Testament. +There are innumerable references in the Gospels and Epistles, and in +the early Christian writers, to the sacred law of the Jews, among whom +the first converts were made; for these converts continued to use the +Mosaic writings and the prophetical books. Christ Himself had +beautifully illustrated this practice, from the first, in His teaching. +"He came to Nazareth," St. Luke tells us, "where He was brought up; and +He went into the synagogue, according to His custom, on the sabbath +day; and He rose up to read. And the Book of Isaias the Prophet was +delivered unto Him. And as He unfolded the book He found the place +where it was written: _The spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He +hath anointed me; to preach the gospel to the poor He hath sent me; to +heal the contrite of heart. To preach deliverance to the captives, and +sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach +the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward_. And when He +had folded the book He restored it to the minister and sat down. And +the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to +say to them: _This day is fulfilled this Scripture in your ears_. And +all gave testimony to Him."[4] + +Any attempt to corrupt the Old Testament writings, or to change and +destroy them, even in part, became impossible after the Gospels had +been written. It would at once have aroused marked attention among +both Jews and Christians, who with equal reverence regarded the Book as +the sacred and inviolable word of God, however mutually hostile their +feelings were regarding the interpretation of its meaning. For if ever +there existed a document whose authority was sanctioned and whose +preservation was guaranteed by the severest laws and most minute +precautions, it was the code of sacred writings known to the Jews as +the "Law and the Prophets." It was read in every synagogue on the +sabbath and festival days. Every Jew above the age of twelve was +obliged to repeat certain parts of the Sacred Book each day, morning +and night. Thrice dispersed among the Gentile nations, north, west, +and south, the Jews carried with them the book of the Law and the +Prophets, and we find them repeat its sweet words of hope and trust in +Jehovah by the rivers of Babylon as under the glimmer of the +torchlights in the caverns of Samaria or rocky Arabia. Their faces +were forever turning towards Jerusalem. Nay, when the language of +their fathers had ceased to be spoken during generations of enforced +exile, the children still repeated the Hebrew words of the Law in the +temple, even though they had versions made for the people by rabbis who +were under sacred vow not to change an iota of the Lord's written word. +We have in the present Hebrew Bibles some remnant of the traditional +care with which the Jew guarded the letter of the Law, whatever might +be the spirit in which he interpreted it. In order that the Sacred +Text might never be tampered with, even by the addition or omission of +a single letter or word, the scribes were obliged to count the verses, +words, and characters of each book. They knew by heart every +peculiarity of grammatical or phonetic expression. Thus the young +rabbi must verify that the Book of Genesis contains 1,534 verses; that +the exact middle of the book, counting every letter from the beginning +and from the end, occurs in chapter xxvii. 40. He knew that there were +ten verses in the Scriptures beginning and ending with the letter +[Hebrew: nun] (_nun_) (as in Lev. xiii. 9); two in which every word +ends with the letter [Hebrew: final mem] (_mem_). The letter [Hebrew: +ayin] (_ayin_), in Ps. lxxx. 14, is the exact middle of the Psalter. +The letter [Hebrew: aleph] (_aleph_) occurs 42,377 times, [Hebrew: +beth] (_beth_) 38,218 times, [Hebrew: ghimel] (_ghimel_) 29,537 times, +and so of every letter in the alphabet. These, and a thousand other +peculiarities which made the corruption of the Hebrew text an almost +absolute impossibility, were in later ages collected into a glossary +called the Masorah, which forms a sort of separate commentary to the +Bible. If you open the Hebrew volume of the Old Testament, just as it +is printed to-day, you will find many of these warnings inserted in the +very text. Thus at the end of the Book of Chronicles we have this +sentence: "The printer is not at fault, for the sum total of verses in +the whole Book of Chronicles is 1650." Then, lest the reader might +forget this number, a verse is attached which contains the letters +representing the same number. The verse, which is taken from the I. +Samuel vi. 13, reads: "_They saw the ark and rejoiced in seeing it_." +Just as the words "_MeDiCaL VIrtue_" might stand in English for the +same number. + +Many other peculiarities in the manner of copying the Hebrew text have +been transmitted for ages without change. Thus in the Book of Numbers +xi. 1 we find the letter [Hebrew: nun] (_nun_) written backward +[Hebrew: reversed nun], to express more emphatically the meaning of +"perversity," mentioned in the verse. In Job xxxviii. 13 the letter +[Hebrew: ayin] (_ayin_) in the word [Hebrew: final mem, yod, ayin, +shin, khaf] (_reshachim_), "ungodly," is raised above the line, to +indicate how God will shake up into the air, like chaff, the ungodly of +whom the Prophet speaks. + +But it is needless to point out in detail all the odd precautions which +were invented by the rabbis that they might exercise a most rigorous +control over the Hebrew text; and although these methods are the +results of a later school of Hebraists, they go to show the sense of +responsibility which the Jews must always have felt regarding the +preservation of the ancient Testament. Even at this day you can hardly +discover a substantial departure from the original in the numerous +manuscript copies extant. Kennicott, an English Biblical scholar, +brought together five hundred and eighty Hebrew manuscripts of the +Bible which, after careful study and comparison, revealed scarcely any +differences of the text. An Italian, Prof. de Rossi, who died in 1831, +had collected seven hundred and ten manuscripts, and had seen in +various libraries one hundred and thirty-four more, all of which he +examined critically without finding any notable differences. I am +speaking, remember, of such differences as would affect the historical +identity of these manuscript copies with their original. It would be +folly to assert that these manuscripts, which reached the number of +over 1,600, are copies made by the same scribes; for some of them were +discovered in Arabia, others in old Jewish settlements in China; one, +the oldest in existence, as some believe, was found in a synagogue in +the Crimea, by a Jewish rabbi named Abraham Firkeowicz. + + + +[1] _Apolog._, i. 67. + +[2] Ep. St. John, chap. i. 1. + +[3] Tacit., _Annal_., xv. 38-44. + +[4] St. Luke iv. 16-22. + + + + +II. + +STRANGE WITNESSES. + +If there remained no trace of the original writings of the Old +Testament books preserved for us in the Hebrew tongue, we should still +possess very reliable witnesses of ancient date to testify to their +existence in substantially the same form in which we have them; for the +children of Jewish exiles, who were forced gradually to substitute the +language of their conquerors for their mother tongue, had well +authenticated translations for their use in the synagogues. The most +remarkable of such translations is the so-called Greek Septuagint, +commonly believed to have been made for the Alexandrian Library by +seventy Jewish rabbis at the request of King Ptolemy Philadelphus. We +shall have occasion, later on, to revert to the significance of this +Greek version. For the present it is only necessary to mention that it +was so highly esteemed by the Jews themselves that they used it for +several centuries in their reading to the people, many of whom +understood only the Greek. + +Even the enemies of the Jews bear witness to the unchanged character of +the oldest portion of the Hebrew Bible for centuries before the coming +of our Lord. + +About the year 536 B.C., on the return of the Jewish exiles from +Babylon, the Samaritans, a mixed race of Jewish and Aramaic stock, +sought from the temple authorities at Jerusalem the privilege of +worshipping with the rest of the Jews in the holy city. This was +refused. Shortly afterwards one of the priests at Jerusalem was +excommunicated for having married the daughter of a Samaritan prince. +He sought refuge in Samaria, and having built a temple on Mount +Garizim, induced the people to worship according to the Mosaic Law. +They were found to possess a copy of the Pentateuch, which they had +transcribed in Samaritan characters; and whilst the Jews of Southern +Palestine held no communication with them, and the Samaritans on their +part looked upon the Jews as schismatics who had changed the ancient +observances of the Law, yet both recognized the same sacred code as the +rule of their conduct and religion. + +A copy of this valuable version, which at a later date was translated +into the actual Samaritan dialect, was discovered at Damascus in 1616, +and has since been printed in several editions at Paris and London. It +is of great importance, as it establishes a perfect accord with the +reading of the Jewish Hebrew text. These versions, made at different +times, in places widely apart, and by men who were decidedly hostile to +each other on religious as well as on national grounds, force us to +admit a well-fixed, universally known, and trusted original of the +books of Moses; for where there is a copy there must be something +copied from, just as when we see the well-defined shadow of an object +we know that the object itself exists. + +The antiquity of the Hebrew Bible is indeed attested by many no less +conclusive arguments than those we have given, which, from the +historian's point of view, stamp it as the most important monument of +antiquity which we have, and whose genuine character is proved by the +most trustworthy documentary evidence. There is no page of historical +account in existence to-day that has such overwhelming testimony in +favor of its authentic origin as these books of the Bible. Known by +generations as the inviolable law of God, guarded with scrupulous +solicitude as their greatest religious treasure, read sabbath after +sabbath in the synagogues, not alone of Palestine, but of Arabia, +Assyria, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome--in short, wherever the +sons of Abraham had been dispersed in the course of more than twenty +centuries--who was it, friend or foe, that could have dared to change +this royal mandate of the Most High to His chosen people! If a man +were to-day to print a copy of the Constitution, or a history of the +formation of the American Republic, introducing some hitherto +unheard-of statements, or omitting some important words or facts, how +long would such imposition remain unnoticed or unchallenged? Yet it +would be infinitely easier in our times, and under our conditions, for +such change to pass unnoticed than it would have been among the Jews. +The Oriental races are intensely averse to anything that threatens to +alter their traditions. The customs of the Eastern peoples to-day are +the same as they are described by Isaias seven hundred years before +Christ, and the Jew of Isaiah's time reflects in every act the manners +of another seven hundred years before, when Moses describes his people +as imitating the domestic virtues and habits of Abraham's day, a time +which carries us back still another seven centuries. A thousand years +make no perceptible change in Oriental civilization. You may see it +every day. Take as a ready instance Algeria, visited annually by many +Americans, who go to Europe by the southern route. It is a coast city, +lying in the full glare of European civilization; nay, modern life has +forced itself upon this town with the captivating aggressiveness of +French manners, French magnificence, French soldiery, and a system of +commerce which, within the last sixty years, has caused the European +population to outnumber the original Arab inhabitants of Algiers by +two-thirds. Yet the daily and forced contact, for two whole +generations, between the Arab and the European has produced hardly any +change in the habits of the former. The Mussulman passes through the +splendid streets of the French portion of the town when necessity urges +him, in silence and with apparent disdain. He prefers his cavern-like +habitation, with small square holes for windows, and an iron grating +instead of glass, to the spacious and lightsome palaces built by the +French and English colonists. The Arab woman feels no desire for the +pretty vanities of modern fashion, for the graceful freedom and +intellectual intercourse with men; she conceals her form in the +traditional wide robe of the East, with a veil over her head, a row of +shining coins or beads hanging down from the forehead, and a kerchief +over her face hiding all but the gazelle-like eyes. You see in that +one city, open to the constant changes arising from the innumerable +relations of travel and commerce, two worlds of men: one busy, fitful, +gay, and splendidly modern; the other silent, immovable, almost +scornful, and in dwelling and dress, in manner and language, just the +same as you might have observed them ages ago. + +Such precisely were the people who guarded and delivered to us the +books of the Old Testament. Their religious, civil, and domestic +practices, everywhere and at all times of their history, correspond so +perfectly with what we read in any part of this volume that, even if +portions of the Bible were lost, we should have the living tradition to +witness to the omission, since we know that the life of the Hebrew was +ever subject to the regulations of the law of Jehovah, which was to him +the supreme expression of all that is great and good and wise. +"Uniformity of belief and ritual practice," says the Protestant +Geikie,[1]" was the one grand design of the founders of Judaism; the +moulding the whole religious life of the nation to such a machine-like +discipline as would make any variation from the customs of the past +well-nigh impossible. A universal, death-like conservatism, permitting +no change in successive ages, was established as the grand security for +a separate national existence.... For this end, not only was that part +of the Law which concerned the common life of the people--their +sabbaths, feast-days, jubilees, offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the +Temple and Synagogue worship, civil and criminal law, marriage, and the +like--explained, commented on, and minutely ordered by the Rabbis, but +also that portion of it which related only to the private duties of +individuals in their daily religious life." And to this day the +orthodox Jew observes the same rites and ceremonies which marked the +service of his forefathers, whether in Judea or Samaria, on the banks +of the Nile under the Ptolemies, at Babylon under the Seleucides, or at +Niniveh under Nabuchodonoser. "What event of profane history," writes +the Abbé Gainet, "can boast of an unbroken succession of 3,500 +anniversaries such as those of which we have assurance in the history +of the Jews?"[2] + + + +[1] "Life of Christ," chap. xvii. + +[2] La Bible sans la Bible, vol. I., Etude préliminaire. + + + + +III. + +THE TESTIMONY OF A CONFESSION. + +The argument of the last chapter leads us to another evidence which +points to the historical authenticity of the Hebrew Bible. It is +plain, even upon superficial examination of this book, that it +contains, beside the severest penalties for sin, the most stinging +accusations of infidelity against the people of God, and the most +scorching rebukes of their crimes; it relates the transgressions of +their kings and princes and priests; in short, it records everything +which the Jewish nation and their rulers must have been anxious to keep +silent, or to mitigate where it was necessary to write it down. Every +reason of prudence and national self-love must have suggested to them +to destroy such records where they existed, because they made their +vaunted glory a story of everlasting shame. Compare this historical +record of the Jewish people with the contemporary annals of the +Assyrian, Persian, Greek, or Roman monarchs. These are full of +extravagant laudations, of royal deeds of valor, of the splendor of +their victories over other nations; whereas the statements of the Bible +are simple, the narrative of heroic acts and signal divine favors is +constantly mingled with incidents deeply self-humiliating for a race +that called itself chosen of God above all the Gentiles. The Jews +record numerous defeats, shameful treacheries, and errors of their most +beloved kings. They rebel, they commit every crime forbidden by the +Law; yet whilst they kill the prophets who charge them with +ingratitude, they patiently suffer the record of it all to go into the +books which they know will be read to all the people for their shame. +They make no attempt to minimize or to excuse themselves to their +children, however much they love the glory of Israel and the splendor +of Jerusalem as the one nation and city worthy of the most exalted +patriotic praise. Other nations made themselves a religion in harmony +with their passions, so as to soothe the conscience. But the Jew finds +a law of life given him in the great book of Moses. He may fall from +his ideals, he may worship idols, but he never ceases to recognize that +this is wrong because it is contrary to the law of Jehovah. + + + + +IV. + +THE STONES CRY OUT. + +The chain of documentary and circumstantial evidence which points to +the preservation, substantially intact, of the Bible as an historic +record of the highest possible trustworthiness is completed by the +daily increasing store of monuments which are brought to light, +especially in Palestine, Assyria, and Egypt. Up to the middle of the +present century the largest part of our knowledge of the ancient +nations was drawn from the Bible. It was the one great treasure-house +wherein the history of the East was to be found. We had Greek and +Roman and some Egyptian historians, but their knowledge was confined to +their own people, and needed to be supplemented by the details related +in the Pentateuch, in Josue, Judges, Ruth, the two Books of Samuel, the +Books of Kings, Paralipomenon, Esdras, Tobias, Judith, Esther, and the +Machabees, all of which are historical books containing facts, +statistics, constitutions, and dynastic lines, without which profane +history would still be a doubtful and barren field of study. + +But, lately, the studious industry of scholarly men has gone over the +ground of the old events, to test with the instruments of historic +criticism the veracity, and, incidentally, the authenticity of the +Bible record. Aided by the royal munificence of governments and +private corporations, scholars went to search out and examine the +monuments of antiquity in those parts where the Jewish race had dwelt +during the periods recounted in the Bible. They found, mostly below +the earth, and sometimes beneath the flood-beds of streams and lakes, +traces in stone or clay or metal which pointed to their containing +valuable information regarding the Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and +other nations with whom the Hebrew people had come in contact. These +traces were sometimes in signs and languages not understood or wholly +unknown in our learned world, but with assiduous study the mysteries +came, in course of time, to be unravelled. The story of these +discoveries is in various ways extremely interesting, and we shall +speak of them more in detail later on. + +Besides the primitive inscriptions just referred to, a number of cities +have been discovered which lay buried for many centuries beneath the +ground upon which afterwards other races dwelt and built their homes. +Excavations in Palestine go, day by day, to explain, where they do not +simply corroborate, the statements of the Bible. The diggings about +the supposed ancient site of Nineveh, in Babylonia, have unearthed the +ruins of an immense library. Sir A. H. Layard, and subsequently Mr. +George Smith and Hormuzd Rassam, have brought together a number of clay +tablets which open an immense world of Assyrian and Babylonian +literature, whose existence was hitherto known only by the indications +given in the Book of Daniel and other historical portions of the Bible +concerning the conquerors of the Jews. These discoveries, as Mr. A. H. +Sayce remarks in his "Fresh Lights from Ancient Monuments" (page 17), +have not only "shed a flood of light on the history and antiquity of +the Old Testament, but they have served to illustrate and explain the +language of the Old Testament as well." + +The evidence brought to light by these monuments has left no doubt in +the minds of scientific men as to the facts that occurred three and +four thousand years ago. We read the inscriptions which bear witness +to the work of the Chaldean king Nimrod, to Zoroaster the Elamite, to +Khamu-rabi, the Arab of the days of Moses; we treasure as of primary +historical importance the account of Herodotus, who visited Babylon at +the time when Esdras and Nehemias, who were both ministers at the court +of Artaxerxes, wrote their continuation of the Book of Chronicles for +the Jewish brethren in Palestine. When we read the works of Tacitus +and Suetonius, of Cicero and Virgil, all of whom indicate that they had +some knowledge of the Jewish sacred books,[1] we entertain no doubt as +to their existence or the authenticity of their writings; yet men under +the guise of scientific criticism have sought to cast doubts upon the +Biblical records which have in their favor a documentary evidence a +hundred times more accurate and trustworthy than any work of antiquity +without exception in the whole range of history. If apologists were +silent, the very stones would begin to cry out in behalf of the +authenticity and antiquity of the Biblical records. Every day is +bringing this truth into stronger relief. "Discovery after discovery," +says Prof. Sayce, "has been pouring in upon us from Oriental lands, and +the accounts given only ten years ago of the results of Oriental +research are already beginning to be antiquated.... The ancient world +has been reawakened to life by the spade of the explorer and the +patient skill of the decipherer, and we now find ourselves in the +presence of monuments which bear the names or recount the deeds of the +heroes of Scripture." + + + +[1] Cf. Hettinger-Bowden, "Revealed Religion," page 158. + + + + +V. + +HEAVENLY DOCTRINE. + + "Whence but from heaven could men, unskilled in arts, + In several ages born, in several parts, + Weave such agreeing truths?" + (Dryden, _Religio Laici_.) + + +The Bible, regarded as a work of history which offers us proofs of +credibility beyond those of any secular work of the same kind, has in +its composition and style a refinement and loftiness of tone far +superior to other writings of equal age which have come down to us. +The Jews "attributed to these books, one and all of them, a character +which at once distinguishes them from all other books, and caused the +collection of them to be regarded in their eyes as one individual +whole. This distinguishing character was the divine authority of every +one of those books and of every part of every book."[1] This belief of +the Jews was so strong, so universal, so unchanging that, as has +already been said, it pervaded and regulated their entire religious, +political, and social life during all the eventful centuries of +Israelitish history. + +That our Lord knew of this belief, that He endorsed it, preached and +emphasized it repeatedly, is very evident from the authentic narrative +of the Gospels. + +Expressions indicating this are to be found everywhere in the writings +of the evangelists: "Have you never read in the Scriptures?" He says +to the Scribes in referring to the words of the Psalmist (cxvii. 22): +The stone which the builders rejected, etc. (St. Matthew xxi. 42.) +Again, a little later on, He charges the Sadducees who say there is no +resurrection: "You err, not knowing the Scriptures" (Ibid. xxii. 29). +In the Garden of Olives He bears witness to the prophetic character of +the Book of Isaiah: "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled" (Ibid. +xxvi. 54)? And the historian, a friend and Apostle of Christ, adds: +"Now all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be +fulfilled" (Ibid. 56). St. John's Gospel, especially, abounds in +references like the foregoing, which point to the intimate relation +between the Messianic advent of Christ and the figures of the Old Law, +and assure us that the books of the Prophets, as well as the +accompanying historic accounts of the Scriptural books generally, were +regarded as the sacred word of God, not only by the Jews, but by the +disciples of Christ. + +This sacred collection was generally spoken of as consisting of three +parts, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Philo and +Josephus, both trained in the schools of the Pharisees, mention the +division as one well understood among the Jews of their time. Christ +Himself speaks of the Sacred Scriptures, in different places, with this +same distinction. + +Now the testimony of Christ, who proved Himself to be the Son of God, +and therefore unerring truth, is explicit in so far as it appeals with +a supreme and infallible authority to the Jewish Scriptures as to a +testimony _not human, but divine_. "Have you not read that which was +spoken _by God_?" He says, referring to the Mosaic Law in Exodus iii. 6 +(St. Matt. xxii. 31). Many times He speaks of the Scriptures "that +they may be fulfilled," thus indicating that they contain that which +lay in the future, and whose foreknowledge must have come from God. +This testimony of Our Lord is strengthened by the interpretation of His +Apostles in the same sense. + +Yet although the testimony of Christ and the Apostles regarding the +fact that the Books of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms are +divinely inspired, is very explicit, we have nowhere a clear statement +or a catalogue which might assure us what books and parts of books are +actually comprised in this collection of the Sacred Scriptures of which +our Lord speaks. Christ approves as the word of God those writings +which were accepted as such among the Jews of His day, but He does not +give us any definite security by this general endorsement that every +chapter, every verse, much less every word of the Bible, as we have +received it, is actually inspired. We are not therefore quite sure +from the evidence thus far given that the Old Testament, as we have it, +has in every part of it the sanction of Christ's testimony to its being +truly the word of God. As to the New Testament, we know that, however +accurate and trustworthy as a history of the times in which it was +composed it may be, yet it could not have had the explicit approval of +our Lord, simply because it had not been written and was not completed +for about a hundred years after His death and glorious resurrection. + +Yet we accept the New Testament as also inspired in just the same +authoritative way as we receive the Hebrew writings of the Old Law. +And nothing but a divine testimony, such as that of Christ, could +assure us sufficiently that in the Sacred Scriptures we have the word +of God. + +What criterion have we by which to determine precisely what books and +parts belong to this collection of Old Testament writings of which +Christ speaks as the word of God? What authority have we, moreover, +for believing the entire New Testament inspired, since it was written +after the time of Christ? If Luther and other reformers, so-called, +threw out some portions of the sacred text, by what standard or +criterion were they guided? Some have answered that we need not the +testimony of Christ or any other equally explicit proof to determine +what parts belong to this collection of writings representing the +inspired word of God. They hold, with Calvin, that a certain spiritual +unction inherent in the Sacred Scriptures determines their source, and +produces in the devout reader an interior sensation which gives him an +absolute conviction of the truth. But common experience teaches that +devout feelings may be produced by books which are not inspired, nay, +by positively irreligious books, which appeal to our better sensitive +nature in some passages whilst they destroy a proper regard for virtue +in others. Moreover, the "absolute conviction of the truth" to be +deduced from the reading of the Sacred Scriptures is belied by a +similar experience, since various sects draw opposing conclusions from +the same texts. As truth cannot contradict itself, and as Christ +prayed that His followers all be of one mind, we do not feel safe in +admitting mere subjective feeling and judgment as a test of what is +God's word. + +Therefore we must look for some other criterion. Indeed, if our Lord +wished us to accept the Sacred Scriptures, including the New Testament, +which was written many years after His time, and for a long time was +known only to very much separated portions of the faithful, we may be +quite sure that He provided a means, an authoritative and clear method, +which would lead us to an unerring conclusion in regard to what is and +what is not the inspired word of God. This would be all the more +necessary for those who regard the Bible as the principal rule and +source of their faith. + +It is a well-established historical fact that Christ taught some "new +doctrines," as they were called, and that He gave a commission to His +followers, which they repeated and carried out at the sacrifice of +their lives. There is no obscurity whatever about certain words and +precepts given by our Lord, historically recorded by six of His +Apostles and by many of His disciples who had heard and seen Him, who +honestly and intelligently believed in Him, and who were prepared to +die, and in some cases actually did suffer martyrdom for the assertions +they made. He bade them teach all nations the things He had taught +them. He did not give them a book, as He might have done, nor did He +tell them to write books; for some of the Apostles never wrote +anything; and of those who did write in later days, some had actually +never seen our Lord. Such is the common belief regarding St. Paul, who +wrote more than any other of the evangelical writers. St. Luke, in the +very opening of his Gospel, tells us that he wrote what had been +delivered to him by those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the +word. Our Lord did not, therefore, give His disciples a book, but He +was very explicit in making them understand and feel that He gave them +an unerring Spirit, who would be just the same as Himself, verily +identical with their living Master and Teacher, Christ, who would abide +with them to the end of time. "_Behold, I am with you all days, even +to the consummation of the world._" To the consummation of the world? +And were they never to die? Were they actually to go, as some believed +of St. John, to perpetuate the kingdom of Christ, wandering over the +earth until all the nations were converted? Not so. They were to +deliver His doctrine to their successors, and the Holy Spirit, the +Paraclete, would watch over it until the end of ages. St. Peter would +live, in this sense, forever, and all the opposing forces of error, the +mighty gates of hell, would not overcome that Spirit any more than they +would triumph over Christ, who had "overcome the world." To St. Peter +He said: "To thee I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven;" "Confirm +thou thy brethren." All this was to go on and on, so that every human +creature could come into possession of truth through this unerring +Spirit that presided over the Christian doctrine. And this perpetual +transmission of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who would guide +the future teachers and preside over their councils as at the first +councils of Antioch and Jerusalem,--this perpetual transmission through +a body like the apostolic body, ever living, ever guarded from error, +ever triumphant amid humiliations, what else is it but the Church, that +glorious heritage of ages, which we recognize through all time in every +land, holding every class and condition with the wondrous power of its +unity of doctrine and discipline! + +Now it is this body, this ever-living and unchanging organism, this +grand apostolic tribunal, which Christ established, and without which +His mission to men would really have remained incomplete, that tells us +that the things which some of the Apostles and some of the disciples +wrote for our instruction and edification are inspired by the same holy +and infallible Spirit which guided the Apostles in their oral teaching. +Not all things were written there, as St. John tells us, but many +things which they had taught, and which would keep the people, with +whom the Apostles could not be ever present, in mind of that doctrine. +The written things were not intended to replace the spoken word of +doctrinal jurisdiction, for the evangelical teaching of the spoken word +was to go on to the end; besides, there were many who could not read, +and many who might listen but would not read. Furthermore, there would +be need of a living apostolic tribunal, since a written doctrine, like +a written law, is liable to various and sometimes contradictory +interpretations. We have constitutions and laws, but we need judges +and courts to decide the meaning and application, and if it were not +that men forget the order of justice, or are too remote from the +centres of jurisdiction, we should not need any written laws at all. +Communities may be governed by a wise superior without any written +laws, and in no case does the written law dispense with the necessity +of a discretionary living authority. It is quite evident that in the +matter of truth God wished His Apostles to use _all the instruments_ by +which that truth might be safely and rightly communicated, and thus the +written word was added to the living teaching which the Holy Ghost was +ever to direct and safeguard. + +I repeat: Christ did not give His disciples a book, but a living, +infallible spirit, abiding with them to the end of time, as He said; +and since the Apostles were not to remain on earth to the end of the +world, what else could our Lord have meant but that others would take +their place on the same conditions, with the same prerogatives! That +He wished and said this is written over and over again in the sacred +volume, and by men who, if they had held this grand trust only for +themselves, would have had every reason to say so. But they state the +contrary. St. Peter ordains St. Paul; St. Paul sends Timothy and Titus +to the new converts on the same conditions, bidding them to preserve +intact the grace that is in them "through the imposition of hands." +And the successive generations of Pontiffs who take the place of Peter +and Paul and Timothy and Titus are the grand tribunal for the +transmission of Christ's doctrine. + +That tribunal, from St. Peter down to Leo XIII., is the authority: +"Christ having sent them, even as the Father had sent Him," which tells +us that the books of the Sacred Scriptures, such as we have them, and +as they are singly defined in what is called the Catholic Canon of +Biblical Books, are truly and really the word of God, and were written +under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit. + + + +[1] "The Sacred Scriptures," Humphrey. + + + + +VI. + +THE VICIOUS CIRCLE. + +In the preceding chapter it was said that the Sacred Scripture of the +New Testament contains Christ's statements according to which He +founded an ever-living tribunal of doctrine which decided the question +of what books are, and what books are not inspired, whenever there is +any doubt about such books. Perhaps you will say: "But is this not +arguing in a circle--a vicious circle, as philosophers say? You prove +the existence of the Church as the tribunal to determine what books +belong to the Sacred Scriptures from the words of the Bible; and then +you turn about and prove the inspiration of the Bible from the +authority of the Church." Now mark the difference. When in my first +argument I refer to the Bible as containing Christ's statement and the +commission given to His Apostles, I am taking the testimony of the +Bible, not as an inspired or divine book, but simply as a trustworthy +historical record which tells us the fact, repeated by several +eye-witnesses and sincere men, such as the evangelists and apostolical +writers, that Christ, of whose divinity they were convinced, had said +and emphasized the fact that He meant to found a Church. And as that +Church was to have the divine spirit abiding in it, guiding its +decisions, it came naturally within the province of that Church to +define whether certain books were to be regarded as really inspired by +that Holy Spirit. Thus the Church placed upon these books the mark and +sign-manual of that commission which she had unquestionably received. + +But I am constrained, for the sake of completing our present aspect of +the subject, to say something on the character and extent of that +divine element which Jews and Christians recognize when they accept the +Sacred Scriptures as the word of God. + + + + +VII. + +THE SACRED PEN. + +We have seen that the Biblical writings bear the unmistakable impress +of a divine purpose. The nature of that purpose is likewise clearly +enunciated on every page of Holy Writ. Man in his fallen condition +stands in need of law and example, of precept and promise. These God +gives him. We read in Exodus (Chap. iii.) that He first speaks to +Moses, giving him His commands regarding the liberation and conduct of +His people out of Egypt. Later on, in the desert on Mount Sinai, +"Moses spoke, and God answered him" (Chap. xix. 19); and "Moses went +down to the people and told them all" (Ibid. 25). Next we read (Chap. +xxiv. 12) that the Lord said to Moses: "I will give thee tables of +stone, and the law, and the commandments which _I have written, that +thou mayest teach them_." + +Here God announces Himself as the writer of "the Law and the +Commandments," although we receive them in the handwriting of Moses. +Is Moses a mere amanuensis, writing under dictation? No. He is the +intelligent, free instrument, writing under the direct inspiration of +God. In this sense God is the true author or writer of the Sacred +Scriptures, making His action plain to the sense and understanding of +His children through the medium of a man whom He inspires to execute +His work. + +How does this inspiration act on the writer who ostensibly executes the +divine work? We answer: _God moves the will of the writer, and +illumines his intellect, pointing out to him at the same time the +subject-matter which he is to write down, and preserving him from error +in the completion of his committed task_. + +Looking attentively at this definition of Scriptural inspiration, a +number of questions arise at once in our minds. God moves the will, +enlightens the mind, and points out the subject-matter which the +inspired writer commits to paper. Is the writer under the influence of +the divine impulsion so possessed by the inspired virtue that he acts +without any freedom, either as regards the manner of his expression or +the use of previously acquired knowledge concerning the subject of +which he writes? + +I answer: No. God moves the will of the writer; He does not annihilate +it or absorb it, unless in the sense that He brings it, by a certain +illumination of the intellect, to a conformity with His own. Hence the +manner and method of expression retain the traces of the individuality +of the writer, that is to say, of his views and feelings as determined +by the ordinary habits of life and the range of his previous knowledge. +The idea of the divine authorship of the Sacred Scriptures by no means +requires that the truths which God willed to be contained therein could +not or should not have been otherwise known to the inspired writers: +"Their use of study, their investigation of documents, their +interrogation of witnesses and other evidence, and their excuses for +rusticity of style and poverty of language show this only, that they +were not inanimate, but living, intelligent, and rational +instruments--that they were men, and not machines.... They were +employed in a manner which corresponded to, and which became the +nature, the mode, and the conditions of their being. Previous +knowledge of certain truths by men can be no reason why God should not +conceive and will such truths to be communicated by means of Scripture +to His Church.... Hence the idea of inspiration does not exclude human +industry, study, the use of documents and witnesses, and other aids in +order to the conceiving of such truths, so long as it includes a +supernatural operation and direction of God, which effects that the +mind of the inspired writer should _conceive_ all those truths, and +those only which God would have him communicate."[1] And herein lies +the difference between inspiration and revelation, the latter being the +manifestation of something previously unknown to the writer. + +The second question, which naturally occurs in connection with the one +just answered, is whether we are to consider that the words, just as we +read them in the Bible, are inspired in such wise that we may not +conceive of the sacred text having any other meaning than that to which +its _verbal expression_ limits it. + +There are many reasons why we need not feel bound to accept the theory +of literal or _verbal inspiration_ of the Bible, although such opinion +has been defended by eminent theologians, who wished thereby to defend +the integrity of the sacred volume against the wanton interference with +the received text on the part of innovators and so-called religious +reformers. + +In the first place, the theory of verbal inspiration is not essential +to the maintenance of the absolute integrity of a written revelation. +That revelation proposes truths and facts, and whilst the terms +employed for the expression of these truths and facts must fit +adequately to convey the sense, they admit of a certain variety without +thereby in the least injuring the accuracy of statements. This is +applicable not only to single words, but to phrases and forms of +diction, and to figures of illustration. + +Secondly, the sacred writers themselves abundantly indicate the freedom +which may be exercised or allowed in the verbal declaration of divinely +inspired truths. Many of them repeat the same facts and doctrines in +different words. This is the case even with regard to events of the +gravest character, such as the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, in +which there can be no room for a difference of interpretation as to the +true sense. + +St. Matthew (xxvi. 26-28), for example, records the act of consecration +by Our Lord on the eve of His passion in the following words: "Take ye +and eat: This is My Body.... Drink ye all of this, for this is My +Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many for the +remission of sins." + +St. Mark (xiv. 22-24) writes: "Take ye. This is My Body.... This is +My Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many." + +St. Luke (xxii. 19-20) says: "This is My Body, which is given for +you.... This is the chalice, the new Testament in My Blood, which +shall be shed for you." + +St. Paul (I. Cor. xi. 24-25) has it: "This is My Body, which shall be +delivered for you.... This chalice is the new Testament in My Blood." + +These four witnesses cite very important words spoken by our Lord on a +most solemn occasion. St. Matthew was present at the Last Supper. He +wrote in the very language employed by our Lord, and we have every +reason to believe that he could remember and wished to remember exactly +what our Lord had said on so important a subject, especially when he, +with the other Apostles, was told to do the same act in remembrance of +their Master when He should be no longer with them in visible human +form. St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul nevertheless vary the +expression of this tremendous mystery in all but the words: "This is My +Body." They drew their knowledge of the form of the institution of the +Blessed Sacrament from St. Peter; at least we know that St. Peter +revised and approved of St. Mark's Gospel,[2] and St. Paul and St. Luke +evidently obtained their knowledge of the Christian faith from a common +source, which the chief of the Apostles controlled. They had every +opportunity to consult St. Mark, and there might have been reason for +doing so since they wrote in Greek, whereas St. Matthew retained the +Hebrew idiom, but evidently neither they nor St. Peter deemed a literal +or verbal rendering of the sacramental form essential, provided the +true version of our Lord's action was faithfully given. + +Furthermore, the claim of verbal inspiration implies a necessity of +having recourse to the original language in which the inspired writers +composed their works, since it is quite impossible that translations +can in every case adequately render the exact meaning conveyed by an +idiom no longer living. But the necessity of referring to the Hebrew, +Chaldee, or Greek text in order to verify the true sense of an +expression would place the Bible beyond the reach of all but a few +scholars, for whose exclusive benefit the generally popular style of +the Bible forbids us to think they were primarily intended. + +Finally, we have the indication by writers of both the Old and New +Testaments that what they wrote was not conveyed to them by way of +dictation, but that the divine thought conceived in their own minds was +rendered by them with such imperfections of expression as belonged +wholly to the human element of the instrument which God employed, and +could in nowise be attributed to the Holy Ghost, who permitted His +revelation to be communicated through channels of various kinds and +degrees of material form. Thus the writer of the sacred Book of +Machabees (II. Mach. ii. 24, etc.) apologizes for his style of writing. +St. Paul (I. Cor. ii. 13; II. Cor. xi. 6) gives us to understand that +his words fall short of the requirements of the rhetorician, but that +he is satisfied to convey "the doctrine of the Spirit." + + + +[1] Vid. "The Sacred Scriptures; or, The Written Word of God." By +William Humphrey, S. J.--London, Art and Book Co., 1894. + +[2] Clement Alex.--Euseb., H.E., II. xv. 1; VI. xiv. 6; XX. clxxii. +552. Also Hieron., De Vir. Ill., VIII. xxiii. 621, etc. + + + + +VIII. + +THE MELODY AND HARMONY OF THE "VOX COELESTIS." + +But, you will say, whilst it is plain that we need not adhere to the +text of Holy Writ so strictly as to suppose that each single word is +the only exact representation of the thought or truth with which God +inspired the writer, it seems difficult to see where you can draw the +line between the teaching of God and its interpretation by man who is +not bound by definite words. In other words, if verbal inspiration is +not to be admitted, how far does inspiration actually extend in the +formation of the written text? + +I should answer that inspiration extends to the _truths_ and _facts_ +contained in the Bible, _absolutely_; that it extends to the terms in +which these truths and facts are expressed, _relatively_. The former +cannot vary; the latter may vary according to the disposition or the +circumstances of the writer. It may be allowable to express this +distinction by a comparison of Biblical with musical inspiration. +Taking music, not as a mechanical art, but as an expression of the +soul, or, as Milton puts it, of + + "Strains that might create a soul," + +we distinguish between the conception of the melody and its +accompaniment of harmonious chords. The former constitutes, so to +speak, the theme, the truth, or motive of the artistic conception, +which the composer seizes under his inspiration. When he goes to +communicate the expression of this musical truth or melody through the +instrument he at once and instinctively avails himself of the chords +which, by way of accompaniment, emphasize the musical truth which his +soul utters through the instrument, according to the peculiar nature or +form of the latter. These chords of the accompaniment are not the +leading motive or truth of his theme, but they are equally true with +it. They may vary, even whilst he uses the same instrument, but the +melody must ever observe the exact distances between the sounds in its +finished form, and cannot be altered without changing the motive of the +piece. + +The inspiration of the Sacred Text offers an analogy to that of the +artist musician. The divine melody of truths and facts is definitely +communicated to the inspired composer of the Sacred Books. Sometimes +he sings loud and with strong emphasis, sometimes he barely breathes +his heavenly tones, yet they are no uncertain notes; they allow of no +alteration, addition, or omission. But in the accompanying chords he +takes now one set, now another, remaining in the same clef, ever true +to the melody, yet manifold in the variety of expressing that truth. +Even the seeming discords, which, taken by themselves, look like +errors, prove to be part of the great theme; when rightly understood +they are but transition chords which prepare us for the complete +realization of the succeeding harmony into which they resolve +themselves. + + + + +IX. + +THE VOICE FROM THE ROCK. + +Does the Church indorse the definition of Scriptural inspiration which +has been given in the two preceding chapters? The Church has said very +little on the subject of the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures, but +enough to serve us as a definition and as an expression of its +limitations. The Councils of Florence and Trent simply state that "the +Sacred Scriptures, having been written under the inspiration of the +Holy Ghost, have God for their author." How much may be deduced from +this was made clear by the late Vatican Council (Constit., _de Fide_, +cap. ii.), which holds that "the Church regards these books (enumerated +in the Tridentine Canon), as sacred and canonical, not because, having +been composed through the care and industry of men, they were +afterwards approved by the authority of the Church, nor simply because +they contain revealed truth without error, but because they were +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in such a way as to +have God for their author...."[1] + +By this definition two distinct theories of inspiration are censured as +contrary to Catholic teaching. The first is that which has been called +_subsequent_ inspiration, according to which a book might be written +wholly through human industry, but receiving afterwards the testimony +of express divine approval, might become the written word of God. This +teaching is not admissible inasmuch as it excludes the divine +authorship of the Scriptures. + +A second theory condemned by the above clause of the Vatican Council as +untenable on Catholic principles is that which is called _negative_ +inspiration. Its defenders hold that the extent of the divine action +in the composition of the Sacred Scriptures is limited to the exclusion +of errors from the sacred volume. This would restrict the value of the +truth revealed in the Bible to a mere exposition of human knowledge +containing no actual misstatements of fact. + + + +[1] See on this subject P. Brucker's recently published work +"_Questions Actuelles d'Ecriture Sainte_," _par le R. P. Jos. Brucker, +S. J.: Paris, Victor Retaux_, which treats admirably this part of our +subject. + + + + +X. + +A SOURCE OF GENERAL INFORMATION AND CULTURE. + +Among the many interesting letters which St. Jerome has left us there +is one to Laeta, a noble lady of Rome, regarding the education of her +little daughter, Paula. An aunt of the child was at the time in +Bethlehem, where, amid the very scenes where our Lord was born, she +studied the Holy Scriptures in the Hebrew and Greek tongues, as was +then the habit of educated Christian ladies. St. Jerome would have the +child Paula trained in all the arts and sciences that could refine her +mind and lead it to its highest exercise in that singularly gifted +nature. To this end he bids Laeta cultivate in the child an early +knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. With a touching simplicity the +aged Saint enters into minute details of the daily training,--how the +childish hands are to form the ivory letters, which serve her as +playthings, into the names of the prophets and saints of the Old +Testament; how later she is to commit to memory, each day, choice +sayings, flowers of wisdom culled from the sacred writers, and how, +finally, he [Transcriber's note: she?] is to come to the Holy Land and +learn from her aunt the lofty erudition and understanding of the Bible, +a book which contains and unfolds to him who knows how to read it +rightly all the wisdom of ages, practical and in principle, surpassing +the classic beauty of those renowned Roman writers of whose works St. +Jerome himself had been once so passionately fond that they haunted him +in his dreams. + +It must not be supposed, however, that the judgment of so erudite a man +as St. Jerome in placing the study of the Sacred Scriptures above all +other branches of a higher education was based upon a purely +_spiritual_ view. He realized what escapes the superficial reader of +the inspired writings: that they are _not only_ a library of religious +thought, but, in every truest sense of the word, a compendium of +general knowledge. The sacred volumes are a code and digest of law, of +political, social, and domestic economy; a book of history the most +comprehensive and best authenticated of all written records back to the +remotest ages; a summary of practical lessons and maxims for every +sphere of life; a treasury of beautiful thoughts and reflections, which +instruct at once and elevate, and thus serve as a most effective means +of education. That this is no exaggeration is attested by men like the +pagans of old, who, becoming acquainted with the sacred books, valued +them, though they saw in them nothing of that special divine revelation +which the Jew and Christian recognize. We read in history how, nearly +three hundred years before our Lord, Ptolemy Philadelphia, the most +cultured of all the Egyptian kings, and founder of the famous +Alexandrian University, which for centuries outshone every other +institution of learning by the renown of its teachers, sent a +magnificent embassy to the High-priest Eleazar at Jerusalem to ask him +for a copy of the Sacred Law of the Jews. So greatly did he esteem its +possession that he offered for the right of translating the Pentateuch +alone six hundred talents of gold ($576,000), and liberty to all the +Jewish captives in his dominion, to the number of about 150,000 (some +historians give the number at 100,000, others at 200,000). + +There exists a spurious account, ascribed to Aristeas, one of Ptolemy's +ministers, who is said to have accompanied the royal embassy to +Jerusalem for the purpose of urging the king's request. According to +this story, which is in form of a letter written by Aristeas to his +brother Philocrates, six rabbis, equally well versed in the Hebrew and +Greek languages, were selected by the high-priest from each of the +twelve tribes. The seventy-two rabbis were invited to the palace of +the king, who, whilst entertaining them for some time, publicly asked +them questions relating to civil government and moral philosophy, so +that by this means he might test their knowledge and judgment. Many of +these questions, curious and quaint, have been preserved, and are +intended to show the wisdom of Ptolemy and his desire to raise his +government to a high level of moral and political perfection. Among +the guests who were present at the king's table we find Demetrius +Phalereus, the famous librarian, Euclid, the mathematician, Theocritus, +the Greek poet philosopher, and Manetho, the Egyptian historian, +together with other equally learned and illustrious scholars and +literary artists. + +Later on the seventy-two translators, according to the same tradition, +which has come to us through some of the old ecclesiastical writers, +were brought to the island of Pharos, where they went to work in +separate cells, undisturbed and living according to a uniform rule, +until the entire work of translation had been accomplished. Then the +results were compared, and it was found that the translations of all +agreed in a wonderful manner, and the Jews accepted it as a work done +under the special protection of Jehovah. + +Whatever we may hold as to the accuracy of the above account and its +pretended origin, it is certain that the story was current before the +time of Christ, it being credited by Philo, who repeats it in his Life +of Moses, and by Josephus, as well as by St. Justin Martyr and others +of the early Christian Fathers. All agree that the Septuagint +translation was made about the time of Ptolemy, and that the Jews of +Alexandria and Palestine held it in equal veneration as a faithful copy +of the Mosaic books, whilst the pagans regarded it in the light of a +wonderfully complete code of laws--civil, domestic, and moral. + +Reference has already been made to the Sacred Scriptures as +constituting the oldest and best-authenticated record of ancient +history. From it we draw the main store of our information regarding +the beginnings of human society in the Eastern countries of +Mesopotamia, early Chaldea, Assyria, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt, all of +which are grouped around the common centre, Palestine, where the +principal scenes of the Old and New Testament narrative are laid. + +But it is not only in the departments of history and geography that the +Bible represents the most extensive and reliable source of information +hitherto open to the student of mental culture. The sacred books, +although never intended to serve a purely scientific purpose, have +within recent years become recognized indicators which throw light upon +doubtful paths in the investigation of certain scientific facts. Sir +William Dawson, one of the leading investigators of our day, has lately +published his Lowell lectures, in which he shows how science at last +confirms and illustrates the teaching of Holy Writ regarding geology +and the creation of man.[1] Similar conclusions are being daily +reached in different fields of scientific research, and the words of +Jean Paul regarding the first page of the Mosaic record, as containing +more real knowledge than all the folios of men of science and +philosophy, are proving themselves true in other respects also. We may +be allowed to cite here from Geikie's "Hours With the Bible" the +testimony of the late Dr. McCaul, who gives us a legitimate view of the +latest results of science as compared with the Mosaic record of the +Bible. + +"Moses," he says, "relates how God created the heavens and the earth at +an indefinitely remote period, before the earth was the habitation of +man: Geology has lately discovered the existence of a long prehuman +period. A comparison with other Scriptures (_i.e._, those written +after the Pentateuch, or Mosaic account) shows that the "heavens" of +Moses include the abode of angels and the place of the fixed stars, +which existed before the earth: Astronomy points out remote worlds, +whose light began its journey long before the existence of man. Moses +declares that the earth was or became covered with water, and was +desolate and empty: Geology has found by investigation that the +primitive globe was covered with a uniform ocean, and that there was a +long azoic period, during which neither plant nor animal could live. +Moses states that there was a time when the earth was not dependent on +the sun for light or heat; when, therefore, there could be no climatic +differences: Geology has lately verifed this statement by finding +tropical plants and animals scattered over all places of the earth. +Moses affirms that the sun, as well as the moon, is only a light +holder: Astronomy declares that the sun is a non-luminous body, +dependent for its light on a luminous atmosphere. Moses asserts that +the earth existed before the sun was given as a luminary: Modern +science proposes a theory which explains how this was possible. Moses +asserts that there is an expanse extending from earth to distant +heights, in which the heavenly bodies are placed: Recent discoveries +lead to the supposition of some subtile fluid medium in which they +move. Moses describes the process of creation as gradual, and mentions +the order in which living things appeared: plants, fishes, fowls, land +animals, man: By the study of nature, geology has arrived independently +at the same conclusion. Whence did Moses get all this knowledge? How +was it that he worded his rapid sketch with such scientific accuracy? +If he in his day possessed the knowledge which genius and science have +attained only recently, that knowledge is superhuman. If he did not +possess the knowledge, then his pen must have been guided by superhuman +wisdom" (Aids to Faith, p. 232). + +Some years ago much ado was made by certain sceptics about the +chronology of the Bible, as if the discrepancies of a few figures could +undo the manifest authenticity of the vast store of facts vouched in +the grand collection of Biblical books. These discrepancies are being +gradually explained. It may be that we err in properly understanding +the Oriental habits of counting genealogies, or that the method of the +first transcribers led to inaccuracy, despite the care used in the +copying and preservation of the text. When we remember that Hebrew +signs, very closely resembling each other, denote often great +differences, clear enough, no doubt, at first, but becoming indistinct +in the course of time, we cannot wonder that some words and expressions +present to the ordinary reader a mystery, or even seeming +contradiction. It is not necessary to understand the ancient tongue in +order to realize this fact. In the first place, the similarity of +Hebrew characters which represent great numerical differences must have +easily led to errors by the copyists, which caused difficulty to the +later transcribers unless they had a reliable tradition to correct the +mistake. Thus the letter [Hebrew: Beth] (_Beth_) represents _two_, +whilst [Hebrew: Kaph] (_Kaph_) represents _twenty_. By placing two +small dots above either of these two characters you multiply them by a +thousand, [Hebrew: Beth with two dots] representing _two thousand_ and +[Hebrew: Kaph with two dots] _twenty thousand_. The letter [Hebrew: +Vav] (_Vav_) is equivalent to _six_, another letter very like it in +form, [Hebrew: Zayin] (_Zayin_), is _seven_, whilst both of these +characters represent a variety of meanings: oftenest [Hebrew: Vav] +(_Vav_) is a copula, at other times it stands at the beginning of a +discourse, or introduces the apodosis, or is simply an intensive, or +adversative; sometimes it is prefixed to a future tense, and turns it +into an imperfect, etc. Again, there are special reasons why certain +combinations of letters stand for numerals, contrary to the ordinary +rule. Thus _fifteen_ is expressed by [Hebrew: vav, tet]=9+6, instead +of [Hebrew: tav, vav, he, yod], because the name of God commences with +the latter characters [Hebrew: ] (Jehovah), etc. + +Furthermore, many of the signs used as numerals had fixed symbolical +significations, and were not meant to be taken as literal quantities. + +Moreover, in all the old Hebrew writings the consonants only are +expressed. Thus it happens that the same written characters may denote +different things, sometimes contradictory, unless living tradition +could supply the true signification. Thus the word [Hebrew: resh, kaf] +means _son_ (Ps. ii. 12), or it may be an adjective signifying _chosen_ +(Cant. vi. 9), or, again, _clear_ (Cant. vi. 10), or _empty_ (Prov. +xiv. 4). Besides these primary meanings it stands for _corn_ or +_grain_, for _open fields_ or _country_, for a _pit_, for _salt of lye_ +(vegetable salt), and for _pureness_. The true signification in each +passage is not always clear from the context, and critics are +frequently at a loss to divine the sense intended by the writer. + +But whilst these discrepancies and obscurities are a momentary source +of distraction, they arouse not only zeal for the study of the sacred +languages, by which means philological mysteries are frequently cleared +up, but they give us often an insight into the wonderful genius of the +Semitic languages, with their peculiar imagery, which associates ideas +and feelings apparently wholly distinct from each other according to +the use of modern terms. + +The last-made reflection suggests another advantage, in an educational +point of view, which the study of the Sacred Scriptures opens to those +who possess sufficient talent and opportunity for its pursuit. I mean +the power of thought and reflection which comes with the study of a +foreign language. There are portions of the Old Testament which we +cannot rightly read and understand without _some_ knowledge of the +tongue in which they were originally written. This is one of the +several reasons which the Church has for not sanctioning, without +certain cautions, the indiscriminate reading of the Sacred Scriptures +in the form of translation. Let me give you a very good authority for +this. + +About the very time when Ptolemy Philadelphus, of whom I have spoken in +the beginning, sent to Jerusalem in order to procure the Greek +translation of the Thorah, or Hebrew law (Pentateuch), a holy Jewish +scribe was inspired to write one of the later Scriptural books. It +appears that He was among the seventy learned scribes who had been sent +by the High-priest to Alexandria for the purpose of making the +translation for the king, and that afterwards, whilst still there, he +composed the sacred book known as _Ecclesiasticus_. This book he wrote +in the Hebrew tongue. Many years after, a grandson of this inspired +writer, who is called Jesus son of Sirach, came upon the book and +resolved to translate it into Greek, in order that it might be read by +many of his brethren in the foreign land, who no longer spoke the +Hebrew language, though they believed in the law of their forefathers. +To this translation he wrote a short preface which, though it does not +belong to the inspired portions of the text, has been preserved and is +found in our Bibles. Let me read it to you, because it demonstrates +the truth of what I have just said, namely, that our understanding of +the Bible is rendered difficult when we are obliged to depart from the +original language in which it was written. The younger Jesus Sirach, +who spoke both the Hebrew and Greek tongues equally well, at a time +when they were still living languages, writes as follows about the +translation of his grandfather's work: + + +"The knowledge of many and great things hath been shown us by the Law +and the Prophets, and others that have followed them, for which things +Israel is to be commended for doctrine and wisdom; because not only +they that speak must needs be skilful, but strangers also, both +speaking and writing, may by their means become most learned. + +My grandfather Jesus, after he had much given himself to a diligent +reading of the Law and the Prophets, and other books that were +delivered to us from our fathers, had a mind also to write something +himself pertaining to doctrine and wisdom; that such as are desirous to +learn and are made knowing in these things may be more and more +attentive in mind, and be strengthened to live according to the Law. I +entreat you, therefore, to come with benevolence, and to read with +attention, and to pardon us for those things wherein we may seem, +_while we follow the image of wisdom, to come short in the composition +of words: for the Hebrew words have not the same force in them when +translated into another tongue. And not only these, but the Law also +itself, and the Prophets and the rest of the books, have no small +difference when they are spoken in their own language_. For in the +eighth and thirtieth year coming into Egypt, when Ptolemy Euergetes was +king, and continuing there a long time, I found these books left, of no +small and contemptible learning. Therefore I thought it good and +necessary for me to bestow some diligence and labor to interpret this +book; and with much watching and study, in some space of time, I +brought the book to an end, and set it forth for the service of them +that are willing to apply their mind, and to learn how they ought to +conduct themselves, who purpose to lead their life according to the Law +of the Lord" (Prologue to Ecclesiasticus). + + + +[1] "Meeting-place of Geology and History," 1894. Fleming H. Revell +Co., New York. + + + + +XI. + +THE CREATION OF NEW LETTERS. + +It is a fact not generally known or realized that if it were not for +the Bible some of the richest and most beautiful languages of antiquity +would now be entirely lost to us; nay, more, there are whole nations +who would in all probability never have had a written language or +literature except for the Bible. + +Of the ancient Semitic tongues only two remain living languages, that +is, the Arabian, and, in a modified form, the Syrian. The Chaldee, the +Samaritan, the Assyrian, the Phoenician, the Ethiopia are dead and +would hardly be known to us except for the remnants of them which we +trace through the sacred books of the Scripture. We have no relic of +the Hebrew tongue but the Bible; and this language, with all its +wondrous musical forms, its strange capacity of eliciting and +expressing the deepest feelings of the human heart, and its charming +touches of Oriental genius, would be entirely dead outs, if we had not +the Bible. + +Our own English tongue bears the traces of another written language, +now entirely dead, but which was actually created by the study of the +Bible. I mean the Gothic, of which no other written document exists +to-day except some portion of the Holy Scriptures translated by Ulfilas +in the fourth century. When he came as a missionary among the Goths he +found them ignorant of the art of writing. In order to Christianize +the rude people he invented for them an alphabet, gathered their +children into Christian schools, and taught them to write and to read. +The first book, and the last, too, of that once powerful race was a +Bible. When the Goths had died out in the ninth century, their written +copy of the inspired word of God still continued to live, and we can +trace in our unabridged dictionaries to-day the original meaning of +many a Saxon word by reference to this solitary copy of a part of the +Sacred Scriptures. + +What has been said of the Gothic is equally true of the written +language of the Armenians (for whom the anchorite Miesrop devised an +alphabet and translated the Bible); also of the Slavonic nations (for +whom SS. Cyril and Methodius made an alphabet and Bible translation); +and others--races who, like our own Indian tribes, lived only long +enough as representatives of a separate language to learn the rudiments +of Christianity. + +All this must convince us that those who have the required means should +seek to master one or several of the Biblical languages, since the +ancient tongues, less subject to the caprice of political changes than +those of later ages, open to the mind avenues of original thought and +sentiment which modern literature and education have not been capable +of retaining without them. + +You will say that it is impossible for most, or perchance nearly all of +you to give yourselves to the study of Hebrew or Greek or Latin in +order to gain that profit from the intelligent reading of the Bible +which it yields to the man of learning. Very well; if so, the fact of +our deficiency must caution us in reading and rashly interpreting +according to our fancy what can only be determined by the wisdom of +those who act the legitimate part of divinely-appointed judges. As in +the Old Law the High-priest and the great council of the Sanhedrin were +the infallible interpreters of the divine decrees, so the Church, which +is the continuation and perfection of the Synagogue, completes the +Messianic mission by interpreting for each succeeding generation the +meaning of the inspired words written in the sacred volume. + + + + +XII. + +ENGLISH STYLE. + +But there still remains for all of us the reading of the English Bible, +with the aids of interpretation which render it intelligible for a +practical purpose, and in so far as it is an expression of the natural +moral law. This of itself contributes very largely to the perfection +of our use of the mother tongue. For it is always true of this sacred +book, as Dryden says, that in + + "... Style, majestic and divine, + It speaks no less than God in every line; + Commanding words! whose force is still the same + As the first _fiat_ that produced our frame." + (Dryden, _Relig. Laic._, i. 152.) + +Yes, its frequent reading helps much to the formation of good English. +This is not simply fancy, but the verdict of those who have experienced +and proved the benefit of frequent use of the Bible as a means of +fashioning and improving a beautiful style of English writing. Some +years ago Mr. Bainton, a lover of English literature, requested the +best of living writers to give their opinion as to what class of +reading had most contributed to their attaining the elegance or force +of beauty for which their writings were generally admired. To the +surprise of many it appeared in the answers that the reading of the +Bible was considered the secret of a charming style, even by authors +who wrote in that lighter, sparkling vein which seems so remote from +the gravity and solidity of the sacred books. To give one example of +this let me quote the words of Mr. W. S. Gilbert, the author of the +delightful "Bab Ballads," and a long series of light operas and +sparkling plays. After referring to the advantage of studying the +English of the late Tudor and early Stuart periods, he adds: "But for +simplicity, directness, and perspicuity, there is, in my opinion, no +existing work to be compared with the historical books of the Bible." + +Mr. Marion Crawford, much read of late, and criticized for fostering a +faulty ideal, but whose vigorous expression, power of analysis, and +correct delineation of character will hardly be denied by any one +capable of judging, gives his ideas of attaining to good English style +in the following words: "The greatest literary production in our +language is the translation of the Bible, and the more a man reads it +the better he will write English." He adds: "I am not a particularly +devout person, though I am a good Roman Catholic, and I do not +recommend the Bible from any religious reason. I distinctly dislike +the practice of learning texts without any regard to the context.... +But if we were English Brahmans, and believed nothing contained +therein, I should still maintain that the Bible should be the _first +study_ of a literary man. Then the great poets, Shakespeare, Milton," +etc. I have quoted Mr. Crawford because he is not merely a good +English writer, but a real scholar, familiar with many languages, +classic and modern, and therefore all the better qualified to judge of +our subject. + +There are, of course, instances in the Bible when the grammatical rules +of Brown and Murray forbid satisfactory parsing. The reason of this is +the natural wish of the translators, anxious to preserve the literal +form of the original, not to sacrifice accuracy to the nicety with +which they might round their phrases. They were intent alone upon +truth; and it is precisely in this element that eloquence finds its +first and most powerful incentive. Beauty of language has two sources +of inspiration. One is that of truth, which arouses in the heart a +love lifting the mind with a burning enthusiasm into the regions of all +that is fair and chaste and grand; and the language of him who has +mastered it assumes the sound and form of these lofty emotions. There +is indeed another source of inspiration. It is that from which +emanates the brilliant but ephemeral beauty of the literature of the +day. It is not love of unchanging truth, but the captivating passion +of the hour, which, as someone has said, acts upon the brain "like the +foaming grape of Eastern France--pleasant to the sense of taste, yet +sending its subtle fumes to the brain, and stealing away the judgment." +Truth in literature possesses a power of eloquence of which fiction is +but a shadow at best, varying in size, and dwarfed or magnified in +proportion as it approaches and recedes from the object which occasions +it. + + + + +XIII. + +FRIENDS OF GOD. + +And with this study of truth there is added to knowledge and power and +beauty of expression another vital element, which gives these +acquisitions an infinite value: I mean the gift of wisdom as distinct +from knowledge. Read the Sapiential book of Solomon, and mark what he +there says. He had learnt all things that human industry could +suggest, but the science of things earthly was as nothing to the wisdom +which, as he says, "went before me; and I knew not that it was the +mother of all." And when he had learnt wisdom in listening to the +breathing of that sacred voice whose words he recorded for our +instruction, he describes it as a sacred fire of genius, "holy, one, +manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving that +which is good, quick, which nothing can oppose, beneficent, gentle, +kind, steadfast, assured--a breath of the power of God--making friends +of God, and prophets, for God loveth none but him that dwelleth with +wisdom--more beautiful than the sun" (Sap. vii. 22-29). + +Surely, it makes us friends of God and prophets. But not only this. +It keeps high ideals before us, and we become like to the things we +love. Look on Abraham, whom the Arab calls even to this day by no +other name but _El Khalil Allah_--that is, "the friend of God"--chosen +the father of a holy race whence eventually was to spring the Messias; +look on Moses, the meekest of men, as he is called in Holy Writ, or on +David, the man "according to God's own heart;" look on the later +prophets, whose words set the nations aflame, and made kings tremble +who had never felt fear of men or God. We see Jeremiah, the youth at +Anathoth, "gentle, sensitive, yielding, yearning for peace and love, +averse by nature from strife and controversy," stepping forth at the +urging of motives such as speak to each of us from these pages of the +Bible. Boldly he announces the judgments of God to his faithless +people. "During that long ministry" of forty years, says Geikie, "no +personal interest, comfort, or ease, no shrinking from ridicule, +contumely, or hatred, could turn him from the task imposed upon him, +with awful sanctions, by the lips of the Eternal God."[1] + +Or take the noble women with whose lofty virtue the inspired writers +fill the sacred volumes, and whose names some of the books bear. + +There is the sacred Book of _Ruth_, she who is called "friend" or +"lover" in the Hebrew tongue, fair image of filial affection as she +walks beside the aged Noemi along the weary roads north from Moab, to +conduct her mother to her native land. There, at noon and eve, we see +her scan the fresh-mown fields for the gleanings which the law of Moses +allowed the poor, in order that she might honorably keep the humble +home of her widowed parent. Another sacred book we have which bears +the name of _Judith_, the woman who, strengthened in the loyal love of +her father's nation, by valiant deed set herself to defend the children +of Israel from ignominious captivity. In the Book of _Esther_ we have +the history of her whose name signifies "myrtle," symbol among the Jews +of joyous gratitude. Full of that modest wisdom of which +Ecclesiasticus tells us that it "walketh with chosen women" (i. 17), +her influence is typical of that which the Virgin Queen, fair Mother of +the Christ, in later day did exercise upon the children of Eve. Ah, +truly, "the word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom, and her ways +are everlasting commandments" (Ecclesiastic.). + +But it would be a lengthy task to point out all the details of manifold +utility in the intellectual and practical, as well as the moral order, +which come from the study of the Sacred Scripture. We have seen in a +limited measure what it does for history, for language, for the science +of government, for the development of general knowledge, and the +cultivation of a graceful and vigorous style in writing. These books +hold the key to true wisdom. "All Scripture," writes St. Paul to the +young bishop Timothy, whom he himself had taught from the day he took +him to himself as a boy at Lystra, "all Scripture, inspired by God, is +profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct." + +Yet there are those, the same Apostle says, "who, always learning, +never attain to the knowledge of truth" (II. Tim. iii. 7). Why? +Because they do not study rightly. + + + +[1] Geikie, "Hours With the Bible," v. 134. + + + + +XIV. + +PROSPECTING. + +"Man is the perfection of creation, the mind is the perfection of man, +the heart is the perfection of the mind," says St. Francis de Sales. + +Our aim is to become perfect in mind and heart, in character and +disposition. Books are the readiest means of study to this end. They +are at our command at all times. When we have discovered a beautiful +thought, a strong chain of reasoning, which, whilst convincing, +attracts and leads us into the domain of truth, however partial, we +ponder it and make it our own, and we feel stronger in the permanent +possession of it. We desire truth, and we look for it in books, +mostly. Yet we may be anxious for knowledge, and worry or dream out +our days in a course of reading without gaining any real advantage from +it. Perhaps we fail in the proper choice of books, or else we do not +observe the right method in reading and study. + +Yet it is impossible for most men to go in search of and test +everything that is labelled "_truth_." Is there no remedy provided +against the danger of oft going wrong in order to find the right? Yes. +God has given us a compendium of everything that fosters true knowledge +and wisdom in a book consigned to the direction of an old, experienced, +and wise teacher. That book is the Bible, and the teacher is the +Church of Christ. In the book we find a store of great truths, of all +that is beautiful and ennobling, an infallible manual in the school of +human perfection, which leads us so high that, having mastered its +contents, we touch the very gates of heaven, where we may commune with +the Creator of wisdom and of all that our souls are capable of knowing. + +There are many who are thoroughly convinced of this. They believe that +the Bible is the most perfect book on earth, that it is the book of +books, as it has been called from time immemorial; for the word _Bible_ +means simply a book, _the_ book of all others by excellence, as if +there were none so worthy of study, and none which could not be +dispensed with rather than this. And so it is. It contains all +knowledge worthy of the highest aspirations and of the exercise of the +best talents. + +Yet, as a traveller in search of fortune may pass over seemingly barren +tracts of desert land or mountain ridge, which treasure beneath the +surface richest mines of gold, and caverns of splendid crystal and +rarest marble, so the reader of the sacred books, in search of +knowledge, may wearily tread along the paths of Bible truths, his eye +bewildered by endless repetitions of precepts and monotonous scenes and +seemingly uninteresting facts, unconscious of what wealth and beauty +lie beneath him. And the reason of this listless and tiring sense in +scanning over the pages of this book, which has from the first +captivated the admiration of the noblest minds of every race and age, +is the lack of sufficient preparation. The traveller looks for mines +of gold and diamonds, but he has never learnt the art of prospecting. +He stumbles over the heavy, dark ore, and the clods of metallic sand, +and his feet toil along the path lined with pebbles that, if polished, +would rival the stars of heaven, but they are a hindrance to him, for +he does not know _that_ or _how_ he should examine and utilize their +precious contents. He requires the previous training of the +prospector, the sharp eve of the skilled mining master, and the +unwearied courage to go down to examine the often crude-looking stones. +Without these qualities he not only fails in his attainment of wealth, +but becomes discouraged and even sceptic of its existence. + +In other words, there are certain essential conditions required upon +which depends the acquisition of that excellent knowledge which the +Scriptures contain for every sphere of life. They are conditions which +affect us in our entirety as men--I should say as the images of God, in +whose likeness we were created. Sin has tarnished this image, and we +are to restore it to its original beauty by correcting it. Our model +is God Himself. The Bible is the text-book containing the image of +this Model, drawn by Himself, and He has provided the preceptor to +explain the various meanings of lines, lights, and shadows, and the use +of the instruments which must be employed in completing the process. +It is a little tedious, as all art training is in its beginning. +Sometimes we copy with tracing-paper, and of late the kodak has done +much to help us by the aid of photography. + + + + +XV. + +USING THE KODAK. + +You know that through the art of photography a perfect picture of an +object may be produced by the action of light upon a smooth and +sensitive surface. The light reflected from the object which is to be +photographed enters through a lens into the dark chamber of the camera, +and makes an impression upon the plate which is rendered sensitive by a +film of chloride (or nitrate) of silver. To produce a good picture, +therefore, three things are principally required: + +1. _A faultless sensitized plate_ on which the reflection of the object +is to be made; + +2. _A concentrated light_; that is, the rays must enter the camera +through a lens, but be excluded from every other part; + +3. _The right focus_; that is to say, you must get the proper distance +of your object in order to preserve the just proportions between it and +its surroundings. + +The same requisites may be applied to ourselves when we wish to image +in our souls the object of divine truth, which is identical with God. + +1. The sensitive plate of our hearts and minds must be clean, without +flaw, so as to admit the ray of heavenly light, and let it take hold +upon its surface. A tarnished mirror gives but a blurred and imperfect +reflection. Just so the mind occupied with the follies and vanities of +worldliness, the heart filled with the changing idols of unworthy +attachments, is no fit surface for the delicate impressions of those +chaste delineations of truth which are nothing else but the image of +God in the human soul. To His likeness we were created, and to His +likeness we must again conform ourselves by a right study of truth. + +2. Next, in order to obtain a correct impression of the sublime truth +contained in the sacred volumes, we must concentrate our lights. That +is to say, we must read with assiduity, must study with earnestness, +and also with prayer, to obtain the light of the Divine Spirit who +caused these pages of the Bible to be traced for our instruction--for, +as one of our greatest English writers, though not a Catholic, has +beautifully said: + + "Within that awful volume lies + The mystery of mysteries! + Happiest they of human race + To whom God has granted grace + To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, + To lift the latch and force the way; + And better had they ne'er been born, + Who read to doubt, or read to scorn."[1] + + +This implies that all side-lights which may distract the mind from this +concentrated attention and reverend attitude should be excluded. To +read the Sacred Scriptures in a flippant mood, or even in an irreverent +posture, and without having previously reflected on the fact that it is +God's word, is to lessen immeasurably one's chance of profiting by the +reading. The Mahometan or Jew in the East reverently lifts each piece +of paper or parchment which he finds upon the road, for fear that it +might contain the name of Allah or Jehovah, and be profaned by being +trodden under foot. We owe no less to the inspired word of God, above +all if we would gain the key to its intelligence. + +The concentration into a focus is obtained through a perfectly-shaped, +convex lens. Now this lens, which is capable not only of bringing into +one strong point all the scattered rays of light, but under +circumstances gathers the particles to intensity of heat producing a +flame, is that centre of the affections commonly termed the heart. +There is a tendency among those who seek intellectual culture to +undervalue this quality of the heart, which nevertheless contains the +secret power of generating supreme wisdom. We are considering true +wisdom, not superficial, exclusively human wisdom, which is the very +opposite, and which debases man to a mere repository of facts and +impressions, like an illustrated encyclopedia, or makes of him a shrewd +egotist, whose cleverness we may admire as we admire the antics of a +dancing serpent without wishing to come in contact with its slimy body +or its poisonous fangs. + +"As in human things," says Pascal, "we must first know an object before +we can love it, so in divine things, which constitute the only real +truth at which man can worthily aim, we must love them before we can +know them, for we cannot attain to truth except through charity." "In +all our studies and pursuits of knowledge," says Watts, "let us +remember that the conformation of our hearts to true religion and +morality are things of far more consequence than all the furniture of +our understanding and the richest treasures of mere speculative +knowledge." + +If it be true that "nothing is so powerful to form truly grand +characters as meditation on the word of God and on Christian truths," +then we must suppose an inclination, a love for the lofty ideals which +Christianity sets before us. "To whom has the root of wisdom been +revealed?" asks that wise and noble old rabbi, son of Sirach; and he +answers: "God has given her to them that love Him." If the wise man in +the sacred book tells us that "wisdom walketh with chosen women," may +we not assume that it is because woman enjoys the prerogative of those +qualities of heart which make her counsels so often far surer than the +carefully pondered reasons of men? + +If the fear of the Lord is the _beginning_ of wisdom, is not charity or +love its consummation? "Blessed is the man that shall continue in +wisdom. With the bread of life and understanding God's fear shall feed +him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink, and ... shall +heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to +inherit an everlasting name. But ... foolish men shall not see her: +for she is far from pride and deceit.... Say not: It is through God +that she is not with me, for do not thou the things that He hateth" +(Eccles., ch. xiv. and xv.). + +But there is no need of multiplying these sayings of God. The +knowledge we seek here is the knowledge which comes from the Divine +Spirit, source of all science as of all goodness and beauty. What the +fruits of that spirit are we are told by St. Paul: Charity, joy, peace, +patience, etc.; and we know how the Apostle of the Gentiles, who had +learnt much in many schools, at the feet of Gamaliel and in the halls +of the Greek philosophers, valued these fruits of wisdom above all the +doctrines of men. + +Catholics are fortunate in this, that they may gain from the study of +the Bible that purest light of wisdom which is only partially +communicated to those who find no way, through the sacraments, of +cleansing their souls,--that mirror in which God's image can show +clearly only when it is polished and purified from the dust-stains of +our earthly fall. Whatever opportunities for thorough study of the +Bible we may have, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most +important conditions for its proper and fruitful appreciation, because +the intelligence is always warped by sin. + +A correct knowledge of our faith, as the primary rule of our conduct, +is, of course, supposed. We cannot understand the written word of God +unless we have become accustomed to the language He speaks to the +heart, and that language is taught in our catechisms and textbooks of +religion. Some need less of this knowledge than others, so far as the +difficulties and controversies of religion are concerned. The Bible is +a book of instruction for all, and hence the preparatory knowledge +required varies with the mental range and ability, and the consequent +danger of doubts and false views of each individual. A child knows the +precepts and wishes of its parent often by a look or gesture, without +receiving any explicit instruction, because love and the habit of faith +supply intelligence. Others require a certain amount of reasoning to +move their hearts to the ready acceptance of divine precepts. This +reasoning is supplied by the study of popular theologies, of which we +have a good number in English. + +3. Lastly, we must not only get a right glass, a good lens, but we must +likewise get the right focus for our picture. We must know the +distance of our objects and their surroundings, the lights and shades, +the coloring, natural and artificial. In other words, we must become +familiar with the circumstances of history, the dates, the places, the +customs and laws, national and social, which throw light upon the +meaning of the incidents related in the Sacred Scriptures, and which +often aid us in the interpretation of passages mysterious and +prophetic. Hence we have to give some attention to, and study what we +can, of the ancient records and monuments brought to light by the +archćologist and the historian. We must likewise inquire into the +origin, history, authority, purpose, and general argument of each of +the inspired books. All this is the object of what is called +_Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures_, and is nothing +else but a becoming and essential preparation for the right use of the +Bible. + + Ah, may our understanding ever read + This glorious volume which God's wisdom made, + And in that charter humbly recognize + Our title to a treasure in the skies! + + + +[1] Scott, _The Monastery_, c. xii. + + + + +XVI. + +THE INTERPRETATION OF THE IMAGE. + +The Bible is not only a text-book which leads us to the acquisition of +the highest of arts--that of fulfilling the true purpose of life--but +it is itself, as has already been suggested, a work of fairest art +inasmuch as it contains a perfect delineation of the divine Beauty +drawn by the sovereign Artist Himself. + +Now true art needs, as a rule, an interpretation; for the outward form +which appeals to the senses may have its deeper and real meaning +disguised beneath the figure, so as to be understood only by the finer +perceptions of the intellect and heart. Take, for example, a canvas +such as Millet's popular picture entitled "The Angelus." It is a +small, unpretentious-looking work, representing a youth and a maid in a +fallow field, a village church in the distance, all wrapt in the gloom +of eventide. Ask a child looking at the picture what is the meaning of +it, and it will probably answer: "Two poor people tired of work." Ask +a countryman, without much education, and he will say: "Two poor lovers +thinking of home." But to the poet who has perchance dwelt in some +village of fair Southern France, and knows the simple habits of +devotion among the peasant folk, the picture will awaken memories of +the sound of the Angelus: + + "Ave Maria," blessed be the hour, + The time, the clime, the spot where I so oft + Have felt that moment in its fullest power + Sink o'er the earth, so beautiful and soft, + While swung the deep bell in the distant tower, + Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft, + And not a breath crept through the rosy air. + + +And the reflecting, devout Catholic will see in that picture even more +than the thoughts it suggests to the poet. It will speak to him of the +angelic salute to a Virgin fair at Nazareth; it will touch a chord of +tender confidence and hope in the Madonna's help and sympathy; it will +arouse a feeling of gratitude for the mystery of the Redemption. And +all this difference of judgment arises from the varying degrees of +intelligence and knowledge with which we approach the image. + +Now the Sacred Scriptures present just such a picture, only larger, +more comprehensive, truer, deeper, containing all the fair delineation +of God's own image, the pattern according to which we are to correct +the same divine likeness in our souls, spoiled somewhat and blurred by +sin. + +Let us look at the outline. There are words and a fact. In the words +truth is enunciated, in the fact those words are exhibited as being a +divine utterance. In their _literal_ meaning the word affects us just +as a picture would at first sight. In the one case we have a precept +or an incident or a scene in the life of our Lord; in the other case we +have an act of prayer or a scene from the daily life of French +peasants. But just as in the picture we may, by reason of artistic and +spiritual culture, recognize not simply an ordinary scene of peasant +life, but a poetic thought, or a practical moral lesson calling for +imitation, or, finally, a mystery of religion, so in the Sacred +Scriptures we may see below the literal sense one that is internal, +hidden, and in its character either simply figurative, or moral, or +mystically spiritual. An old ecclesiastical writer has given us a +Latin hexameter which suggests these various senses in which the sacred +text may at times be understood: + + Litera _gesta_ docet, quod credas _allegoria_; + _Moralis_ quid agas, quo tendas _anagogia_. + +An example of the four different senses (namely, the _literal_, the +_allegorical_, which appeals to our faith, the _moral_, and the +_mystic_) in which a word or passage of Holy Writ may be interpreted is +offered in the term "Jerusalem." If we read that "they went up to +Jerusalem every year," we understand the word Jerusalem to represent +the chief city of the Hebrews, situated on the confines of Judah and +Benjamin. If we happen upon the passage of St. John where he says: "I, +John, saw a holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven +from God; ... behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell +with them," we know that this _new_ Jerusalem on earth can be no other +than the Church, where God has His tabernacle, dwelling with men. The +word is used _allegorically_, that is to say, it appeals to our faith; +to the internal, not to our external sense. Again, the word +"Jerusalem" may be used in the sense which its etymology suggests +without reference to any city. Etymologically it consists of two +words, signifying _foundation_ and _peace_. A rabbi might, therefore, +bid his disciples to strive to build up "Jerusalem," meaning that they +should seek to lay solid foundations of peace by conforming their lives +to the law of Jehovah. This would give the word Jerusalem simply a +_moral_ signification. Finally, the word is used as a synonyme for +"heaven," as in Apoc. xxi. 10: "And He took me up in spirit, ... and He +showed me the holy city Jerusalem, ... having the glory of God." Here +we have the term in its _anagogical_ sense, that is, referring to the +future life. + +Without entering into the various figures of speech with which the +language of the Hebrews abounds, let me suggest some points which must +be observed in order that the true sense of the Sacred Scriptures may +not escape us so as to mislead the mind. + +For the discovery of the literal sense we must, of course, be guided by +the rules of ordinary grammatical construction. Where this proves +insufficient we must have recourse to the idiomatic use of language, +the habits of speech, which prevailed among the Hebrews or those with +whose utterances or history we are concerned. This is very important +in order that we may get a right understanding of the expressions +employed. As an instance of misconception in this respect may be cited +the words of our Lord to His holy Mother at the nuptials of Cana, which +literally sound like a reproof, yet are far from conveying such a sense +in their original signification. The like is true of the use of +certain comparisons which to our sense seem rude and cruel, yet which +were not so understood in the language in which they were originally +spoken or written. Thus when our Lord said to the Canaanitish woman +who followed Him in the regions of Tyre and Sidon that it is not right +to give the bread of the children to "dogs," He seemed to spurn the +poor mother, who prayed Him for the recovery of her child, as a man +spurns a cur. Yet such is not the sense of the expression, which +hardly means anything more than what we would convey by "outside of the +pale of faith." + +Besides the usage of speech peculiar to a people or district or period +of time, we must have regard to the individuality of the writer. His +subjective state, his temperament, education, personal associations, +and habits of thought and feeling necessarily influence the style of +his writing. Thus in the letters of St. Paul we recognize a spirit +which the forms of speech seem wholly inadequate to contain or express. +He writes as he might speak, impatient of words. His thoughts seem +often disconnected; he omits things which he had evidently meant to +say, and which the hearers might have supplied from the vividness of +the image presented, but which become obscure to the reader who only +sees the cold form of the written page. There is no end of +parenthetical clauses in his discourses; often he begins a period and +leaves it unfinished. Sometimes there appears a total absence of +logical connection in what he intends for proofs and arguments; then, +again, there is a wealth of imagery, which suggests the quick sense and +power of comparison peculiar to the Oriental mind, but slow to impress +itself on the Western nations. All this makes it necessary to _study_ +St. Paul rather than to read him, if one would understand the Apostle. +Of this St. Peter shows himself conscious when he writes that certain +things in the Epistles of St. Paul are "_hard to be understood_, which +the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, +to their own destruction" (II. Pet. iii. 16). + +Another element which contributes to the right interpretation of the +Sacred Text is the knowledge of what may be called the historical +background of a passage or book. This includes the various relations +of time, place, persons addressed, and other circumstances which +exercise an influence upon the material, intellectual, and moral +surroundings of the writer. Accordingly, different parts of the Sacred +Scriptures require different treatment and different preparation on the +part of the reader. Thus to comprehend the full significance of the +Book of Exodus we must study the geographical and ethnographical +condition of Egypt. For a right understanding of the Book of Daniel we +should first have to become acquainted with the history of Chaldea and +Assyria, especially as lit up by the recent discoveries of monuments in +the East. The Canticle of Canticles presupposes for its just +interpretation a certain familiarity with the details of Solomon's life +during the golden period of his reign. The Letters of St. Paul, in the +New Testament, reveal their true bearing only after we have read the +life of the Apostle as it is described in the Acts; and so on for other +parts of the Sacred History. + +Finally, a proper understanding and appreciation of the inspired books +depend largely on our realization of the proximate scope and purpose, +the character and quality, of the subject treated by the sacred writer. +The Bible is a wondrous combination of historic, didactic, and +prophetic elements. Each of these goes to support or emphasize the +other, but each of them has its predominant functions in different +parts of the grand structure. Hence we may not judge a prophecy as we +judge the historical narrative which introduces and supports it; we may +not interpret in its literal sense the metaphor which is simply to +convey a moral lesson to the mind. + + + + +XVII. + +"DEUS ILLUMINATIO MEA." + +The subject-matter of the Bible obliges us, however, to apply not only +the various cautions and methods of interpretation which are required +for the understanding of the classics generally, but it exacts more. +The Sacred Scriptures, as a grand work of art, have not only a human, +but primarily a divine conception for their basis. Hence it does not +suffice to have mastered the meaning of the words and the outline of +the subject, or the individual genius and human ideal of the writer who +acted merely as the instrument executing a higher inspiration. We must +enter into the conception of the divine mind. If the principal and +all-pervading motive of the great Scriptural composition is a religious +one, it stands to reason that it can be comprehended only when judged +from a religious point of view. + +Now the divine mind is so far above us that we can reach it only if God +Himself brings it down to us. He has to descend, to lift the veil from +His immensity, not by opening to us, before the time, those sacred +precincts which "eye hath never seen," but by emitting a ray of light +to clear up our darkness, to give us a glimpse of the awful splendor +which vibrates in those celestial realms where light and sound and +warmth of eternal charity mingle in the sweet harmony of the divine +Beauty whose tones speak now to our senses in separate forms. God +descends to our humility to interpret His own image. First He came in +human form, and told us all the things we were to believe and do. Then +He sent the Paraclete, and under His direction men of God taught the +same things. Then they wrote them, or, as St. John tells us, some of +them. The Paraclete veils Himself, as our Lord had announced to His +Apostles, in the Church, whose divinely constituted earthly chief was +to be Peter--to the end of time. The Church, therefore, founded by +Christ, and an ever-living emanation of the incessant activity of the +Holy Spirit, although necessarily speaking to men through men, is the +first and surest interpreter of the purpose and meaning of each and +every part of Holy Writ. + +And because God cannot contradict Himself it follows that every truth +of the written word must correspond with every truth of the spoken +word. In doubtful cases, therefore, as to the meaning of a word or +text in the Sacred Writings, we have recourse to the supreme, +divinely-guided judgment of the Church. Her doctrines, defined, are +the first and most important criterion of Scriptural truth. + +But the Church has not defined every expression of truth, though she +holds the key to all truth. She points to the light which illumines +our night; she declares the stars whence that light issues directly or +by reflection; but she does not always indicate where the rays of the +one body begin to mingle with those of the other, or what precise +elements determine the motion or stability of each. Only when there +are conflicts or threatened disturbances of the centres of attraction +and repulsion she reaches out her anointed hand, informed with the +magic power of her Creator and founder, and directs the courses of +bodies that otherwise would clash unto mutual destruction. Hence the +freedom of investigation allowed the Catholic student of the Scriptures +is limited only by the rules of faith taught by the same divine Teacher +who watches over the spoken and written revelation alike. And as, in +cases where we have not the express command of a superior, we interpret +his will by his known desires and views in other respects, so in the +interpretation of those parts of Holy Writ regarding the meaning of +which we have no definite expression in the doctrinal code of the +Church, we follow the _analogy of faith_; which is manifest from the +general consent of the Christian Fathers and Doctors, and from the +teaching of learned and holy commentators. These we may safely follow +in all doubtful cases, that is to say, where there is no evidence to +show that they were mistaken, either through want of certain sources of +information or proofs which we have at our command presently, or +because they accepted the views of their time and people, feeling that +any departure from the received tradition would make disturbance, and +fail of its intended good effect. + +It is safe to say that the conditions of one age and the modes of +thought and feeling of one generation are not a just standard by which +to judge the conditions and views of another age or generation. This +is an important fact to remember for those who are inclined to look in +every part of the Sacred Scriptures for a verification of the +sentiments which they feel, and of the views and opinions of things +which they hold. + + + + +XVIII. + +RUSH-LIGHTS. + +There is a method of interpreting the Bible which, although it affords +a temporary satisfaction to the heart, is misleading to the mind. I +mean private interpretation in the sense in which it is generally +practised and defended by our Protestant brethren. To take a good +photograph you must have sunlight; candles, gas, even electric lights, +unless they be flash-lights, which don't suit all purposes of accurate +reproduction, will not accomplish it. For vegetable growth you need +sunlight; artificial light will give neither healthy fruit nor even +color to the plant. So it is with the divine image traced in the +Sacred Scriptures. We cannot reproduce it in our souls by any earthly +light. Now human judgment is an earthly light, because it is +constantly influenced by feelings, prejudices, attachments, and partial +views of things. Some of us accept an opinion because it suits our +conditions of life, is agreeable to our sense of ease or vanity, +relieves us from certain responsibilities to God and our neighbor which +a severer statement of the case would exact. Others endorse a view +because it is held by a person whom they love or respect. Others, +again, maintain an opinion because it is contrary to the one held by a +person whom they dislike. And there is a vast number of people who +take a view simply because it is the first that presents itself to +them, and they are as well pleased with it as with others which they +don't know. It must be remembered, moreover, that man is not naturally +inclined toward the right. The world loves darkness since its eyes +were hurt by the wanton effort to see God and to be like Him in a way +which was against His law. Amid this darkness, intellectual and moral, +which surrounds man, and which for the moment pleases him because it +relieves him of a strain, we need a guide. We must follow a leader who +knows all the ways and enjoys the full light of heaven. + +The defence in favor of private interpretation of the Bible usually +rests in the assumption of God's goodness, who must needs furnish an +inward light to man lest he go wrong in his search after truth. But +God's goodness gives you a guide, well accredited with testimonials +from Himself, against whose efficiency the inward light compares like a +rush-light against the sun. + +The red cross of the Alpine Club marks the safe passage down the rocky +mountain paths of Switzerland. We recognize the stones which are +landmarks because they bear the conventional sign of an authorized body +of mountaineers. They lead our way, and we follow without hesitation. +But if the mark of the red cross of the Alpine Club were not visible, +if we had to trust to the inward light or to our instinct to guide us, +we should run the risk of losing our way and lives, though the stones +which marked the path of former travellers are still there. + +Nor does it seem according to the divine wisdom to give man a written +law and then to leave him to Himself for its interpretation. No other +written law was ever given under such conditions by or to man. It +would frustrate the fundamental purpose of any written law to allow the +individual to interpret it, because it would lead to contradictions and +confusion, which it is the very object of laws to prevent. That the +divine Law, in its written form, is no exception to this rule is proved +from the effects of the theory of private interpretation, which have +grown into a history of many sects, conscientiously protesting one +against the other because of the inferences which each draws from the +one sacred code of Christian law and doctrine. Thus the written word +of God would frustrate its own manifest purpose, nay, give occasion to +a thousand justifications of separation and hostility, which its +fundamental canon, charity in the union of Christ, expressly forbids. + +What other conclusion, therefore, remains than to accept the warning of +St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, who, speaking of the reading of the +Sacred Scriptures, wishes the converts to understand "_this, first, +that no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation_,"[1] +because "_the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost_" (II. +Pet. i. 20, 21). + +And this disposes, in the mind of the sincere Christian, of all the +theories of interpretation advanced by rationalist and naturalist +philosophers, who render their arguments a trifle more consistent than +Protestants by denying from the outset the divine inspiration of the +Sacred Scriptures. + + + +[1] The Protestant (King James) version of this passage reads: "That no +prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." The late +revision of the New Testament omits the word _any_. + + + +XIX. + +THE USE AND THE ABUSE OF THE BIBLE. + +"Revelation and a Church are practically identical. Revelation and +Scripture are not."[1] Though _revelation_ is necessary to guide the +human mind, prone to error, and to sustain the human will, weak by +reason of an hereditary fall, we have seen that the Bible is but _one_ +channel of that revelation, and that a complementary, secondary one. +It neither contains all revealed truth, nor can the truth which it +contains be clearly and completely understood without the guidance of +an intelligent interpretation. A teacher of any science or art may +give a book into the hands of his pupils to serve as a text, as a +reminder of his precepts, as a compend of his methods and practice; but +no book, no matter how perfectly written, will make us dispense with +the teacher. The education, in any direction, which rests upon the +sole use of books is essentially defective and misleading. + +This is eminently true of the Bible as a text or guide in the +acquisition of the highest of arts, the profoundest of sciences, which +leads us to the recognition of absolute truth, with an ever-increasing +apprehension, because its scope is immeasurable, eternal. + +The teacher of revelation, in its first and most important +signification, is Christ. He is the central historical figure, +announced to man immediately after his fall in Paradise foreshadowed by +the prophets in the Jewish Church, and completing His mission in the +Christian Church. As the Holy Ghost animated the prophets to foretell +Him, and the priests of the synagogue to announce Him in the Old Law, +so the Holy Ghost animates the Church to continue His work in the New +Law. As books were written by the prophets of old to perpetuate the +remembrance of what Jehovah had spoken through them to His people +regarding the coming of the Messias, so books were written by the +Apostles and disciples of the New Law to perpetuate the remembrance of +what that Messias had said and done, and of what He wished us to do. +But as the old written Law was not to be a substitute for the +commission of teaching and guiding the people through the Jewish +Synagogue, so neither was the new written Law intended to be a +substitute for the commission of teaching and guiding those who seek +salvation through Christ. The Bible alone, as we have already seen, +cannot satisfy us in such a way as to supply the full reason for our +faith in Christ's teaching. For this we have a Church to whom Christ, +as God, gave a direct commission, without adding a book, or an express +command to write a book. + +But a book was written, written under the guidance of the divine +Spirit, who had been promised to the Church whenever it would speak, +whether by word of mouth or by epistle and written gospel. And that +book, though not containing all truth, contains truth only. Therefore +it is useful, as St. Paul says, II. Tim. iii. 16: "All Scripture +inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to +instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to +every good work." The use, then, of the Bible is to teach, to instruct +in justice, primarily; to make man perfect, furnished to every good +work. Mark the twofold term: to _teach_ and to _instruct_; both +teaching and instruction to serve the one end--to make a perfect man, +"furnished to every good work." + +That the principal purpose and scope of Scripture is to teach the +truths of religion has been demonstrated in a former chapter. I have +here only to add that, as an instrument of Apologetics, and in +discussion with Protestants who admit the divinity of Christ and the +inspired character of the Sacred Scriptures, reference to the teachings +of the Bible plays a very important part. Whether we are defending our +faith against misrepresentation, or desirous of convincing other +sincere and open minds of the justness of the claims which the Catholic +Church makes as the only true representative of Christ's divine mission +to teach the nations, the Bible is a safe and commonly recognized +meeting-ground for a fair discussion of the subject. + +Even when we have to speak of religion with practical infidels, who +read the Bible, or have some knowledge of its contents, that book will +serve us as a powerful weapon of defence and persuasion. Few +intelligent men or women of to-day, especially if they are earnest, and +have a real regard for virtue and truth, though they may consider them +as mere gifts of the natural order, fail to recognize that Christianity +is a power for good, and that Christ, its Author, is and ever will be +the great teacher of mankind, in whose true following man becomes +better, nobler, and happier. To illustrate this fact, we may be +permitted to quote at some length from an article by Baron Von Hügel in +a recent number of the _Dublin Review_ (April, 1895). Speaking of +Christ, he cites from various writers, as follows: + +Thus "Ernest Rénan, sceptical even to his own scepticism, addresses him +and says: 'A thousand times more living, a thousand times more loved, +since thy death than during thy passage upon earth, thou wilt become +the corner-stone of humanity, to such a point, that to blot out thy +name out of the world would be in very truth to shake its very +foundations.'[2] John Stuart Mill, who tells us of himself: 'I never +lost faith, for I never had it,' proclaims at the end of his long +life's labors: 'Whatever else may be taken from us by rational +criticism, Christ is still left; a unique figure, not more unlike all +his predecessors than all his followers, even those who had the direct +benefit of his personal teaching. It is no use to say that Christ in +the Gospels is not historical, and that we know not how much of what is +admirable has been superadded by the tradition of his followers. For +who among his disciples or their proselytes was capable of inventing +the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of imagining the life and character +revealed in the Gospels? Certainly not the fishermen of Galilee, as +certainly not St. Paul, whose character and idiosyncrasy were of a +totally different sort; still less the early Christian writers, in whom +nothing is more evident than that the good which was in them was all +derived, as they always professed that it was derived, from the higher +source.'[3] Even so purely Deistic a critic as Abraham Kuenen +declares: 'The international religion which we call Christianity was +founded, not by the Apostle Paul, but by Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus +whose person and whose teaching are sketched in the Synoptic Gospels +with the closest approximation of truth.' 'The need of Christianity is +as keen as ever. It is not for less but for more Christianity that the +age cries out. Even those many who do not identify Christianity with +the ecclesiastical form in which they themselves profess it, and who +have no confidence that the world will necessarily conform to +them--even these may be at peace. The universalism of Christianity is +the sheet-anchor of their hope. A history of eighteen centuries bears +mighty witness to it; and the contents of its evidence and the high +significance they possess are brought into the clearest light by the +comparison with other religions. We have good courage then.'[4] So +advanced a critic and sensitively loyal a Jew as Mr. Claud Montefiore +tells us: 'Some of the sayings ascribed to Jesus have sunk too deep +into the human heart, or shall I say into the spiritual consciousness +of civilized mankind, to make it probable that any religion which +ignores or omits them will exercise a considerable influence outside +its own borders. It may be that those who dream of a prophetic +Judaism, which shall be as spiritual as the religion of Jesus, and even +more universal than the religion of Paul, are the victims of a +delusion.'[5] So largely naturalistic a critic as Julius Wellhausen +writes of our Lord's teaching and person: 'The miraculous is impossible +with man, but with God it is possible. Jesus has not only assured us +of this, but he has proved it in his own person. He had indeed lost +his life and saved it, he could do as he would. He had escaped the +bonds of human kind and the sufferings of self-seeking nature. There +is in him no trace of that eagerness for action which seeks for peace +in the restlessness of its own activity. The completely super-worldly +standpoint in which Jesus finds strength and love to devote himself to +the world has nothing extravagant about it. He is the first to know +himself, not simply in moments of emotion, but in completest +restfulness, the child of God; before him no one so felt or so +described himself.' 'Jesus not only prophesies the kingdom of God, but +brings it out of its transcendence on to earth; he plants at least its +germ. The new times already begin with him: the blind see, the deaf +hear, the dead arise. Everywhere he found spaciousness for his soul, +nowhere was he cramped by the little, much as he put forward the value +of the great; this we should do, and not leave that undone. He was +more than a prophet; in him the word had become flesh. The historic +overweightedness, to which the Jews were succumbing, does not even +touch him. A unit arises in the dreary mass, a man from among the +rubbish which the dwarfs, the rabbis, had heaped up. He upsets the +accidental, the caricature, the dead, and collects the eternally valid, +the human divine, in the focus of His individuality. "Ecce homo," a +divine wonder in this time and this environment.'" + +Such being the view of religiously disposed persons outside of the +Catholic Church regarding the New Testament teaching of Christ, it +would seem easy at first sight to convince them of the Catholic +doctrine by reference to the words of Christ and the Gospels, which +contain explicit, if not complete testimony in behalf of the Catholic +teaching. There is one difficulty in the way of this, and that is that +Protestants themselves distrust the meaning of the New Testament words +except in so far as it expresses their own feelings. The principle of +private interpretation necessarily leads to this one-sided view. A +hundred persons appeal to the one Book as an infallible expression of +God's will and truth. Now, some of these infallible expressions +manifestly contradict one another as Protestants interpret them. Yet +the consequences of such contradictions are vital, and involve eternal +life or death. Take the doctrine of baptism by water as essential to +salvation, according to the reading of some Protestants; yet the +Quaker, no less sincere than his Baptist neighbor, and claiming a +special inward light, consciously neglects baptism, holding that the +teaching of the New Testament is only meant in a spiritual sense. +Equally awful in their consequences are the two contrary doctrines +regarding the Eucharistic presence of Christ as declared in the New +Testament, one believer drawing the conclusion that he must adore God +under the veil of bread, the other equally convinced from the same +Scriptures that such a view is sheer idolatry, and that there is +nothing divine under the appearance of bread. This appeal to private +judgment makes most Protestants sceptical if you attempt to prove to +them Catholic doctrine from the New Testament; and unless you can first +convince them that the Church has a greater claim to declare the sense +of the Bible than any private individual, they will consider their +opinion of its meaning and purpose just as good as yours. + +But it is different if you appeal to the Old Testament for a +confirmation of Catholic doctrine. And I would strongly urge this +method for various reasons. Every Protestant will admit that the Old +Testament is not only inspired and divine in its origin, but that in +its historic expression, even the deutero-canonical portion, contains +the application of its meaning and purpose. In other words, that God +not merely gave the Israelites a law, but also shows us how He meant +them to interpret that law in their lives--domestic, social, and +religious. Here, therefore, we have little need, or even opportunity, +for private interpretation as to God's meaning. That meaning becomes +clear from the action of His people. + +At the same time it is also clear and generally admitted that the Old +Testament is a foreshadowing of the New Law, hence that the doctrines +and practices of the Christian Church have their counterpart in the Old +Law. Protestants readily agree to this, in proof of which fact I may +be allowed to quote Prof. Robertson Smith: + +"Christianity can never separate itself from its historical basis, or +the religion of Israel; the revelation of God in Christ cannot be +divorced from the earlier revelation on which our Lord built. Indeed, +the history of Israel, when rightly studied, is the most real and vivid +of all histories; and the proofs of God's working among His people of +old may still be made, what they were in time past, one of the +strongest evidences of Christianity."[6] + +Dr. A. B. Bruce in his _Apologetics_, 1892, p. 325, says: "The Bible, +instead of being a dead rule, to be used mechanically, with equal value +set on all its parts, is rather a living organism, which, like the +butterfly, passes through various transformations before arriving at +its highest and final form. We should find Christ in the Old Testament +as we find the butterfly in the caterpillar."[7] + +Hence if you can show to the average intelligent Protestant that a +doctrine or practice distinctively of the Catholic Church prevailed in +the Jewish Church, you have established an _a priori_ argument for its +reasonableness. This applies particularly to such doctrines and +practices as Protestants condemn or censure in the Catholic Church from +a mere habit of not finding them in their own churches, or from some +prejudice nourished by bigotry of early teachers, or by the popular +literature of the anti-Catholic type. I only mention such topics as +Indulgences, Confession, the Infallibility of the Pope, Celibacy of the +clergy and religious, and such like. Now all these things existed in +the Old Law, not so completely developed as in the Christian Church, +but sufficiently pronounced to establish a motive of credibility for +their existence in the Church of Christ. Thus we have the +reasonableness of the practice of Confession plainly indicated in the +Mosaic times: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Say to the children +of Israel, when a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins +that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed +the commandment of the Lord, and offended, they shall confess their +sin, and shall restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over +and above, to him against whom they have sinned" (Num. v. 6-7; also +13-14). The Infallibility of the Pope finds its perfect counterpart in +the oracular responses given by the Jewish high-priest when he wore the +Urim and Thummim in his breastplate, which covers the precise ground of +Papal decisions regarding faith and morals, the breastplate being +called "the rational of judgment, doctrine, and truth" (See Exod. +xxviii. 30; Levit. viii. 8; Num. xxvii. 21; Deut. xxxiii. 8, etc.). + +As to the practice of virginity, we know that it existed among the +Jews, as an exceptional condition; but as such it had the sanction of +God. Thus the Prophet Jeremias receives the command of virginity from +Jehovah directly: "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou +shalt not take thee a wife; neither shalt thou have sons and daughters +in this place" (Jer. xvi. 2). + +Thus practical arguments, of which I can here only indicate a few, may +be found for each and all of the usages of the Catholic Church. And +any censure of the latter will cast its reflection upon the Jewish +dispensation, of which God was Himself the Author and Guardian. For if +God sanctioned ceremonies in worship, and infallibility in the +high-priest, and virginity in the Prophet whom He selects for a special +mission, and confession, with penance and the obligation of +restitution, why should Protestants think it so strange to find us +practise the same things which have the seal of divine approbation! + +Thus they may be inclined more readily to accept the more explicit +arguments in favor of Catholic doctrine and discipline as given in the +New Testament, which is but the fulfilment of the types suggested in +the Old Law. + +It is hardly necessary for me to point out in this connection the +advantages of being able to disabuse Protestants of the impression that +Catholics do not honor the Bible as the word of God. Those who, as +Protestants, do not recognize any other source of divine revelation +than the written word are, of course, obliged to occupy themselves +wholly and entirely with its study, whilst Catholics look upon that +same written word, not with less reverence, but with less consciousness +of having to rely upon it as the only symbol and exponent of their +faith. If we refuse on general principles to have the Bible read to +our Catholic children in a public school from a Protestant translation, +it is simply because the admission of such a practice implies an +admission of a Protestant principle, and might leave a wrong impression +upon our children as to the value of the true version of their +religion. The Protestant translation of the Bible contains a great +deal of truth, _but some errors_ which we cannot admit in our teaching. +To give it to our children in the schools is something like planting a +Southern flag upon some public institution of the United States. Some +may say it is better than none, because it begets patriotism, and as +there is no difference in the two flags except the slight one of a few +stars and stripes, most people might never notice it. But we know that +if they did notice it, it would create considerable disturbance, +because it implies something of disloyalty to "Old Glory." + +For a like reason Catholics often refuse to kiss the Protestant Bible +in court. They prefer simply _to affirm_. And in this they are +perfectly right, although to attest one's willingness to tell the truth +on such occasions is not supposed to be a trial of one's faith, and +hence it does not involve anything of a denial of Catholic truth. + +But I must pass on to one or two illustrations to show in what fields +the Bible is _not_ to be used. For though it furnishes most apt means +for imparting a knowledge and inciting to the further study of history, +languages, the principles of government and ethics, together with the +development of a graceful and withal vigorous style of English writing, +yet there are limits to its use in some directions. Thus the Bible +cannot be considered as replacing the exact sciences. We are quite +safe always in affirming that the Bible never contradicts science; that +where it does not incidentally confirm the results of scientific +research it abstracts from the teaching of science. Its language +relating to physical facts is popular, not scientific. There is no +reason to think that the inspired writers received any communication +from heaven as to the inward workings of nature. They had simply the +knowledge of their age, and described things accordingly. Leo XIII. in +his recent Encyclical on the study of the Sacred Scriptures strongly +reiterates this doctrine, advanced by many Doctors of the Church, +namely, that the _sacred writers_ had no intention of initiating us +into the secrets of nature or to teach us the inward constitution of +the visible world. Hence their language about "the firmament," and how +"the sun stood still," as we still say "the sun rises."[8] + +If, then, we are confronted with some statement by scientists affirming +that there is a scientific inaccuracy in the Bible, we have no remark +to make but that the Bible was not meant to be a text-book of exact +science. If it is urged that there are contradictions between the +Bible and science, then the case demands attention. We know that truth +cannot contradict itself; but we know that we may err in apprehending +it, and that science may err in its assumptions of fact. Hence in the +matter of Biblical Apology, when dealing with science, it is of the +first importance that we render an exact account to ourselves of what +_science affirms_ and of what the _Sacred Scripture affirms_. It is +important to note here the distinction which P. Brucker points out; +namely, what _science affirms_, not what _scientists affirm_. "The +latter often mingle _conjecture_, more or less probable, with the +definitely ascertained results of scientific experiment; they often +accept as facts certain observations and plausible conclusions which +are not always deduced from legitimate premises nor in a strictly +logical method." The human mind is always prone to accept the +plausible for the true, the appearance of things for their substance, +the general for the universal, the part for the whole, or the probable +for the proved. This is demonstrated by the history of scientific +hypotheses in nearly every department of human knowledge. + +In the next place, we must be quite sure to ascertain _what the Sacred +Scriptures affirm_. Apologists place themselves in a needlessly +responsible position when, in the difficult task of determining a +doubtful reading of the Sacred Text, they assume an interpretation +which may be gainsaid by scientific _proof_. The teaching of St. +Augustine and St. Thomas on this subject is that we are not to +interpret in any _particular_ sense any part of Sacred Scripture which +admits of a different interpretation. And here Leo XIII. in his +Encyclical gives us an important point to consider when he says that +the defenders of the Sacred Scriptures must not consider that they are +obliged to defend _each single_ opinion of isolated Fathers of the +Church.[9] There is a difference between a _prudent conservatism_ and +a timid and slavish repetition of time-honored views. Also between _an +intelligent advance_ of well-founded, though _new_ views, and an +excessive temerity, which rashly replaces the tradition of ages by the +suggestions of new science. + +"Hence any attempt to prove that the statements of the Bible imply in +every case exact conformity with the latest results of scientific +research is a needless and, under circumstances, a dangerous +experiment; for although there are instances where (as in chap. i. of +Genesis) the Bible statements anticipate the exactest results of +scientific investigation by many centuries, yet it is not and need not +be so in all instances. + +"Yet whilst we may not consider Moses as anticipating the +investigations of a Newton, a Laplace, or a Cuvier, there are cases +where the natural purpose and context of the sacred writers develop an +exact harmony with the facts of science of which former ages had no +right conception. Such are the creation by successive stages, the +unity of species, and origin of the human race, etc. But these facts +are _not proposed as scientific_ revelations." + +In all important questions as to the agreement of the Bible with the +results of scientific research we may have recourse with perfect +confidence to the living teaching of the Church; where she gives no +decision there we are at liberty to speculate, provided the results of +our speculation do not conflict with explicit and implied doctrines of +truth, that is to say, they must be in harmony with the general analogy +of faith. + +There is one other topic which I would touch upon in speaking of the +use and abuse of the Bible; it is a view which the late Oliver Wendell +Holmes is supposed to have advocated. The author of "The Professor at +the Breakfast Table" believed that it would be advantageous if the +Bible were, as he terms it, _depolarized_, that is to say, if the +translations or versions made from the originals were put in such form +as to appeal to the imagination and feelings of the present generation +by substituting modern terminology and figures of speech for the old +time-honored words of Scriptural comparisons. The aim would be, as I +understand it, to do for the written word of God what the Salvation +Army leaders are attempting to do for nineteenth century Christianity +in general. + +In answer to this suggestion it may be said that the attempt has been +made in various ways, and seemingly always without result for the +better. As we have versions of St. Paul's Epistles in Ciceronian +Latin, so we have had travesties of the Gospels intended to popularize +the moral maxims they contain. If it is question of making the Bible +accessible to the people for the purpose of getting them to read it, +devices of this kind may succeed to a degree with those who look for +novelty. As to its essential form, the Bible is popular,--appeals to +all minds and conditions. This is proved by the experience of +centuries, in every clime and among all races. + +Those parts which do not directly appeal to a popular sentiment are of +a nature to forbid depolarization as above suggested, since in changing +them they would necessarily lose their identity, the inherent proofs of +their origin, and their underlying mystic and spiritual meaning. So +far as they were written, the truths contained in the Bible were to +serve all time. To change their form is to tamper with the spirit of a +divine language, which, although it comes to us in human sounds, +variable according to nationality and time and place, still has an +unction, a breath of heaven accompanying it which would vanish as the +perfume vanishes from the transplanted flower. There are some truths, +some ideas and feelings, which cannot be expressed in popular fashion +without losing their essential qualities. One might urge the same +reasons in behalf of painting the old Greek statues, because the common +people would find it possible to admire them if gaudy coloring helped +their imagination to interpret the action of the figures in marble. +Some things in the Bible were not written for all, and appeal only to +refined and spiritual minds. Others can be easily understood and +assimilated, and there are preachers commissioned to make attractive +and intelligible that which of itself does not appeal to the rude. +There is such a thing as _accommodating_ the words of the Sacred +Scripture for the purpose of impressing a truth by analogy, and of the +use of this method we have beautiful illustrations in the writings of +the Fathers and in the Offices of the Breviary. But the sense _by +accommodation_, as it is called by writers on hermeneutics, does not +take liberties with the Sacred Text itself in the manner suggested by +the advocates of _depolarization_. For the rest there is a difference, +there always will be a difference, between the qualities that call upon +the senses and attract, perhaps, the larger circle of admirers, and +that choicer spirit which reaches the soul. You cannot substitute one +for the other; their domain is widely apart, though they may use the +same instrument. + + One tunes his facile lyre to please the ear, + And win the buzzing plaudits of the town; + The other sings his soul out to the stars, + And the deep hearts of men. + + +You cannot depolarize, without destroying, Dante, or Milton, or any of +our great poets; no more can you depolarize the great masterpiece of +the Bible. Let us take it as we receive it under the guardianship of +the Church. Its apparent imperfections are like the surroundings and +exterior of its Founder: a scandal to the Greek, a stumbling-block to +the Jew, because they could not realize that a God was hidden in the +imperfect guise of poor flesh. + +What we consider imperfections to be remedied in the Bible were +recognized by the Apostles, and by the chief of them, St. Peter, who +writes, II. Pet. iii. 16: "Our dear brother Paul, according to the +wisdom given him, has written to you; as also in all his Epistles; in +which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and +unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own +destruction." Here was room for depolarization, yet St. Peter did not +take it in hand, neither should we desire scholars of perhaps greater +knowledge but less wisdom to do so. + + + +[1] Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures," _l.c._ + +[2] "Vie de Jésus," 1864, p. 426. + +[3] "Three Essays on Religion," 1874, p. 258. + +[4] "Hibbert Lectures," 1882, pp. 196, 197. + +[5] Ibid., 1892, p. 551. + +[6] "The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," 1892, p. 11. + +[7] See _Dublin Review_, article cited above. + +[8] See Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures;" also "_Questions Actuelles +d'-Ecriture Sainte_," by Brucker, S. J. + +[9] See Appendix. + + + + +XX. + +THE VULGATE AND THE REVISED PROTESTANT VERSION OF THE BIBLE. + +In instituting here a comparison between the two approved and typical +English Versions of the Bible as in use among Catholics and Protestants +respectively, I have no intention to be aggressive or polemic. As from +the first we have taken what may be called the common-sense point of +view in judging the Bible as an historical work, which verifies its +claims to be regarded as an organ communicating to us divine knowledge, +so we proceed to make a brief suggestive examination of two English +Bibles: one found in the homes of Catholics, the other in those of our +Protestant friends and neighbors, many of whom believe with all +sincerity that among the various doubts and difficulties of life they +can consult no truer guide than that sacred volume. + +Taking the two volumes as a whole, and considering only their general +contents, there is but little difference between them. I compared them +in a former chapter to the two American flags of North and South: +viewed in themselves, these are both of the same origin, copied from +the same pattern, and emblems, both, of American independence. Though +they differ only in some detail that might escape the superficial +observer, they nevertheless represent very widely different principles, +for which the men of the South as of the North were willing to stake +their lives. They might meet in friendly intercourse in all the walks +of daily life, but if you ask a Union soldier to carry the Southern +flag, he will say: No; for though it looks very much like my own, there +is a difference, and that difference constitutes a vital principle with +me. + +Catholics have to make much the same answer when told that they might +accept the Protestant Bible in their public relations with those who do +not recognize the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has the old +Bible, as it came down the ages, complete and without changes. She has +no reason to discard it, and she has good reason not to accept another +Bible, though its English be sweeter and its periods fall upon the ear +like the soft cadences of Southern army songs. We cannot sing from its +tuneful pages, because it represents the principle of opposition to its +original source and parent-stock, and no union can be effected except +by the elimination of that principle. + +Catholics claim that their Bible, in point of fidelity to the +original--and this is the _essential_ point when we speak of a +translation of such a book--Catholics claim that their Bible, in point +of fidelity to the original, is as superior to the Protestant English +Bible of King James as it is, we admit, inferior in its English. "The +translators of the Catholic Version considered it a lesser offence to +violate some rules of grammar than to risk the sense of God's word for +the sake of a fine period."[1] + +What proof have we for such a claim? I answer that we have the +strongest proof in the world which we could have on such a subject +outside of a divine revelation, namely, the admission on the part of +the guardians and translators themselves of the Protestant Bible. Now, +when I say guardians and translators of the Protestant Bible, I do not +mean merely the testimony of a few great authorities in the past or +present who may have expressed their opinion as to the faults and +defects of the latest English Protestant translation. That would not +be fair. But I mean that the history itself of Protestant translations +made since the days of King James, not to go back any farther, is a +standing argument of the severest kind: + +First, _against_ the correctness of the _Protestant_ English Versions; +and, + +Secondly, _for_ the correctness of the _Catholic_ English Version. + +For if we compare the first Protestant English Version (which departed +considerably from the received Catholic text of the Vulgate) with all +the succeeding revisions made at various times by the English +Protestants, we find that they have steadily returned towards the old +Catholic Version. This is not only an improvement as an approach to +the Catholic teaching, but it is also a confession, however reluctantly +made, of past errors on the part of former Protestant translators. + +At the time of their separation from the Catholic Church the reformers, +so-called, had to give reasons for their defection. They found fault +with one doctrine or another in the old Catholic Church, such as the +supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, the jurisdiction of bishops, the Holy +Sacrifice, celibacy, confession, etc. To justify the rejection of +these doctrines they must appeal to some authority: if not to the +Pontiff, then to the king, or to the Bible, or to both simultaneously. +But though the king might favor their novelties of doctrine inasmuch as +they relieved his conscience of the reproach of disobedience to the +Pontiff, who knew but one law of morals for the prince and the peasant, +the Bible as hitherto read was against them. Now, Luther had given +distracted Germany an example of what might be done in the way of +whittling down the supernatural, and eliminating some of the irksome +duties imposed by the old Church. He had made a new translation of the +Bible, threw out passages, nay, whole books,[2] which did not meet his +views, and added here and there a little word which did admirable +service by setting him right with a world that for the most part could +neither read Hebrew nor Latin nor Greek, and trusted him for a learned +translator. + +In similar fashion an English translation had already been attempted by +Wiclif about 1380, and almost simultaneously by Nicolas of Hereford. +There existed in England at the time of Luther an edition of the +Scriptures called the "great Bible." It was Catholic up to its fourth +edition, that of 1541. Then, as is generally supposed, it was revised +by the Elizabethan bishops in 1508, and in 1611, after a more +lengthened revision, it appeared as a King James "Authorized Version." +Since then various revisions and corrections of this Bible have been +printed, each succeeding one eliminating some of the previous errors. +Mr. Thomas Ward has made up an interesting book called "Errata--the +truth of the English translations of the Bible examined," or "a +treatise showing some of the errors that are found in the English +translation of the Sacred Scriptures used by Protestants against such +points of religious doctrine as are the subject of controversy between +them and the members of the Catholic Church." Dr. Ward's book embraces +a comparison between the Catholic English translation and the various +Protestant versions up to the year 1683, for since then no changes were +made in the English Protestant Bible called the authorized version +until 1871, when the work of a new revision, published between 1881-85, +was undertaken, which is not included in Dr. Ward's "Errata." + +Why was this last revision made? Was not the King James version of +1611, for the most part, beautiful English? As to the rest, was it not +for every Protestant an absolute, infallible rule of faith? The +language was good, the truth still better; what need, then, was there +to revise? + +The revisers of 1881 tell us that the language of the old English +version could be improved, and that they meant to improve it. The +older translators, they say, "seem to have been guided by the feeling +that their version would secure for the words they used a lasting place +in the language; ... but it cannot be doubted that the studied +avoidance of uniformity in the rendering of the same words, even when +occurring in the same context, is one of the blemishes in their work." + +But are the changes of language or expression all that the reviewers of +this infallible text-book aim at? No. Listen to what Dr. Ellicott in +the Preface to the Pastoral Epistles says: + +"It is vain to cheat our souls with the thought that these errors are +either insignificant or imaginary. There _are_ errors, there _are_ +inaccuracies, there _are_ misconceptions, there _are_ obscurities, not, +indeed, so many in number or so grave in character as some of the +forward spirits of our day would persuade us; but there _are_ +misrepresentations of the language of the Holy Ghost; and that man who, +after being in any degree satisfied of this, permits himself to bow to +the counsels of a timid or popular obstructiveness, or who, +intellectually unable to test the truth of these allegations, +nevertheless permits himself to denounce or deny them, will, if they be +true, most surely at the dread day of final account have to sustain the +tremendous charge of having dealt deceitfully with the inviolable Word +of God."[3] + +So this book, the infallible voice of God revealing His ways, this sole +rule of faith for millions of Englishmen, and by which millions had +lived and sworn and died during more than two centuries, had to be +revised, not only as to the form, but in the matter also. Two +committees were formed, about fifty of the members being from England, +thirty from America--Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, etc. +Cardinal Newman and Dr. Pusey were invited, but declined to attend. +Mr. Vance Smith, a Unitarian, a distinguished scholar, but certainly no +Christian, received a place in the New Testament committee. These +gentlemen set to work in earnest to revise the Word of God and settle +the Bible of the future. They had to consider the advance made in +textual criticism represented by Lachmann, Scholz, Tregelles, +Tischendorf, and Drs. Westcott and Hort. + +They labored ten years and a half, as Dr. Ellicott assures us, "with +thoroughness, loyalty to the authorized versions, and due recognition +of the best judgment of antiquity. One of their rules, expressly laid +down for their common guidance, was to introduce as few alterations as +possible into the text of the authorized version." + +How many corrections, think you, were made in the New Testament alone? +About 20,000, of which fifty per cent. are textual, that is "9 to every +five verses of the Gospels, and 15 to every five in the Epistles." +Besides these changes, which must be a shock to many an English +Protestant who has accustomed himself by long reading of the Bible to +believe in verbal inspiration, there are a number of omissions in the +New Revised Text which in all amount to about 40 entire verses. It +appears, then, that the King James Bible of some years ago has not been +as most Protestants of necessity claimed for it--the pure, authentic, +unadulterated Word of God. And if not, what guarantee have we that the +promiscuous body of recent translators, however learned, withal not +inspired, have given us that pure, authentic, unadulterated Word of God? + +Let us glance over a few pages of the New Testament to see of what +nature and of what importance, from a doctrinal point of view, are the +changes made by the late revisers of the "Authorized (Protestant) +Version." + +In the first place, they have acknowledged the reading of I. Cor. xi. +27, regarding communion under one kind, by translating the Greek +[Greek: gamma] by _or_, and not by _and_, an error which had been +repeated in all the Protestant translations since 1525, and which gave +rise to endless abuse of the Catholic practice of giving the Blessed +Sacrament to the laity under only one species. "Whosoever shall eat +the bread _or_ drink the cup" is the reading in the Greek as well as in +the Latin Vulgate, and nothing but "theological fear or partiality," as +Dean Stanley expressed it, could have warranted this mistranslation, +which may be found in all the editions of 1520, 1538, 1562, 1508, 1577, +1579, 1611, etc. + +But this is only one of many acts of justice which the learned revisers +have done to Catholics by restoring the true reading; they have given +us back the _altar_ which, together with the Holy Sacrifice and +confession and celibacy, had become obnoxious to the "reformers." We +now read, I. Cor. x. 18, that "those that eat the hosts" are in +"communion with the _altar_," where formerly they were only "partakers +of the temple." + +Having restored the Catholic practice of Holy Communion under one kind, +and likewise the altar, we are not surprised that the "overseers" of +the King James version should have become _bishops_, as in Acts xx. 28, +although a good many of the _overseers_ have been left in their places, +possibly because the "elders" (Acts xv. 2; Tit. i. 5; I. Tim. v. 17 and +19, etc.) have not yet become _priests_, as they are in the Rhemish +(Catholic) translation. However, the "elders" are likely to turn out +priests at the next revision, because they are not only "ordained," but +also "appointed," whereas in the old English revisions of 1562 and 1579 +they were ordained elders "by election in every congregation," which is +still done in Protestant churches where there are no bishops, and even +in some which have "overseers" with the honorary title of "bishop." + +As to the celibacy question, the revisers have not thought fit to +endorse it by translating [Greek: _ŕdelphęn gynaicha_] a "woman," a +sister; but they adhere to the old "wife," as Beza, in his translation, +makes the Apostles go about with their "wives" (Acts i. 14). + +In the matter of "confession" we have got a degree nearer to the old +Catholic version and practice likewise. The Protestant reformers had +no "sins" to confess; they had only "faults." Hence they translate St. +James v. 16 by "confess your faults." But the revisers of 1881 found +out that these "faults" were downright sins, and so they put it. +Accordingly we find that the Apostles have power literally "to forgive" +sins, whereas formerly, the sins being only faults, it was enough to +have them "remitted," which means a sort of passive yielding or +condoning on the part of the overseers in favor of repentant sinners, +but did not convey the idea of a sacramental power "binding and +loosening" in heaven as on earth. + +Our dear Blessed Lady also receives some justice at the hands of the +new translators. She is not simply "highly favored" as in the times of +King James and ever since, but now is "endued with grace," though only +in a footnote. + +"It was expected," says an anonymous writer in the above cited article +of the _Dublin Review_,[4] "that the revisers, in deference to modern +refinement, would get rid of 'hell' and 'damnation,' like the judge who +was said to have dismissed hell with costs. 'Damnation' and kindred +words have gone.... A new word, 'Hades,' Pluto's Greek name, has been +brought into our language to save the old word 'hell' from overwork. +The Rich Man is no longer in 'hell,' he is now '_in Hades;_' but he is +still 'in torment.' So Hades must be Purgatory, and the revisers have +thus moved Dives into Purgatory, and Purgatory into the Gospel. Dives +will not object; but what will Protestants say?" + +An important change has been introduced in their treatment of the +Lord's Prayer. Protestants, for over three hundred years, have +concluded that prayer with the words: "for Thine is the kingdom and the +power and the glory forever." These words were to be found in St. +Matt. vi. 13 according to the Protestant text. They were certainly +wanting in St. Luke xi. 2, who also gives us the words of the "Our +Father" with a very slight change of form. Catholics were reproached +for not adding the 'doxology,' which proved to be a custom in the Greek +Catholic Church, very much like our use of the "Glory be to the Father, +and to the Son," etc., at the end of each psalm recited or sung at +Vespers. Examination showed that the phrase "for Thine is the +kingdom," etc., was to be found principally in versions made by and for +the Catholics of the Greek Church, and this explained how the same had +crept into the copyists' Greek version. This fact is recognized at +length in the late revision where the words are omitted from the text +of St. Matthew, whilst a footnote states that "many authorities, some +ancient, but with variations, add: 'for Thine is the kingdom and the +glory forever.'" + +The American revisers had made a number of very sensible suggestions, +which would have brought the new Protestant version of the Bible still +nearer to the old Catholic translation of Rheims and Douay; but their +voice was not considered weighty enough, and Mr. Vance Smith openly +blames the English committee on this score, saying that "they have not +shown that judicial freedom from theological bias which was certainly +expected from them." On the other hand, the American revisers showed +their national spirit and liberality to a degree which must have +horrified the orthodox members of the Anglican Community. The +Americans "suggested the removal of all mention of the sin of +heresy--heresies in their eyes being only 'factions.' They desired +also that the Apostles and Evangelists should drop their title of +Saint, and be content to be called plain John, and Paul, and Thomas. +This resulted, no doubt, from their democratic taste for strict +equality, and their hatred of titles even in the kingdom of heaven."[5] + +After all this the principle of faith in the Bible alone became +somewhat insecure, and we find the revisers making a silent concession +on this point by allowing something to the Catholic principle of a +living, perpetually transmitted _tradition_. St. Paul, who speaks of +the _altar_ and of _bishops_, and who allows _Communion under one +kind_, and who had no wife, and wanted none (I. Cor. vii.), praises the +Corinthians, not simply for keeping his "ordinances," as in the time of +King James, but for keeping the _traditions_ as he had delivered them +to the Greek churches before he found opportunity to write to the +Corinthians. + +There is one other point of difference between the Catholic and +Protestant Bibles to which it is instructive to call attention. It is +in regard to the writing of proper names, especially in the Old +Testament. Thus where we in the Catholic Bibles have _Nabuchodonosor_ +for the king of Babylon, son of Nabopollassar, the Protestant version +has _Nebuchadnezzar_; where we have _Elias_ and _Eliseus_, the +Protestant version has _Elijah_ and _Elisha_, and so forth regarding +many Hebrew names of persons and places. You will ask whence the +difference, and which is right? + +The difference arises from the fact that the Protestant Version follows +the present Hebrew text of the Bible, whilst the Catholic Version +follows the Greek. Which is the safer to follow on such points as the +pronunciation of proper names--the Hebrew or the Greek? You will say +the Hebrew, but it is not so. The old Hebrew writing had, as I +mentioned before, no vowels. Hence it could not be read by any one who +had not heard it read in the schools of the rabbis. Some _six +centuries after our Lord_, certain Jewish doctors who were called +Masorets, anxious to preserve the traditional sounds of the Hebrew +language, supplied vowels in the shape of points, which they placed +under the square consonants, without disturbing the latter. Hence the +present vowel system in Hebrew, or, in other words, the present +pronunciation of Hebrew according to the reading of the Bible, is the +work of men who relied for the pronunciation of words on a tradition +which carried them back over many centuries, that is, from the time +when Hebrew was a living language to about six hundred years after +Christ. It is not difficult to imagine how in such a length of time +the true pronunciation may have been lost or certainly modified in some +cases; for though the Hebrew words were there on the paper, written in +consonants of the old form, the pronunciation of the vowels must have +been doubtful if resting on tradition alone, since the Hebrew had +already ceased to be a living language for many centuries. + +In the meantime, the true pronunciation of the Hebrew proper names +could have been preserved in some of the translations made long before +the Masoretic doctors supplied their vowel points. One of these +translations from the Hebrew is the Greek Septuagint. It was made, as +we have seen, in the time of Ptolemy, _i.e._, some two and a half +centuries before Christ. The learned Jews who made this translation +knew perfectly well how the Hebrew of their day was pronounced, and we +cannot suppose that they would mutilate the proper names of their +mother tongue in the translation into Greek which, possessing written +vowels, obliged them to express the full pronunciation of the persons +and places which they transcribed. + +Accordingly, we have two sources for our pronunciation of Hebrew proper +names: one which dates from about the sixth or seventh century of the +present era, when the Hebrew had become a dead language; and another, +made about _nine hundred years earlier_ by Jewish rabbis, who spoke the +language perfectly well, and who could _express the pronunciation of +proper names_ accurately because they wrote in a language which had +_written_ vowels, and with which they were as conversant as with their +own, the Hebrew. + +Furthermore, we have other versions, made long before the Masoretic +Doctors invented their vowel-points in order to fix the Hebrew +pronunciation as they conceived it. Among these is the Latin Vulgate +which, like the Greek of the Septuagint, should give us the correct +pronunciation--because it was made by St. Jerome, who had studied the +Hebrew and Chaldee in Palestine under a Jewish rabbi. He knew, +therefore, the pronunciation of the Jews in his day (331-420), and +there was no reason why he should not give it to us in his several +different translations, whilst there might have been some cause why the +Masoretic Jews who lived two or three centuries later should dislike to +accept either the Greek or the Latin versions for an authority, because +both versions were used and constantly cited by the Christians as proof +that the Messiah had come. + +Incidentally, the late archeological finds confirm this. Thus the name +of Nabuchodonosor (IV. Kings xxiv. 1) (Protestant, Nebuchadnezzar), +mentioned above as an example, reads in the cuneiform inscription of +the Assyrian monument Nebukudursur, which is evidently the same form of +vowel pronunciation as that employed in the Catholic version. + +In comparing the two versions thus far little has been said as to the +peculiar character or merits of the English Catholic version commonly +called the Vulgate English or Douay Bible. But the main purpose of the +present chapter has been attained by the necessary inference which the +reader must have drawn, namely, that the old Catholic version is the +more faithful, and that, after all, the Bible is not a safe guide +without a Church to guard its integrity and to interpret its meaning. + +But let me say just a word about the Vulgate. The Catholic Vulgate is +practically the work of St. Jerome, and our English Catholic edition is +made as literally as may be from this Latin Vulgate, "diligently +compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions in divers +languages." The copies, most in use now, were made from an edition +published by the English College at Rheims in 1582, and at Douay in +1609, revised by Dr. Challoner. + +The need of a new revision has been recognized, and an effort to supply +the want was made by the late Archbishop Kenrick, whose translation was +recommended by the Council of Baltimore in 1858, although it has not +been generally adopted. However, the changes to be made in the +translation of the Catholic Bible in English cannot be very numerous +nor affecting doctrines defined by the Church; nor is any accidental +change of words or expressions so vital a matter to the Catholic mind +as it must be with those who have but the Bible as their one primary +rule of faith. So far Protestant revisions have done Catholics a +service in removing by successive corrections one error after another +from the "reformed" Bible, thus demonstrating the correctness of the +old Vulgate; but they have also led Protestants to reflect seriously, +and to realize that the "Bible only" principle is proved to be false +and dangerous. They must see that the Scripture is powerless without +the Church as the witness to its inspiration, the safeguard of its +integrity, and the exponent of its meaning. + + + +[1] Cf. a paper on the subject of the New Revision in the _Dublin +Review_, 1881, vol. VI., ser. iii. + +[2] These books have been mostly retained in the Protestant Bible under +the name of _Apocryphal_, _i.e._, not inspired. The Church accepts and +defines their inspiration, and in this is supported by the strong +testimony of apostolic tradition. + +[3] "Pastoral Epistles," p. 13. + +[4] Vol. VI., ser. iii. + +[5] _Dublin Review_, _l.c._ + + + + +XXI. + +THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SCIENTIFIC +CONTROVERSY REGARDING THE BIBLE. + +In one of the old churches of Wales you may see the Ten Commandments +written upon the wall, and beneath them the following inscription, the +meaning of which, it is said, had for a long time remained a mystery to +the people: + + P R S V R Y P R F C T M N, + V R K P T H S P R C P T S T N. + +Some one supplied the key to the interpretation by suggesting the +letter E. Then everybody read the lines, and the old folks told their +children, who inform the casual visitor that the strange letters +plainly mean: _Persevere ye perfect men, ever keep these precepts ten_. + +The inscription in the old Welsh church is a good illustration of the +old text of the Bible, which had no vowels, no division of words and +sentences. God gave the key to its meaning through an intelligent +interpreter, and the men of learning supply the divisions--even in this +sense that they sometimes dispute the place where to insert and where +to omit the E. + +The original obscurity has induced many to study the Bible, and the +grand result of this study in our day has been to lead the great +majority of scientific men, whether they are believers in the divine +origin of the Book or not, to the conclusion that it is, to say the +least, an historical monument of the highest antiquity, the contents of +which have come down to us in that genuine and authentic form which is +claimed for it; that is to say, that it has not been tampered with or +falsified to such an extent as would render its statements materially +other than they were from the beginning. + +Tischendorf, one of the leading Biblical text critics in recent times, +allows indeed some 30,000 variations for the New Testament alone in the +different manuscripts of which we possess any trace. Although these +variations are on the whole very slight, so as not to affect the +genuineness of the Scripture documents, they establish the fact that we +do not possess the text of the Bible in the _literal_ form in which the +inspired writers originally wrote it down. + +Whatever changes have crept into the text of the Bible, through +inadvertence of copyists or defective translations into other +languages, it is a settled fact among Catholic divines that they do not +affect the moral and dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church. They +regard either purely historical incidents or scientific facts, neither +of which are the object of the doctrinal definitions or moral teachings +of the Church. They are the proper subject for the study of human +reason and investigation. Hence philological science may very +becomingly occupy itself with the verbal criticism of the language and +thought of the Bible. But the Catholic Church, as a teacher of +religious truth, has an interest in these studies of verbal criticism +in so far only as they may become a help or a hindrance to her +legitimate activity of preaching and preserving the truth of +Christianity. As a rule, the Church anticipates the dangerous issues +arising from the misuse of such studies by deliberately defining not +only the right use of the instruments employed for the purpose of +criticism, but also what she herself deems the subject-matter lying +outside of the domain of such criticism. Thus, in a negative way, she +points out the field for the exercise of theories, or rather she +defines the lines beyond which speculation may not safely go. The +Church would have no end of tasks if she undertook to defend her +position against the continuously proposed hypotheses by which any +chance comer might venture to challenge her veracity or authority. +Most theories are ephemeral; two, succeeding each other, are often +mutually destructive. Prof. H. L. Hastings in his "Higher Criticism" +tells us that since 1850 there have been published 747 theories, known +to him, about the origin and authenticity of the Bible. Of these 747 +theories he counts 608 as now defunct, and as the Professor wrote +several years ago, we may assume that nearly all of the remaining 139 +are dead by this time, although a few new ones have come in to take +their place for a day.[1] + +What, then, is the position of the Catholic Church, as limited by +_positive definition_, with regard to the text of the Bible, by which +she limits the aggressiveness of Biblical criticism? + +The Catholic Church gives us a very ancient and well-attested text of +the entire Bible in the Latin tongue, and in virtue of her commission +to teach, which includes the right and duty to appoint the text-book +for that teaching, she says: _The sacred Council of Trent, believing +that it would be of great advantage to the Church of God to have it +known which of the various Latin editions of the Bible is to be held +authentic, hereby declares that the ancient edition commonly known as +the Vulgate, which has been approved by the long-standing use of ages +in the Church, is to be considered as the authentic Bible for official +uses of teaching_ (Trent, vi. 12). + +You notice that the Council of Trent does not say that the Vulgate +corresponds exactly to the literal original text, nor that it is the +best of all known translations. The Council states only, but states +explicitly, that the Vulgate edition of the Bible is a reliable source +of the written revelation in matters of faith and morals. And the +reason which the Council alleges for this preference of the Vulgate +over other editions is its constant use for centuries in the Church; in +other words, that it represents the best tradition of the received +text-form of the Sacred Scriptures. But the definition of the Council +implies not only that the contents of the Vulgate in their entirety are +reliable and authentic, but that each of its statements is authentic in +its dogmatic contents, since the whole Vulgate, _i.e._, in all its +parts, is said to constitute a medium or instrument of official +teaching in the Church. The declaration of the Council is regarding +the _Latin_ Vulgate; hence all translations must conform to _its_ text, +that is to say, the corrected text of 1592, called the Clementine +recension. + +It is noteworthy that, whilst the Church points out a text which is to +be the official pattern in her liturgy and in the defence of Catholic +teaching regarding faith and morals, she does not define anything +regarding other texts or versions of the Bible. Neither the Hebrew nor +the Greek texts are mentioned, although the Church gives to them, and +the Coptic, Syrian, and Armenian versions, an implied approbation by +tolerating their liturgical use in the Oriental churches. + +What the Church has defined, therefore, regarding the Vulgate is this: +It has declared its _dogmatic integrity_. This implies that the +contents of the Vulgate give in their entirety and in their details a +reliable version of the inspired text as an instrument of teaching +Catholic truth and morals. + +From a scientific point of view the Vulgate enjoys the advantage of +being the oldest of all the Scriptural versions. In the Old Testament +it represents a text more ancient than the Hebrew of the Masoretic +doctors. The New Testament is likewise older than the oldest Greek +text extant, as Lachmann in his critical edition has demonstrated. +Moreover, its composition is the result of the best scientific +apparatus of early Christian times, which St. Jerome possessed in a +phenomenal degree, both as to his person and also as to the +circumstances in which he was placed. Finally, it has an historical +support of unequalled superiority, inasmuch as it has been from the +beginning the means of Christianizing the nations of Europe. + +All this is being verified, not only by textual critics, but by the +more recent discoveries in the study of Christian paleography. + +Such is the position in which scientific research finds the Church. +The multiform theories about the Bible, and the various possible senses +of its words and passages, only affect her in a limited degree. +Catholic apologists are obliged to deal with these theories so far only +as they affect the positive teaching of the Church in faith and morals, +although the analogy of faith demands that the Catholic scientist test +his opinions by weighty tradition and approved practice. Whilst the +_dogmatic_ integrity of the Sacred Scriptures is thus secured, the +examination of the critical integrity of individual parts leaves a wide +field open to Catholic Biblical students. The work done by +non-Catholic scholars who have examined the Bible, either to bring out +the verbal meaning of its text, or to verify some historical or +philological hypothesis, is astounding. Catholic students owe a great +debt to the first gleaners in this field; for though we have neither +felt impelled to look for the rule of our faith in the Bible +exclusively, nor always been inclined to accept the dicta regarding the +literal sense of so sacred a document from the professors of +philological discipline, we have incidentally profited by all these +searchings. They have illustrated the excellence of our faith, both as +a system and as a moral principle. They have thrown light upon +problems of exegesis. All the doctrines and practices of the Catholic +Church have found their confirmation in the analysis of Biblical terms +as the result of textual criticism. The words of the Bible have been +thrown into the crucible, and the gold of Catholic doctrine has been +the outcome--purer, brighter, more refined, and still weighty. Each +verified theory regarding the sense of old forgotten Hebrew terms has +received the impress of Catholic approbation, and served to give the +doctrine of the Church a more ready currency. Scientists, often +reluctantly, are pointing out golden opportunities for Catholic +students. + +It does not come within our present scope to speak of the various +methods employed by the science and art of Biblical criticism, nor to +retail the separate results to which the inquiry into the authenticity +(Higher Criticism) and the integrity and purity of the text (Lower +Criticism) has led. The history of the New Testament, which is the +best witness to the authenticity and integrity of the Old Testament +books, provided we admit the divinity of Christ, which in its turn +rests upon the strongest historic evidence, has received an immense +amount of confirmatory argument in numerous discoveries of ancient +documents. Within the last forty years have been found, among other +valuable writings, the famous _Codex Sinaiticus_ by Tischendorf (1859), +one of the oldest Greek texts of the Bible. In 1875 Archbishop +Briennios found in Constantinople the MS. Epistles of Clement of Rome, +which not only confirm the apostolical writings and evangels as being +received in the Church of his day, but furnish the oldest liturgical +prayer and sermon of post-apostolic times. Another document of the +same character, in Latin, was discovered by Morin in 1893. Next we +have the celebrated _Diatessaron of Tatian_, the oldest gospel harmony +in existence, which, known to Eusebius, but lost in the meantime, was +recovered lately, with a parallel manuscript found in Egypt, and +published last year in English. This takes us back to the time of St. +Justin. Another most important find is the MS. of the so-called +"Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." The document was discovered by +Briennios, and published in 1883. It throws much light on the +ecclesiastical discipline of the early Christian Church (about A.D. +120), speaks of the written Gospels, etc. Another valuable MS. +(Syriac) was found in 1889 by Professor Harris. It is the "Apology of +Aristides," brought from the convent of St. Catharine on Mt. Sinai, and +dates about the year 140, as it is addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, +and offers him the Christian Scriptures to read. + +I pass over a host of other important finds of the same nature, of +unquestioned authenticity, which carry us back to the apostolic age. + + + +[1] See Hettinser's "Apologie," Preface xi. + + + + +XXII. + +MYSTERIOUS CHARACTERS. + +Whilst Biblical criticism and constantly increasing discoveries of new +treasures, such as we mentioned in the last chapter, are adding their +approving light to the ancient and unchanged traditions of the Catholic +Church regarding the Bible and its exegesis, the finds of archeology +are confirming the statements of the Bible, especially the Old +Testament history, with an accuracy which forces even the infidel +scientist to bear witness to the historical truth of the inspired +records. + +A century ago Biblical antiquity received its side-lights, for the most +part, from rabbinical literature, and from newly-discovered methods of +interpreting those classics which dealt with the Oriental world +incidentally. But in modern times an immense literary field has been +opened by the discovery of ancient monuments in Egypt, Assyria, +Babylonia, Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, and the surrounding countries. +These monuments place us in position to trace the condition of these +nations to very remote periods, and give us a key to the explanation of +the Biblical documents. Extraordinary labor, coupled with all-sided +knowledge, a refined method of observation, and untiring patience, have +made it possible to read the hieroglyphics and the so-called cuneiform +inscriptions. It is interesting to trace the gradual progress by which +definite results were attained in deciphering certain inscriptions +whose language was entirely unknown to any living man. I may be +allowed to give here an illustration, taken from Mr. Sayce's excellent +little work, "Fresh Lights on Ancient Monuments," in which he describes +the manner of unravelling the mysterious threads of the old Persian +script: + + +"Travellers had discovered inscriptions engraved in cuneiform, or, as +they were also termed, arrow-headed, characters on the ruined monuments +of Persepolis and other ancient sites in Persia. Some of these +monuments were known to have been erected by the Achćmenian +princes--Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and his successors--and it was +therefore inferred that the inscriptions also had been carved by order +of the same kings. The inscriptions were in three different systems of +cuneiform writing; and, since the three kinds of inscription were +always placed side by side, it was evident that they represented +different versions of the same text. The subjects of the Persian kings +belonged to more than one race, and, just as in the present day a +Turkish pasha in the East has to publish an edict in Turkish, Arabic, +and Persian, if it is to be understood by all the populations under his +charge, so the Persian kings were obliged to use the language and +system of writing peculiar to each of the nations they governed +whenever they wished their proclamations to be read and understood by +them. + +"It was clear that the three versions of the Achćmenian inscriptions +were addressed to the three chief populations of the Persian empire, +and that the one that invariably came first was composed in ancient +Persian, the language of the sovereign himself. Now this Persian +version happened to offer the decipherer less difficulties than the two +others which accompanied it. The number of distinct characters +employed in writing it did not exceed forty, while the words were +divided from one another by a slanting wedge. Some of the words +contained so many characters that it was plain that these latter must +denote letters, and not syllables, and that consequently the Persian +cuneiform system must have consisted of an alphabet, and not of a +syllabary. It was further plain that the inscriptions had to be read +from left to right, since the ends of all the lines were exactly +underneath one another on the left side, whereas they terminated +irregularly on the right; indeed, the last line sometimes ended at a +considerable distance from the right-hand extremity of the inscription. + +"The clue to the decipherment of the inscriptions was first discovered +by the successful guess of a German scholar, Grotefend. Grotefend +noticed that the inscriptions generally began with three or four words, +one of which varied, while the others remained unchanged. The variable +word had three forms, though the same form always appeared on the same +monument. Grotefend, therefore, conjectured that this word represented +the name of a king, the words which followed it being the royal titles. +One of the supposed names appeared much oftener than the others, and, +as it was too short for Artaxerxes and too long for Cyrus, it was +evident that it must stand either for Darius or for Xerxes. A study of +the classical authors showed Grotefend that certain of the monuments on +which it was found had been constructed by Darius, and he accordingly +gave to the characters composing it the values required for spelling +'Darius' in its old Persian form. In this way he succeeded in +obtaining conjectural values for six cuneiform letters. He now turned +to the second royal name, which also appeared on several monuments, and +was of much the same length as that of Darius. This could only be +Xerxes; but if so, the fifth letter composing it (r) would necessarily +be the same as the third letter in the name of Darius. This proved to +be the case, and thus afforded the best possible evidence that the +German scholar was on the right track. + +"The third name, which was much longer than the other two, differed +from the second chiefly at the beginning, the latter part of it +resembling the name of Xerxes. Clearly, therefore, it could be nothing +else than Artaxerxes, and that it actually was so was rendered certain +by the fact that the second character composing it was that which had +the value of r. + +"Grotefend now possessed a small alphabet, and with this he proceeded +to read the word which always followed the royal name, and therefore +probably meant 'king.' He found that it closely resembled the word +which signified 'king' in Zend, the old language of the Eastern +Persians, which was spoken in one part of Persia at the same time that +Old Persian, the language of the Achćmenian princes, was spoken in +another. There could, consequently, be no further room for doubt that +he had really solved the great problem, and discovered the key to the +decipherment of the cuneiform texts. + +"But he did little further himself towards the completion of the work, +and it was many years before any real progress was made with it. +Meanwhile, the study of Zend had made great advances, more especially +in the hands of Burnouf, who eventually turned his attention to the +cuneiform inscriptions. But it is to Burnouf's pupil, Lassen, as well +as to Sir Henry Rawlinson, that the decipherment of these inscriptions +owes its final completion. The discovery of the list of Persian +satrapies in the inscription of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustem, and above all +the copy of the long inscription of Darius on the rock of Behistum, +made by Sir H. Rawlinson, enabled these scholars independently of one +another to construct an alphabet which differed only in the value +assigned to a single character, and, with the help of the cognate Zend +and Sanskrit, to translate the language so curiously brought to light. +The decipherment of the Persian cuneiform texts thus became an +accomplished fact; what was next needed was to decipher the two +versions which were inscribed at their side. + +"But this was no easy task. The words in them were not divided from +one another, and the characters of which they were composed were +exceedingly numerous. With the assistance, however, of frequently +recurring proper names, even these two versions gradually yielded to +the patient skill of the decipherer; and it was then discovered that +while one of them represented an agglutinative language, such as that +of the Turks or Fins, the other was in a dialect which closely +resembled the Hebrew of the Old Testament. The monuments found almost +immediately afterwards in Assyria and Babylonia by Botta and Layard +soon made it clear to what people this dialect must have belonged. The +inscriptions of Nineveh turned out to be written in the same language +and form of cuneiform script; and it must therefore have been for the +Semitic population of Assyria and Babylonia that the kings of Persia +had caused one of the versions of their inscriptions to be drawn up. +This version served us a starting-point for the decipherment of the +texts which the excavations in Assyria had brought to light." + + +In this way results which stood the test of severe criticism were +obtained until the most difficult inscriptions have become a +comparatively open book to the historian of to-day. Thus it has come +about that, as Prof. Ira Price says: "Since 1850 the Old Testament has +been gradually appearing in the ever-brightening and brighter light of +contemporaneous history. The new light now pours in upon it from all +sides. It is the one history made rich by that of all its neighbors. +Israel is the one people whose part in the drama of ancient nations is +just beginning to be understood.... The cuneiform letters discovered +at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, in 1887, have opened up new territory in the +fifteenth century, B.C. They are despatches and official +communications sent by a large number of rulers, kings, and governors, +mainly of countries and provinces and cities of Southwestern Asia, to +the king of Egypt. These documents disclose a marvellously advanced +stage of development, intellectually, politically, and socially, among +the people who were soon to be Israel's nearest neighbors. They formed +the early background of Israel's settlement in Canaan, and prepare us +for no surprises in Israel's growth. In fact, we see that Joshua and +his army actually settled in a land of cities and fortresses, already +containing many of the elements of civilization, but sadly reduced by +internal and external warfare." + +The labor of the excavator in the Biblical countries, such as the +unearthing of the immense library of brick tablets in the neighborhood +of Nineveh, and the result of new discoveries which the ground of +Palestine, so long and strangely neglected, promises to yield, widen +the field of Biblical research immensely, and from it all we may with +perfect assurance look for fresh arguments in behalf of the +authenticity and substantial integrity of the Sacred Scriptures. At +the same time the interpretation of many of its passages, now obscure, +will become clearer in the light of contemporary history. + +Surely this is a hopeful sign, and should encourage us in the study of +the Bible, which is on so many accounts a source of intellectual +pleasure, of abiding peace of heart, and of that high moral refinement +which comes from contact with noble minds. There are none better on +earth than the sacred writers--men who walked and spoke with God, and +whose living contact we may enjoy in the participation of that +celestial inspiration which breathes through their writings. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + +The foregoing chapters are nothing more than a brief illustration of +the principles laid down by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., in his +Encyclical Letter "On the Study of the Sacred Scriptures."[1] The +careful reading of this Letter must convince us how important a part +the study of the Bible has always played in the Church. The +conclusions of Leo XIII. are not of yesterday, nor does he claim them +as of his own invention. He cites the Fathers and Doctors of the +Church, and the Decrees of Councils, from Antioch to Trent and the +Vatican, as witnesses to the fact that all Catholic teaching rests upon +the Sacred Scriptures as one of the two great foundation stones which +support the grand archway leading into the domain of divine truth. +God, in order that He may reveal Himself to man, sends His messengers, +the Prophets and the Apostles, to announce with living voice His +promises and His judgments; then, as if to confirm their mission for +all time to come, He bids them take a letter, written by Himself, and +addressed "to the human race on its pilgrimage afar from its +fatherland" (Encycl.). That letter is the Holy Scripture. "To +understand and to explain it there is always required the 'coming' of +the same Holy Spirit" who was to abide with the Church. And she, "by +her admirable laws and regulations, has always shown herself solicitous +that the celestial treasure of the Sacred Book ... should not be +neglected" (Ibid.). If men have grown remiss at any time in the use of +that heavenly gift, it cannot be said that the Church failed to keep +before them its admirable utility. "She has arranged that a +considerable portion of it should be read, and with pious mind +considered by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred +psalmody." For centuries past the solemn promise of every ordained +priest throughout the Catholic world to recite each day the Hours of +the Breviary testifies to the constant practice of not only reading, +but meditating a fixed portion of the Scriptures, so that under this +strictest of his priestly obligations he has practically completed the +entire sacred volume within the limit of each ecclesiastical year. +"She has strictly commanded that her children shall be fed with the +saving word of the Gospel, at least on Sundays and on solemn feasts." +If these laws and this practice receive a fresh impulse from the +Sovereign Pontiff in our day, it is because there have arisen men who +teach that the Sacred Scriptures are the work of mere human industry, +that they contain only fables, which have no claim to be respected as +coming from God. "They deny that there is any such thing as divine +revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see in +these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men.... The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the force of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned" (Ibid.). To confute these errors Leo bids us engage voice +and pen. In the limited space allowed us we have only been able to +indicate the arguments which prove the historical authenticity and the +essentially divine character which points to the true origin of the +Sacred Text, and at the same time to lead the earnest student into the +way of reading with pleasure and profit the grandest of all written +works. + + + +[1] Litterć Encyclicć, "Providentissimus Deus," Nov. 17, A.D. 1893. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + +_Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII._ + +ON + +THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. + + +_To Our Venerable brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and +Bishops of the Catholic World, in grace and communion with the +Apostolic See._ + +LEO P. P. XIII. + +VENERABLE BRETHREN, + +_Health and Apostolic Benediction._ + +The God of all Providence, who in the wondrous counsel of His love +raised the human race in its beginning to participation of the divine +nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, +restoring it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed +upon man a singular safeguard--making known to him, by supernatural +means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. +Although in divine revelation some things are comprehended which are +not beyond the reach of human reason, they are made the objects of +revelation in order that all may come to know them with facility, +certainty, and freedom from all error. It is not, however, on this +account that revelation can be said to be absolutely necessary; but +because God of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural +end. This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the +universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition and in +written Books. These are called sacred and canonical because, being +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for +their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. This +belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church with +regard to the Books of both Testaments. There are well-known documents +of the gravest character, coming down to us from the earliest times, +which proclaim that God, who spoke first by the Prophets, then by +Himself, and thereafter by the Apostles, composed the Canonical +Scriptures. These are divine oracles and utterances--a Letter, written +by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the +human race on its pilgrimage afar from its fatherland. If, then, such +and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures that +God Himself has, as the author of them, composed them, and that they +treat of God's deepest mysteries, counsels, and works, it follows that +the branch of sacred theology which is concerned with the defence and +interpretation of these divine books must be most excellent and in the +highest degree profitable. + +Now We, who by the help of God, and not without fruit, have by frequent +letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of study, +which seemed well fitted for advancing the glory of God and +contributing to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished +the desire to give an impulse to the most noble study of the Sacred +Scriptures, and to impart to it a direction which is suitable to the +needs of the present day. The solicitude of the Apostolic office +naturally urges, and even compels Us, not only to desire that this +grand source of Catholic revelation should be made more safely and +abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also to prevent +it from being in any way violated, on the part either of those who +impiously and openly assail the Scriptures, or of those who are led +astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties. + +We are not ignorant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are +Catholics not a few, men abounding in talent and learning, who do +devote themselves with alacrity to the defence of the Divine Books, and +to making them better known and understood. But while giving to these +men the commendation which they deserve for their labor and the fruits +of it, We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and +piety and learning we have a right to expect the very best results, to +give themselves to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and +fervent desire to see an increase in the number of approved and +unwearying laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially +that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by +day, as is most meet, display greater diligence and industry in +reading, meditating, and explaining it. Among the reasons for which +this study is so worthy of commendation--in addition to its own +excellence and to the homage which we owe to God's word--the chief +reason of all is the manifold benefit of which it is the source. This +we know will flow therefrom on the most certain testimony of the Holy +Ghost Himself, who says: "All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable +to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man +of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was +the purpose of God in giving the Scriptures to men is shown by the +example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. He who obtained +authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew +to Himself the multitude, was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine +Mission to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove +that He was sent by God, and that He is God. From them He draws +arguments for the instruction of His disciples and the confirmation of +His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors. He +quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees. He retorts from them upon +Satan himself, when he impudently dares to tempt Him. At the close of +His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture +which He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, and during +all the time till He ascends to the glory of His Father. Faithful to +His precepts, the Apostles, although He Himself granted "signs and +wonders to be done by their hands," nevertheless used with the greatest +efficacy the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations +everywhere of the wisdom of Christianity, to break down the obstinacy +of the Jews, and to suppress the outbursts of heresy. This is manifest +in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter. These were +almost woven from sayings of the Old Testament, which made in the +strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same thing in +the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and in the Catholic Epistles. +Most remarkably of all is it to be found in the words of him who boasts +that he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being +armed with spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence: +"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God." + +Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, +understand how much the divine Books should be esteemed, and with what +determination and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of +heavenly arms. Those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine +before either the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample +matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the subject of God, the +supreme and all perfect Good, or of the works which display His glory +and His love. Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on +the subject of the Saviour of the human race than that which is to be +found throughout the Bible. St. Jerome has rightly said "ignorance of +the Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In its pages His Image stands +out as it were alive and breathing; diffusing everywhere consolation in +trouble, encouragement to virtue, and attraction to the love of God. +As regards the Church, her institutions, her nature, her functions, and +her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references, and so many +ready and convincing arguments, that, as St. Jerome again most truly +says: "A man who is thoroughly grounded in the testimonies of the +Scriptures is a bulwark of the Church." If we come to moral formation +and to discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings +abundant and most excellent aid, precepts full of holiness, +exhortations framed with sweetness and force, shining examples of every +kind of virtue, and, finally, the promise of eternal reward, and the +threat of eternal punishment, uttered in weightiest terms, in God's +name and in God's own words. + +This peculiar and singular power of the Scriptures, springing from the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, adds to the authority of the sacred +orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates to +him a forcible and convincing eloquence. Those who infuse into their +speech the spirit and strength of the Word of God speak, "not in words +only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness." +Hence those preachers are foolish and improvident who, in preaching +religion and proclaiming the precepts of God, use no words but those of +human science and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings +rather than to those that are divine. Their discourses may be +glittering with lights, but they must be cold and feeble, for they are +without the fire of the utterance of God. They must fall far short of +that power which the speech of God possesses. "The Word of God is +living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and +reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." All the more +far-seeing are agreed that there is in the Holy Scriptures an eloquence +that is marvellous in its variety and richness, and that is worthy of +the loftiest themes. This St. Augustine thoroughly comprehended, and +this he has abundantly set forth. It is confirmed also by the best of +the preachers of all ages. They have gratefully acknowledged that they +owed their repute chiefly to assiduous familiarity with the Bible, and +to devout meditation on the truths which it contains. + +The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience. They +never cease to extol the Sacred Scripture and its fruits. In +innumerable passages of their writings we find them applying to it such +phrases as--"an inexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine," or "an +overflowing fountain of salvation," or as "fertile pastures and most +lovely gardens, in which the flock of the Lord is marvellously +refreshed and delighted." Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in +his Epistle to the cleric Nepotian: "Often read the divine Scriptures; +yea, let holy reading be always in thy hand; study that which thou +thyself must preach.... Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned +with Scriptural reading." St. Gregory the Great, than whom no man has +more admirably described the functions of the pastors of the Church, +writes in the same sense: "Those," he says, "who are zealous in the +work of preaching, must never cease from study of the written word of +God." St. Augustine, however, warns us that "vainly does the preacher +utter the word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly." +St. Gregory instructs sacred orators "first, to find in Holy Scripture +the knowledge of themselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in +reproving others they forget themselves." This had already, after the +example and teaching of Christ Himself, who "began to do and to teach," +been uttered far and wide by an apostolic voice. It was not to Timothy +alone, but to the whole order of the clergy, that the command was +addressed: "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be earnest in them. +In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." +For the saving and for the perfection, both of ourselves and of others, +we have at hand the very best of aids in the Sacred Scriptures, and +most abundantly in the Book of Psalms. Those alone will, however, find +it who bring to the divine oracles not only a docile and attentive +mind, but a habit also of will which is both pious and without reserve. +The Sacred Scripture is not to be regarded like an ordinary book. +Dictated by the Holy Ghost, it contains matters of the most grave +importance, which in many instances are difficult and obscure. To +understand and to explain them there is always required the "coming" of +the same Holy Spirit; that is to say, His light and His grace. These, +as the Royal Psalmist so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble +prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life. + +It is in this that the watchful care of the Church shines forth +conspicuously. By her admirable laws and regulations she has always +shown herself solicitous that the celestial treasure of the Sacred +Books, so bountifully bestowed upon man by the Holy Spirit, should not +lie neglected. She has arranged that a considerable portion of them +should be read, and with pious mind considered by all her ministers in +the daily office of the sacred psalmody. She has ordered that in +cathedral churches, in monasteries, and in convents of other regulars, +which are places most fit for study, they shall be expounded and +interpreted by capable men. She has strictly commanded that her +children shall be fed with the saving word of the Gospel at least on +Sundays and on solemn feasts. Moreover, it is owing to the wisdom and +the diligence of the Church that there has always been, continued from +century to century, that cultivation of Sacred Scripture which has been +so remarkable and which has borne such ample fruit. + +And here, in order to strengthen Our teaching and Our exhortations, it +is well to recall how, from the first beginnings of the Christian +religion, so many who have been renowned for holiness of life and for +sacred learning have given their deep and most constant attention to +Holy Scripture. If we consider the immediate disciples of the +Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. +Polycarp--or the Apologists, such as St. Justin and St. Irenćus, we +find that in their letters and in their books, whether in defence of +the Catholic faith or in commendation of it, they draw faith and +strength and unction mainly from the word of God. When there arose, in +various Episcopal Sees, catechetical and theological schools, of which +the most celebrated were those of Alexandria and of Antioch, there was +little taught in those schools but what consisted in the reading, the +unfolding, and the defence of the divine written word. From these +schools came forth numbers of Fathers and of writers whose laborious +studies and admirable writings have justly merited for the three +following centuries the appellation of the golden age of biblical +exegesis. + +In the Eastern Church, the greatest name of all is Origen. He was a +man remarkable alike for quickness of genius and for persevering labor. +From his numerous writings and his immense work of the _Hexapla_ almost +all who came after him have drawn. Others who have widened the field +of this science may also be named. Among the more excellent, +Alexandria could boast of Clement and Cyril; Palestine, of Eusebius and +the other Cyril; Cappadocia, of Basil the Great and the two Gregories, +Nazianzen and Nyssene; and Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom, in whom +skill in this learning was rivalled by the splendor of his eloquence. + +In the Western Church there were many names as great: Tertullian, +Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great; most famous +of all, Augustine and Jerome. Of these two the former was marvellously +acute in penetrating the sense of God's word, and most fertile in the +use that he made of it for the promotion of Catholic truth. The latter +has received from the Church, by reason of his pre-eminent knowledge of +Scripture and the greatness of his labors in promoting its use, the +name of the "Great Doctor." + +From this period, down to the eleventh century, although biblical +studies did not flourish with the same vigor and with the same +fruitfulness as before, they nevertheless did flourish, and that +principally through the instrumentality of the clergy. It was their +care and solicitude that selected the most fruitful of the things which +the ancients had left behind them, placed these in digested order, and +published them with additions of their own--as did Isidore of Seville, +Venerable Bede, and Alcuin, among the most prominent. It was they who +illustrated the sacred pages with "glosses," or short commentaries, as +we see in Walafrid Strabo and Anselm of Laon, or who expended fresh +labor in securing their integrity, as did Peter Damian and Lanfranc. + +In the twelfth century many took up with great success the allegorical +exposition of Scripture. In this Bernard is easily pre-eminent. His +writings, it may be said, are Scripture all through. With the age of +the scholastics there came fresh and fruitful progress in the study of +the Bible. That the scholastics were solicitous about the genuineness +of the Latin version is evident from the _Correctoria Biblica_, or list +of emendations, which they have left behind them. They expended, +however, more of their study and of their industry on interpretation +and on explanation. To them we owe the accurate and clear distinction, +such as had not been given before, of the various senses of the sacred +words; the weight of each word in the balance of theology; the division +of books into parts, and the summaries of the various parts; the +investigation of the purpose of the writers, and the unfolding of the +necessary connection of one sentence with another. No man can fail to +see the amount of light which was thus shed on the more obscure +passages. The abundance of their Scriptural learning is to be seen +both in their theological treatises and in their commentaries. In this +Thomas of Aquin bears the palm. + +When Our predecessor, Clement V., established chairs of Oriental +literature in the Athenćum at Rome, and in the principal Universities +of Europe, our students began to labor more minutely on the original +text of the Bible, as well as on the Latin version. The revival +amongst us of Greek learning, and, much more, the happy invention of +the art of printing, gave the strongest impetus to the study of Holy +Scripture. In a brief space of time innumerable editions, especially +of the Vulgate, poured from the press, and were spread throughout the +Catholic world; so honored and loved were the divine volumes during +that very period against which the enemies of the Church direct their +calumnies. + +Nor must we forget how many learned men there were, chiefly among the +religious orders, who did excellent work for the Bible between the +dates of the Councils of Vienne and Trent. These men, by employment of +modern means and appliances, and by contribution of their own genius +and learning, not only added to the rich stores of ancient times, but +prepared the way for the pre-eminence of the succeeding century--the +century which followed the Council of Trent. It then seemed almost as +if the great age of the Fathers had returned. It is well known, and We +recall it with pleasure, that Our predecessors from Pius IV. to Clement +VIII. caused to be prepared the celebrated editions of the Vulgate and +the Septuagint, which, having been published by the command and +authority of Sixtus V. and of the same Clement, are now in common use. +At this time, moreover, were carefully brought out various other +ancient versions of the Bible, and the Polyglots of Antwerp and of +Paris, most important for the investigation of the true meaning of the +text. There is not any one Book of either Testament which did not find +more than one expositor, nor is there any grave question which did not +profitably exercise the ability of many inquirers. Among these there +are not a few--more especially of those who made most study of the +Fathers--who have made for themselves names of renown. From that time +forward the labor and solicitude of our students have never been +wanting. As time has gone on, eminent scholars have carried on +biblical study with success. They have defended Holy Scripture against +the cavils of _rationalism_ with the same weapons of philology and +kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The calm and fair +consideration of what has been said will clearly show that the Church +has never failed in any manner of provision for bringing the fountains +of the Divine Scripture in a wholesome way within reach of her +children, and that she has ever held fast and exercised the +guardianship divinely bestowed upon her for its protection and glory. +She has never, therefore, required, nor does she now require, any +stimulation from without. + +We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart to you +such counsels as seem best suited for carrying on successfully the +study of biblical science. We must, in the first place, have a clear +idea of the kind of men whom we have to oppose, their tactics and their +weapons. + +In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on +private judgment and repudiating the divine tradition and the teaching +authority of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one and only +source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we +have to meet the Rationalists, the true children and heirs of the older +heretics. Trusting in their turn to their own judgment, they have +rejected even the scraps and remnants of Christian belief handed down +to them from their fathers. They deny that there is any such thing as +divine revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see +in these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men. They set down +the Scripture narratives as stupid fables or lying tales. The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the forces of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned. These detestable errors, whereby they think to destroy the +truth of the divine Books, are obtruded on the world as the peremptory +pronouncements of a newly-invented "free science." This science, +however, is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying and +supplementing it. There are some of them who, notwithstanding their +impious opinions and utterances about God and His Christ, the Gospels, +and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be regarded as being +theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel. They attempt to +disguise under such names of honor their rashness and their insolence. +To them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve +and sustain their views, and are egged on to attack the Bible by +intolerance of revelation. It is deplorable to see this warfare +becoming from day to day more widespread and more ruthless. It is +sometimes men of learning and judgment who are assailed; but these have +little difficulty in standing on their guard. The efforts and the arts +of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more ignorant masses of +the people. These men diffuse their deadly poison by means of books +and pamphlets and newspapers. They spread it by means of addresses and +of conversations. They are found everywhere. They are in possession +of numerous schools for the young, wrested from the guardianship of the +Church. In those schools, by means of ridicule and scurrilous jesting, +they pervert the credulous and unformed minds of the young to contempt +of Scripture. Should not these things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and +set on fire the heart of every Pastor, so that to this "knowledge, +falsely so called," may be opposed the ancient and true science which +the Church, through the Apostles, has received from Christ, and that +the Sacred Scriptures may find champions that are strong for so great a +struggle? + +Let our first care, then, be to see that in Seminaries and Academical +foundations the study of Holy Scripture is placed on such a footing as +both the importance of it and the circumstances of the time demand. +With this view, that which is of first importance is a wise selection +of professors. Teachers of Sacred Scripture are not to be appointed at +hap-hazard out of the crowd. They must be men whose character and +fitness have been proved by great love of, and long familiarity with, +the Bible, and by the learning and study which befits their office. + +It is of equal importance to provide in due time for a continuous +succession of such teachers. It will be well, wherever this can be +done, to select young men of promise, who have studied their theology +with distinction, and to set them apart exclusively for Holy Scripture, +affording them time and facilities for still fuller study. Professors +thus chosen and appointed may enter with confidence on the task that is +set before them. That they may be at their best, and bear all the +fruit that is possible, there are some other hints which We may +somewhat more fully set before them. + +At the commencement of a course of Holy Scripture, let the professor +strive earnestly to form the judgment of the young beginners, so as to +train them equally to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their +meaning. This is the object of the treatise which is called +"Introduction to the Bible." Here the student is taught how to prove +its integrity and authority, how to investigate and ascertain its true +sense, and how to meet and refute all captious objections. It is +needless to insist on the importance of making these preliminary +studies in an orderly and thorough way, in the company and with the aid +of Theology. The whole of the subsequent course will rest on the +foundation thus laid, and will be luminous with the light which has +been thus acquired. + +Next, the teacher will turn his earnest attention to that most fruitful +branch of Scripture science which has to do with interpretation. +Therein is imparted the method of using the word of God for the +promotion of religion and of piety. We are well aware that neither the +extent of the matter nor the time at disposal allows every single Book +of the Bible to be separately studied in the schools. The teaching, +however, should result in a definite and ascertained method of +interpretation. Hence the professor should at once avoid giving a mere +taste of every Book, and the equal mistake of dwelling at too great +length on merely a part of some one Book. If most schools cannot do +what is done in the larger institutions--that is, take the students +through the whole of one or two Books continuously, and with some +considerable development--yet at least those parts which are selected +for interpretation should be treated with some fulness. In this way +the students may be attracted, and learn from the sample that is set +before them to love and read the rest in the course of their after +lives. The professor, following the tradition of antiquity, will use +the Vulgate as his text. The Council of Trent has decreed that "in +public lectures, disputations, preaching, and exposition," the Vulgate +is the "authentic" version; and this is the existing custom of the +Church. At the same time, the other versions which Christian antiquity +has approved and used should not be neglected, more especially the more +ancient MSS. Although the meaning of the Hebrew and the Greek is +substantially rendered by the Vulgate, nevertheless, wherever there may +be ambiguity or want of clearness, the "examination of older tongues," +to quote St. Augustine, will be of service. In this matter we need +hardly say that the greatest prudence is required, for the "office of a +commentator," as St. Jerome says, "is to set forth not that which he +himself would prefer, but that which his author says." The question of +"readings" having been, when necessary, carefully discussed, the next +thing is to investigate and expound the meaning. The first counsel to +be here given is this: that the more our adversaries strive in the +contrary direction, so much the more solicitously should we adhere to +the received and approved canons of interpretation. Hence, while +weighing the meanings of words, the connection of ideas, the +parallelism of passages, and the like, we should by all means make use +of external illustrations drawn from other cognate learning. This +should, however, be done with caution, so as not to bestow on such +questions more labor and time than that which is spent on the Sacred +Books themselves, and not to overload the minds of the students with a +mass of information which will be rather a hindrance than a help. + +The professor may now safely pass on to the use of Scripture in matters +of Theology. Here it must be observed that, in addition to the usual +reasons which make ancient writings more or less difficult to +understand, there are some which are peculiar to the Sacred Books. The +language of the Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of +the Holy Ghost, many things which are beyond the powers and scope of +human reason--that is to say, divine mysteries and many matters which +are related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fuller and +a deeper meaning than the letter seems to express or than the laws of +hermeneutics indicate. Moreover, the literal sense itself frequently +admits other senses, which either illustrate dogma or commend morality. +It must therefore be recognized that the sacred writings are wrapt in a +certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into them +without a guide. God has so disposed it that, as the Holy Fathers +teach, men may investigate the Scriptures with greater ardor and +earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more +deeply into the mind and heart. From this also, and mainly, men may +understand that God has delivered the Scriptures to the Church, and +that in reading and treating of His utterances they must follow the +Church as their guide and teacher. St. Irenćus long since laid it down +that where the _Charismata_ of God were placed, there the truth was to +be learnt, and that Scripture is expounded without peril, by those with +whom there is apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other +Fathers, is embraced by the Council of the Vatican which, in renewing +the decree of Trent, declares its mind to be this--that "in matters of +faith and morals, which belong to the building up of Christian +doctrine, that sense is to be considered the true sense of the Sacred +Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the +Church, whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation +of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to +interpret the Sacred Scripture contrary to this sense, or contrary to +the unanimous consent of the Fathers." By this law, most full of +wisdom, the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of +biblical science. She, on the contrary, provides for its freedom from +error, and greatly advances its real progress. A wide field lies open +to any teacher, in which his hermeneutical skill may exercise itself +with signal effect and for the welfare of the Church. On the one hand, +in those passages of Scripture which have not as yet received a certain +and definitive interpretation, such labors may, in the sweetly ordered +providence of God, serve as a preparation for bringing to maturity the +judgment of the Church. In passages already defined, a private doctor +may do work equally valuable, either by setting them forth more clearly +to the commonalty of the faithful, or more learnedly before the +learned, or by defending them more powerfully from adversaries. +Wherefore the first and most sacred object of the Catholic commentator +should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic +interpretation--either from the sacred writers themselves, under the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), +or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, +whether by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal +authoritative teaching--in that identical sense, and to prove, by all +the resources of learning, that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no +other than that interpretation. In the other passages the analogy of +faith should be followed, and the Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively +proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme rule. Since the +same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine +committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can +by legitimate interpretation be extracted from the former which shall +in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that +all interpretation is unfounded and false which either makes the sacred +writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the +Church. + +The professor of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other +recommendations, must be well versed in the whole of Theology, and +deeply read in the commentaries of the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and +the best of other interpreters. This is inculcated by St. Jerome, and +still more by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: "If there is no +branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does not +require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than +to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of +those who have interpreted them?" Other Fathers have said the same, +and have confirmed it by their example. They endeavored to acquire +understanding of the Holy Scriptures, not by their own lights and +ideas, but from the writings and authority of the ancients, who in +their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpretation in direct +line from the Apostles. + +The Holy Fathers, to whom, after the Apostles, the Church owes its +growth--who planted, watered, built, fed, and nourished it--are of +supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same +manner any text of the Bible as pertaining to doctrine of faith or +morals. Their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has +come down from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion +of the Fathers is also of very great weight when they treat of these +matters in their capacity of private teachers; not only because they +excelled in knowledge of revealed doctrine and in acquaintance with +many things useful for the understanding of the apostolic Books, but +also because they were men of eminent sanctity and of ardent zeal for +the truth, on whom God bestowed a more ample measure of His light. The +commentator, therefore, should make it his care to follow in their +footsteps with reverence, and to avail himself of their labors with +intelligent appreciation. + +He must not, however, on that account consider that it is forbidden, +when just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the +Fathers have done--provided he religiously observes the rule so wisely +laid down by St. Augustine: not to depart from the literal and obvious +sense, except where reason makes that sense untenable or necessity +requires. This is a rule to which it is the more necessary to adhere +strictly in these times, when the thirst for novelty and unrestrained +license of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate. +Neither should those passages be neglected which the Fathers have +understood in an allegorical or figurative sense, more especially when +such interpretation is justified by the literal sense, and when it +rests on the authority of many. This method of interpretation has been +received by the Church from the Apostles, and has been approved by her +own practice, as her liturgy attests. The Holy Fathers did not thereby +pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas of faith, but used it as a means +of promoting virtue and piety, such as, by their own experience, they +knew to be most valuable. + +The authority of other Catholic interpreters is not so grave. Since, +however, the study of Scripture has always continued to advance in the +Church, their commentaries also have their own honorable place, and are +serviceable in many ways for the refutation of assailants and the +unravelling of difficulties. It is, moreover, most unbecoming to pass +by, in ignorance or contempt, the splendid works which our own scholars +have left behind them in abundance, and to have recourse to the works +of the heterodox, and to seek in them, with peril to sound doctrine and +not seldom with detriment to faith, the explanation of passages on +which Catholics have long ago most excellently expended their talents +and their labor. Although the studies of the heterodox, used with +prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic interpreter, he +should nevertheless bear well in mind this repeated testimony of the +ancients,--that the sense of the Sacred Scriptures can nowhere be found +incorrupt outside the Church, and that it cannot be delivered by those +who, being destitute of the true faith, only gnaw the husk of Scripture +and never reach its marrow. + +Most desirable it is, and most essential, that the whole course of +Theology should be pervaded by the use of the Divine Scripture, which +should be, as it were, the soul thereof. This is what the Fathers and +the greatest theologians of all ages have professed and practised. It +was chiefly out of the sacred writings that they endeavored to proclaim +and establish the Articles of Faith and the truths which are their +consequences. It was in them, together with divine tradition, that +they found the refutation of heretical error, and the reasonableness, +the true meaning, and the mutual relation of the truths of the Catholic +faith. Nor will any one wonder at this who considers that the Sacred +Books hold such a pre-eminent position among the sources of Revelation +that without the assiduous study of them Theology cannot be rightly +treated as its dignity demands. Although it is right and proper that +students in academical institutions and schools should be chiefly +exercised in acquiring a scientific knowledge of dogma by means of +reasoning from the Articles of Faith to their consequences, according +to the rules of approved and solid philosophy, nevertheless a grave and +learned theologian will by no means overlook that method of doctrinal +demonstration which draws its proof from the authority of the Bible. +Theology does not receive her first principles from other sciences, but +immediately from God through Revelation. And therefore she does not +receive from other sciences as from superiors, but uses them as her +inferiors and her handmaids. It is this view of doctrinal teaching +which is laid down and recommended by the prince of theologians, St. +Thomas of Aquin. He also shows--such being the essential character of +Christian Theology--how a theologian can defend his own principles +against attack. "If the adversary," he says, "do but grant any portion +of the divine revelation, we have an argument against him. Against a +heretic we can employ Scripture authority, and against those who deny +one article we can use another. If our opponent rejects divine +revelation altogether, then there is no way left to prove the Articles +of Faith by reasoning. We can only solve the difficulties which are +raised against the faith." Care must be taken, then, that beginners +approach the study of the Bible well prepared and furnished; otherwise, +just hopes will be frustrated, or perchance--and this is worse--they +will unthinkingly risk the danger of error, and fall an easy prey to +the sophisms and labored erudition of the rationalists. The best +preparation will be a conscientious application to philosophy and +theology under the guidance of St. Thomas of Aquin, and a thorough +training therein--as We Ourselves have elsewhere shown and prescribed. +By this means, both in biblical studies and in that part of Theology +which is called _Positive_, they will pursue the right path and make +solid progress. + +To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate +and skilful interpretation of the Bible is much; but there is a second +part of the subject of equal importance and of equal +laboriousness,--the maintenance in the strongest possible way of the +fulness of its authority. This cannot be done completely or +satisfactorily except by means of the living teaching authority of the +Church herself. The Church, by reason of her wonderful propagation, +her shining sanctity, and her inexhaustible fecundity in good, her +Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself a great and +perpetual motive of credibility, and an unassailable testimony of her +own divine mission. But since the divine and infallible teaching +authority of the Church rests also on the authority of Holy Scripture, +the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the +sacred records at least as human documents. From this can clearly be +proved, as from primitive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the +mission of Christ our Lord, the institution of a hierarchical Church, +and the primacy of Peter and his successors. It is most desirable, +therefore, that there should be many members of the clergy well +prepared to enter upon a contest of this nature, and to repulse the +attacks of the enemy, chiefly trusting in that armor of God which is +recommended by the Apostle, but at the same time not unacquainted with +the more modern methods of attack. This is beautifully alluded to by +St. John Chrysostom. Describing the duties of priests, he says: "We +must use our every endeavor that the 'word of God may dwell in us +abundantly.' Not merely for one kind of light must we be prepared, for +the contest is many-sided, and the enemy is of every sort. They do not +all use the same weapons, nor do all make their onset in the same way. +It is needful that the man who has to contend against all should have +knowledge of the engines and the arts of all. He must be at once +archer and slinger, commandant and officer, general and private +soldier, foot-soldier and horseman, skilled in sea-fight and in siege. +Unless he knows every trick and turn of war, the devil is well able, if +only a single door be left open, to get in his ferocious bandits and to +carry off the sheep." The sophisms of the enemy and the manifold +strategy of his attack We have already touched upon. + +Let Us now say a word of advice on the means of defence. The first +means is the study of Oriental languages and of the art of criticism. +These two acquirements are in these days held in high estimation. The +clergy, by making themselves more or less fully acquainted with them, +as time and place may demand, will the better be able to discharge +their office with becoming credit. They must make themselves "all +things to all men," always "ready to satisfy every one that asketh them +a reason for the hope that is in them." Hence it is most proper that +professors of Sacred Scripture and theologians should master those +tongues in which the Sacred Books were originally written. It would be +well that Church students also should cultivate them, more especially +those who aspire to academic degrees in Theology. Endeavors should be +made to establish in all academic institutions--as has already been +laudably done in many--chairs of the other ancient languages, +especially the Semitic, and of subjects connected therewith, for the +benefit principally of those who are destined to profess sacred +literature. These latter, with a similar object in view, should make +themselves well acquainted with and thoroughly exercised in the art of +true criticism. There has arisen, to the great damage of religion, an +artificial method, which is dignified by the name of the "higher +criticism." It pretends to judge of the origin, the integrity, and the +authority of every Book from internal indications alone. It is clear, +on the other hand, that in historical questions, such as the origin and +the handing down of writings, the witness of history is of primary +importance, and that historical investigation should be made with the +utmost care. In this matter internal evidence is seldom of great +value, except by way of confirmation. To look upon it in any other +light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will make +the enemies of religion much more bold and confident in attacking and +endeavoring to destroy the authenticity of the Sacred Books. This +vaunted "higher criticism" will resolve itself into the reflection of +the bias and the prejudice of the critics. It will not throw on the +Scriptures the light which is sought, or prove of any advantage to +doctrine. It will only give rise to disagreement and dissension, those +sure notes of error, which the critics in question so plentifully +exhibit in their own persons. Seeing that most of them are tainted +with false philosophy and rationalism, it must lead to the elimination +from the sacred writings of all prophecy and all miracle, and of +everything else that lies outside the natural order. + +In the second place, we have to contend against those who, abusing +their knowledge of physical science, minutely scrutinize the Sacred +Books, in order to detect the writers in a mistake, and so to vilify +the books themselves. Attacks of this kind, bearing as they do on +matters of experience of the senses, are peculiarly dangerous to the +masses, and also to the young, who are but beginning their literary +studies. The young, if they lose their reverence for divine revelation +on any one point, are but too easily led to give up believing in +revelation altogether. It need scarcely be pointed out how the science +of nature, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the glory +of the Great Creator, provided it be rightly taught, so, if it be +perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, it may prove most +fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy, and in the +corruption of morality. Hence to the professor of Sacred Scripture a +knowledge of natural science will be of the greatest service in +detecting and meeting such attacks upon the Sacred Books. + +There can never, indeed, be any real discrepancy between the theologian +and the physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own +lines, and so long as both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, "not +to make rash assertions, or to assert that which is not known as if it +were really known." If dissension should arise between them, here is +the rule, laid down by St. Augustine for the theologian: "Whatever they +can really demonstrate to be true of physical nature, we must show to +be not contrary to our Scriptures. Whatever they assert in their +treatises which is contrary to these Scriptures of ours, that is, to +Catholic faith, we must either prove it, as well as we can, to be +entirely false, or at all events we must, without the smallest +hesitation, believe it to be so." To understand how just is the rule +here formulated we must remember, first, that the sacred writers, or, +to speak more accurately, the Holy Ghost, who spoke by means of them, +did not intend to teach men those things (that is to say, the essential +nature of the things of the visible universe)--things which are in no +way profitable unto salvation. The sacred writers did not seek to +penetrate the secrets of nature. They rather described and dealt with +things in more or less figurative language, or in terms which were +commonly used at the time, and terms which in many instances are in +daily use at this day, even amongst the most eminent men of science. +Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes that which falls under +the senses. Somewhat in the same way the sacred writers--as the +Angelic Doctor reminds us--"went by what sensibly appeared," or put +down that which God, speaking to men, signified in a way which men +could understand, and to which they were accustomed. + +The strenuous defence of the Holy Scripture, however, does not require +that we should equally uphold all the opinions which every one of the +Fathers, or which subsequent commentators have set forth in explaining +it. It may be that, in commenting on passages where physical matters +are in question, they have sometimes expressed the ideas of their own +times, and have thus made statements which in these days have been +abandoned as unfounded. In their interpretations, therefore, we must +carefully note that which they lay down as belonging to faith, or as +intimately connected with faith, or that in which they are unanimous. +"In those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the +Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions, even as we ourselves +are," says St. Thomas. In another place he says most admirably: "When +philosophers are agreed upon a point, and that point is not contrary to +faith, it is safer, in my opinion, neither to lay down such a point as +a dogma of faith, even though it is perhaps so presented by the +philosophers, nor to reject it as against faith, lest we thus give to +the wise of this world an occasion of despising the doctrine of the +faith." The Catholic commentator, although he should show that those +facts of natural science which investigators affirm to be now in these +days absolutely certain are not contrary to Scripture rightly +explained, must nevertheless always bear in mind that much which has +been held as proved and certain has afterwards been called in question +and rejected. If writers on physics travel outside the boundaries of +their own department, and carry their erroneous teaching into the +domain of philosophy, let them be handed over by the theological +commentator to philosophers for refutation. + +The principles here laid down will apply to cognate sciences, and +especially to history. It is a lamentable fact that there are many men +who with great labor make and publish investigations on the monuments +of antiquity, the manners and institutions of nations, and other +illustrative subjects, and whose chief purpose in all this is too often +to try to find mistakes in the sacred writings, and so to shake and +weaken their authority. Some of these writers display not only extreme +hostility, but also great unfairness. In their eyes a profane book or +an ancient document is accepted without hesitation. Scripture, if they +can only find in it a suspicion of error, is set down with the +slightest possible discussion as being entirely untrustworthy. It is +true, no doubt, that copyists have made mistakes in the text of the +Bible. This question, when it arises, should be carefully considered +on its merits. The fact, however, is not to be too easily admitted, +but only in those passages where the proof is clear. It may also +happen that the sense of a passage remains ambiguous. In this case, +sound hermeneutical methods will greatly aid in clearing up obscurity. +It is absolutely wrong, however, and it is forbidden, either to narrow +inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that +the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who, in order to rid +themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that +divine inspiration regards matters of faith and morals, and nothing +beyond them, because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth +or falsehood of a passage we should consider not so much what God has +said as the reason and purpose which He had in mind in saying it, +cannot be tolerated. All the books which the Church receives as sacred +and canonical were written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, +at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So far is it from being possible +that any error can co-exist with inspiration, inspiration not only is +essentially incompatible with error, but it excludes error as +absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the +Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient +and unchanging faith of the Church. It was solemnly defined in the +Councils of Florence and of Trent. It was finally confirmed and more +expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the +words of that Council: The Books of the Old and of the New Testament, +whole and entire, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the +decree of the same Council (Trent), and as they are contained in the +old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical. +The Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been +composed solely by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her +authority, nor only because they contain revelation without error, but +because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, +they have God for their Author. Hence we cannot say that, because the +Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, it was these inspired +instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, and not the primary +Author. By supernatural power He so moved and impelled them to +write--He was so present to them--that all the things which He ordered, +and those things only, they first rightly conceived, then willed +faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in adequate words and +with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the +Author of the whole of the Sacred Scripture. Such has always been the +persuasion of the Fathers. "Therefore," says St. Augustine, "since +they wrote the things which He showed and said to them, it cannot be +said that He did not write them. His members executed that which their +Head dictated." St. Gregory the Great maintains: "Most superfluous it +is to inquire who wrote these things;--we loyally believe the Holy +Ghost to be the Author of the Book. He wrote it who dictated it to be +written. He wrote it who inspired its execution." + +It follows that those men who maintain that an error is possible in any +genuine passage of the sacred writings, either pervert the Catholic +notion of inspiration, or make God Himself to be the Author of error. +So emphatically were all the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine +writings, as left by the hagiographers, are entirely free from all +error, that they labored earnestly, with no less skill than reverence, +to reconcile one with the other those numerous passages which seem to +be at variance--the very passages which in great measure have been +taken up by the "higher criticism." The Fathers were unanimous in +laying it down that those writings, in their entirety and in all their +parts, were equally from the divine _afflatus_, and that God Himself, +speaking through the sacred writers, could not set down anything that +was not true. The words of St. Augustine to St. Jerome may sum up what +they taught: "On my own part, I confess to your charity that it is only +to those Books of Scripture which are now called canonical that I have +learned to pay such honor and reverence as to believe most firmly that +no one of their writers has fallen into any error. If in these Books I +meet with anything which seems contrary to truth, I shall not hesitate +to conclude either that the text is faulty, or that the translator has +not expressed the meaning of the passage, or that I myself have not +understood it." + +But with all the weapons of the best of arts, fully and perfectly to +fight for the holiness of the Bible is far more than can be looked for +from the exertions of commentators and theologians alone. It is an +enterprise in which we have a right to expect the co-operation of all +Catholic men who have acquired reputation in other branches of +learning. As in the past, so at the present time the Church is never +without the graceful support of her accomplished children. May their +services to the Faith ever grow and increase! There is nothing which +We believe to be more needful than that truth should find defenders +more powerful and more numerous than are the enemies whom it has to +face. There is nothing which is better calculated to imbue the masses +with homage for the truth than to see it joyously proclaimed by learned +men who have gained distinction in some other faculty. Moreover, the +bitter tongues of objectors will be silenced. At least they will not +dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the enemy of science when +they see that scientific men, of eminence in their own profession, show +towards the faith most marked honor and reverence. + +Seeing, then, that those men can do so much for the progress of +religion on whom the goodness of God has bestowed, together with the +grace of the faith, great natural talent, let such men, in this most +savage conflict of which the Scriptures are now the object, select each +of them the branch of study which is best adapted to his circumstances, +and endeavor to excel therein, and thus be prepared to repel with +effect and credit the assaults on the word of God. It is our pleasing +duty to give deserved praise to a work which certain Catholics have +taken in hand--that is to say, the formation of societies, and the +contribution of considerable sums of money, for the purpose of aiding +certain of the more learned in the pursuit of their study to its +completeness. Truly, an excellent method of investing money! It is an +investment most suited to the times in which we live! The less hope of +public patronage there is for Catholic study, the more ready and the +more abundant should be the liberality of private persons. Those to +whom God has given riches will thus use them to safeguard the treasure +of His revealed doctrine. + +In order that such labors may prove of real service to the cause of the +Bible, let scholars keep steadfastly to the principles which we have in +this Letter laid down. Let them loyally hold that God, the Creator and +the Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures--and that +therefore nothing can possibly be proved, either by physical science or +by archeology, which can be in real contradiction with the Scriptures. +If apparent contradictious should be met with, every effort should be +made to meet them. Theologians and commentators of solid judgment +should be consulted as to what is the true or the most probable meaning +of the passage in discussion. Adverse arguments should also be +carefully weighed. Even if the difficulty is not after all cleared up, +and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned. +Truth cannot contradict truth. We may be sure that some mistake has +been made, either in the interpretation of the sacred words, or in the +polemical discussion itself. If no mistake can be detected, we must +then suspend judgment for the time being. There have been objections +without number perseveringly directed against the Scriptures for many a +long year. These have been proved to be futile, and they are now never +heard of. Interpretations not a few have been put on certain passages +of Scripture (not belonging to the rule of faith or morals), and these +have been rectified after a more careful investigation. As time goes +on mistaken views die and disappear. Truth remaineth and groweth +stronger for ever and ever. Wherefore, as no one should be so +presumptuous as to think that he understands the whole of the +Scriptures--in which St. Augustine himself confessed that there was +more that he did not know than that which he did know--so, if one +should come upon anything that seems incapable of solution, he must +take to heart the cautious rule of the same holy Doctor: "It is better +even to be oppressed by unknown but useful signs than to interpret them +uselessly, and thus to throw off the yoke of servitude only to be +caught in the nets of error." + +As regards those men who pursue the subsidiary studies of which We have +spoken, if they honestly and modestly follow the counsels and commands +which We have given--if by pen and voice they make their studies +fruitful against the enemies of the truth, and useful in saving the +young from loss of faith--they may justly congratulate themselves on +worthy service to the Sacred Writings, and on their having afforded to +the Catholic religion that aid which the Church has a right to expect +from the piety and from the learning of her children. + + +Such, Venerable Brethren, are the admonitions and the instructions +which, by the help of God, We have thought it well, at the present +moment, to offer to you on the study of the Sacred Scriptures. It will +now be for you to see that what We have said be held and observed with +all due reverence, that so we may prove our gratitude to God for the +communication to man of the words of His wisdom, and that all the good +results which are so much to be desired may be realized, especially as +they effect the training of the students of the Church, which is matter +of Our own great solicitude and of the Church's hope. Exert yourselves +with glad alacrity, and use your authority, and your persuasive powers, +in order that these studies may be held in just regard, and that they +may flourish in the seminaries and in the educational institutions +which are under your jurisdiction. May they flourish in the +completeness of success, under the direction of the Church, in +accordance with the salutary teaching and the example of the Holy +Fathers, and the laudable traditions of antiquity. As time goes on, +let them be widened and extended as the interests and glory of the +truth may require--the interests of that Catholic Truth which comes +down from above, the never-failing source of the salvation of all +peoples. Finally, We admonish with paternal love all students and +ministers of the Church always to approach the sacred writings with the +most profound affection of reverence and of piety. It is impossible to +attain to a profitable understanding thereof unless, laying aside the +arrogance of "earthly" science, there be excited in the heart a holy +desire for that wisdom "which is from above." In this way the mind +which has once entered on these sacred studies, and which has by means +of them been enlightened and strengthened, will acquire a marvellous +facility in detecting and avoiding the fallacies of human science, and +in gathering and utilizing solid fruit for eternal salvation. The +heart will then wax warm, and will strive with more ardent longing to +advance in virtue and in divine love. "Blessed are they who examine +His testimonies; they shall seek Him with their whole heart." + +And now, filled with hope in the divine assistance, and trusting to +your pastoral solicitude--as a pledge of heavenly graces and in witness +of Our special good will--to all of you, and to the clergy, and to the +whole flock which has been intrusted to you, We most lovingly impart in +our Lord the Apostolic Benediction. + + +Given at St. Peter's, at Rome, the 18th day of November, 1893, the +sixteenth year of Our Pontificate. + +LEO PP. XIII. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Chapters of Bible Study, by Herman J. 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Heuser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chapters of Bible Study + A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures + +Author: Herman J. Heuser + +Release Date: March 25, 2011 [EBook #35682] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t1"> +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +OR +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +BY +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +THE REV. HERMAN J. HEUSER +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +PROF. OF SCRIPTURAL INTRODUCTION AND EXEGESIS, ST. CHARLES SEMINARY, +OVERBROOK, PA. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION +<BR> +123 E. 50th Street +<BR> +New York +<BR> +1895 +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Nihil Obstat:<BR> + D. J. McMAHON,<BR> + <I>Censor Librorum</I>.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Imprimatur: + MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,<BR> + <I>Archbishop of New York</I>.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +COPYRIGHT BY JOSEPH H. MCMAHON, 1895. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +PREFACE. +</P> + +<P> +The following pages are printed from notes used in a series of lectures +before the "Catholic Summer School of America" at Pittsburgh. They are +neither an exhaustive nor a scientific exposition, but are meant as a +suggestive introduction, in popular form, to the intelligent reading of +the Bible. Some of the answers to questions proposed by members of the +"School" during the course have been inserted where it seemed most +suitable. +</P> + +<P> +I take occasion here to express my deep appreciation of the courtesy +shown to its visitors by the Directors of the "Catholic Summer School." +Their self-sacrificing spirit has secured to the organization the +earnest co-operation of many gifted men and women animated by that +refined Catholic feeling which constitutes the highest type of a truly +cultured society. Nothing could have placed the institution on a +firmer basis, or could better have given it that guarantee of success +to which the last session has borne witness. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +H. J. H. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +CONTENTS. +</P> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">The Ancient Scroll</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">Strange Witnesses</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">The Testimony of a Confession</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">The Stones Cry Out</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Heavenly Wisdom</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">The Vicious Circle</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">The Sacred Pen</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">The Melody and Harmony of the "Vox Coelestis"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">The Voice from the Rock</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">A Source of Culture</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">The Creation of New Letters</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">English Style</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">Friends of God</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">The Art of Prospecting</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">Using the Kodak</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">The Interpretation of the Image</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">"Deus Illuminatio Mea"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">Bush-Lights</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">The Use and the Abuse of the Bible</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">The Vulgate and the "Revised Version"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">The Position of the Church</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">Mysterious Characters</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">Conclusion</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">Appendix</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE ANCIENT SCROLL. +</H4> + +<P> +If a mysteriously-written document were brought to you, and its bearer +assured you that it contained a secret putting you in possession of a +great inheritance by establishing your relationship to an ancient race +of kings, of which you had no previous knowledge, how would you regard +such a document? +</P> + +<P> +You would examine its age, the character of the manuscript, the quality +of the paper or parchment; you would ask how it had come to you, and by +whom it had been transmitted through successive generations before it +reached you. And when, after careful inquiry, you had established the +age and authenticity of the document, then you would study its +contents, examine the nature of its provisions, and, having clearly +understood its meaning, ask yourself: How can I carry out the +conditions laid down in this testament, in order that I may obtain the +full benefit of the generous bequest left by my noble ancestor? +</P> + +<P> +It is on similar lines that I propose to treat our subject. We shall +take up the Bible just as we would take up any other written work, +requiring, for the time being, simply so much faith—no more, but also +no less than we would exact in the fair examination of any other work, +whether of fact or of fiction. +</P> + +<P> +When we have assured ourselves that the Bible is really as old and as +truthful a record of history as it pretends to be, and that it has for +it such human testimony as leads us to admit historic facts in general, +we shall occupy ourselves with its contents, with the influence which +this wonderful book, this ancient testament of our royal Sire, +exercises upon the heart, the mind, the general culture, by which it +leads us to our inheritance, and enables us to assume our place in our +destined home. +</P> + +<P> +The Bible, looking upon it as a merely human production, is a +collection of documents of various antiquity, containing historic +records of successive generations, going back to a very remote period. +It relates the valiant deeds of valiant men and women, written either +by themselves or by men of their own race. It contains, furthermore, a +great number of principles, doctrines, rules, and laws for the moral +and external government of individuals and communities, particularly of +the families and tribes of the Hebrew nation. Finally, we find in this +ancient scroll certain predictions and prophecies which, if we can show +that they were definitely made long in advance of the events foretold +by them, become a strong argument in favor of the supernatural origin +of the work. However, this last point we shall leave entirely out of +view for the present. +</P> + +<P> +It is very clear that the book which we have in our hands, and which we +call the Bible, or The Book <I>par excellence</I>, has been printed and +reprinted during four hundred years, in millions of copies, all of +which agree substantially, not excepting the Bible of the so-called +"reformers," with whom, on the whole, we differ rather in the +interpretation than in the wording of its contents. There are indeed +some disagreements on subjects touching religious doctrines, which, +whilst very important if we accept the Sacred Scriptures as the +inspired word of God, hardly count for anything in a merely historical +work; and this is the light in which we regard the Bible just at +present. +</P> + +<P> +The Bibles which are printed to-day are practically and substantially +the same as those which were printed four hundred years ago. A great +number of copies of first editions in different languages may still be +found in public and private libraries. The New Testament version, from +which Luther principally made his translation, was an edition by the +well-known humanist, Erasmus. All the modern European translations, +including that made into English five hundred years ago by Wiclif, had +for their original an ancient Latin version which was employed in the +service of the churches, and of which copies in manuscript, made over a +thousand years ago, are still extant. One of the oldest uncial Latin +manuscripts is the "Vercelli Gospels," attributed to the hand of +Eusebius. The Corpus Christi College Library at Cambridge has a +manuscript copy said to have been made by St. Augustine. Of Greek +copies we have a very famous one in the Vatican Library, probably the +oldest preserved in the world—about 350; another manuscript, called +the Codex Sinaiticus, is in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg; and +a third, of nearly the same age (IV. century), is the "Codex +Alexandrinus," at present in the British Museum. Manuscripts older +than these are wanting, not only of the Bible, but of any other book, +except fragments of writings on parchment and certain manuscripts +rescued from Egyptian tombs, and papers discovered in the recent +excavations of Herculaneum, near Naples, in Italy. Parchment, on +account of the expensive preparation required to make it suitable +material for writing, was sparingly used by the ancients at any time. +They preferred to employ the so-called papyrus, made of the fibrous +pith of a kind of rush growing abundantly in Egypt, and brought to +Europe by Eastern merchants. This, and other kinds of vegetable fibre +from which paper suitable for writing was prepared since the days when +Moses, as we must presume, practised the art of writing in the schools +of Egypt, do not withstand the destructive influence of time. +Experience proves that the ordinary atmosphere has completely corroded +cotton paper of nine hundred years ago; the same is true of the linen +paper made in the time of Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas. Those +exceptional treasures of Egyptian papyrus referred to above, which have +been found of late years, owe their preservation to the fact that they +were enclosed in almost air-tight tombs, in a singularly dry climate; +the same is the case with regard to the manuscripts discovered in +Herculaneum, which have been kept hermetically sealed by the tight +lava-cover from Mount Vesuvius for a space of more than seventeen +hundred years. +</P> + +<P> +However, among such manuscripts as have been preserved under ordinary +conditions, by far the greatest number are copies, in various tongues, +of the Bible, and some of these carry us back to the fourth century. +We have Bible manuscripts written on paper in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, +Latin, in the dialects of the Copts, the Arabs, the Armenians, the +Persians, the Ethiopians, the Slavs, and the Goths, who were among the +earliest nations converted to Christianity. Now all these manuscript +Bibles, more than fourteen centuries old, substantially correspond to +our Catholic Bibles of this day. +</P> + +<P> +The early Christian missionaries who introduced the word of God to the +pagan nations speaking a strange tongue must have had some uniform +source whence to make their translations. So many persons in different +parts of the world, unacquainted with one another's language, could +not, except by some incredible miracle, have composed out of their +fancy so large a book, agreeing page for page, nay, line for line. +They must have had some original at their disposal whence to make a +uniform copy. The fact is, we find that original book in the churches +of Italy, Greece, Asia, and Africa. The apostolic Fathers speak of it +as known to everybody; they read from it on Sundays and festivals; they +quote long passages, and the young candidates for Holy Orders are +taught, like the Hebrew levites of old, to memorize the psalms and +moral books of the Bible. Among these witnesses is St. Clement of +Koine. According to Tertullian, who lived near his time, he was +ordained by St. Peter the Apostle; at any rate, St. Paul speaks of him +in his Epistle to the Philippians. Other disciples of the Apostles +were St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, St. Polycarp, the friend of St. +John. These are followed by St. Justin, who wrote a famous defence of +the Catholic faith called the "Apology," which he presented to the +Emperor Antoninus. The latter, convinced of the young convert's +sincerity, put a stop to the cruel persecutions which were then going +on against the Christians. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius also received a +copy of the "Apology" from St. Justin. In this well-known work the +Saint states that "<I>the Gospels, together with the writings of the +prophets, are publicly read in the assemblies of the Christians.</I>"[<A NAME="chap01fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn1">1</A>] +He also affirms that they were written in part by the Apostles +themselves and partly by their disciples. This was shortly after the +year 138, when men were still alive who had conversed with St. Paul, +and who could well remember the sweet admonitions of brotherly love +given by the aged St. John, who tells us that he had seen with his own +eyes the things which he writes.[<A NAME="chap01fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn2">2</A>] The chain of apostolic writers +from St. Peter to St. Augustine, <I>i.e.</I>, from the first century to the +fourth or fifth, bears witness that this wonderful book was used in +every Christian community from the regions of the Jordan, whence St. +Justin came, to the confines of Spain, where Isidore of Cordova wrote +his commentaries; from the northernmost part of Dalmatia, where Titus +had preached the doctrine delivered him by St. Paul, to the limit of +the African desert, whence one of the oldest Latin versions of the +Scriptures was brought to St. Ambrose. +</P> + +<P> +It is interesting to be able to cite the testimony of pagan as well as +of Jewish writers concerning the great events which the Christian +Gospels record. We have the historic fact of Christ's person and work +attested in the "Annals" of Tacitus, the greatest of Roman +historians,[<A NAME="chap01fn3text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn3">3</A>] who was consul of Rome in 97. His statements are +corroborated by Suetonius, secretary to the Emperor Adrian, by Pliny, +the Viceroy of Bithynia and friend of the Emperor Trajan, by the Jewish +writers Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Christ, and the +historian Flavius Josephus, and by the rabbis who collated the +traditions of the Talmud. All these, whilst they wrote but briefly of +the subject, bear indirect witness to the belief and to the practice by +the earliest Christians of the Gospel precepts, although the books of +the New Testament had not at that time been formed into a definite +canon. Thus the unbroken evidence of the existence of the Christian +Scriptures goes back to the very time of their first composition. +</P> + +<P> +We come to the Old Testament. That the Jews in the time of Christ +possessed a collection of sacred books is recorded on every page of the +New Testament, of whose authentic source there can be no reasonable +doubt. There are altogether about two hundred and seventy passages in +the New Testament books which are quotations from the Old Testament. +There are innumerable references in the Gospels and Epistles, and in +the early Christian writers, to the sacred law of the Jews, among whom +the first converts were made; for these converts continued to use the +Mosaic writings and the prophetical books. Christ Himself had +beautifully illustrated this practice, from the first, in His teaching. +"He came to Nazareth," St. Luke tells us, "where He was brought up; and +He went into the synagogue, according to His custom, on the sabbath +day; and He rose up to read. And the Book of Isaias the Prophet was +delivered unto Him. And as He unfolded the book He found the place +where it was written: <I>The spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He +hath anointed me; to preach the gospel to the poor He hath sent me; to +heal the contrite of heart. To preach deliverance to the captives, and +sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach +the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward</I>. And when He +had folded the book He restored it to the minister and sat down. And +the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to +say to them: <I>This day is fulfilled this Scripture in your ears</I>. And +all gave testimony to Him."[<A NAME="chap01fn4text"></A><A HREF="#chap01fn4">4</A>] +</P> + +<P> +Any attempt to corrupt the Old Testament writings, or to change and +destroy them, even in part, became impossible after the Gospels had +been written. It would at once have aroused marked attention among +both Jews and Christians, who with equal reverence regarded the Book as +the sacred and inviolable word of God, however mutually hostile their +feelings were regarding the interpretation of its meaning. For if ever +there existed a document whose authority was sanctioned and whose +preservation was guaranteed by the severest laws and most minute +precautions, it was the code of sacred writings known to the Jews as +the "Law and the Prophets." It was read in every synagogue on the +sabbath and festival days. Every Jew above the age of twelve was +obliged to repeat certain parts of the Sacred Book each day, morning +and night. Thrice dispersed among the Gentile nations, north, west, +and south, the Jews carried with them the book of the Law and the +Prophets, and we find them repeat its sweet words of hope and trust in +Jehovah by the rivers of Babylon as under the glimmer of the +torchlights in the caverns of Samaria or rocky Arabia. Their faces +were forever turning towards Jerusalem. Nay, when the language of +their fathers had ceased to be spoken during generations of enforced +exile, the children still repeated the Hebrew words of the Law in the +temple, even though they had versions made for the people by rabbis who +were under sacred vow not to change an iota of the Lord's written word. +We have in the present Hebrew Bibles some remnant of the traditional +care with which the Jew guarded the letter of the Law, whatever might +be the spirit in which he interpreted it. In order that the Sacred +Text might never be tampered with, even by the addition or omission of +a single letter or word, the scribes were obliged to count the verses, +words, and characters of each book. They knew by heart every +peculiarity of grammatical or phonetic expression. Thus the young +rabbi must verify that the Book of Genesis contains 1,534 verses; that +the exact middle of the book, counting every letter from the beginning +and from the end, occurs in chapter xxvii. 40. He knew that there were +ten verses in the Scriptures beginning and ending with the letter +נ (<I>nun</I>) (as in Lev. xiii. 9); two in which every word +ends with the letter ם (<I>mem</I>). The letter ע +(<I>ayin</I>), in Ps. lxxx. 14, is the exact middle of the Psalter. The +letter א (<I>aleph</I>) occurs 42,377 times, ב +(<I>beth</I>) 38,218 times, ג (<I>ghimel</I>) 29,537 times, and so +of every letter in the alphabet. These, and a thousand other +peculiarities which made the corruption of the Hebrew text an almost +absolute impossibility, were in later ages collected into a glossary +called the Masorah, which forms a sort of separate commentary to the +Bible. If you open the Hebrew volume of the Old Testament, just as it +is printed to-day, you will find many of these warnings inserted in the +very text. Thus at the end of the Book of Chronicles we have this +sentence: "The printer is not at fault, for the sum total of verses in +the whole Book of Chronicles is 1650." Then, lest the reader might +forget this number, a verse is attached which contains the letters +representing the same number. The verse, which is taken from the I. +Samuel vi. 13, reads: "<I>They saw the ark and rejoiced in seeing it</I>." +Just as the words "<I>MeDiCaL VIrtue</I>" might stand in English for the +same number. +</P> + +<P> +Many other peculiarities in the manner of copying the Hebrew text have +been transmitted for ages without change. Thus in the Book of Numbers +xi. 1 we find the letter נ (<I>nun</I>) written backward +[Hebrew: reversed nun], to express more emphatically the meaning of +"perversity," mentioned in the verse. In Job xxxviii. 13 the letter +ע (<I>ayin</I>) in the word ךשעים +(<I>reshachim</I>), "ungodly," is raised above the line, to indicate +how God will shake up into the air, like chaff, the ungodly of whom the +Prophet speaks. +</P> + +<P> +But it is needless to point out in detail all the odd precautions which +were invented by the rabbis that they might exercise a most rigorous +control over the Hebrew text; and although these methods are the +results of a later school of Hebraists, they go to show the sense of +responsibility which the Jews must always have felt regarding the +preservation of the ancient Testament. Even at this day you can hardly +discover a substantial departure from the original in the numerous +manuscript copies extant. Kennicott, an English Biblical scholar, +brought together five hundred and eighty Hebrew manuscripts of the +Bible which, after careful study and comparison, revealed scarcely any +differences of the text. An Italian, Prof. de Rossi, who died in 1831, +had collected seven hundred and ten manuscripts, and had seen in +various libraries one hundred and thirty-four more, all of which he +examined critically without finding any notable differences. I am +speaking, remember, of such differences as would affect the historical +identity of these manuscript copies with their original. It would be +folly to assert that these manuscripts, which reached the number of +over 1,600, are copies made by the same scribes; for some of them were +discovered in Arabia, others in old Jewish settlements in China; one, +the oldest in existence, as some believe, was found in a synagogue in +the Crimea, by a Jewish rabbi named Abraham Firkeowicz. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap01fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap01fn1text">1</A>] <I>Apolog.</I>, i. 67. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap01fn2"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap01fn2text">2</A>] Ep. St. John, chap. i. 1. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap01fn3"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap01fn3text">3</A>] Tacit., <I>Annal</I>., xv. 38-44. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap01fn4"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap01fn4text">4</A>] St. Luke iv. 16-22. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +STRANGE WITNESSES. +</H4> + +<P> +If there remained no trace of the original writings of the Old +Testament books preserved for us in the Hebrew tongue, we should still +possess very reliable witnesses of ancient date to testify to their +existence in substantially the same form in which we have them; for the +children of Jewish exiles, who were forced gradually to substitute the +language of their conquerors for their mother tongue, had well +authenticated translations for their use in the synagogues. The most +remarkable of such translations is the so-called Greek Septuagint, +commonly believed to have been made for the Alexandrian Library by +seventy Jewish rabbis at the request of King Ptolemy Philadelphus. We +shall have occasion, later on, to revert to the significance of this +Greek version. For the present it is only necessary to mention that it +was so highly esteemed by the Jews themselves that they used it for +several centuries in their reading to the people, many of whom +understood only the Greek. +</P> + +<P> +Even the enemies of the Jews bear witness to the unchanged character of +the oldest portion of the Hebrew Bible for centuries before the coming +of our Lord. +</P> + +<P> +About the year 536 B.C., on the return of the Jewish exiles from +Babylon, the Samaritans, a mixed race of Jewish and Aramaic stock, +sought from the temple authorities at Jerusalem the privilege of +worshipping with the rest of the Jews in the holy city. This was +refused. Shortly afterwards one of the priests at Jerusalem was +excommunicated for having married the daughter of a Samaritan prince. +He sought refuge in Samaria, and having built a temple on Mount +Garizim, induced the people to worship according to the Mosaic Law. +They were found to possess a copy of the Pentateuch, which they had +transcribed in Samaritan characters; and whilst the Jews of Southern +Palestine held no communication with them, and the Samaritans on their +part looked upon the Jews as schismatics who had changed the ancient +observances of the Law, yet both recognized the same sacred code as the +rule of their conduct and religion. +</P> + +<P> +A copy of this valuable version, which at a later date was translated +into the actual Samaritan dialect, was discovered at Damascus in 1616, +and has since been printed in several editions at Paris and London. It +is of great importance, as it establishes a perfect accord with the +reading of the Jewish Hebrew text. These versions, made at different +times, in places widely apart, and by men who were decidedly hostile to +each other on religious as well as on national grounds, force us to +admit a well-fixed, universally known, and trusted original of the +books of Moses; for where there is a copy there must be something +copied from, just as when we see the well-defined shadow of an object +we know that the object itself exists. +</P> + +<P> +The antiquity of the Hebrew Bible is indeed attested by many no less +conclusive arguments than those we have given, which, from the +historian's point of view, stamp it as the most important monument of +antiquity which we have, and whose genuine character is proved by the +most trustworthy documentary evidence. There is no page of historical +account in existence to-day that has such overwhelming testimony in +favor of its authentic origin as these books of the Bible. Known by +generations as the inviolable law of God, guarded with scrupulous +solicitude as their greatest religious treasure, read sabbath after +sabbath in the synagogues, not alone of Palestine, but of Arabia, +Assyria, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome—in short, wherever the +sons of Abraham had been dispersed in the course of more than twenty +centuries—who was it, friend or foe, that could have dared to change +this royal mandate of the Most High to His chosen people! If a man +were to-day to print a copy of the Constitution, or a history of the +formation of the American Republic, introducing some hitherto +unheard-of statements, or omitting some important words or facts, how +long would such imposition remain unnoticed or unchallenged? Yet it +would be infinitely easier in our times, and under our conditions, for +such change to pass unnoticed than it would have been among the Jews. +The Oriental races are intensely averse to anything that threatens to +alter their traditions. The customs of the Eastern peoples to-day are +the same as they are described by Isaias seven hundred years before +Christ, and the Jew of Isaiah's time reflects in every act the manners +of another seven hundred years before, when Moses describes his people +as imitating the domestic virtues and habits of Abraham's day, a time +which carries us back still another seven centuries. A thousand years +make no perceptible change in Oriental civilization. You may see it +every day. Take as a ready instance Algeria, visited annually by many +Americans, who go to Europe by the southern route. It is a coast city, +lying in the full glare of European civilization; nay, modern life has +forced itself upon this town with the captivating aggressiveness of +French manners, French magnificence, French soldiery, and a system of +commerce which, within the last sixty years, has caused the European +population to outnumber the original Arab inhabitants of Algiers by +two-thirds. Yet the daily and forced contact, for two whole +generations, between the Arab and the European has produced hardly any +change in the habits of the former. The Mussulman passes through the +splendid streets of the French portion of the town when necessity urges +him, in silence and with apparent disdain. He prefers his cavern-like +habitation, with small square holes for windows, and an iron grating +instead of glass, to the spacious and lightsome palaces built by the +French and English colonists. The Arab woman feels no desire for the +pretty vanities of modern fashion, for the graceful freedom and +intellectual intercourse with men; she conceals her form in the +traditional wide robe of the East, with a veil over her head, a row of +shining coins or beads hanging down from the forehead, and a kerchief +over her face hiding all but the gazelle-like eyes. You see in that +one city, open to the constant changes arising from the innumerable +relations of travel and commerce, two worlds of men: one busy, fitful, +gay, and splendidly modern; the other silent, immovable, almost +scornful, and in dwelling and dress, in manner and language, just the +same as you might have observed them ages ago. +</P> + +<P> +Such precisely were the people who guarded and delivered to us the +books of the Old Testament. Their religious, civil, and domestic +practices, everywhere and at all times of their history, correspond so +perfectly with what we read in any part of this volume that, even if +portions of the Bible were lost, we should have the living tradition to +witness to the omission, since we know that the life of the Hebrew was +ever subject to the regulations of the law of Jehovah, which was to him +the supreme expression of all that is great and good and wise. +"Uniformity of belief and ritual practice," says the Protestant +Geikie,[<A NAME="chap02fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap02fn1">1</A>]" was the one grand design of the founders of Judaism; the +moulding the whole religious life of the nation to such a machine-like +discipline as would make any variation from the customs of the past +well-nigh impossible. A universal, death-like conservatism, permitting +no change in successive ages, was established as the grand security for +a separate national existence.... For this end, not only was that part +of the Law which concerned the common life of the people—their +sabbaths, feast-days, jubilees, offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the +Temple and Synagogue worship, civil and criminal law, marriage, and the +like—explained, commented on, and minutely ordered by the Rabbis, but +also that portion of it which related only to the private duties of +individuals in their daily religious life." And to this day the +orthodox Jew observes the same rites and ceremonies which marked the +service of his forefathers, whether in Judea or Samaria, on the banks +of the Nile under the Ptolemies, at Babylon under the Seleucides, or at +Niniveh under Nabuchodonoser. "What event of profane history," writes +the Abbé Gainet, "can boast of an unbroken succession of 3,500 +anniversaries such as those of which we have assurance in the history +of the Jews?"[<A NAME="chap02fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap02fn2">2</A>] +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap02fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap02fn1text">1</A>] "Life of Christ," chap. xvii. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap02fn2"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap02fn2text">2</A>] La Bible sans la Bible, vol. I., Etude préliminaire. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE TESTIMONY OF A CONFESSION. +</H4> + +<P> +The argument of the last chapter leads us to another evidence which +points to the historical authenticity of the Hebrew Bible. It is +plain, even upon superficial examination of this book, that it +contains, beside the severest penalties for sin, the most stinging +accusations of infidelity against the people of God, and the most +scorching rebukes of their crimes; it relates the transgressions of +their kings and princes and priests; in short, it records everything +which the Jewish nation and their rulers must have been anxious to keep +silent, or to mitigate where it was necessary to write it down. Every +reason of prudence and national self-love must have suggested to them +to destroy such records where they existed, because they made their +vaunted glory a story of everlasting shame. Compare this historical +record of the Jewish people with the contemporary annals of the +Assyrian, Persian, Greek, or Roman monarchs. These are full of +extravagant laudations, of royal deeds of valor, of the splendor of +their victories over other nations; whereas the statements of the Bible +are simple, the narrative of heroic acts and signal divine favors is +constantly mingled with incidents deeply self-humiliating for a race +that called itself chosen of God above all the Gentiles. The Jews +record numerous defeats, shameful treacheries, and errors of their most +beloved kings. They rebel, they commit every crime forbidden by the +Law; yet whilst they kill the prophets who charge them with +ingratitude, they patiently suffer the record of it all to go into the +books which they know will be read to all the people for their shame. +They make no attempt to minimize or to excuse themselves to their +children, however much they love the glory of Israel and the splendor +of Jerusalem as the one nation and city worthy of the most exalted +patriotic praise. Other nations made themselves a religion in harmony +with their passions, so as to soothe the conscience. But the Jew finds +a law of life given him in the great book of Moses. He may fall from +his ideals, he may worship idols, but he never ceases to recognize that +this is wrong because it is contrary to the law of Jehovah. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE STONES CRY OUT. +</H4> + +<P> +The chain of documentary and circumstantial evidence which points to +the preservation, substantially intact, of the Bible as an historic +record of the highest possible trustworthiness is completed by the +daily increasing store of monuments which are brought to light, +especially in Palestine, Assyria, and Egypt. Up to the middle of the +present century the largest part of our knowledge of the ancient +nations was drawn from the Bible. It was the one great treasure-house +wherein the history of the East was to be found. We had Greek and +Roman and some Egyptian historians, but their knowledge was confined to +their own people, and needed to be supplemented by the details related +in the Pentateuch, in Josue, Judges, Ruth, the two Books of Samuel, the +Books of Kings, Paralipomenon, Esdras, Tobias, Judith, Esther, and the +Machabees, all of which are historical books containing facts, +statistics, constitutions, and dynastic lines, without which profane +history would still be a doubtful and barren field of study. +</P> + +<P> +But, lately, the studious industry of scholarly men has gone over the +ground of the old events, to test with the instruments of historic +criticism the veracity, and, incidentally, the authenticity of the +Bible record. Aided by the royal munificence of governments and +private corporations, scholars went to search out and examine the +monuments of antiquity in those parts where the Jewish race had dwelt +during the periods recounted in the Bible. They found, mostly below +the earth, and sometimes beneath the flood-beds of streams and lakes, +traces in stone or clay or metal which pointed to their containing +valuable information regarding the Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and +other nations with whom the Hebrew people had come in contact. These +traces were sometimes in signs and languages not understood or wholly +unknown in our learned world, but with assiduous study the mysteries +came, in course of time, to be unravelled. The story of these +discoveries is in various ways extremely interesting, and we shall +speak of them more in detail later on. +</P> + +<P> +Besides the primitive inscriptions just referred to, a number of cities +have been discovered which lay buried for many centuries beneath the +ground upon which afterwards other races dwelt and built their homes. +Excavations in Palestine go, day by day, to explain, where they do not +simply corroborate, the statements of the Bible. The diggings about +the supposed ancient site of Nineveh, in Babylonia, have unearthed the +ruins of an immense library. Sir A. H. Layard, and subsequently Mr. +George Smith and Hormuzd Rassam, have brought together a number of clay +tablets which open an immense world of Assyrian and Babylonian +literature, whose existence was hitherto known only by the indications +given in the Book of Daniel and other historical portions of the Bible +concerning the conquerors of the Jews. These discoveries, as Mr. A. H. +Sayce remarks in his "Fresh Lights from Ancient Monuments" (page 17), +have not only "shed a flood of light on the history and antiquity of +the Old Testament, but they have served to illustrate and explain the +language of the Old Testament as well." +</P> + +<P> +The evidence brought to light by these monuments has left no doubt in +the minds of scientific men as to the facts that occurred three and +four thousand years ago. We read the inscriptions which bear witness +to the work of the Chaldean king Nimrod, to Zoroaster the Elamite, to +Khamu-rabi, the Arab of the days of Moses; we treasure as of primary +historical importance the account of Herodotus, who visited Babylon at +the time when Esdras and Nehemias, who were both ministers at the court +of Artaxerxes, wrote their continuation of the Book of Chronicles for +the Jewish brethren in Palestine. When we read the works of Tacitus +and Suetonius, of Cicero and Virgil, all of whom indicate that they had +some knowledge of the Jewish sacred books,[<A NAME="chap04fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap04fn1">1</A>] we entertain no doubt as +to their existence or the authenticity of their writings; yet men under +the guise of scientific criticism have sought to cast doubts upon the +Biblical records which have in their favor a documentary evidence a +hundred times more accurate and trustworthy than any work of antiquity +without exception in the whole range of history. If apologists were +silent, the very stones would begin to cry out in behalf of the +authenticity and antiquity of the Biblical records. Every day is +bringing this truth into stronger relief. "Discovery after discovery," +says Prof. Sayce, "has been pouring in upon us from Oriental lands, and +the accounts given only ten years ago of the results of Oriental +research are already beginning to be antiquated.... The ancient world +has been reawakened to life by the spade of the explorer and the +patient skill of the decipherer, and we now find ourselves in the +presence of monuments which bear the names or recount the deeds of the +heroes of Scripture." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap04fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap04fn1text">1</A>] Cf. Hettinger-Bowden, "Revealed Religion," page 158. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HEAVENLY DOCTRINE. +</H4> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Whence but from heaven could men, unskilled in arts,<BR> +In several ages born, in several parts,<BR> +Weave such agreeing truths?"<BR> + (Dryden, <I>Religio Laici</I>.)<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The Bible, regarded as a work of history which offers us proofs of +credibility beyond those of any secular work of the same kind, has in +its composition and style a refinement and loftiness of tone far +superior to other writings of equal age which have come down to us. +The Jews "attributed to these books, one and all of them, a character +which at once distinguishes them from all other books, and caused the +collection of them to be regarded in their eyes as one individual +whole. This distinguishing character was the divine authority of every +one of those books and of every part of every book."[<A NAME="chap05fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap05fn1">1</A>] This belief of +the Jews was so strong, so universal, so unchanging that, as has +already been said, it pervaded and regulated their entire religious, +political, and social life during all the eventful centuries of +Israelitish history. +</P> + +<P> +That our Lord knew of this belief, that He endorsed it, preached and +emphasized it repeatedly, is very evident from the authentic narrative +of the Gospels. +</P> + +<P> +Expressions indicating this are to be found everywhere in the writings +of the evangelists: "Have you never read in the Scriptures?" He says +to the Scribes in referring to the words of the Psalmist (cxvii. 22): +The stone which the builders rejected, etc. (St. Matthew xxi. 42.) +Again, a little later on, He charges the Sadducees who say there is no +resurrection: "You err, not knowing the Scriptures" (Ibid. xxii. 29). +In the Garden of Olives He bears witness to the prophetic character of +the Book of Isaiah: "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled" (Ibid. +xxvi. 54)? And the historian, a friend and Apostle of Christ, adds: +"Now all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be +fulfilled" (Ibid. 56). St. John's Gospel, especially, abounds in +references like the foregoing, which point to the intimate relation +between the Messianic advent of Christ and the figures of the Old Law, +and assure us that the books of the Prophets, as well as the +accompanying historic accounts of the Scriptural books generally, were +regarded as the sacred word of God, not only by the Jews, but by the +disciples of Christ. +</P> + +<P> +This sacred collection was generally spoken of as consisting of three +parts, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Philo and +Josephus, both trained in the schools of the Pharisees, mention the +division as one well understood among the Jews of their time. Christ +Himself speaks of the Sacred Scriptures, in different places, with this +same distinction. +</P> + +<P> +Now the testimony of Christ, who proved Himself to be the Son of God, +and therefore unerring truth, is explicit in so far as it appeals with +a supreme and infallible authority to the Jewish Scriptures as to a +testimony <I>not human, but divine</I>. "Have you not read that which was +spoken <I>by God</I>?" He says, referring to the Mosaic Law in Exodus iii. 6 +(St. Matt. xxii. 31). Many times He speaks of the Scriptures "that +they may be fulfilled," thus indicating that they contain that which +lay in the future, and whose foreknowledge must have come from God. +This testimony of Our Lord is strengthened by the interpretation of His +Apostles in the same sense. +</P> + +<P> +Yet although the testimony of Christ and the Apostles regarding the +fact that the Books of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms are +divinely inspired, is very explicit, we have nowhere a clear statement +or a catalogue which might assure us what books and parts of books are +actually comprised in this collection of the Sacred Scriptures of which +our Lord speaks. Christ approves as the word of God those writings +which were accepted as such among the Jews of His day, but He does not +give us any definite security by this general endorsement that every +chapter, every verse, much less every word of the Bible, as we have +received it, is actually inspired. We are not therefore quite sure +from the evidence thus far given that the Old Testament, as we have it, +has in every part of it the sanction of Christ's testimony to its being +truly the word of God. As to the New Testament, we know that, however +accurate and trustworthy as a history of the times in which it was +composed it may be, yet it could not have had the explicit approval of +our Lord, simply because it had not been written and was not completed +for about a hundred years after His death and glorious resurrection. +</P> + +<P> +Yet we accept the New Testament as also inspired in just the same +authoritative way as we receive the Hebrew writings of the Old Law. +And nothing but a divine testimony, such as that of Christ, could +assure us sufficiently that in the Sacred Scriptures we have the word +of God. +</P> + +<P> +What criterion have we by which to determine precisely what books and +parts belong to this collection of Old Testament writings of which +Christ speaks as the word of God? What authority have we, moreover, +for believing the entire New Testament inspired, since it was written +after the time of Christ? If Luther and other reformers, so-called, +threw out some portions of the sacred text, by what standard or +criterion were they guided? Some have answered that we need not the +testimony of Christ or any other equally explicit proof to determine +what parts belong to this collection of writings representing the +inspired word of God. They hold, with Calvin, that a certain spiritual +unction inherent in the Sacred Scriptures determines their source, and +produces in the devout reader an interior sensation which gives him an +absolute conviction of the truth. But common experience teaches that +devout feelings may be produced by books which are not inspired, nay, +by positively irreligious books, which appeal to our better sensitive +nature in some passages whilst they destroy a proper regard for virtue +in others. Moreover, the "absolute conviction of the truth" to be +deduced from the reading of the Sacred Scriptures is belied by a +similar experience, since various sects draw opposing conclusions from +the same texts. As truth cannot contradict itself, and as Christ +prayed that His followers all be of one mind, we do not feel safe in +admitting mere subjective feeling and judgment as a test of what is +God's word. +</P> + +<P> +Therefore we must look for some other criterion. Indeed, if our Lord +wished us to accept the Sacred Scriptures, including the New Testament, +which was written many years after His time, and for a long time was +known only to very much separated portions of the faithful, we may be +quite sure that He provided a means, an authoritative and clear method, +which would lead us to an unerring conclusion in regard to what is and +what is not the inspired word of God. This would be all the more +necessary for those who regard the Bible as the principal rule and +source of their faith. +</P> + +<P> +It is a well-established historical fact that Christ taught some "new +doctrines," as they were called, and that He gave a commission to His +followers, which they repeated and carried out at the sacrifice of +their lives. There is no obscurity whatever about certain words and +precepts given by our Lord, historically recorded by six of His +Apostles and by many of His disciples who had heard and seen Him, who +honestly and intelligently believed in Him, and who were prepared to +die, and in some cases actually did suffer martyrdom for the assertions +they made. He bade them teach all nations the things He had taught +them. He did not give them a book, as He might have done, nor did He +tell them to write books; for some of the Apostles never wrote +anything; and of those who did write in later days, some had actually +never seen our Lord. Such is the common belief regarding St. Paul, who +wrote more than any other of the evangelical writers. St. Luke, in the +very opening of his Gospel, tells us that he wrote what had been +delivered to him by those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the +word. Our Lord did not, therefore, give His disciples a book, but He +was very explicit in making them understand and feel that He gave them +an unerring Spirit, who would be just the same as Himself, verily +identical with their living Master and Teacher, Christ, who would abide +with them to the end of time. "<I>Behold, I am with you all days, even +to the consummation of the world.</I>" To the consummation of the world? +And were they never to die? Were they actually to go, as some believed +of St. John, to perpetuate the kingdom of Christ, wandering over the +earth until all the nations were converted? Not so. They were to +deliver His doctrine to their successors, and the Holy Spirit, the +Paraclete, would watch over it until the end of ages. St. Peter would +live, in this sense, forever, and all the opposing forces of error, the +mighty gates of hell, would not overcome that Spirit any more than they +would triumph over Christ, who had "overcome the world." To St. Peter +He said: "To thee I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven;" "Confirm +thou thy brethren." All this was to go on and on, so that every human +creature could come into possession of truth through this unerring +Spirit that presided over the Christian doctrine. And this perpetual +transmission of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who would guide +the future teachers and preside over their councils as at the first +councils of Antioch and Jerusalem,—this perpetual transmission through +a body like the apostolic body, ever living, ever guarded from error, +ever triumphant amid humiliations, what else is it but the Church, that +glorious heritage of ages, which we recognize through all time in every +land, holding every class and condition with the wondrous power of its +unity of doctrine and discipline! +</P> + +<P> +Now it is this body, this ever-living and unchanging organism, this +grand apostolic tribunal, which Christ established, and without which +His mission to men would really have remained incomplete, that tells us +that the things which some of the Apostles and some of the disciples +wrote for our instruction and edification are inspired by the same holy +and infallible Spirit which guided the Apostles in their oral teaching. +Not all things were written there, as St. John tells us, but many +things which they had taught, and which would keep the people, with +whom the Apostles could not be ever present, in mind of that doctrine. +The written things were not intended to replace the spoken word of +doctrinal jurisdiction, for the evangelical teaching of the spoken word +was to go on to the end; besides, there were many who could not read, +and many who might listen but would not read. Furthermore, there would +be need of a living apostolic tribunal, since a written doctrine, like +a written law, is liable to various and sometimes contradictory +interpretations. We have constitutions and laws, but we need judges +and courts to decide the meaning and application, and if it were not +that men forget the order of justice, or are too remote from the +centres of jurisdiction, we should not need any written laws at all. +Communities may be governed by a wise superior without any written +laws, and in no case does the written law dispense with the necessity +of a discretionary living authority. It is quite evident that in the +matter of truth God wished His Apostles to use <I>all the instruments</I> by +which that truth might be safely and rightly communicated, and thus the +written word was added to the living teaching which the Holy Ghost was +ever to direct and safeguard. +</P> + +<P> +I repeat: Christ did not give His disciples a book, but a living, +infallible spirit, abiding with them to the end of time, as He said; +and since the Apostles were not to remain on earth to the end of the +world, what else could our Lord have meant but that others would take +their place on the same conditions, with the same prerogatives! That +He wished and said this is written over and over again in the sacred +volume, and by men who, if they had held this grand trust only for +themselves, would have had every reason to say so. But they state the +contrary. St. Peter ordains St. Paul; St. Paul sends Timothy and Titus +to the new converts on the same conditions, bidding them to preserve +intact the grace that is in them "through the imposition of hands." +And the successive generations of Pontiffs who take the place of Peter +and Paul and Timothy and Titus are the grand tribunal for the +transmission of Christ's doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +That tribunal, from St. Peter down to Leo XIII., is the authority: +"Christ having sent them, even as the Father had sent Him," which tells +us that the books of the Sacred Scriptures, such as we have them, and +as they are singly defined in what is called the Catholic Canon of +Biblical Books, are truly and really the word of God, and were written +under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap05fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap05fn1text">1</A>] "The Sacred Scriptures," Humphrey. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE VICIOUS CIRCLE. +</H4> + +<P> +In the preceding chapter it was said that the Sacred Scripture of the +New Testament contains Christ's statements according to which He +founded an ever-living tribunal of doctrine which decided the question +of what books are, and what books are not inspired, whenever there is +any doubt about such books. Perhaps you will say: "But is this not +arguing in a circle—a vicious circle, as philosophers say? You prove +the existence of the Church as the tribunal to determine what books +belong to the Sacred Scriptures from the words of the Bible; and then +you turn about and prove the inspiration of the Bible from the +authority of the Church." Now mark the difference. When in my first +argument I refer to the Bible as containing Christ's statement and the +commission given to His Apostles, I am taking the testimony of the +Bible, not as an inspired or divine book, but simply as a trustworthy +historical record which tells us the fact, repeated by several +eye-witnesses and sincere men, such as the evangelists and apostolical +writers, that Christ, of whose divinity they were convinced, had said +and emphasized the fact that He meant to found a Church. And as that +Church was to have the divine spirit abiding in it, guiding its +decisions, it came naturally within the province of that Church to +define whether certain books were to be regarded as really inspired by +that Holy Spirit. Thus the Church placed upon these books the mark and +sign-manual of that commission which she had unquestionably received. +</P> + +<P> +But I am constrained, for the sake of completing our present aspect of +the subject, to say something on the character and extent of that +divine element which Jews and Christians recognize when they accept the +Sacred Scriptures as the word of God. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SACRED PEN. +</H4> + +<P> +We have seen that the Biblical writings bear the unmistakable impress +of a divine purpose. The nature of that purpose is likewise clearly +enunciated on every page of Holy Writ. Man in his fallen condition +stands in need of law and example, of precept and promise. These God +gives him. We read in Exodus (Chap. iii.) that He first speaks to +Moses, giving him His commands regarding the liberation and conduct of +His people out of Egypt. Later on, in the desert on Mount Sinai, +"Moses spoke, and God answered him" (Chap. xix. 19); and "Moses went +down to the people and told them all" (Ibid. 25). Next we read (Chap. +xxiv. 12) that the Lord said to Moses: "I will give thee tables of +stone, and the law, and the commandments which <I>I have written, that +thou mayest teach them</I>." +</P> + +<P> +Here God announces Himself as the writer of "the Law and the +Commandments," although we receive them in the handwriting of Moses. +Is Moses a mere amanuensis, writing under dictation? No. He is the +intelligent, free instrument, writing under the direct inspiration of +God. In this sense God is the true author or writer of the Sacred +Scriptures, making His action plain to the sense and understanding of +His children through the medium of a man whom He inspires to execute +His work. +</P> + +<P> +How does this inspiration act on the writer who ostensibly executes the +divine work? We answer: <I>God moves the will of the writer, and +illumines his intellect, pointing out to him at the same time the +subject-matter which he is to write down, and preserving him from error +in the completion of his committed task</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Looking attentively at this definition of Scriptural inspiration, a +number of questions arise at once in our minds. God moves the will, +enlightens the mind, and points out the subject-matter which the +inspired writer commits to paper. Is the writer under the influence of +the divine impulsion so possessed by the inspired virtue that he acts +without any freedom, either as regards the manner of his expression or +the use of previously acquired knowledge concerning the subject of +which he writes? +</P> + +<P> +I answer: No. God moves the will of the writer; He does not annihilate +it or absorb it, unless in the sense that He brings it, by a certain +illumination of the intellect, to a conformity with His own. Hence the +manner and method of expression retain the traces of the individuality +of the writer, that is to say, of his views and feelings as determined +by the ordinary habits of life and the range of his previous knowledge. +The idea of the divine authorship of the Sacred Scriptures by no means +requires that the truths which God willed to be contained therein could +not or should not have been otherwise known to the inspired writers: +"Their use of study, their investigation of documents, their +interrogation of witnesses and other evidence, and their excuses for +rusticity of style and poverty of language show this only, that they +were not inanimate, but living, intelligent, and rational +instruments—that they were men, and not machines.... They were +employed in a manner which corresponded to, and which became the +nature, the mode, and the conditions of their being. Previous +knowledge of certain truths by men can be no reason why God should not +conceive and will such truths to be communicated by means of Scripture +to His Church.... Hence the idea of inspiration does not exclude human +industry, study, the use of documents and witnesses, and other aids in +order to the conceiving of such truths, so long as it includes a +supernatural operation and direction of God, which effects that the +mind of the inspired writer should <I>conceive</I> all those truths, and +those only which God would have him communicate."[<A NAME="chap07fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap07fn1">1</A>] And herein lies +the difference between inspiration and revelation, the latter being the +manifestation of something previously unknown to the writer. +</P> + +<P> +The second question, which naturally occurs in connection with the one +just answered, is whether we are to consider that the words, just as we +read them in the Bible, are inspired in such wise that we may not +conceive of the sacred text having any other meaning than that to which +its <I>verbal expression</I> limits it. +</P> + +<P> +There are many reasons why we need not feel bound to accept the theory +of literal or <I>verbal inspiration</I> of the Bible, although such opinion +has been defended by eminent theologians, who wished thereby to defend +the integrity of the sacred volume against the wanton interference with +the received text on the part of innovators and so-called religious +reformers. +</P> + +<P> +In the first place, the theory of verbal inspiration is not essential +to the maintenance of the absolute integrity of a written revelation. +That revelation proposes truths and facts, and whilst the terms +employed for the expression of these truths and facts must fit +adequately to convey the sense, they admit of a certain variety without +thereby in the least injuring the accuracy of statements. This is +applicable not only to single words, but to phrases and forms of +diction, and to figures of illustration. +</P> + +<P> +Secondly, the sacred writers themselves abundantly indicate the freedom +which may be exercised or allowed in the verbal declaration of divinely +inspired truths. Many of them repeat the same facts and doctrines in +different words. This is the case even with regard to events of the +gravest character, such as the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, in +which there can be no room for a difference of interpretation as to the +true sense. +</P> + +<P> +St. Matthew (xxvi. 26-28), for example, records the act of consecration +by Our Lord on the eve of His passion in the following words: "Take ye +and eat: This is My Body.... Drink ye all of this, for this is My +Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many for the +remission of sins." +</P> + +<P> +St. Mark (xiv. 22-24) writes: "Take ye. This is My Body.... This is +My Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many." +</P> + +<P> +St. Luke (xxii. 19-20) says: "This is My Body, which is given for +you.... This is the chalice, the new Testament in My Blood, which +shall be shed for you." +</P> + +<P> +St. Paul (I. Cor. xi. 24-25) has it: "This is My Body, which shall be +delivered for you.... This chalice is the new Testament in My Blood." +</P> + +<P> +These four witnesses cite very important words spoken by our Lord on a +most solemn occasion. St. Matthew was present at the Last Supper. He +wrote in the very language employed by our Lord, and we have every +reason to believe that he could remember and wished to remember exactly +what our Lord had said on so important a subject, especially when he, +with the other Apostles, was told to do the same act in remembrance of +their Master when He should be no longer with them in visible human +form. St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul nevertheless vary the +expression of this tremendous mystery in all but the words: "This is My +Body." They drew their knowledge of the form of the institution of the +Blessed Sacrament from St. Peter; at least we know that St. Peter +revised and approved of St. Mark's Gospel,[<A NAME="chap07fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap07fn2">2</A>] and St. Paul and St. Luke +evidently obtained their knowledge of the Christian faith from a common +source, which the chief of the Apostles controlled. They had every +opportunity to consult St. Mark, and there might have been reason for +doing so since they wrote in Greek, whereas St. Matthew retained the +Hebrew idiom, but evidently neither they nor St. Peter deemed a literal +or verbal rendering of the sacramental form essential, provided the +true version of our Lord's action was faithfully given. +</P> + +<P> +Furthermore, the claim of verbal inspiration implies a necessity of +having recourse to the original language in which the inspired writers +composed their works, since it is quite impossible that translations +can in every case adequately render the exact meaning conveyed by an +idiom no longer living. But the necessity of referring to the Hebrew, +Chaldee, or Greek text in order to verify the true sense of an +expression would place the Bible beyond the reach of all but a few +scholars, for whose exclusive benefit the generally popular style of +the Bible forbids us to think they were primarily intended. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, we have the indication by writers of both the Old and New +Testaments that what they wrote was not conveyed to them by way of +dictation, but that the divine thought conceived in their own minds was +rendered by them with such imperfections of expression as belonged +wholly to the human element of the instrument which God employed, and +could in nowise be attributed to the Holy Ghost, who permitted His +revelation to be communicated through channels of various kinds and +degrees of material form. Thus the writer of the sacred Book of +Machabees (II. Mach. ii. 24, etc.) apologizes for his style of writing. +St. Paul (I. Cor. ii. 13; II. Cor. xi. 6) gives us to understand that +his words fall short of the requirements of the rhetorician, but that +he is satisfied to convey "the doctrine of the Spirit." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap07fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap07fn1text">1</A>] Vid. "The Sacred Scriptures; or, The Written Word of God." By +William Humphrey, S. J.—London, Art and Book Co., 1894. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap07fn2"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap07fn2text">2</A>] Clement Alex.—Euseb., H.E., II. xv. 1; VI. xiv. 6; XX. clxxii. +552. Also Hieron., De Vir. Ill., VIII. xxiii. 621, etc. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MELODY AND HARMONY OF THE "VOX COELESTIS." +</H4> + +<P> +But, you will say, whilst it is plain that we need not adhere to the +text of Holy Writ so strictly as to suppose that each single word is +the only exact representation of the thought or truth with which God +inspired the writer, it seems difficult to see where you can draw the +line between the teaching of God and its interpretation by man who is +not bound by definite words. In other words, if verbal inspiration is +not to be admitted, how far does inspiration actually extend in the +formation of the written text? +</P> + +<P> +I should answer that inspiration extends to the <I>truths</I> and <I>facts</I> +contained in the Bible, <I>absolutely</I>; that it extends to the terms in +which these truths and facts are expressed, <I>relatively</I>. The former +cannot vary; the latter may vary according to the disposition or the +circumstances of the writer. It may be allowable to express this +distinction by a comparison of Biblical with musical inspiration. +Taking music, not as a mechanical art, but as an expression of the +soul, or, as Milton puts it, of +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Strains that might create a soul,"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +we distinguish between the conception of the melody and its +accompaniment of harmonious chords. The former constitutes, so to +speak, the theme, the truth, or motive of the artistic conception, +which the composer seizes under his inspiration. When he goes to +communicate the expression of this musical truth or melody through the +instrument he at once and instinctively avails himself of the chords +which, by way of accompaniment, emphasize the musical truth which his +soul utters through the instrument, according to the peculiar nature or +form of the latter. These chords of the accompaniment are not the +leading motive or truth of his theme, but they are equally true with +it. They may vary, even whilst he uses the same instrument, but the +melody must ever observe the exact distances between the sounds in its +finished form, and cannot be altered without changing the motive of the +piece. +</P> + +<P> +The inspiration of the Sacred Text offers an analogy to that of the +artist musician. The divine melody of truths and facts is definitely +communicated to the inspired composer of the Sacred Books. Sometimes +he sings loud and with strong emphasis, sometimes he barely breathes +his heavenly tones, yet they are no uncertain notes; they allow of no +alteration, addition, or omission. But in the accompanying chords he +takes now one set, now another, remaining in the same clef, ever true +to the melody, yet manifold in the variety of expressing that truth. +Even the seeming discords, which, taken by themselves, look like +errors, prove to be part of the great theme; when rightly understood +they are but transition chords which prepare us for the complete +realization of the succeeding harmony into which they resolve +themselves. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE VOICE FROM THE ROCK. +</H4> + +<P> +Does the Church indorse the definition of Scriptural inspiration which +has been given in the two preceding chapters? The Church has said very +little on the subject of the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures, but +enough to serve us as a definition and as an expression of its +limitations. The Councils of Florence and Trent simply state that "the +Sacred Scriptures, having been written under the inspiration of the +Holy Ghost, have God for their author." How much may be deduced from +this was made clear by the late Vatican Council (Constit., <I>de Fide</I>, +cap. ii.), which holds that "the Church regards these books (enumerated +in the Tridentine Canon), as sacred and canonical, not because, having +been composed through the care and industry of men, they were +afterwards approved by the authority of the Church, nor simply because +they contain revealed truth without error, but because they were +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in such a way as to +have God for their author...."[<A NAME="chap09fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap09fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +By this definition two distinct theories of inspiration are censured as +contrary to Catholic teaching. The first is that which has been called +<I>subsequent</I> inspiration, according to which a book might be written +wholly through human industry, but receiving afterwards the testimony +of express divine approval, might become the written word of God. This +teaching is not admissible inasmuch as it excludes the divine +authorship of the Scriptures. +</P> + +<P> +A second theory condemned by the above clause of the Vatican Council as +untenable on Catholic principles is that which is called <I>negative</I> +inspiration. Its defenders hold that the extent of the divine action +in the composition of the Sacred Scriptures is limited to the exclusion +of errors from the sacred volume. This would restrict the value of the +truth revealed in the Bible to a mere exposition of human knowledge +containing no actual misstatements of fact. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap09fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap09fn1text">1</A>] See on this subject P. Brucker's recently published work +"<I>Questions Actuelles d'Ecriture Sainte</I>," <I>par le R. P. Jos. Brucker, +S. J.: Paris, Victor Retaux</I>, which treats admirably this part of our +subject. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SOURCE OF GENERAL INFORMATION AND CULTURE. +</H4> + +<P> +Among the many interesting letters which St. Jerome has left us there +is one to Laeta, a noble lady of Rome, regarding the education of her +little daughter, Paula. An aunt of the child was at the time in +Bethlehem, where, amid the very scenes where our Lord was born, she +studied the Holy Scriptures in the Hebrew and Greek tongues, as was +then the habit of educated Christian ladies. St. Jerome would have the +child Paula trained in all the arts and sciences that could refine her +mind and lead it to its highest exercise in that singularly gifted +nature. To this end he bids Laeta cultivate in the child an early +knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. With a touching simplicity the +aged Saint enters into minute details of the daily training,—how the +childish hands are to form the ivory letters, which serve her as +playthings, into the names of the prophets and saints of the Old +Testament; how later she is to commit to memory, each day, choice +sayings, flowers of wisdom culled from the sacred writers, and how, +finally, he [Transcriber's note: she?] is to come to the Holy Land and +learn from her aunt the lofty erudition and understanding of the Bible, +a book which contains and unfolds to him who knows how to read it +rightly all the wisdom of ages, practical and in principle, surpassing +the classic beauty of those renowned Roman writers of whose works St. +Jerome himself had been once so passionately fond that they haunted him +in his dreams. +</P> + +<P> +It must not be supposed, however, that the judgment of so erudite a man +as St. Jerome in placing the study of the Sacred Scriptures above all +other branches of a higher education was based upon a purely +<I>spiritual</I> view. He realized what escapes the superficial reader of +the inspired writings: that they are <I>not only</I> a library of religious +thought, but, in every truest sense of the word, a compendium of +general knowledge. The sacred volumes are a code and digest of law, of +political, social, and domestic economy; a book of history the most +comprehensive and best authenticated of all written records back to the +remotest ages; a summary of practical lessons and maxims for every +sphere of life; a treasury of beautiful thoughts and reflections, which +instruct at once and elevate, and thus serve as a most effective means +of education. That this is no exaggeration is attested by men like the +pagans of old, who, becoming acquainted with the sacred books, valued +them, though they saw in them nothing of that special divine revelation +which the Jew and Christian recognize. We read in history how, nearly +three hundred years before our Lord, Ptolemy Philadelphia, the most +cultured of all the Egyptian kings, and founder of the famous +Alexandrian University, which for centuries outshone every other +institution of learning by the renown of its teachers, sent a +magnificent embassy to the High-priest Eleazar at Jerusalem to ask him +for a copy of the Sacred Law of the Jews. So greatly did he esteem its +possession that he offered for the right of translating the Pentateuch +alone six hundred talents of gold ($576,000), and liberty to all the +Jewish captives in his dominion, to the number of about 150,000 (some +historians give the number at 100,000, others at 200,000). +</P> + +<P> +There exists a spurious account, ascribed to Aristeas, one of Ptolemy's +ministers, who is said to have accompanied the royal embassy to +Jerusalem for the purpose of urging the king's request. According to +this story, which is in form of a letter written by Aristeas to his +brother Philocrates, six rabbis, equally well versed in the Hebrew and +Greek languages, were selected by the high-priest from each of the +twelve tribes. The seventy-two rabbis were invited to the palace of +the king, who, whilst entertaining them for some time, publicly asked +them questions relating to civil government and moral philosophy, so +that by this means he might test their knowledge and judgment. Many of +these questions, curious and quaint, have been preserved, and are +intended to show the wisdom of Ptolemy and his desire to raise his +government to a high level of moral and political perfection. Among +the guests who were present at the king's table we find Demetrius +Phalereus, the famous librarian, Euclid, the mathematician, Theocritus, +the Greek poet philosopher, and Manetho, the Egyptian historian, +together with other equally learned and illustrious scholars and +literary artists. +</P> + +<P> +Later on the seventy-two translators, according to the same tradition, +which has come to us through some of the old ecclesiastical writers, +were brought to the island of Pharos, where they went to work in +separate cells, undisturbed and living according to a uniform rule, +until the entire work of translation had been accomplished. Then the +results were compared, and it was found that the translations of all +agreed in a wonderful manner, and the Jews accepted it as a work done +under the special protection of Jehovah. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever we may hold as to the accuracy of the above account and its +pretended origin, it is certain that the story was current before the +time of Christ, it being credited by Philo, who repeats it in his Life +of Moses, and by Josephus, as well as by St. Justin Martyr and others +of the early Christian Fathers. All agree that the Septuagint +translation was made about the time of Ptolemy, and that the Jews of +Alexandria and Palestine held it in equal veneration as a faithful copy +of the Mosaic books, whilst the pagans regarded it in the light of a +wonderfully complete code of laws—civil, domestic, and moral. +</P> + +<P> +Reference has already been made to the Sacred Scriptures as +constituting the oldest and best-authenticated record of ancient +history. From it we draw the main store of our information regarding +the beginnings of human society in the Eastern countries of +Mesopotamia, early Chaldea, Assyria, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt, all of +which are grouped around the common centre, Palestine, where the +principal scenes of the Old and New Testament narrative are laid. +</P> + +<P> +But it is not only in the departments of history and geography that the +Bible represents the most extensive and reliable source of information +hitherto open to the student of mental culture. The sacred books, +although never intended to serve a purely scientific purpose, have +within recent years become recognized indicators which throw light upon +doubtful paths in the investigation of certain scientific facts. Sir +William Dawson, one of the leading investigators of our day, has lately +published his Lowell lectures, in which he shows how science at last +confirms and illustrates the teaching of Holy Writ regarding geology +and the creation of man.[<A NAME="chap10fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap10fn1">1</A>] Similar conclusions are being daily +reached in different fields of scientific research, and the words of +Jean Paul regarding the first page of the Mosaic record, as containing +more real knowledge than all the folios of men of science and +philosophy, are proving themselves true in other respects also. We may +be allowed to cite here from Geikie's "Hours With the Bible" the +testimony of the late Dr. McCaul, who gives us a legitimate view of the +latest results of science as compared with the Mosaic record of the +Bible. +</P> + +<P> +"Moses," he says, "relates how God created the heavens and the earth at +an indefinitely remote period, before the earth was the habitation of +man: Geology has lately discovered the existence of a long prehuman +period. A comparison with other Scriptures (<I>i.e.</I>, those written +after the Pentateuch, or Mosaic account) shows that the "heavens" of +Moses include the abode of angels and the place of the fixed stars, +which existed before the earth: Astronomy points out remote worlds, +whose light began its journey long before the existence of man. Moses +declares that the earth was or became covered with water, and was +desolate and empty: Geology has found by investigation that the +primitive globe was covered with a uniform ocean, and that there was a +long azoic period, during which neither plant nor animal could live. +Moses states that there was a time when the earth was not dependent on +the sun for light or heat; when, therefore, there could be no climatic +differences: Geology has lately verifed this statement by finding +tropical plants and animals scattered over all places of the earth. +Moses affirms that the sun, as well as the moon, is only a light +holder: Astronomy declares that the sun is a non-luminous body, +dependent for its light on a luminous atmosphere. Moses asserts that +the earth existed before the sun was given as a luminary: Modern +science proposes a theory which explains how this was possible. Moses +asserts that there is an expanse extending from earth to distant +heights, in which the heavenly bodies are placed: Recent discoveries +lead to the supposition of some subtile fluid medium in which they +move. Moses describes the process of creation as gradual, and mentions +the order in which living things appeared: plants, fishes, fowls, land +animals, man: By the study of nature, geology has arrived independently +at the same conclusion. Whence did Moses get all this knowledge? How +was it that he worded his rapid sketch with such scientific accuracy? +If he in his day possessed the knowledge which genius and science have +attained only recently, that knowledge is superhuman. If he did not +possess the knowledge, then his pen must have been guided by superhuman +wisdom" (Aids to Faith, p. 232). +</P> + +<P> +Some years ago much ado was made by certain sceptics about the +chronology of the Bible, as if the discrepancies of a few figures could +undo the manifest authenticity of the vast store of facts vouched in +the grand collection of Biblical books. These discrepancies are being +gradually explained. It may be that we err in properly understanding +the Oriental habits of counting genealogies, or that the method of the +first transcribers led to inaccuracy, despite the care used in the +copying and preservation of the text. When we remember that Hebrew +signs, very closely resembling each other, denote often great +differences, clear enough, no doubt, at first, but becoming indistinct +in the course of time, we cannot wonder that some words and expressions +present to the ordinary reader a mystery, or even seeming +contradiction. It is not necessary to understand the ancient tongue in +order to realize this fact. In the first place, the similarity of +Hebrew characters which represent great numerical differences must have +easily led to errors by the copyists, which caused difficulty to the +later transcribers unless they had a reliable tradition to correct the +mistake. Thus the letter ב (<I>Beth</I>) represents <I>two</I>, +whilst כ (<I>Kaph</I>) represents <I>twenty</I>. By placing two +small dots above either of these two characters you multiply them by a +thousand, [Hebrew: Beth with two dots] representing <I>two thousand</I> and +[Hebrew: Kaph with two dots] <I>twenty thousand</I>. The letter +ו (<I>Vav</I>) is equivalent to <I>six</I>, another letter very like it in +form, ז (<I>Zayin</I>), is <I>seven</I>, whilst both of these +characters represent a variety of meanings: oftenest ו +(<I>Vav</I>) is a copula, at other times it stands at the beginning of a +discourse, or introduces the apodosis, or is simply an intensive, or +adversative; sometimes it is prefixed to a future tense, and turns it +into an imperfect, etc. Again, there are special reasons why certain +combinations of letters stand for numerals, contrary to the ordinary +rule. Thus <I>fifteen</I> is expressed by +טו=9+6, instead +of יח, because the name of God commences with +the latter characters יחות (Jehovah), etc. +</P> + +<P> +Furthermore, many of the signs used as numerals had fixed symbolical +significations, and were not meant to be taken as literal quantities. +</P> + +<P> +Moreover, in all the old Hebrew writings the consonants only are +expressed. Thus it happens that the same written characters may denote +different things, sometimes contradictory, unless living tradition +could supply the true signification. Thus the word כר +means <I>son</I> (Ps. ii. 12), or it may be an adjective signifying <I>chosen</I> +(Cant. vi. 9), or, again, <I>clear</I> (Cant. vi. 10), or <I>empty</I> (Prov. +xiv. 4). Besides these primary meanings it stands for <I>corn</I> or +<I>grain</I>, for <I>open fields</I> or <I>country</I>, for a <I>pit</I>, for <I>salt of lye</I> +(vegetable salt), and for <I>pureness</I>. The true signification in each +passage is not always clear from the context, and critics are +frequently at a loss to divine the sense intended by the writer. +</P> + +<P> +But whilst these discrepancies and obscurities are a momentary source +of distraction, they arouse not only zeal for the study of the sacred +languages, by which means philological mysteries are frequently cleared +up, but they give us often an insight into the wonderful genius of the +Semitic languages, with their peculiar imagery, which associates ideas +and feelings apparently wholly distinct from each other according to +the use of modern terms. +</P> + +<P> +The last-made reflection suggests another advantage, in an educational +point of view, which the study of the Sacred Scriptures opens to those +who possess sufficient talent and opportunity for its pursuit. I mean +the power of thought and reflection which comes with the study of a +foreign language. There are portions of the Old Testament which we +cannot rightly read and understand without <I>some</I> knowledge of the +tongue in which they were originally written. This is one of the +several reasons which the Church has for not sanctioning, without +certain cautions, the indiscriminate reading of the Sacred Scriptures +in the form of translation. Let me give you a very good authority for +this. +</P> + +<P> +About the very time when Ptolemy Philadelphus, of whom I have spoken in +the beginning, sent to Jerusalem in order to procure the Greek +translation of the Thorah, or Hebrew law (Pentateuch), a holy Jewish +scribe was inspired to write one of the later Scriptural books. It +appears that He was among the seventy learned scribes who had been sent +by the High-priest to Alexandria for the purpose of making the +translation for the king, and that afterwards, whilst still there, he +composed the sacred book known as <I>Ecclesiasticus</I>. This book he wrote +in the Hebrew tongue. Many years after, a grandson of this inspired +writer, who is called Jesus son of Sirach, came upon the book and +resolved to translate it into Greek, in order that it might be read by +many of his brethren in the foreign land, who no longer spoke the +Hebrew language, though they believed in the law of their forefathers. +To this translation he wrote a short preface which, though it does not +belong to the inspired portions of the text, has been preserved and is +found in our Bibles. Let me read it to you, because it demonstrates +the truth of what I have just said, namely, that our understanding of +the Bible is rendered difficult when we are obliged to depart from the +original language in which it was written. The younger Jesus Sirach, +who spoke both the Hebrew and Greek tongues equally well, at a time +when they were still living languages, writes as follows about the +translation of his grandfather's work: +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"The knowledge of many and great things hath been shown us by the Law +and the Prophets, and others that have followed them, for which things +Israel is to be commended for doctrine and wisdom; because not only +they that speak must needs be skilful, but strangers also, both +speaking and writing, may by their means become most learned. +</P> + +<P> +My grandfather Jesus, after he had much given himself to a diligent +reading of the Law and the Prophets, and other books that were +delivered to us from our fathers, had a mind also to write something +himself pertaining to doctrine and wisdom; that such as are desirous to +learn and are made knowing in these things may be more and more +attentive in mind, and be strengthened to live according to the Law. I +entreat you, therefore, to come with benevolence, and to read with +attention, and to pardon us for those things wherein we may seem, +<I>while we follow the image of wisdom, to come short in the composition +of words: for the Hebrew words have not the same force in them when +translated into another tongue. And not only these, but the Law also +itself, and the Prophets and the rest of the books, have no small +difference when they are spoken in their own language</I>. For in the +eighth and thirtieth year coming into Egypt, when Ptolemy Euergetes was +king, and continuing there a long time, I found these books left, of no +small and contemptible learning. Therefore I thought it good and +necessary for me to bestow some diligence and labor to interpret this +book; and with much watching and study, in some space of time, I +brought the book to an end, and set it forth for the service of them +that are willing to apply their mind, and to learn how they ought to +conduct themselves, who purpose to lead their life according to the Law +of the Lord" (Prologue to Ecclesiasticus). +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap10fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap10fn1text">1</A>] "Meeting-place of Geology and History," 1894. Fleming H. Revell +Co., New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CREATION OF NEW LETTERS. +</H4> + +<P> +It is a fact not generally known or realized that if it were not for +the Bible some of the richest and most beautiful languages of antiquity +would now be entirely lost to us; nay, more, there are whole nations +who would in all probability never have had a written language or +literature except for the Bible. +</P> + +<P> +Of the ancient Semitic tongues only two remain living languages, that +is, the Arabian, and, in a modified form, the Syrian. The Chaldee, the +Samaritan, the Assyrian, the Phoenician, the Ethiopia are dead and +would hardly be known to us except for the remnants of them which we +trace through the sacred books of the Scripture. We have no relic of +the Hebrew tongue but the Bible; and this language, with all its +wondrous musical forms, its strange capacity of eliciting and +expressing the deepest feelings of the human heart, and its charming +touches of Oriental genius, would be entirely dead outs, if we had not +the Bible. +</P> + +<P> +Our own English tongue bears the traces of another written language, +now entirely dead, but which was actually created by the study of the +Bible. I mean the Gothic, of which no other written document exists +to-day except some portion of the Holy Scriptures translated by Ulfilas +in the fourth century. When he came as a missionary among the Goths he +found them ignorant of the art of writing. In order to Christianize +the rude people he invented for them an alphabet, gathered their +children into Christian schools, and taught them to write and to read. +The first book, and the last, too, of that once powerful race was a +Bible. When the Goths had died out in the ninth century, their written +copy of the inspired word of God still continued to live, and we can +trace in our unabridged dictionaries to-day the original meaning of +many a Saxon word by reference to this solitary copy of a part of the +Sacred Scriptures. +</P> + +<P> +What has been said of the Gothic is equally true of the written +language of the Armenians (for whom the anchorite Miesrop devised an +alphabet and translated the Bible); also of the Slavonic nations (for +whom SS. Cyril and Methodius made an alphabet and Bible translation); +and others—races who, like our own Indian tribes, lived only long +enough as representatives of a separate language to learn the rudiments +of Christianity. +</P> + +<P> +All this must convince us that those who have the required means should +seek to master one or several of the Biblical languages, since the +ancient tongues, less subject to the caprice of political changes than +those of later ages, open to the mind avenues of original thought and +sentiment which modern literature and education have not been capable +of retaining without them. +</P> + +<P> +You will say that it is impossible for most, or perchance nearly all of +you to give yourselves to the study of Hebrew or Greek or Latin in +order to gain that profit from the intelligent reading of the Bible +which it yields to the man of learning. Very well; if so, the fact of +our deficiency must caution us in reading and rashly interpreting +according to our fancy what can only be determined by the wisdom of +those who act the legitimate part of divinely-appointed judges. As in +the Old Law the High-priest and the great council of the Sanhedrin were +the infallible interpreters of the divine decrees, so the Church, which +is the continuation and perfection of the Synagogue, completes the +Messianic mission by interpreting for each succeeding generation the +meaning of the inspired words written in the sacred volume. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ENGLISH STYLE. +</H4> + +<P> +But there still remains for all of us the reading of the English Bible, +with the aids of interpretation which render it intelligible for a +practical purpose, and in so far as it is an expression of the natural +moral law. This of itself contributes very largely to the perfection +of our use of the mother tongue. For it is always true of this sacred +book, as Dryden says, that in +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "... Style, majestic and divine,<BR> +It speaks no less than God in every line;<BR> +Commanding words! whose force is still the same<BR> +As the first <I>fiat</I> that produced our frame."<BR> + (Dryden, <I>Relig. Laic.</I>, i. 152.)<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Yes, its frequent reading helps much to the formation of good English. +This is not simply fancy, but the verdict of those who have experienced +and proved the benefit of frequent use of the Bible as a means of +fashioning and improving a beautiful style of English writing. Some +years ago Mr. Bainton, a lover of English literature, requested the +best of living writers to give their opinion as to what class of +reading had most contributed to their attaining the elegance or force +of beauty for which their writings were generally admired. To the +surprise of many it appeared in the answers that the reading of the +Bible was considered the secret of a charming style, even by authors +who wrote in that lighter, sparkling vein which seems so remote from +the gravity and solidity of the sacred books. To give one example of +this let me quote the words of Mr. W. S. Gilbert, the author of the +delightful "Bab Ballads," and a long series of light operas and +sparkling plays. After referring to the advantage of studying the +English of the late Tudor and early Stuart periods, he adds: "But for +simplicity, directness, and perspicuity, there is, in my opinion, no +existing work to be compared with the historical books of the Bible." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Marion Crawford, much read of late, and criticized for fostering a +faulty ideal, but whose vigorous expression, power of analysis, and +correct delineation of character will hardly be denied by any one +capable of judging, gives his ideas of attaining to good English style +in the following words: "The greatest literary production in our +language is the translation of the Bible, and the more a man reads it +the better he will write English." He adds: "I am not a particularly +devout person, though I am a good Roman Catholic, and I do not +recommend the Bible from any religious reason. I distinctly dislike +the practice of learning texts without any regard to the context.... +But if we were English Brahmans, and believed nothing contained +therein, I should still maintain that the Bible should be the <I>first +study</I> of a literary man. Then the great poets, Shakespeare, Milton," +etc. I have quoted Mr. Crawford because he is not merely a good +English writer, but a real scholar, familiar with many languages, +classic and modern, and therefore all the better qualified to judge of +our subject. +</P> + +<P> +There are, of course, instances in the Bible when the grammatical rules +of Brown and Murray forbid satisfactory parsing. The reason of this is +the natural wish of the translators, anxious to preserve the literal +form of the original, not to sacrifice accuracy to the nicety with +which they might round their phrases. They were intent alone upon +truth; and it is precisely in this element that eloquence finds its +first and most powerful incentive. Beauty of language has two sources +of inspiration. One is that of truth, which arouses in the heart a +love lifting the mind with a burning enthusiasm into the regions of all +that is fair and chaste and grand; and the language of him who has +mastered it assumes the sound and form of these lofty emotions. There +is indeed another source of inspiration. It is that from which +emanates the brilliant but ephemeral beauty of the literature of the +day. It is not love of unchanging truth, but the captivating passion +of the hour, which, as someone has said, acts upon the brain "like the +foaming grape of Eastern France—pleasant to the sense of taste, yet +sending its subtle fumes to the brain, and stealing away the judgment." +Truth in literature possesses a power of eloquence of which fiction is +but a shadow at best, varying in size, and dwarfed or magnified in +proportion as it approaches and recedes from the object which occasions +it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FRIENDS OF GOD. +</H4> + +<P> +And with this study of truth there is added to knowledge and power and +beauty of expression another vital element, which gives these +acquisitions an infinite value: I mean the gift of wisdom as distinct +from knowledge. Read the Sapiential book of Solomon, and mark what he +there says. He had learnt all things that human industry could +suggest, but the science of things earthly was as nothing to the wisdom +which, as he says, "went before me; and I knew not that it was the +mother of all." And when he had learnt wisdom in listening to the +breathing of that sacred voice whose words he recorded for our +instruction, he describes it as a sacred fire of genius, "holy, one, +manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving that +which is good, quick, which nothing can oppose, beneficent, gentle, +kind, steadfast, assured—a breath of the power of God—making friends +of God, and prophets, for God loveth none but him that dwelleth with +wisdom—more beautiful than the sun" (Sap. vii. 22-29). +</P> + +<P> +Surely, it makes us friends of God and prophets. But not only this. +It keeps high ideals before us, and we become like to the things we +love. Look on Abraham, whom the Arab calls even to this day by no +other name but <I>El Khalil Allah</I>—that is, "the friend of God"—chosen +the father of a holy race whence eventually was to spring the Messias; +look on Moses, the meekest of men, as he is called in Holy Writ, or on +David, the man "according to God's own heart;" look on the later +prophets, whose words set the nations aflame, and made kings tremble +who had never felt fear of men or God. We see Jeremiah, the youth at +Anathoth, "gentle, sensitive, yielding, yearning for peace and love, +averse by nature from strife and controversy," stepping forth at the +urging of motives such as speak to each of us from these pages of the +Bible. Boldly he announces the judgments of God to his faithless +people. "During that long ministry" of forty years, says Geikie, "no +personal interest, comfort, or ease, no shrinking from ridicule, +contumely, or hatred, could turn him from the task imposed upon him, +with awful sanctions, by the lips of the Eternal God."[<A NAME="chap13fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap13fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +Or take the noble women with whose lofty virtue the inspired writers +fill the sacred volumes, and whose names some of the books bear. +</P> + +<P> +There is the sacred Book of <I>Ruth</I>, she who is called "friend" or +"lover" in the Hebrew tongue, fair image of filial affection as she +walks beside the aged Noemi along the weary roads north from Moab, to +conduct her mother to her native land. There, at noon and eve, we see +her scan the fresh-mown fields for the gleanings which the law of Moses +allowed the poor, in order that she might honorably keep the humble +home of her widowed parent. Another sacred book we have which bears +the name of <I>Judith</I>, the woman who, strengthened in the loyal love of +her father's nation, by valiant deed set herself to defend the children +of Israel from ignominious captivity. In the Book of <I>Esther</I> we have +the history of her whose name signifies "myrtle," symbol among the Jews +of joyous gratitude. Full of that modest wisdom of which +Ecclesiasticus tells us that it "walketh with chosen women" (i. 17), +her influence is typical of that which the Virgin Queen, fair Mother of +the Christ, in later day did exercise upon the children of Eve. Ah, +truly, "the word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom, and her ways +are everlasting commandments" (Ecclesiastic.). +</P> + +<P> +But it would be a lengthy task to point out all the details of manifold +utility in the intellectual and practical, as well as the moral order, +which come from the study of the Sacred Scripture. We have seen in a +limited measure what it does for history, for language, for the science +of government, for the development of general knowledge, and the +cultivation of a graceful and vigorous style in writing. These books +hold the key to true wisdom. "All Scripture," writes St. Paul to the +young bishop Timothy, whom he himself had taught from the day he took +him to himself as a boy at Lystra, "all Scripture, inspired by God, is +profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct." +</P> + +<P> +Yet there are those, the same Apostle says, "who, always learning, +never attain to the knowledge of truth" (II. Tim. iii. 7). Why? +Because they do not study rightly. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap13fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap13fn1text">1</A>] Geikie, "Hours With the Bible," v. 134. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +PROSPECTING. +</H4> + +<P> +"Man is the perfection of creation, the mind is the perfection of man, +the heart is the perfection of the mind," says St. Francis de Sales. +</P> + +<P> +Our aim is to become perfect in mind and heart, in character and +disposition. Books are the readiest means of study to this end. They +are at our command at all times. When we have discovered a beautiful +thought, a strong chain of reasoning, which, whilst convincing, +attracts and leads us into the domain of truth, however partial, we +ponder it and make it our own, and we feel stronger in the permanent +possession of it. We desire truth, and we look for it in books, +mostly. Yet we may be anxious for knowledge, and worry or dream out +our days in a course of reading without gaining any real advantage from +it. Perhaps we fail in the proper choice of books, or else we do not +observe the right method in reading and study. +</P> + +<P> +Yet it is impossible for most men to go in search of and test +everything that is labelled "<I>truth</I>." Is there no remedy provided +against the danger of oft going wrong in order to find the right? Yes. +God has given us a compendium of everything that fosters true knowledge +and wisdom in a book consigned to the direction of an old, experienced, +and wise teacher. That book is the Bible, and the teacher is the +Church of Christ. In the book we find a store of great truths, of all +that is beautiful and ennobling, an infallible manual in the school of +human perfection, which leads us so high that, having mastered its +contents, we touch the very gates of heaven, where we may commune with +the Creator of wisdom and of all that our souls are capable of knowing. +</P> + +<P> +There are many who are thoroughly convinced of this. They believe that +the Bible is the most perfect book on earth, that it is the book of +books, as it has been called from time immemorial; for the word <I>Bible</I> +means simply a book, <I>the</I> book of all others by excellence, as if +there were none so worthy of study, and none which could not be +dispensed with rather than this. And so it is. It contains all +knowledge worthy of the highest aspirations and of the exercise of the +best talents. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, as a traveller in search of fortune may pass over seemingly barren +tracts of desert land or mountain ridge, which treasure beneath the +surface richest mines of gold, and caverns of splendid crystal and +rarest marble, so the reader of the sacred books, in search of +knowledge, may wearily tread along the paths of Bible truths, his eye +bewildered by endless repetitions of precepts and monotonous scenes and +seemingly uninteresting facts, unconscious of what wealth and beauty +lie beneath him. And the reason of this listless and tiring sense in +scanning over the pages of this book, which has from the first +captivated the admiration of the noblest minds of every race and age, +is the lack of sufficient preparation. The traveller looks for mines +of gold and diamonds, but he has never learnt the art of prospecting. +He stumbles over the heavy, dark ore, and the clods of metallic sand, +and his feet toil along the path lined with pebbles that, if polished, +would rival the stars of heaven, but they are a hindrance to him, for +he does not know <I>that</I> or <I>how</I> he should examine and utilize their +precious contents. He requires the previous training of the +prospector, the sharp eve of the skilled mining master, and the +unwearied courage to go down to examine the often crude-looking stones. +Without these qualities he not only fails in his attainment of wealth, +but becomes discouraged and even sceptic of its existence. +</P> + +<P> +In other words, there are certain essential conditions required upon +which depends the acquisition of that excellent knowledge which the +Scriptures contain for every sphere of life. They are conditions which +affect us in our entirety as men—I should say as the images of God, in +whose likeness we were created. Sin has tarnished this image, and we +are to restore it to its original beauty by correcting it. Our model +is God Himself. The Bible is the text-book containing the image of +this Model, drawn by Himself, and He has provided the preceptor to +explain the various meanings of lines, lights, and shadows, and the use +of the instruments which must be employed in completing the process. +It is a little tedious, as all art training is in its beginning. +Sometimes we copy with tracing-paper, and of late the kodak has done +much to help us by the aid of photography. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +USING THE KODAK. +</H4> + +<P> +You know that through the art of photography a perfect picture of an +object may be produced by the action of light upon a smooth and +sensitive surface. The light reflected from the object which is to be +photographed enters through a lens into the dark chamber of the camera, +and makes an impression upon the plate which is rendered sensitive by a +film of chloride (or nitrate) of silver. To produce a good picture, +therefore, three things are principally required: +</P> + +<P> +1. <I>A faultless sensitized plate</I> on which the reflection of the object +is to be made; +</P> + +<P> +2. <I>A concentrated light</I>; that is, the rays must enter the camera +through a lens, but be excluded from every other part; +</P> + +<P> +3. <I>The right focus</I>; that is to say, you must get the proper distance +of your object in order to preserve the just proportions between it and +its surroundings. +</P> + +<P> +The same requisites may be applied to ourselves when we wish to image +in our souls the object of divine truth, which is identical with God. +</P> + +<P> +1. The sensitive plate of our hearts and minds must be clean, without +flaw, so as to admit the ray of heavenly light, and let it take hold +upon its surface. A tarnished mirror gives but a blurred and imperfect +reflection. Just so the mind occupied with the follies and vanities of +worldliness, the heart filled with the changing idols of unworthy +attachments, is no fit surface for the delicate impressions of those +chaste delineations of truth which are nothing else but the image of +God in the human soul. To His likeness we were created, and to His +likeness we must again conform ourselves by a right study of truth. +</P> + +<P> +2. Next, in order to obtain a correct impression of the sublime truth +contained in the sacred volumes, we must concentrate our lights. That +is to say, we must read with assiduity, must study with earnestness, +and also with prayer, to obtain the light of the Divine Spirit who +caused these pages of the Bible to be traced for our instruction—for, +as one of our greatest English writers, though not a Catholic, has +beautifully said: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Within that awful volume lies<BR> +The mystery of mysteries!<BR> +Happiest they of human race<BR> +To whom God has granted grace<BR> +To read, to fear, to hope, to pray,<BR> +To lift the latch and force the way;<BR> +And better had they ne'er been born,<BR> +Who read to doubt, or read to scorn."[<A NAME="chap15fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap15fn1">1</A>]<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This implies that all side-lights which may distract the mind from this +concentrated attention and reverend attitude should be excluded. To +read the Sacred Scriptures in a flippant mood, or even in an irreverent +posture, and without having previously reflected on the fact that it is +God's word, is to lessen immeasurably one's chance of profiting by the +reading. The Mahometan or Jew in the East reverently lifts each piece +of paper or parchment which he finds upon the road, for fear that it +might contain the name of Allah or Jehovah, and be profaned by being +trodden under foot. We owe no less to the inspired word of God, above +all if we would gain the key to its intelligence. +</P> + +<P> +The concentration into a focus is obtained through a perfectly-shaped, +convex lens. Now this lens, which is capable not only of bringing into +one strong point all the scattered rays of light, but under +circumstances gathers the particles to intensity of heat producing a +flame, is that centre of the affections commonly termed the heart. +There is a tendency among those who seek intellectual culture to +undervalue this quality of the heart, which nevertheless contains the +secret power of generating supreme wisdom. We are considering true +wisdom, not superficial, exclusively human wisdom, which is the very +opposite, and which debases man to a mere repository of facts and +impressions, like an illustrated encyclopedia, or makes of him a shrewd +egotist, whose cleverness we may admire as we admire the antics of a +dancing serpent without wishing to come in contact with its slimy body +or its poisonous fangs. +</P> + +<P> +"As in human things," says Pascal, "we must first know an object before +we can love it, so in divine things, which constitute the only real +truth at which man can worthily aim, we must love them before we can +know them, for we cannot attain to truth except through charity." "In +all our studies and pursuits of knowledge," says Watts, "let us +remember that the conformation of our hearts to true religion and +morality are things of far more consequence than all the furniture of +our understanding and the richest treasures of mere speculative +knowledge." +</P> + +<P> +If it be true that "nothing is so powerful to form truly grand +characters as meditation on the word of God and on Christian truths," +then we must suppose an inclination, a love for the lofty ideals which +Christianity sets before us. "To whom has the root of wisdom been +revealed?" asks that wise and noble old rabbi, son of Sirach; and he +answers: "God has given her to them that love Him." If the wise man in +the sacred book tells us that "wisdom walketh with chosen women," may +we not assume that it is because woman enjoys the prerogative of those +qualities of heart which make her counsels so often far surer than the +carefully pondered reasons of men? +</P> + +<P> +If the fear of the Lord is the <I>beginning</I> of wisdom, is not charity or +love its consummation? "Blessed is the man that shall continue in +wisdom. With the bread of life and understanding God's fear shall feed +him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink, and ... shall +heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to +inherit an everlasting name. But ... foolish men shall not see her: +for she is far from pride and deceit.... Say not: It is through God +that she is not with me, for do not thou the things that He hateth" +(Eccles., ch. xiv. and xv.). +</P> + +<P> +But there is no need of multiplying these sayings of God. The +knowledge we seek here is the knowledge which comes from the Divine +Spirit, source of all science as of all goodness and beauty. What the +fruits of that spirit are we are told by St. Paul: Charity, joy, peace, +patience, etc.; and we know how the Apostle of the Gentiles, who had +learnt much in many schools, at the feet of Gamaliel and in the halls +of the Greek philosophers, valued these fruits of wisdom above all the +doctrines of men. +</P> + +<P> +Catholics are fortunate in this, that they may gain from the study of +the Bible that purest light of wisdom which is only partially +communicated to those who find no way, through the sacraments, of +cleansing their souls,—that mirror in which God's image can show +clearly only when it is polished and purified from the dust-stains of +our earthly fall. Whatever opportunities for thorough study of the +Bible we may have, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most +important conditions for its proper and fruitful appreciation, because +the intelligence is always warped by sin. +</P> + +<P> +A correct knowledge of our faith, as the primary rule of our conduct, +is, of course, supposed. We cannot understand the written word of God +unless we have become accustomed to the language He speaks to the +heart, and that language is taught in our catechisms and textbooks of +religion. Some need less of this knowledge than others, so far as the +difficulties and controversies of religion are concerned. The Bible is +a book of instruction for all, and hence the preparatory knowledge +required varies with the mental range and ability, and the consequent +danger of doubts and false views of each individual. A child knows the +precepts and wishes of its parent often by a look or gesture, without +receiving any explicit instruction, because love and the habit of faith +supply intelligence. Others require a certain amount of reasoning to +move their hearts to the ready acceptance of divine precepts. This +reasoning is supplied by the study of popular theologies, of which we +have a good number in English. +</P> + +<P> +3. Lastly, we must not only get a right glass, a good lens, but we must +likewise get the right focus for our picture. We must know the +distance of our objects and their surroundings, the lights and shades, +the coloring, natural and artificial. In other words, we must become +familiar with the circumstances of history, the dates, the places, the +customs and laws, national and social, which throw light upon the +meaning of the incidents related in the Sacred Scriptures, and which +often aid us in the interpretation of passages mysterious and +prophetic. Hence we have to give some attention to, and study what we +can, of the ancient records and monuments brought to light by the +archćologist and the historian. We must likewise inquire into the +origin, history, authority, purpose, and general argument of each of +the inspired books. All this is the object of what is called +<I>Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures</I>, and is nothing +else but a becoming and essential preparation for the right use of the +Bible. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Ah, may our understanding ever read<BR> +This glorious volume which God's wisdom made,<BR> +And in that charter humbly recognize<BR> +Our title to a treasure in the skies!<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap15fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap15fn1text">1</A>] Scott, <I>The Monastery</I>, c. xii. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE INTERPRETATION OF THE IMAGE. +</H4> + +<P> +The Bible is not only a text-book which leads us to the acquisition of +the highest of arts—that of fulfilling the true purpose of life—but +it is itself, as has already been suggested, a work of fairest art +inasmuch as it contains a perfect delineation of the divine Beauty +drawn by the sovereign Artist Himself. +</P> + +<P> +Now true art needs, as a rule, an interpretation; for the outward form +which appeals to the senses may have its deeper and real meaning +disguised beneath the figure, so as to be understood only by the finer +perceptions of the intellect and heart. Take, for example, a canvas +such as Millet's popular picture entitled "The Angelus." It is a +small, unpretentious-looking work, representing a youth and a maid in a +fallow field, a village church in the distance, all wrapt in the gloom +of eventide. Ask a child looking at the picture what is the meaning of +it, and it will probably answer: "Two poor people tired of work." Ask +a countryman, without much education, and he will say: "Two poor lovers +thinking of home." But to the poet who has perchance dwelt in some +village of fair Southern France, and knows the simple habits of +devotion among the peasant folk, the picture will awaken memories of +the sound of the Angelus: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Ave Maria," blessed be the hour,<BR> +The time, the clime, the spot where I so oft<BR> +Have felt that moment in its fullest power<BR> +Sink o'er the earth, so beautiful and soft,<BR> +While swung the deep bell in the distant tower,<BR> +Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft,<BR> +And not a breath crept through the rosy air.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And the reflecting, devout Catholic will see in that picture even more +than the thoughts it suggests to the poet. It will speak to him of the +angelic salute to a Virgin fair at Nazareth; it will touch a chord of +tender confidence and hope in the Madonna's help and sympathy; it will +arouse a feeling of gratitude for the mystery of the Redemption. And +all this difference of judgment arises from the varying degrees of +intelligence and knowledge with which we approach the image. +</P> + +<P> +Now the Sacred Scriptures present just such a picture, only larger, +more comprehensive, truer, deeper, containing all the fair delineation +of God's own image, the pattern according to which we are to correct +the same divine likeness in our souls, spoiled somewhat and blurred by +sin. +</P> + +<P> +Let us look at the outline. There are words and a fact. In the words +truth is enunciated, in the fact those words are exhibited as being a +divine utterance. In their <I>literal</I> meaning the word affects us just +as a picture would at first sight. In the one case we have a precept +or an incident or a scene in the life of our Lord; in the other case we +have an act of prayer or a scene from the daily life of French +peasants. But just as in the picture we may, by reason of artistic and +spiritual culture, recognize not simply an ordinary scene of peasant +life, but a poetic thought, or a practical moral lesson calling for +imitation, or, finally, a mystery of religion, so in the Sacred +Scriptures we may see below the literal sense one that is internal, +hidden, and in its character either simply figurative, or moral, or +mystically spiritual. An old ecclesiastical writer has given us a +Latin hexameter which suggests these various senses in which the sacred +text may at times be understood: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Litera <I>gesta</I> docet, quod credas <I>allegoria</I>;<BR> + <I>Moralis</I> quid agas, quo tendas <I>anagogia</I>.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +An example of the four different senses (namely, the <I>literal</I>, the +<I>allegorical</I>, which appeals to our faith, the <I>moral</I>, and the +<I>mystic</I>) in which a word or passage of Holy Writ may be interpreted is +offered in the term "Jerusalem." If we read that "they went up to +Jerusalem every year," we understand the word Jerusalem to represent +the chief city of the Hebrews, situated on the confines of Judah and +Benjamin. If we happen upon the passage of St. John where he says: "I, +John, saw a holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven +from God; ... behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell +with them," we know that this <I>new</I> Jerusalem on earth can be no other +than the Church, where God has His tabernacle, dwelling with men. The +word is used <I>allegorically</I>, that is to say, it appeals to our faith; +to the internal, not to our external sense. Again, the word +"Jerusalem" may be used in the sense which its etymology suggests +without reference to any city. Etymologically it consists of two +words, signifying <I>foundation</I> and <I>peace</I>. A rabbi might, therefore, +bid his disciples to strive to build up "Jerusalem," meaning that they +should seek to lay solid foundations of peace by conforming their lives +to the law of Jehovah. This would give the word Jerusalem simply a +<I>moral</I> signification. Finally, the word is used as a synonyme for +"heaven," as in Apoc. xxi. 10: "And He took me up in spirit, ... and He +showed me the holy city Jerusalem, ... having the glory of God." Here +we have the term in its <I>anagogical</I> sense, that is, referring to the +future life. +</P> + +<P> +Without entering into the various figures of speech with which the +language of the Hebrews abounds, let me suggest some points which must +be observed in order that the true sense of the Sacred Scriptures may +not escape us so as to mislead the mind. +</P> + +<P> +For the discovery of the literal sense we must, of course, be guided by +the rules of ordinary grammatical construction. Where this proves +insufficient we must have recourse to the idiomatic use of language, +the habits of speech, which prevailed among the Hebrews or those with +whose utterances or history we are concerned. This is very important +in order that we may get a right understanding of the expressions +employed. As an instance of misconception in this respect may be cited +the words of our Lord to His holy Mother at the nuptials of Cana, which +literally sound like a reproof, yet are far from conveying such a sense +in their original signification. The like is true of the use of +certain comparisons which to our sense seem rude and cruel, yet which +were not so understood in the language in which they were originally +spoken or written. Thus when our Lord said to the Canaanitish woman +who followed Him in the regions of Tyre and Sidon that it is not right +to give the bread of the children to "dogs," He seemed to spurn the +poor mother, who prayed Him for the recovery of her child, as a man +spurns a cur. Yet such is not the sense of the expression, which +hardly means anything more than what we would convey by "outside of the +pale of faith." +</P> + +<P> +Besides the usage of speech peculiar to a people or district or period +of time, we must have regard to the individuality of the writer. His +subjective state, his temperament, education, personal associations, +and habits of thought and feeling necessarily influence the style of +his writing. Thus in the letters of St. Paul we recognize a spirit +which the forms of speech seem wholly inadequate to contain or express. +He writes as he might speak, impatient of words. His thoughts seem +often disconnected; he omits things which he had evidently meant to +say, and which the hearers might have supplied from the vividness of +the image presented, but which become obscure to the reader who only +sees the cold form of the written page. There is no end of +parenthetical clauses in his discourses; often he begins a period and +leaves it unfinished. Sometimes there appears a total absence of +logical connection in what he intends for proofs and arguments; then, +again, there is a wealth of imagery, which suggests the quick sense and +power of comparison peculiar to the Oriental mind, but slow to impress +itself on the Western nations. All this makes it necessary to <I>study</I> +St. Paul rather than to read him, if one would understand the Apostle. +Of this St. Peter shows himself conscious when he writes that certain +things in the Epistles of St. Paul are "<I>hard to be understood</I>, which +the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, +to their own destruction" (II. Pet. iii. 16). +</P> + +<P> +Another element which contributes to the right interpretation of the +Sacred Text is the knowledge of what may be called the historical +background of a passage or book. This includes the various relations +of time, place, persons addressed, and other circumstances which +exercise an influence upon the material, intellectual, and moral +surroundings of the writer. Accordingly, different parts of the Sacred +Scriptures require different treatment and different preparation on the +part of the reader. Thus to comprehend the full significance of the +Book of Exodus we must study the geographical and ethnographical +condition of Egypt. For a right understanding of the Book of Daniel we +should first have to become acquainted with the history of Chaldea and +Assyria, especially as lit up by the recent discoveries of monuments in +the East. The Canticle of Canticles presupposes for its just +interpretation a certain familiarity with the details of Solomon's life +during the golden period of his reign. The Letters of St. Paul, in the +New Testament, reveal their true bearing only after we have read the +life of the Apostle as it is described in the Acts; and so on for other +parts of the Sacred History. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, a proper understanding and appreciation of the inspired books +depend largely on our realization of the proximate scope and purpose, +the character and quality, of the subject treated by the sacred writer. +The Bible is a wondrous combination of historic, didactic, and +prophetic elements. Each of these goes to support or emphasize the +other, but each of them has its predominant functions in different +parts of the grand structure. Hence we may not judge a prophecy as we +judge the historical narrative which introduces and supports it; we may +not interpret in its literal sense the metaphor which is simply to +convey a moral lesson to the mind. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +"DEUS ILLUMINATIO MEA." +</H4> + +<P> +The subject-matter of the Bible obliges us, however, to apply not only +the various cautions and methods of interpretation which are required +for the understanding of the classics generally, but it exacts more. +The Sacred Scriptures, as a grand work of art, have not only a human, +but primarily a divine conception for their basis. Hence it does not +suffice to have mastered the meaning of the words and the outline of +the subject, or the individual genius and human ideal of the writer who +acted merely as the instrument executing a higher inspiration. We must +enter into the conception of the divine mind. If the principal and +all-pervading motive of the great Scriptural composition is a religious +one, it stands to reason that it can be comprehended only when judged +from a religious point of view. +</P> + +<P> +Now the divine mind is so far above us that we can reach it only if God +Himself brings it down to us. He has to descend, to lift the veil from +His immensity, not by opening to us, before the time, those sacred +precincts which "eye hath never seen," but by emitting a ray of light +to clear up our darkness, to give us a glimpse of the awful splendor +which vibrates in those celestial realms where light and sound and +warmth of eternal charity mingle in the sweet harmony of the divine +Beauty whose tones speak now to our senses in separate forms. God +descends to our humility to interpret His own image. First He came in +human form, and told us all the things we were to believe and do. Then +He sent the Paraclete, and under His direction men of God taught the +same things. Then they wrote them, or, as St. John tells us, some of +them. The Paraclete veils Himself, as our Lord had announced to His +Apostles, in the Church, whose divinely constituted earthly chief was +to be Peter—to the end of time. The Church, therefore, founded by +Christ, and an ever-living emanation of the incessant activity of the +Holy Spirit, although necessarily speaking to men through men, is the +first and surest interpreter of the purpose and meaning of each and +every part of Holy Writ. +</P> + +<P> +And because God cannot contradict Himself it follows that every truth +of the written word must correspond with every truth of the spoken +word. In doubtful cases, therefore, as to the meaning of a word or +text in the Sacred Writings, we have recourse to the supreme, +divinely-guided judgment of the Church. Her doctrines, defined, are +the first and most important criterion of Scriptural truth. +</P> + +<P> +But the Church has not defined every expression of truth, though she +holds the key to all truth. She points to the light which illumines +our night; she declares the stars whence that light issues directly or +by reflection; but she does not always indicate where the rays of the +one body begin to mingle with those of the other, or what precise +elements determine the motion or stability of each. Only when there +are conflicts or threatened disturbances of the centres of attraction +and repulsion she reaches out her anointed hand, informed with the +magic power of her Creator and founder, and directs the courses of +bodies that otherwise would clash unto mutual destruction. Hence the +freedom of investigation allowed the Catholic student of the Scriptures +is limited only by the rules of faith taught by the same divine Teacher +who watches over the spoken and written revelation alike. And as, in +cases where we have not the express command of a superior, we interpret +his will by his known desires and views in other respects, so in the +interpretation of those parts of Holy Writ regarding the meaning of +which we have no definite expression in the doctrinal code of the +Church, we follow the <I>analogy of faith</I>; which is manifest from the +general consent of the Christian Fathers and Doctors, and from the +teaching of learned and holy commentators. These we may safely follow +in all doubtful cases, that is to say, where there is no evidence to +show that they were mistaken, either through want of certain sources of +information or proofs which we have at our command presently, or +because they accepted the views of their time and people, feeling that +any departure from the received tradition would make disturbance, and +fail of its intended good effect. +</P> + +<P> +It is safe to say that the conditions of one age and the modes of +thought and feeling of one generation are not a just standard by which +to judge the conditions and views of another age or generation. This +is an important fact to remember for those who are inclined to look in +every part of the Sacred Scriptures for a verification of the +sentiments which they feel, and of the views and opinions of things +which they hold. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUSH-LIGHTS. +</H4> + +<P> +There is a method of interpreting the Bible which, although it affords +a temporary satisfaction to the heart, is misleading to the mind. I +mean private interpretation in the sense in which it is generally +practised and defended by our Protestant brethren. To take a good +photograph you must have sunlight; candles, gas, even electric lights, +unless they be flash-lights, which don't suit all purposes of accurate +reproduction, will not accomplish it. For vegetable growth you need +sunlight; artificial light will give neither healthy fruit nor even +color to the plant. So it is with the divine image traced in the +Sacred Scriptures. We cannot reproduce it in our souls by any earthly +light. Now human judgment is an earthly light, because it is +constantly influenced by feelings, prejudices, attachments, and partial +views of things. Some of us accept an opinion because it suits our +conditions of life, is agreeable to our sense of ease or vanity, +relieves us from certain responsibilities to God and our neighbor which +a severer statement of the case would exact. Others endorse a view +because it is held by a person whom they love or respect. Others, +again, maintain an opinion because it is contrary to the one held by a +person whom they dislike. And there is a vast number of people who +take a view simply because it is the first that presents itself to +them, and they are as well pleased with it as with others which they +don't know. It must be remembered, moreover, that man is not naturally +inclined toward the right. The world loves darkness since its eyes +were hurt by the wanton effort to see God and to be like Him in a way +which was against His law. Amid this darkness, intellectual and moral, +which surrounds man, and which for the moment pleases him because it +relieves him of a strain, we need a guide. We must follow a leader who +knows all the ways and enjoys the full light of heaven. +</P> + +<P> +The defence in favor of private interpretation of the Bible usually +rests in the assumption of God's goodness, who must needs furnish an +inward light to man lest he go wrong in his search after truth. But +God's goodness gives you a guide, well accredited with testimonials +from Himself, against whose efficiency the inward light compares like a +rush-light against the sun. +</P> + +<P> +The red cross of the Alpine Club marks the safe passage down the rocky +mountain paths of Switzerland. We recognize the stones which are +landmarks because they bear the conventional sign of an authorized body +of mountaineers. They lead our way, and we follow without hesitation. +But if the mark of the red cross of the Alpine Club were not visible, +if we had to trust to the inward light or to our instinct to guide us, +we should run the risk of losing our way and lives, though the stones +which marked the path of former travellers are still there. +</P> + +<P> +Nor does it seem according to the divine wisdom to give man a written +law and then to leave him to Himself for its interpretation. No other +written law was ever given under such conditions by or to man. It +would frustrate the fundamental purpose of any written law to allow the +individual to interpret it, because it would lead to contradictions and +confusion, which it is the very object of laws to prevent. That the +divine Law, in its written form, is no exception to this rule is proved +from the effects of the theory of private interpretation, which have +grown into a history of many sects, conscientiously protesting one +against the other because of the inferences which each draws from the +one sacred code of Christian law and doctrine. Thus the written word +of God would frustrate its own manifest purpose, nay, give occasion to +a thousand justifications of separation and hostility, which its +fundamental canon, charity in the union of Christ, expressly forbids. +</P> + +<P> +What other conclusion, therefore, remains than to accept the warning of +St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, who, speaking of the reading of the +Sacred Scriptures, wishes the converts to understand "<I>this, first, +that no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation</I>,"[<A NAME="chap18fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap18fn1">1</A>] +because "<I>the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost</I>" (II. +Pet. i. 20, 21). +</P> + +<P> +And this disposes, in the mind of the sincere Christian, of all the +theories of interpretation advanced by rationalist and naturalist +philosophers, who render their arguments a trifle more consistent than +Protestants by denying from the outset the divine inspiration of the +Sacred Scriptures. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap18fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap18fn1text">1</A>] The Protestant (King James) version of this passage reads: "That no +prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." The late +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE USE AND THE ABUSE OF THE BIBLE. +</H4> + +<P> +"Revelation and a Church are practically identical. Revelation and +Scripture are not."[<A NAME="chap19fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn1">1</A>] Though <I>revelation</I> is necessary to guide the +human mind, prone to error, and to sustain the human will, weak by +reason of an hereditary fall, we have seen that the Bible is but <I>one</I> +channel of that revelation, and that a complementary, secondary one. +It neither contains all revealed truth, nor can the truth which it +contains be clearly and completely understood without the guidance of +an intelligent interpretation. A teacher of any science or art may +give a book into the hands of his pupils to serve as a text, as a +reminder of his precepts, as a compend of his methods and practice; but +no book, no matter how perfectly written, will make us dispense with +the teacher. The education, in any direction, which rests upon the +sole use of books is essentially defective and misleading. +</P> + +<P> +This is eminently true of the Bible as a text or guide in the +acquisition of the highest of arts, the profoundest of sciences, which +leads us to the recognition of absolute truth, with an ever-increasing +apprehension, because its scope is immeasurable, eternal. +</P> + +<P> +The teacher of revelation, in its first and most important +signification, is Christ. He is the central historical figure, +announced to man immediately after his fall in Paradise foreshadowed by +the prophets in the Jewish Church, and completing His mission in the +Christian Church. As the Holy Ghost animated the prophets to foretell +Him, and the priests of the synagogue to announce Him in the Old Law, +so the Holy Ghost animates the Church to continue His work in the New +Law. As books were written by the prophets of old to perpetuate the +remembrance of what Jehovah had spoken through them to His people +regarding the coming of the Messias, so books were written by the +Apostles and disciples of the New Law to perpetuate the remembrance of +what that Messias had said and done, and of what He wished us to do. +But as the old written Law was not to be a substitute for the +commission of teaching and guiding the people through the Jewish +Synagogue, so neither was the new written Law intended to be a +substitute for the commission of teaching and guiding those who seek +salvation through Christ. The Bible alone, as we have already seen, +cannot satisfy us in such a way as to supply the full reason for our +faith in Christ's teaching. For this we have a Church to whom Christ, +as God, gave a direct commission, without adding a book, or an express +command to write a book. +</P> + +<P> +But a book was written, written under the guidance of the divine +Spirit, who had been promised to the Church whenever it would speak, +whether by word of mouth or by epistle and written gospel. And that +book, though not containing all truth, contains truth only. Therefore +it is useful, as St. Paul says, II. Tim. iii. 16: "All Scripture +inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to +instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to +every good work." The use, then, of the Bible is to teach, to instruct +in justice, primarily; to make man perfect, furnished to every good +work. Mark the twofold term: to <I>teach</I> and to <I>instruct</I>; both +teaching and instruction to serve the one end—to make a perfect man, +"furnished to every good work." +</P> + +<P> +That the principal purpose and scope of Scripture is to teach the +truths of religion has been demonstrated in a former chapter. I have +here only to add that, as an instrument of Apologetics, and in +discussion with Protestants who admit the divinity of Christ and the +inspired character of the Sacred Scriptures, reference to the teachings +of the Bible plays a very important part. Whether we are defending our +faith against misrepresentation, or desirous of convincing other +sincere and open minds of the justness of the claims which the Catholic +Church makes as the only true representative of Christ's divine mission +to teach the nations, the Bible is a safe and commonly recognized +meeting-ground for a fair discussion of the subject. +</P> + +<P> +Even when we have to speak of religion with practical infidels, who +read the Bible, or have some knowledge of its contents, that book will +serve us as a powerful weapon of defence and persuasion. Few +intelligent men or women of to-day, especially if they are earnest, and +have a real regard for virtue and truth, though they may consider them +as mere gifts of the natural order, fail to recognize that Christianity +is a power for good, and that Christ, its Author, is and ever will be +the great teacher of mankind, in whose true following man becomes +better, nobler, and happier. To illustrate this fact, we may be +permitted to quote at some length from an article by Baron Von Hügel in +a recent number of the <I>Dublin Review</I> (April, 1895). Speaking of +Christ, he cites from various writers, as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Thus "Ernest Rénan, sceptical even to his own scepticism, addresses him +and says: 'A thousand times more living, a thousand times more loved, +since thy death than during thy passage upon earth, thou wilt become +the corner-stone of humanity, to such a point, that to blot out thy +name out of the world would be in very truth to shake its very +foundations.'[<A NAME="chap19fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn2">2</A>] John Stuart Mill, who tells us of himself: 'I never +lost faith, for I never had it,' proclaims at the end of his long +life's labors: 'Whatever else may be taken from us by rational +criticism, Christ is still left; a unique figure, not more unlike all +his predecessors than all his followers, even those who had the direct +benefit of his personal teaching. It is no use to say that Christ in +the Gospels is not historical, and that we know not how much of what is +admirable has been superadded by the tradition of his followers. For +who among his disciples or their proselytes was capable of inventing +the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of imagining the life and character +revealed in the Gospels? Certainly not the fishermen of Galilee, as +certainly not St. Paul, whose character and idiosyncrasy were of a +totally different sort; still less the early Christian writers, in whom +nothing is more evident than that the good which was in them was all +derived, as they always professed that it was derived, from the higher +source.'[<A NAME="chap19fn3text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn3">3</A>] Even so purely Deistic a critic as Abraham Kuenen +declares: 'The international religion which we call Christianity was +founded, not by the Apostle Paul, but by Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus +whose person and whose teaching are sketched in the Synoptic Gospels +with the closest approximation of truth.' 'The need of Christianity is +as keen as ever. It is not for less but for more Christianity that the +age cries out. Even those many who do not identify Christianity with +the ecclesiastical form in which they themselves profess it, and who +have no confidence that the world will necessarily conform to +them—even these may be at peace. The universalism of Christianity is +the sheet-anchor of their hope. A history of eighteen centuries bears +mighty witness to it; and the contents of its evidence and the high +significance they possess are brought into the clearest light by the +comparison with other religions. We have good courage then.'[<A NAME="chap19fn4text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn4">4</A>] So +advanced a critic and sensitively loyal a Jew as Mr. Claud Montefiore +tells us: 'Some of the sayings ascribed to Jesus have sunk too deep +into the human heart, or shall I say into the spiritual consciousness +of civilized mankind, to make it probable that any religion which +ignores or omits them will exercise a considerable influence outside +its own borders. It may be that those who dream of a prophetic +Judaism, which shall be as spiritual as the religion of Jesus, and even +more universal than the religion of Paul, are the victims of a +delusion.'[<A NAME="chap19fn5text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn5">5</A>] So largely naturalistic a critic as Julius Wellhausen +writes of our Lord's teaching and person: 'The miraculous is impossible +with man, but with God it is possible. Jesus has not only assured us +of this, but he has proved it in his own person. He had indeed lost +his life and saved it, he could do as he would. He had escaped the +bonds of human kind and the sufferings of self-seeking nature. There +is in him no trace of that eagerness for action which seeks for peace +in the restlessness of its own activity. The completely super-worldly +standpoint in which Jesus finds strength and love to devote himself to +the world has nothing extravagant about it. He is the first to know +himself, not simply in moments of emotion, but in completest +restfulness, the child of God; before him no one so felt or so +described himself.' 'Jesus not only prophesies the kingdom of God, but +brings it out of its transcendence on to earth; he plants at least its +germ. The new times already begin with him: the blind see, the deaf +hear, the dead arise. Everywhere he found spaciousness for his soul, +nowhere was he cramped by the little, much as he put forward the value +of the great; this we should do, and not leave that undone. He was +more than a prophet; in him the word had become flesh. The historic +overweightedness, to which the Jews were succumbing, does not even +touch him. A unit arises in the dreary mass, a man from among the +rubbish which the dwarfs, the rabbis, had heaped up. He upsets the +accidental, the caricature, the dead, and collects the eternally valid, +the human divine, in the focus of His individuality. "Ecce homo," a +divine wonder in this time and this environment.'" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Such being the view of religiously disposed persons outside of the +Catholic Church regarding the New Testament teaching of Christ, it +would seem easy at first sight to convince them of the Catholic +doctrine by reference to the words of Christ and the Gospels, which +contain explicit, if not complete testimony in behalf of the Catholic +teaching. There is one difficulty in the way of this, and that is that +Protestants themselves distrust the meaning of the New Testament words +except in so far as it expresses their own feelings. The principle of +private interpretation necessarily leads to this one-sided view. A +hundred persons appeal to the one Book as an infallible expression of +God's will and truth. Now, some of these infallible expressions +manifestly contradict one another as Protestants interpret them. Yet +the consequences of such contradictions are vital, and involve eternal +life or death. Take the doctrine of baptism by water as essential to +salvation, according to the reading of some Protestants; yet the +Quaker, no less sincere than his Baptist neighbor, and claiming a +special inward light, consciously neglects baptism, holding that the +teaching of the New Testament is only meant in a spiritual sense. +Equally awful in their consequences are the two contrary doctrines +regarding the Eucharistic presence of Christ as declared in the New +Testament, one believer drawing the conclusion that he must adore God +under the veil of bread, the other equally convinced from the same +Scriptures that such a view is sheer idolatry, and that there is +nothing divine under the appearance of bread. This appeal to private +judgment makes most Protestants sceptical if you attempt to prove to +them Catholic doctrine from the New Testament; and unless you can first +convince them that the Church has a greater claim to declare the sense +of the Bible than any private individual, they will consider their +opinion of its meaning and purpose just as good as yours. +</P> + +<P> +But it is different if you appeal to the Old Testament for a +confirmation of Catholic doctrine. And I would strongly urge this +method for various reasons. Every Protestant will admit that the Old +Testament is not only inspired and divine in its origin, but that in +its historic expression, even the deutero-canonical portion, contains +the application of its meaning and purpose. In other words, that God +not merely gave the Israelites a law, but also shows us how He meant +them to interpret that law in their lives—domestic, social, and +religious. Here, therefore, we have little need, or even opportunity, +for private interpretation as to God's meaning. That meaning becomes +clear from the action of His people. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time it is also clear and generally admitted that the Old +Testament is a foreshadowing of the New Law, hence that the doctrines +and practices of the Christian Church have their counterpart in the Old +Law. Protestants readily agree to this, in proof of which fact I may +be allowed to quote Prof. Robertson Smith: +</P> + +<P> +"Christianity can never separate itself from its historical basis, or +the religion of Israel; the revelation of God in Christ cannot be +divorced from the earlier revelation on which our Lord built. Indeed, +the history of Israel, when rightly studied, is the most real and vivid +of all histories; and the proofs of God's working among His people of +old may still be made, what they were in time past, one of the +strongest evidences of Christianity."[<A NAME="chap19fn6text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn6">6</A>] +</P> + +<P> +Dr. A. B. Bruce in his <I>Apologetics</I>, 1892, p. 325, says: "The Bible, +instead of being a dead rule, to be used mechanically, with equal value +set on all its parts, is rather a living organism, which, like the +butterfly, passes through various transformations before arriving at +its highest and final form. We should find Christ in the Old Testament +as we find the butterfly in the caterpillar."[<A NAME="chap19fn7text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn7">7</A>] +</P> + +<P> +Hence if you can show to the average intelligent Protestant that a +doctrine or practice distinctively of the Catholic Church prevailed in +the Jewish Church, you have established an <I>a priori</I> argument for its +reasonableness. This applies particularly to such doctrines and +practices as Protestants condemn or censure in the Catholic Church from +a mere habit of not finding them in their own churches, or from some +prejudice nourished by bigotry of early teachers, or by the popular +literature of the anti-Catholic type. I only mention such topics as +Indulgences, Confession, the Infallibility of the Pope, Celibacy of the +clergy and religious, and such like. Now all these things existed in +the Old Law, not so completely developed as in the Christian Church, +but sufficiently pronounced to establish a motive of credibility for +their existence in the Church of Christ. Thus we have the +reasonableness of the practice of Confession plainly indicated in the +Mosaic times: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Say to the children +of Israel, when a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins +that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed +the commandment of the Lord, and offended, they shall confess their +sin, and shall restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over +and above, to him against whom they have sinned" (Num. v. 6-7; also +13-14). The Infallibility of the Pope finds its perfect counterpart in +the oracular responses given by the Jewish high-priest when he wore the +Urim and Thummim in his breastplate, which covers the precise ground of +Papal decisions regarding faith and morals, the breastplate being +called "the rational of judgment, doctrine, and truth" (See Exod. +xxviii. 30; Levit. viii. 8; Num. xxvii. 21; Deut. xxxiii. 8, etc.). +</P> + +<P> +As to the practice of virginity, we know that it existed among the +Jews, as an exceptional condition; but as such it had the sanction of +God. Thus the Prophet Jeremias receives the command of virginity from +Jehovah directly: "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou +shalt not take thee a wife; neither shalt thou have sons and daughters +in this place" (Jer. xvi. 2). +</P> + +<P> +Thus practical arguments, of which I can here only indicate a few, may +be found for each and all of the usages of the Catholic Church. And +any censure of the latter will cast its reflection upon the Jewish +dispensation, of which God was Himself the Author and Guardian. For if +God sanctioned ceremonies in worship, and infallibility in the +high-priest, and virginity in the Prophet whom He selects for a special +mission, and confession, with penance and the obligation of +restitution, why should Protestants think it so strange to find us +practise the same things which have the seal of divine approbation! +</P> + +<P> +Thus they may be inclined more readily to accept the more explicit +arguments in favor of Catholic doctrine and discipline as given in the +New Testament, which is but the fulfilment of the types suggested in +the Old Law. +</P> + +<P> +It is hardly necessary for me to point out in this connection the +advantages of being able to disabuse Protestants of the impression that +Catholics do not honor the Bible as the word of God. Those who, as +Protestants, do not recognize any other source of divine revelation +than the written word are, of course, obliged to occupy themselves +wholly and entirely with its study, whilst Catholics look upon that +same written word, not with less reverence, but with less consciousness +of having to rely upon it as the only symbol and exponent of their +faith. If we refuse on general principles to have the Bible read to +our Catholic children in a public school from a Protestant translation, +it is simply because the admission of such a practice implies an +admission of a Protestant principle, and might leave a wrong impression +upon our children as to the value of the true version of their +religion. The Protestant translation of the Bible contains a great +deal of truth, <I>but some errors</I> which we cannot admit in our teaching. +To give it to our children in the schools is something like planting a +Southern flag upon some public institution of the United States. Some +may say it is better than none, because it begets patriotism, and as +there is no difference in the two flags except the slight one of a few +stars and stripes, most people might never notice it. But we know that +if they did notice it, it would create considerable disturbance, +because it implies something of disloyalty to "Old Glory." +</P> + +<P> +For a like reason Catholics often refuse to kiss the Protestant Bible +in court. They prefer simply <I>to affirm</I>. And in this they are +perfectly right, although to attest one's willingness to tell the truth +on such occasions is not supposed to be a trial of one's faith, and +hence it does not involve anything of a denial of Catholic truth. +</P> + +<P> +But I must pass on to one or two illustrations to show in what fields +the Bible is <I>not</I> to be used. For though it furnishes most apt means +for imparting a knowledge and inciting to the further study of history, +languages, the principles of government and ethics, together with the +development of a graceful and withal vigorous style of English writing, +yet there are limits to its use in some directions. Thus the Bible +cannot be considered as replacing the exact sciences. We are quite +safe always in affirming that the Bible never contradicts science; that +where it does not incidentally confirm the results of scientific +research it abstracts from the teaching of science. Its language +relating to physical facts is popular, not scientific. There is no +reason to think that the inspired writers received any communication +from heaven as to the inward workings of nature. They had simply the +knowledge of their age, and described things accordingly. Leo XIII. in +his recent Encyclical on the study of the Sacred Scriptures strongly +reiterates this doctrine, advanced by many Doctors of the Church, +namely, that the <I>sacred writers</I> had no intention of initiating us +into the secrets of nature or to teach us the inward constitution of +the visible world. Hence their language about "the firmament," and how +"the sun stood still," as we still say "the sun rises."[<A NAME="chap19fn8text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn8">8</A>] +</P> + +<P> +If, then, we are confronted with some statement by scientists affirming +that there is a scientific inaccuracy in the Bible, we have no remark +to make but that the Bible was not meant to be a text-book of exact +science. If it is urged that there are contradictions between the +Bible and science, then the case demands attention. We know that truth +cannot contradict itself; but we know that we may err in apprehending +it, and that science may err in its assumptions of fact. Hence in the +matter of Biblical Apology, when dealing with science, it is of the +first importance that we render an exact account to ourselves of what +<I>science affirms</I> and of what the <I>Sacred Scripture affirms</I>. It is +important to note here the distinction which P. Brucker points out; +namely, what <I>science affirms</I>, not what <I>scientists affirm</I>. "The +latter often mingle <I>conjecture</I>, more or less probable, with the +definitely ascertained results of scientific experiment; they often +accept as facts certain observations and plausible conclusions which +are not always deduced from legitimate premises nor in a strictly +logical method." The human mind is always prone to accept the +plausible for the true, the appearance of things for their substance, +the general for the universal, the part for the whole, or the probable +for the proved. This is demonstrated by the history of scientific +hypotheses in nearly every department of human knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +In the next place, we must be quite sure to ascertain <I>what the Sacred +Scriptures affirm</I>. Apologists place themselves in a needlessly +responsible position when, in the difficult task of determining a +doubtful reading of the Sacred Text, they assume an interpretation +which may be gainsaid by scientific <I>proof</I>. The teaching of St. +Augustine and St. Thomas on this subject is that we are not to +interpret in any <I>particular</I> sense any part of Sacred Scripture which +admits of a different interpretation. And here Leo XIII. in his +Encyclical gives us an important point to consider when he says that +the defenders of the Sacred Scriptures must not consider that they are +obliged to defend <I>each single</I> opinion of isolated Fathers of the +Church.[<A NAME="chap19fn9text"></A><A HREF="#chap19fn9">9</A>] There is a difference between a <I>prudent conservatism</I> and +a timid and slavish repetition of time-honored views. Also between <I>an +intelligent advance</I> of well-founded, though <I>new</I> views, and an +excessive temerity, which rashly replaces the tradition of ages by the +suggestions of new science. +</P> + +<P> +"Hence any attempt to prove that the statements of the Bible imply in +every case exact conformity with the latest results of scientific +research is a needless and, under circumstances, a dangerous +experiment; for although there are instances where (as in chap. i. of +Genesis) the Bible statements anticipate the exactest results of +scientific investigation by many centuries, yet it is not and need not +be so in all instances. +</P> + +<P> +"Yet whilst we may not consider Moses as anticipating the +investigations of a Newton, a Laplace, or a Cuvier, there are cases +where the natural purpose and context of the sacred writers develop an +exact harmony with the facts of science of which former ages had no +right conception. Such are the creation by successive stages, the +unity of species, and origin of the human race, etc. But these facts +are <I>not proposed as scientific</I> revelations." +</P> + +<P> +In all important questions as to the agreement of the Bible with the +results of scientific research we may have recourse with perfect +confidence to the living teaching of the Church; where she gives no +decision there we are at liberty to speculate, provided the results of +our speculation do not conflict with explicit and implied doctrines of +truth, that is to say, they must be in harmony with the general analogy +of faith. +</P> + +<P> +There is one other topic which I would touch upon in speaking of the +use and abuse of the Bible; it is a view which the late Oliver Wendell +Holmes is supposed to have advocated. The author of "The Professor at +the Breakfast Table" believed that it would be advantageous if the +Bible were, as he terms it, <I>depolarized</I>, that is to say, if the +translations or versions made from the originals were put in such form +as to appeal to the imagination and feelings of the present generation +by substituting modern terminology and figures of speech for the old +time-honored words of Scriptural comparisons. The aim would be, as I +understand it, to do for the written word of God what the Salvation +Army leaders are attempting to do for nineteenth century Christianity +in general. +</P> + +<P> +In answer to this suggestion it may be said that the attempt has been +made in various ways, and seemingly always without result for the +better. As we have versions of St. Paul's Epistles in Ciceronian +Latin, so we have had travesties of the Gospels intended to popularize +the moral maxims they contain. If it is question of making the Bible +accessible to the people for the purpose of getting them to read it, +devices of this kind may succeed to a degree with those who look for +novelty. As to its essential form, the Bible is popular,—appeals to +all minds and conditions. This is proved by the experience of +centuries, in every clime and among all races. +</P> + +<P> +Those parts which do not directly appeal to a popular sentiment are of +a nature to forbid depolarization as above suggested, since in changing +them they would necessarily lose their identity, the inherent proofs of +their origin, and their underlying mystic and spiritual meaning. So +far as they were written, the truths contained in the Bible were to +serve all time. To change their form is to tamper with the spirit of a +divine language, which, although it comes to us in human sounds, +variable according to nationality and time and place, still has an +unction, a breath of heaven accompanying it which would vanish as the +perfume vanishes from the transplanted flower. There are some truths, +some ideas and feelings, which cannot be expressed in popular fashion +without losing their essential qualities. One might urge the same +reasons in behalf of painting the old Greek statues, because the common +people would find it possible to admire them if gaudy coloring helped +their imagination to interpret the action of the figures in marble. +Some things in the Bible were not written for all, and appeal only to +refined and spiritual minds. Others can be easily understood and +assimilated, and there are preachers commissioned to make attractive +and intelligible that which of itself does not appeal to the rude. +There is such a thing as <I>accommodating</I> the words of the Sacred +Scripture for the purpose of impressing a truth by analogy, and of the +use of this method we have beautiful illustrations in the writings of +the Fathers and in the Offices of the Breviary. But the sense <I>by +accommodation</I>, as it is called by writers on hermeneutics, does not +take liberties with the Sacred Text itself in the manner suggested by +the advocates of <I>depolarization</I>. For the rest there is a difference, +there always will be a difference, between the qualities that call upon +the senses and attract, perhaps, the larger circle of admirers, and +that choicer spirit which reaches the soul. You cannot substitute one +for the other; their domain is widely apart, though they may use the +same instrument. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +One tunes his facile lyre to please the ear,<BR> +And win the buzzing plaudits of the town;<BR> +The other sings his soul out to the stars,<BR> +And the deep hearts of men.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +You cannot depolarize, without destroying, Dante, or Milton, or any of +our great poets; no more can you depolarize the great masterpiece of +the Bible. Let us take it as we receive it under the guardianship of +the Church. Its apparent imperfections are like the surroundings and +exterior of its Founder: a scandal to the Greek, a stumbling-block to +the Jew, because they could not realize that a God was hidden in the +imperfect guise of poor flesh. +</P> + +<P> +What we consider imperfections to be remedied in the Bible were +recognized by the Apostles, and by the chief of them, St. Peter, who +writes, II. Pet. iii. 16: "Our dear brother Paul, according to the +wisdom given him, has written to you; as also in all his Epistles; in +which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and +unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own +destruction." Here was room for depolarization, yet St. Peter did not +take it in hand, neither should we desire scholars of perhaps greater +knowledge but less wisdom to do so. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn1text">1</A>] Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures," <I>l.c.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn2"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn2text">2</A>] "Vie de Jésus," 1864, p. 426. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn3"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn3text">3</A>] "Three Essays on Religion," 1874, p. 258. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn4"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn4text">4</A>] "Hibbert Lectures," 1882, pp. 196, 197. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn5"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn5text">5</A>] Ibid., 1892, p. 551. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn6"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn6text">6</A>] "The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," 1892, p. 11. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn7"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn7text">7</A>] See <I>Dublin Review</I>, article cited above. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn8"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn8text">8</A>] See Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures;" also "<I>Questions Actuelles +d'-Ecriture Sainte</I>," by Brucker, S. J. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap19fn9"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap19fn9text">9</A>] See Appendix. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE VULGATE AND THE REVISED PROTESTANT VERSION OF THE BIBLE. +</H4> + +<P> +In instituting here a comparison between the two approved and typical +English Versions of the Bible as in use among Catholics and Protestants +respectively, I have no intention to be aggressive or polemic. As from +the first we have taken what may be called the common-sense point of +view in judging the Bible as an historical work, which verifies its +claims to be regarded as an organ communicating to us divine knowledge, +so we proceed to make a brief suggestive examination of two English +Bibles: one found in the homes of Catholics, the other in those of our +Protestant friends and neighbors, many of whom believe with all +sincerity that among the various doubts and difficulties of life they +can consult no truer guide than that sacred volume. +</P> + +<P> +Taking the two volumes as a whole, and considering only their general +contents, there is but little difference between them. I compared them +in a former chapter to the two American flags of North and South: +viewed in themselves, these are both of the same origin, copied from +the same pattern, and emblems, both, of American independence. Though +they differ only in some detail that might escape the superficial +observer, they nevertheless represent very widely different principles, +for which the men of the South as of the North were willing to stake +their lives. They might meet in friendly intercourse in all the walks +of daily life, but if you ask a Union soldier to carry the Southern +flag, he will say: No; for though it looks very much like my own, there +is a difference, and that difference constitutes a vital principle with +me. +</P> + +<P> +Catholics have to make much the same answer when told that they might +accept the Protestant Bible in their public relations with those who do +not recognize the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has the old +Bible, as it came down the ages, complete and without changes. She has +no reason to discard it, and she has good reason not to accept another +Bible, though its English be sweeter and its periods fall upon the ear +like the soft cadences of Southern army songs. We cannot sing from its +tuneful pages, because it represents the principle of opposition to its +original source and parent-stock, and no union can be effected except +by the elimination of that principle. +</P> + +<P> +Catholics claim that their Bible, in point of fidelity to the +original—and this is the <I>essential</I> point when we speak of a +translation of such a book—Catholics claim that their Bible, in point +of fidelity to the original, is as superior to the Protestant English +Bible of King James as it is, we admit, inferior in its English. "The +translators of the Catholic Version considered it a lesser offence to +violate some rules of grammar than to risk the sense of God's word for +the sake of a fine period."[<A NAME="chap20fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap20fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +What proof have we for such a claim? I answer that we have the +strongest proof in the world which we could have on such a subject +outside of a divine revelation, namely, the admission on the part of +the guardians and translators themselves of the Protestant Bible. Now, +when I say guardians and translators of the Protestant Bible, I do not +mean merely the testimony of a few great authorities in the past or +present who may have expressed their opinion as to the faults and +defects of the latest English Protestant translation. That would not +be fair. But I mean that the history itself of Protestant translations +made since the days of King James, not to go back any farther, is a +standing argument of the severest kind: +</P> + +<P> +First, <I>against</I> the correctness of the <I>Protestant</I> English Versions; +and, +</P> + +<P> +Secondly, <I>for</I> the correctness of the <I>Catholic</I> English Version. +</P> + +<P> +For if we compare the first Protestant English Version (which departed +considerably from the received Catholic text of the Vulgate) with all +the succeeding revisions made at various times by the English +Protestants, we find that they have steadily returned towards the old +Catholic Version. This is not only an improvement as an approach to +the Catholic teaching, but it is also a confession, however reluctantly +made, of past errors on the part of former Protestant translators. +</P> + +<P> +At the time of their separation from the Catholic Church the reformers, +so-called, had to give reasons for their defection. They found fault +with one doctrine or another in the old Catholic Church, such as the +supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, the jurisdiction of bishops, the Holy +Sacrifice, celibacy, confession, etc. To justify the rejection of +these doctrines they must appeal to some authority: if not to the +Pontiff, then to the king, or to the Bible, or to both simultaneously. +But though the king might favor their novelties of doctrine inasmuch as +they relieved his conscience of the reproach of disobedience to the +Pontiff, who knew but one law of morals for the prince and the peasant, +the Bible as hitherto read was against them. Now, Luther had given +distracted Germany an example of what might be done in the way of +whittling down the supernatural, and eliminating some of the irksome +duties imposed by the old Church. He had made a new translation of the +Bible, threw out passages, nay, whole books,[<A NAME="chap20fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap20fn2">2</A>] which did not meet his +views, and added here and there a little word which did admirable +service by setting him right with a world that for the most part could +neither read Hebrew nor Latin nor Greek, and trusted him for a learned +translator. +</P> + +<P> +In similar fashion an English translation had already been attempted by +Wiclif about 1380, and almost simultaneously by Nicolas of Hereford. +There existed in England at the time of Luther an edition of the +Scriptures called the "great Bible." It was Catholic up to its fourth +edition, that of 1541. Then, as is generally supposed, it was revised +by the Elizabethan bishops in 1508, and in 1611, after a more +lengthened revision, it appeared as a King James "Authorized Version." +Since then various revisions and corrections of this Bible have been +printed, each succeeding one eliminating some of the previous errors. +Mr. Thomas Ward has made up an interesting book called "Errata—the +truth of the English translations of the Bible examined," or "a +treatise showing some of the errors that are found in the English +translation of the Sacred Scriptures used by Protestants against such +points of religious doctrine as are the subject of controversy between +them and the members of the Catholic Church." Dr. Ward's book embraces +a comparison between the Catholic English translation and the various +Protestant versions up to the year 1683, for since then no changes were +made in the English Protestant Bible called the authorized version +until 1871, when the work of a new revision, published between 1881-85, +was undertaken, which is not included in Dr. Ward's "Errata." +</P> + +<P> +Why was this last revision made? Was not the King James version of +1611, for the most part, beautiful English? As to the rest, was it not +for every Protestant an absolute, infallible rule of faith? The +language was good, the truth still better; what need, then, was there +to revise? +</P> + +<P> +The revisers of 1881 tell us that the language of the old English +version could be improved, and that they meant to improve it. The +older translators, they say, "seem to have been guided by the feeling +that their version would secure for the words they used a lasting place +in the language; ... but it cannot be doubted that the studied +avoidance of uniformity in the rendering of the same words, even when +occurring in the same context, is one of the blemishes in their work." +</P> + +<P> +But are the changes of language or expression all that the reviewers of +this infallible text-book aim at? No. Listen to what Dr. Ellicott in +the Preface to the Pastoral Epistles says: +</P> + +<P> +"It is vain to cheat our souls with the thought that these errors are +either insignificant or imaginary. There <I>are</I> errors, there <I>are</I> +inaccuracies, there <I>are</I> misconceptions, there <I>are</I> obscurities, not, +indeed, so many in number or so grave in character as some of the +forward spirits of our day would persuade us; but there <I>are</I> +misrepresentations of the language of the Holy Ghost; and that man who, +after being in any degree satisfied of this, permits himself to bow to +the counsels of a timid or popular obstructiveness, or who, +intellectually unable to test the truth of these allegations, +nevertheless permits himself to denounce or deny them, will, if they be +true, most surely at the dread day of final account have to sustain the +tremendous charge of having dealt deceitfully with the inviolable Word +of God."[<A NAME="chap20fn3text"></A><A HREF="#chap20fn3">3</A>] +</P> + +<P> +So this book, the infallible voice of God revealing His ways, this sole +rule of faith for millions of Englishmen, and by which millions had +lived and sworn and died during more than two centuries, had to be +revised, not only as to the form, but in the matter also. Two +committees were formed, about fifty of the members being from England, +thirty from America—Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, etc. +Cardinal Newman and Dr. Pusey were invited, but declined to attend. +Mr. Vance Smith, a Unitarian, a distinguished scholar, but certainly no +Christian, received a place in the New Testament committee. These +gentlemen set to work in earnest to revise the Word of God and settle +the Bible of the future. They had to consider the advance made in +textual criticism represented by Lachmann, Scholz, Tregelles, +Tischendorf, and Drs. Westcott and Hort. +</P> + +<P> +They labored ten years and a half, as Dr. Ellicott assures us, "with +thoroughness, loyalty to the authorized versions, and due recognition +of the best judgment of antiquity. One of their rules, expressly laid +down for their common guidance, was to introduce as few alterations as +possible into the text of the authorized version." +</P> + +<P> +How many corrections, think you, were made in the New Testament alone? +About 20,000, of which fifty per cent. are textual, that is "9 to every +five verses of the Gospels, and 15 to every five in the Epistles." +Besides these changes, which must be a shock to many an English +Protestant who has accustomed himself by long reading of the Bible to +believe in verbal inspiration, there are a number of omissions in the +New Revised Text which in all amount to about 40 entire verses. It +appears, then, that the King James Bible of some years ago has not been +as most Protestants of necessity claimed for it—the pure, authentic, +unadulterated Word of God. And if not, what guarantee have we that the +promiscuous body of recent translators, however learned, withal not +inspired, have given us that pure, authentic, unadulterated Word of God? +</P> + +<P> +Let us glance over a few pages of the New Testament to see of what +nature and of what importance, from a doctrinal point of view, are the +changes made by the late revisers of the "Authorized (Protestant) +Version." +</P> + +<P> +In the first place, they have acknowledged the reading of I. Cor. xi. +27, regarding communion under one kind, by translating the Greek +[Greek: gamma] by <I>or</I>, and not by <I>and</I>, an error which had been +repeated in all the Protestant translations since 1525, and which gave +rise to endless abuse of the Catholic practice of giving the Blessed +Sacrament to the laity under only one species. "Whosoever shall eat +the bread <I>or</I> drink the cup" is the reading in the Greek as well as in +the Latin Vulgate, and nothing but "theological fear or partiality," as +Dean Stanley expressed it, could have warranted this mistranslation, +which may be found in all the editions of 1520, 1538, 1562, 1508, 1577, +1579, 1611, etc. +</P> + +<P> +But this is only one of many acts of justice which the learned revisers +have done to Catholics by restoring the true reading; they have given +us back the <I>altar</I> which, together with the Holy Sacrifice and +confession and celibacy, had become obnoxious to the "reformers." We +now read, I. Cor. x. 18, that "those that eat the hosts" are in +"communion with the <I>altar</I>," where formerly they were only "partakers +of the temple." +</P> + +<P> +Having restored the Catholic practice of Holy Communion under one kind, +and likewise the altar, we are not surprised that the "overseers" of +the King James version should have become <I>bishops</I>, as in Acts xx. 28, +although a good many of the <I>overseers</I> have been left in their places, +possibly because the "elders" (Acts xv. 2; Tit. i. 5; I. Tim. v. 17 and +19, etc.) have not yet become <I>priests</I>, as they are in the Rhemish +(Catholic) translation. However, the "elders" are likely to turn out +priests at the next revision, because they are not only "ordained," but +also "appointed," whereas in the old English revisions of 1562 and 1579 +they were ordained elders "by election in every congregation," which is +still done in Protestant churches where there are no bishops, and even +in some which have "overseers" with the honorary title of "bishop." +</P> + +<P> +As to the celibacy question, the revisers have not thought fit to +endorse it by translating [Greek: <I>ŕdelphęn gynaicha</I>] a "woman," a +sister; but they adhere to the old "wife," as Beza, in his translation, +makes the Apostles go about with their "wives" (Acts i. 14). +</P> + +<P> +In the matter of "confession" we have got a degree nearer to the old +Catholic version and practice likewise. The Protestant reformers had +no "sins" to confess; they had only "faults." Hence they translate St. +James v. 16 by "confess your faults." But the revisers of 1881 found +out that these "faults" were downright sins, and so they put it. +Accordingly we find that the Apostles have power literally "to forgive" +sins, whereas formerly, the sins being only faults, it was enough to +have them "remitted," which means a sort of passive yielding or +condoning on the part of the overseers in favor of repentant sinners, +but did not convey the idea of a sacramental power "binding and +loosening" in heaven as on earth. +</P> + +<P> +Our dear Blessed Lady also receives some justice at the hands of the +new translators. She is not simply "highly favored" as in the times of +King James and ever since, but now is "endued with grace," though only +in a footnote. +</P> + +<P> +"It was expected," says an anonymous writer in the above cited article +of the <I>Dublin Review</I>,[<A NAME="chap20fn4text"></A><A HREF="#chap20fn4">4</A>] "that the revisers, in deference to modern +refinement, would get rid of 'hell' and 'damnation,' like the judge who +was said to have dismissed hell with costs. 'Damnation' and kindred +words have gone.... A new word, 'Hades,' Pluto's Greek name, has been +brought into our language to save the old word 'hell' from overwork. +The Rich Man is no longer in 'hell,' he is now '<I>in Hades;</I>' but he is +still 'in torment.' So Hades must be Purgatory, and the revisers have +thus moved Dives into Purgatory, and Purgatory into the Gospel. Dives +will not object; but what will Protestants say?" +</P> + +<P> +An important change has been introduced in their treatment of the +Lord's Prayer. Protestants, for over three hundred years, have +concluded that prayer with the words: "for Thine is the kingdom and the +power and the glory forever." These words were to be found in St. +Matt. vi. 13 according to the Protestant text. They were certainly +wanting in St. Luke xi. 2, who also gives us the words of the "Our +Father" with a very slight change of form. Catholics were reproached +for not adding the 'doxology,' which proved to be a custom in the Greek +Catholic Church, very much like our use of the "Glory be to the Father, +and to the Son," etc., at the end of each psalm recited or sung at +Vespers. Examination showed that the phrase "for Thine is the +kingdom," etc., was to be found principally in versions made by and for +the Catholics of the Greek Church, and this explained how the same had +crept into the copyists' Greek version. This fact is recognized at +length in the late revision where the words are omitted from the text +of St. Matthew, whilst a footnote states that "many authorities, some +ancient, but with variations, add: 'for Thine is the kingdom and the +glory forever.'" +</P> + +<P> +The American revisers had made a number of very sensible suggestions, +which would have brought the new Protestant version of the Bible still +nearer to the old Catholic translation of Rheims and Douay; but their +voice was not considered weighty enough, and Mr. Vance Smith openly +blames the English committee on this score, saying that "they have not +shown that judicial freedom from theological bias which was certainly +expected from them." On the other hand, the American revisers showed +their national spirit and liberality to a degree which must have +horrified the orthodox members of the Anglican Community. The +Americans "suggested the removal of all mention of the sin of +heresy—heresies in their eyes being only 'factions.' They desired +also that the Apostles and Evangelists should drop their title of +Saint, and be content to be called plain John, and Paul, and Thomas. +This resulted, no doubt, from their democratic taste for strict +equality, and their hatred of titles even in the kingdom of heaven."[<A NAME="chap20fn5text"></A><A HREF="#chap20fn5">5</A>] +</P> + +<P> +After all this the principle of faith in the Bible alone became +somewhat insecure, and we find the revisers making a silent concession +on this point by allowing something to the Catholic principle of a +living, perpetually transmitted <I>tradition</I>. St. Paul, who speaks of +the <I>altar</I> and of <I>bishops</I>, and who allows <I>Communion under one +kind</I>, and who had no wife, and wanted none (I. Cor. vii.), praises the +Corinthians, not simply for keeping his "ordinances," as in the time of +King James, but for keeping the <I>traditions</I> as he had delivered them +to the Greek churches before he found opportunity to write to the +Corinthians. +</P> + +<P> +There is one other point of difference between the Catholic and +Protestant Bibles to which it is instructive to call attention. It is +in regard to the writing of proper names, especially in the Old +Testament. Thus where we in the Catholic Bibles have <I>Nabuchodonosor</I> +for the king of Babylon, son of Nabopollassar, the Protestant version +has <I>Nebuchadnezzar</I>; where we have <I>Elias</I> and <I>Eliseus</I>, the +Protestant version has <I>Elijah</I> and <I>Elisha</I>, and so forth regarding +many Hebrew names of persons and places. You will ask whence the +difference, and which is right? +</P> + +<P> +The difference arises from the fact that the Protestant Version follows +the present Hebrew text of the Bible, whilst the Catholic Version +follows the Greek. Which is the safer to follow on such points as the +pronunciation of proper names—the Hebrew or the Greek? You will say +the Hebrew, but it is not so. The old Hebrew writing had, as I +mentioned before, no vowels. Hence it could not be read by any one who +had not heard it read in the schools of the rabbis. Some <I>six +centuries after our Lord</I>, certain Jewish doctors who were called +Masorets, anxious to preserve the traditional sounds of the Hebrew +language, supplied vowels in the shape of points, which they placed +under the square consonants, without disturbing the latter. Hence the +present vowel system in Hebrew, or, in other words, the present +pronunciation of Hebrew according to the reading of the Bible, is the +work of men who relied for the pronunciation of words on a tradition +which carried them back over many centuries, that is, from the time +when Hebrew was a living language to about six hundred years after +Christ. It is not difficult to imagine how in such a length of time +the true pronunciation may have been lost or certainly modified in some +cases; for though the Hebrew words were there on the paper, written in +consonants of the old form, the pronunciation of the vowels must have +been doubtful if resting on tradition alone, since the Hebrew had +already ceased to be a living language for many centuries. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, the true pronunciation of the Hebrew proper names +could have been preserved in some of the translations made long before +the Masoretic doctors supplied their vowel points. One of these +translations from the Hebrew is the Greek Septuagint. It was made, as +we have seen, in the time of Ptolemy, <I>i.e.</I>, some two and a half +centuries before Christ. The learned Jews who made this translation +knew perfectly well how the Hebrew of their day was pronounced, and we +cannot suppose that they would mutilate the proper names of their +mother tongue in the translation into Greek which, possessing written +vowels, obliged them to express the full pronunciation of the persons +and places which they transcribed. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly, we have two sources for our pronunciation of Hebrew proper +names: one which dates from about the sixth or seventh century of the +present era, when the Hebrew had become a dead language; and another, +made about <I>nine hundred years earlier</I> by Jewish rabbis, who spoke the +language perfectly well, and who could <I>express the pronunciation of +proper names</I> accurately because they wrote in a language which had +<I>written</I> vowels, and with which they were as conversant as with their +own, the Hebrew. +</P> + +<P> +Furthermore, we have other versions, made long before the Masoretic +Doctors invented their vowel-points in order to fix the Hebrew +pronunciation as they conceived it. Among these is the Latin Vulgate +which, like the Greek of the Septuagint, should give us the correct +pronunciation—because it was made by St. Jerome, who had studied the +Hebrew and Chaldee in Palestine under a Jewish rabbi. He knew, +therefore, the pronunciation of the Jews in his day (331-420), and +there was no reason why he should not give it to us in his several +different translations, whilst there might have been some cause why the +Masoretic Jews who lived two or three centuries later should dislike to +accept either the Greek or the Latin versions for an authority, because +both versions were used and constantly cited by the Christians as proof +that the Messiah had come. +</P> + +<P> +Incidentally, the late archeological finds confirm this. Thus the name +of Nabuchodonosor (IV. Kings xxiv. 1) (Protestant, Nebuchadnezzar), +mentioned above as an example, reads in the cuneiform inscription of +the Assyrian monument Nebukudursur, which is evidently the same form of +vowel pronunciation as that employed in the Catholic version. +</P> + +<P> +In comparing the two versions thus far little has been said as to the +peculiar character or merits of the English Catholic version commonly +called the Vulgate English or Douay Bible. But the main purpose of the +present chapter has been attained by the necessary inference which the +reader must have drawn, namely, that the old Catholic version is the +more faithful, and that, after all, the Bible is not a safe guide +without a Church to guard its integrity and to interpret its meaning. +</P> + +<P> +But let me say just a word about the Vulgate. The Catholic Vulgate is +practically the work of St. Jerome, and our English Catholic edition is +made as literally as may be from this Latin Vulgate, "diligently +compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions in divers +languages." The copies, most in use now, were made from an edition +published by the English College at Rheims in 1582, and at Douay in +1609, revised by Dr. Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +The need of a new revision has been recognized, and an effort to supply +the want was made by the late Archbishop Kenrick, whose translation was +recommended by the Council of Baltimore in 1858, although it has not +been generally adopted. However, the changes to be made in the +translation of the Catholic Bible in English cannot be very numerous +nor affecting doctrines defined by the Church; nor is any accidental +change of words or expressions so vital a matter to the Catholic mind +as it must be with those who have but the Bible as their one primary +rule of faith. So far Protestant revisions have done Catholics a +service in removing by successive corrections one error after another +from the "reformed" Bible, thus demonstrating the correctness of the +old Vulgate; but they have also led Protestants to reflect seriously, +and to realize that the "Bible only" principle is proved to be false +and dangerous. They must see that the Scripture is powerless without +the Church as the witness to its inspiration, the safeguard of its +integrity, and the exponent of its meaning. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap20fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap20fn1text">1</A>] Cf. a paper on the subject of the New Revision in the <I>Dublin +Review</I>, 1881, vol. VI., ser. iii. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap20fn2"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap20fn2text">2</A>] These books have been mostly retained in the Protestant Bible under +the name of <I>Apocryphal</I>, <I>i.e.</I>, not inspired. The Church accepts and +defines their inspiration, and in this is supported by the strong +testimony of apostolic tradition. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap20fn3"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap20fn3text">3</A>] "Pastoral Epistles," p. 13. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap20fn4"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap20fn4text">4</A>] Vol. VI., ser. iii. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap20fn5"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap20fn5text">5</A>] <I>Dublin Review</I>, <I>l.c.</I> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE PRESENT STATE <BR> +OF THE SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSY REGARDING THE BIBLE. +</H4> + +<P> +In one of the old churches of Wales you may see the Ten Commandments +written upon the wall, and beneath them the following inscription, the +meaning of which, it is said, had for a long time remained a mystery to +the people: +</P> + +<PRE> + P R S V R Y P R F C T M N, + V R K P T H S P R C P T S T N. +</PRE> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Some one supplied the key to the interpretation by suggesting the +letter E. Then everybody read the lines, and the old folks told their +children, who inform the casual visitor that the strange letters +plainly mean: <I>Persevere ye perfect men, ever keep these precepts ten</I>. +</P> + +<P> +The inscription in the old Welsh church is a good illustration of the +old text of the Bible, which had no vowels, no division of words and +sentences. God gave the key to its meaning through an intelligent +interpreter, and the men of learning supply the divisions—even in this +sense that they sometimes dispute the place where to insert and where +to omit the E. +</P> + +<P> +The original obscurity has induced many to study the Bible, and the +grand result of this study in our day has been to lead the great +majority of scientific men, whether they are believers in the divine +origin of the Book or not, to the conclusion that it is, to say the +least, an historical monument of the highest antiquity, the contents of +which have come down to us in that genuine and authentic form which is +claimed for it; that is to say, that it has not been tampered with or +falsified to such an extent as would render its statements materially +other than they were from the beginning. +</P> + +<P> +Tischendorf, one of the leading Biblical text critics in recent times, +allows indeed some 30,000 variations for the New Testament alone in the +different manuscripts of which we possess any trace. Although these +variations are on the whole very slight, so as not to affect the +genuineness of the Scripture documents, they establish the fact that we +do not possess the text of the Bible in the <I>literal</I> form in which the +inspired writers originally wrote it down. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever changes have crept into the text of the Bible, through +inadvertence of copyists or defective translations into other +languages, it is a settled fact among Catholic divines that they do not +affect the moral and dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church. They +regard either purely historical incidents or scientific facts, neither +of which are the object of the doctrinal definitions or moral teachings +of the Church. They are the proper subject for the study of human +reason and investigation. Hence philological science may very +becomingly occupy itself with the verbal criticism of the language and +thought of the Bible. But the Catholic Church, as a teacher of +religious truth, has an interest in these studies of verbal criticism +in so far only as they may become a help or a hindrance to her +legitimate activity of preaching and preserving the truth of +Christianity. As a rule, the Church anticipates the dangerous issues +arising from the misuse of such studies by deliberately defining not +only the right use of the instruments employed for the purpose of +criticism, but also what she herself deems the subject-matter lying +outside of the domain of such criticism. Thus, in a negative way, she +points out the field for the exercise of theories, or rather she +defines the lines beyond which speculation may not safely go. The +Church would have no end of tasks if she undertook to defend her +position against the continuously proposed hypotheses by which any +chance comer might venture to challenge her veracity or authority. +Most theories are ephemeral; two, succeeding each other, are often +mutually destructive. Prof. H. L. Hastings in his "Higher Criticism" +tells us that since 1850 there have been published 747 theories, known +to him, about the origin and authenticity of the Bible. Of these 747 +theories he counts 608 as now defunct, and as the Professor wrote +several years ago, we may assume that nearly all of the remaining 139 +are dead by this time, although a few new ones have come in to take +their place for a day.[<A NAME="chap21fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap21fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +What, then, is the position of the Catholic Church, as limited by +<I>positive definition</I>, with regard to the text of the Bible, by which +she limits the aggressiveness of Biblical criticism? +</P> + +<P> +The Catholic Church gives us a very ancient and well-attested text of +the entire Bible in the Latin tongue, and in virtue of her commission +to teach, which includes the right and duty to appoint the text-book +for that teaching, she says: <I>The sacred Council of Trent, believing +that it would be of great advantage to the Church of God to have it +known which of the various Latin editions of the Bible is to be held +authentic, hereby declares that the ancient edition commonly known as +the Vulgate, which has been approved by the long-standing use of ages +in the Church, is to be considered as the authentic Bible for official +uses of teaching</I> (Trent, vi. 12). +</P> + +<P> +You notice that the Council of Trent does not say that the Vulgate +corresponds exactly to the literal original text, nor that it is the +best of all known translations. The Council states only, but states +explicitly, that the Vulgate edition of the Bible is a reliable source +of the written revelation in matters of faith and morals. And the +reason which the Council alleges for this preference of the Vulgate +over other editions is its constant use for centuries in the Church; in +other words, that it represents the best tradition of the received +text-form of the Sacred Scriptures. But the definition of the Council +implies not only that the contents of the Vulgate in their entirety are +reliable and authentic, but that each of its statements is authentic in +its dogmatic contents, since the whole Vulgate, <I>i.e.</I>, in all its +parts, is said to constitute a medium or instrument of official +teaching in the Church. The declaration of the Council is regarding +the <I>Latin</I> Vulgate; hence all translations must conform to <I>its</I> text, +that is to say, the corrected text of 1592, called the Clementine +recension. +</P> + +<P> +It is noteworthy that, whilst the Church points out a text which is to +be the official pattern in her liturgy and in the defence of Catholic +teaching regarding faith and morals, she does not define anything +regarding other texts or versions of the Bible. Neither the Hebrew nor +the Greek texts are mentioned, although the Church gives to them, and +the Coptic, Syrian, and Armenian versions, an implied approbation by +tolerating their liturgical use in the Oriental churches. +</P> + +<P> +What the Church has defined, therefore, regarding the Vulgate is this: +It has declared its <I>dogmatic integrity</I>. This implies that the +contents of the Vulgate give in their entirety and in their details a +reliable version of the inspired text as an instrument of teaching +Catholic truth and morals. +</P> + +<P> +From a scientific point of view the Vulgate enjoys the advantage of +being the oldest of all the Scriptural versions. In the Old Testament +it represents a text more ancient than the Hebrew of the Masoretic +doctors. The New Testament is likewise older than the oldest Greek +text extant, as Lachmann in his critical edition has demonstrated. +Moreover, its composition is the result of the best scientific +apparatus of early Christian times, which St. Jerome possessed in a +phenomenal degree, both as to his person and also as to the +circumstances in which he was placed. Finally, it has an historical +support of unequalled superiority, inasmuch as it has been from the +beginning the means of Christianizing the nations of Europe. +</P> + +<P> +All this is being verified, not only by textual critics, but by the +more recent discoveries in the study of Christian paleography. +</P> + +<P> +Such is the position in which scientific research finds the Church. +The multiform theories about the Bible, and the various possible senses +of its words and passages, only affect her in a limited degree. +Catholic apologists are obliged to deal with these theories so far only +as they affect the positive teaching of the Church in faith and morals, +although the analogy of faith demands that the Catholic scientist test +his opinions by weighty tradition and approved practice. Whilst the +<I>dogmatic</I> integrity of the Sacred Scriptures is thus secured, the +examination of the critical integrity of individual parts leaves a wide +field open to Catholic Biblical students. The work done by +non-Catholic scholars who have examined the Bible, either to bring out +the verbal meaning of its text, or to verify some historical or +philological hypothesis, is astounding. Catholic students owe a great +debt to the first gleaners in this field; for though we have neither +felt impelled to look for the rule of our faith in the Bible +exclusively, nor always been inclined to accept the dicta regarding the +literal sense of so sacred a document from the professors of +philological discipline, we have incidentally profited by all these +searchings. They have illustrated the excellence of our faith, both as +a system and as a moral principle. They have thrown light upon +problems of exegesis. All the doctrines and practices of the Catholic +Church have found their confirmation in the analysis of Biblical terms +as the result of textual criticism. The words of the Bible have been +thrown into the crucible, and the gold of Catholic doctrine has been +the outcome—purer, brighter, more refined, and still weighty. Each +verified theory regarding the sense of old forgotten Hebrew terms has +received the impress of Catholic approbation, and served to give the +doctrine of the Church a more ready currency. Scientists, often +reluctantly, are pointing out golden opportunities for Catholic +students. +</P> + +<P> +It does not come within our present scope to speak of the various +methods employed by the science and art of Biblical criticism, nor to +retail the separate results to which the inquiry into the authenticity +(Higher Criticism) and the integrity and purity of the text (Lower +Criticism) has led. The history of the New Testament, which is the +best witness to the authenticity and integrity of the Old Testament +books, provided we admit the divinity of Christ, which in its turn +rests upon the strongest historic evidence, has received an immense +amount of confirmatory argument in numerous discoveries of ancient +documents. Within the last forty years have been found, among other +valuable writings, the famous <I>Codex Sinaiticus</I> by Tischendorf (1859), +one of the oldest Greek texts of the Bible. In 1875 Archbishop +Briennios found in Constantinople the MS. Epistles of Clement of Rome, +which not only confirm the apostolical writings and evangels as being +received in the Church of his day, but furnish the oldest liturgical +prayer and sermon of post-apostolic times. Another document of the +same character, in Latin, was discovered by Morin in 1893. Next we +have the celebrated <I>Diatessaron of Tatian</I>, the oldest gospel harmony +in existence, which, known to Eusebius, but lost in the meantime, was +recovered lately, with a parallel manuscript found in Egypt, and +published last year in English. This takes us back to the time of St. +Justin. Another most important find is the MS. of the so-called +"Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." The document was discovered by +Briennios, and published in 1883. It throws much light on the +ecclesiastical discipline of the early Christian Church (about A.D. +120), speaks of the written Gospels, etc. Another valuable MS. +(Syriac) was found in 1889 by Professor Harris. It is the "Apology of +Aristides," brought from the convent of St. Catharine on Mt. Sinai, and +dates about the year 140, as it is addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, +and offers him the Christian Scriptures to read. +</P> + +<P> +I pass over a host of other important finds of the same nature, of +unquestioned authenticity, which carry us back to the apostolic age. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap21fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap21fn1text">1</A>] See Hettinser's "Apologie," Preface xi. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII. +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MYSTERIOUS CHARACTERS. +</H4> + +<P> +Whilst Biblical criticism and constantly increasing discoveries of new +treasures, such as we mentioned in the last chapter, are adding their +approving light to the ancient and unchanged traditions of the Catholic +Church regarding the Bible and its exegesis, the finds of archeology +are confirming the statements of the Bible, especially the Old +Testament history, with an accuracy which forces even the infidel +scientist to bear witness to the historical truth of the inspired +records. +</P> + +<P> +A century ago Biblical antiquity received its side-lights, for the most +part, from rabbinical literature, and from newly-discovered methods of +interpreting those classics which dealt with the Oriental world +incidentally. But in modern times an immense literary field has been +opened by the discovery of ancient monuments in Egypt, Assyria, +Babylonia, Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, and the surrounding countries. +These monuments place us in position to trace the condition of these +nations to very remote periods, and give us a key to the explanation of +the Biblical documents. Extraordinary labor, coupled with all-sided +knowledge, a refined method of observation, and untiring patience, have +made it possible to read the hieroglyphics and the so-called cuneiform +inscriptions. It is interesting to trace the gradual progress by which +definite results were attained in deciphering certain inscriptions +whose language was entirely unknown to any living man. I may be +allowed to give here an illustration, taken from Mr. Sayce's excellent +little work, "Fresh Lights on Ancient Monuments," in which he describes +the manner of unravelling the mysterious threads of the old Persian +script: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Travellers had discovered inscriptions engraved in cuneiform, or, as +they were also termed, arrow-headed, characters on the ruined monuments +of Persepolis and other ancient sites in Persia. Some of these +monuments were known to have been erected by the Achćmenian +princes—Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and his successors—and it was +therefore inferred that the inscriptions also had been carved by order +of the same kings. The inscriptions were in three different systems of +cuneiform writing; and, since the three kinds of inscription were +always placed side by side, it was evident that they represented +different versions of the same text. The subjects of the Persian kings +belonged to more than one race, and, just as in the present day a +Turkish pasha in the East has to publish an edict in Turkish, Arabic, +and Persian, if it is to be understood by all the populations under his +charge, so the Persian kings were obliged to use the language and +system of writing peculiar to each of the nations they governed +whenever they wished their proclamations to be read and understood by +them. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"It was clear that the three versions of the Achćmenian inscriptions +were addressed to the three chief populations of the Persian empire, +and that the one that invariably came first was composed in ancient +Persian, the language of the sovereign himself. Now this Persian +version happened to offer the decipherer less difficulties than the two +others which accompanied it. The number of distinct characters +employed in writing it did not exceed forty, while the words were +divided from one another by a slanting wedge. Some of the words +contained so many characters that it was plain that these latter must +denote letters, and not syllables, and that consequently the Persian +cuneiform system must have consisted of an alphabet, and not of a +syllabary. It was further plain that the inscriptions had to be read +from left to right, since the ends of all the lines were exactly +underneath one another on the left side, whereas they terminated +irregularly on the right; indeed, the last line sometimes ended at a +considerable distance from the right-hand extremity of the inscription. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"The clue to the decipherment of the inscriptions was first discovered +by the successful guess of a German scholar, Grotefend. Grotefend +noticed that the inscriptions generally began with three or four words, +one of which varied, while the others remained unchanged. The variable +word had three forms, though the same form always appeared on the same +monument. Grotefend, therefore, conjectured that this word represented +the name of a king, the words which followed it being the royal titles. +One of the supposed names appeared much oftener than the others, and, +as it was too short for Artaxerxes and too long for Cyrus, it was +evident that it must stand either for Darius or for Xerxes. A study of +the classical authors showed Grotefend that certain of the monuments on +which it was found had been constructed by Darius, and he accordingly +gave to the characters composing it the values required for spelling +'Darius' in its old Persian form. In this way he succeeded in +obtaining conjectural values for six cuneiform letters. He now turned +to the second royal name, which also appeared on several monuments, and +was of much the same length as that of Darius. This could only be +Xerxes; but if so, the fifth letter composing it (r) would necessarily +be the same as the third letter in the name of Darius. This proved to +be the case, and thus afforded the best possible evidence that the +German scholar was on the right track. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"The third name, which was much longer than the other two, differed +from the second chiefly at the beginning, the latter part of it +resembling the name of Xerxes. Clearly, therefore, it could be nothing +else than Artaxerxes, and that it actually was so was rendered certain +by the fact that the second character composing it was that which had +the value of r. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Grotefend now possessed a small alphabet, and with this he proceeded +to read the word which always followed the royal name, and therefore +probably meant 'king.' He found that it closely resembled the word +which signified 'king' in Zend, the old language of the Eastern +Persians, which was spoken in one part of Persia at the same time that +Old Persian, the language of the Achćmenian princes, was spoken in +another. There could, consequently, be no further room for doubt that +he had really solved the great problem, and discovered the key to the +decipherment of the cuneiform texts. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"But he did little further himself towards the completion of the work, +and it was many years before any real progress was made with it. +Meanwhile, the study of Zend had made great advances, more especially +in the hands of Burnouf, who eventually turned his attention to the +cuneiform inscriptions. But it is to Burnouf's pupil, Lassen, as well +as to Sir Henry Rawlinson, that the decipherment of these inscriptions +owes its final completion. The discovery of the list of Persian +satrapies in the inscription of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustem, and above all +the copy of the long inscription of Darius on the rock of Behistum, +made by Sir H. Rawlinson, enabled these scholars independently of one +another to construct an alphabet which differed only in the value +assigned to a single character, and, with the help of the cognate Zend +and Sanskrit, to translate the language so curiously brought to light. +The decipherment of the Persian cuneiform texts thus became an +accomplished fact; what was next needed was to decipher the two +versions which were inscribed at their side. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"But this was no easy task. The words in them were not divided from +one another, and the characters of which they were composed were +exceedingly numerous. With the assistance, however, of frequently +recurring proper names, even these two versions gradually yielded to +the patient skill of the decipherer; and it was then discovered that +while one of them represented an agglutinative language, such as that +of the Turks or Fins, the other was in a dialect which closely +resembled the Hebrew of the Old Testament. The monuments found almost +immediately afterwards in Assyria and Babylonia by Botta and Layard +soon made it clear to what people this dialect must have belonged. The +inscriptions of Nineveh turned out to be written in the same language +and form of cuneiform script; and it must therefore have been for the +Semitic population of Assyria and Babylonia that the kings of Persia +had caused one of the versions of their inscriptions to be drawn up. +This version served us a starting-point for the decipherment of the +texts which the excavations in Assyria had brought to light." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In this way results which stood the test of severe criticism were +obtained until the most difficult inscriptions have become a +comparatively open book to the historian of to-day. Thus it has come +about that, as Prof. Ira Price says: "Since 1850 the Old Testament has +been gradually appearing in the ever-brightening and brighter light of +contemporaneous history. The new light now pours in upon it from all +sides. It is the one history made rich by that of all its neighbors. +Israel is the one people whose part in the drama of ancient nations is +just beginning to be understood.... The cuneiform letters discovered +at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, in 1887, have opened up new territory in the +fifteenth century, B.C. They are despatches and official +communications sent by a large number of rulers, kings, and governors, +mainly of countries and provinces and cities of Southwestern Asia, to +the king of Egypt. These documents disclose a marvellously advanced +stage of development, intellectually, politically, and socially, among +the people who were soon to be Israel's nearest neighbors. They formed +the early background of Israel's settlement in Canaan, and prepare us +for no surprises in Israel's growth. In fact, we see that Joshua and +his army actually settled in a land of cities and fortresses, already +containing many of the elements of civilization, but sadly reduced by +internal and external warfare." +</P> + +<P> +The labor of the excavator in the Biblical countries, such as the +unearthing of the immense library of brick tablets in the neighborhood +of Nineveh, and the result of new discoveries which the ground of +Palestine, so long and strangely neglected, promises to yield, widen +the field of Biblical research immensely, and from it all we may with +perfect assurance look for fresh arguments in behalf of the +authenticity and substantial integrity of the Sacred Scriptures. At +the same time the interpretation of many of its passages, now obscure, +will become clearer in the light of contemporary history. +</P> + +<P> +Surely this is a hopeful sign, and should encourage us in the study of +the Bible, which is on so many accounts a source of intellectual +pleasure, of abiding peace of heart, and of that high moral refinement +which comes from contact with noble minds. There are none better on +earth than the sacred writers—men who walked and spoke with God, and +whose living contact we may enjoy in the participation of that +celestial inspiration which breathes through their writings. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CONCLUSION. +</H3> + +<P> +The foregoing chapters are nothing more than a brief illustration of +the principles laid down by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., in his +Encyclical Letter "On the Study of the Sacred Scriptures."[<A NAME="chap23fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap23fn1">1</A>] The +careful reading of this Letter must convince us how important a part +the study of the Bible has always played in the Church. The +conclusions of Leo XIII. are not of yesterday, nor does he claim them +as of his own invention. He cites the Fathers and Doctors of the +Church, and the Decrees of Councils, from Antioch to Trent and the +Vatican, as witnesses to the fact that all Catholic teaching rests upon +the Sacred Scriptures as one of the two great foundation stones which +support the grand archway leading into the domain of divine truth. +God, in order that He may reveal Himself to man, sends His messengers, +the Prophets and the Apostles, to announce with living voice His +promises and His judgments; then, as if to confirm their mission for +all time to come, He bids them take a letter, written by Himself, and +addressed "to the human race on its pilgrimage afar from its +fatherland" (Encycl.). That letter is the Holy Scripture. "To +understand and to explain it there is always required the 'coming' of +the same Holy Spirit" who was to abide with the Church. And she, "by +her admirable laws and regulations, has always shown herself solicitous +that the celestial treasure of the Sacred Book ... should not be +neglected" (Ibid.). If men have grown remiss at any time in the use of +that heavenly gift, it cannot be said that the Church failed to keep +before them its admirable utility. "She has arranged that a +considerable portion of it should be read, and with pious mind +considered by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred +psalmody." For centuries past the solemn promise of every ordained +priest throughout the Catholic world to recite each day the Hours of +the Breviary testifies to the constant practice of not only reading, +but meditating a fixed portion of the Scriptures, so that under this +strictest of his priestly obligations he has practically completed the +entire sacred volume within the limit of each ecclesiastical year. +"She has strictly commanded that her children shall be fed with the +saving word of the Gospel, at least on Sundays and on solemn feasts." +If these laws and this practice receive a fresh impulse from the +Sovereign Pontiff in our day, it is because there have arisen men who +teach that the Sacred Scriptures are the work of mere human industry, +that they contain only fables, which have no claim to be respected as +coming from God. "They deny that there is any such thing as divine +revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see in +these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men.... The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the force of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned" (Ibid.). To confute these errors Leo bids us engage voice +and pen. In the limited space allowed us we have only been able to +indicate the arguments which prove the historical authenticity and the +essentially divine character which points to the true origin of the +Sacred Text, and at the same time to lead the earnest student into the +way of reading with pleasure and profit the grandest of all written +works. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +<A NAME="chap23fn1"></A> +[<A HREF="#chap23fn1text">1</A>] Litterć Encyclicć, "Providentissimus Deus," Nov. 17, A.D. 1893. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +APPENDIX. +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +<I>Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +ON +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>To Our Venerable brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and +Bishops of the Catholic World, in grace and communion with the +Apostolic See.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +LEO P. P. XIII. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +VENERABLE BRETHREN, +</P> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +<I>Health and Apostolic Benediction.</I> +</P> + +<P> +The God of all Providence, who in the wondrous counsel of His love +raised the human race in its beginning to participation of the divine +nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, +restoring it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed +upon man a singular safeguard—making known to him, by supernatural +means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. +Although in divine revelation some things are comprehended which are +not beyond the reach of human reason, they are made the objects of +revelation in order that all may come to know them with facility, +certainty, and freedom from all error. It is not, however, on this +account that revelation can be said to be absolutely necessary; but +because God of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural +end. This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the +universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition and in +written Books. These are called sacred and canonical because, being +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for +their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. This +belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church with +regard to the Books of both Testaments. There are well-known documents +of the gravest character, coming down to us from the earliest times, +which proclaim that God, who spoke first by the Prophets, then by +Himself, and thereafter by the Apostles, composed the Canonical +Scriptures. These are divine oracles and utterances—a Letter, written +by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the +human race on its pilgrimage afar from its fatherland. If, then, such +and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures that +God Himself has, as the author of them, composed them, and that they +treat of God's deepest mysteries, counsels, and works, it follows that +the branch of sacred theology which is concerned with the defence and +interpretation of these divine books must be most excellent and in the +highest degree profitable. +</P> + +<P> +Now We, who by the help of God, and not without fruit, have by frequent +letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of study, +which seemed well fitted for advancing the glory of God and +contributing to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished +the desire to give an impulse to the most noble study of the Sacred +Scriptures, and to impart to it a direction which is suitable to the +needs of the present day. The solicitude of the Apostolic office +naturally urges, and even compels Us, not only to desire that this +grand source of Catholic revelation should be made more safely and +abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also to prevent +it from being in any way violated, on the part either of those who +impiously and openly assail the Scriptures, or of those who are led +astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties. +</P> + +<P> +We are not ignorant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are +Catholics not a few, men abounding in talent and learning, who do +devote themselves with alacrity to the defence of the Divine Books, and +to making them better known and understood. But while giving to these +men the commendation which they deserve for their labor and the fruits +of it, We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and +piety and learning we have a right to expect the very best results, to +give themselves to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and +fervent desire to see an increase in the number of approved and +unwearying laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially +that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by +day, as is most meet, display greater diligence and industry in +reading, meditating, and explaining it. Among the reasons for which +this study is so worthy of commendation—in addition to its own +excellence and to the homage which we owe to God's word—the chief +reason of all is the manifold benefit of which it is the source. This +we know will flow therefrom on the most certain testimony of the Holy +Ghost Himself, who says: "All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable +to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man +of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was +the purpose of God in giving the Scriptures to men is shown by the +example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. He who obtained +authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew +to Himself the multitude, was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine +Mission to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove +that He was sent by God, and that He is God. From them He draws +arguments for the instruction of His disciples and the confirmation of +His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors. He +quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees. He retorts from them upon +Satan himself, when he impudently dares to tempt Him. At the close of +His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture +which He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, and during +all the time till He ascends to the glory of His Father. Faithful to +His precepts, the Apostles, although He Himself granted "signs and +wonders to be done by their hands," nevertheless used with the greatest +efficacy the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations +everywhere of the wisdom of Christianity, to break down the obstinacy +of the Jews, and to suppress the outbursts of heresy. This is manifest +in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter. These were +almost woven from sayings of the Old Testament, which made in the +strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same thing in +the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and in the Catholic Epistles. +Most remarkably of all is it to be found in the words of him who boasts +that he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being +armed with spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence: +"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God." +</P> + +<P> +Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, +understand how much the divine Books should be esteemed, and with what +determination and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of +heavenly arms. Those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine +before either the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample +matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the subject of God, the +supreme and all perfect Good, or of the works which display His glory +and His love. Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on +the subject of the Saviour of the human race than that which is to be +found throughout the Bible. St. Jerome has rightly said "ignorance of +the Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In its pages His Image stands +out as it were alive and breathing; diffusing everywhere consolation in +trouble, encouragement to virtue, and attraction to the love of God. +As regards the Church, her institutions, her nature, her functions, and +her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references, and so many +ready and convincing arguments, that, as St. Jerome again most truly +says: "A man who is thoroughly grounded in the testimonies of the +Scriptures is a bulwark of the Church." If we come to moral formation +and to discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings +abundant and most excellent aid, precepts full of holiness, +exhortations framed with sweetness and force, shining examples of every +kind of virtue, and, finally, the promise of eternal reward, and the +threat of eternal punishment, uttered in weightiest terms, in God's +name and in God's own words. +</P> + +<P> +This peculiar and singular power of the Scriptures, springing from the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, adds to the authority of the sacred +orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates to +him a forcible and convincing eloquence. Those who infuse into their +speech the spirit and strength of the Word of God speak, "not in words +only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness." +Hence those preachers are foolish and improvident who, in preaching +religion and proclaiming the precepts of God, use no words but those of +human science and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings +rather than to those that are divine. Their discourses may be +glittering with lights, but they must be cold and feeble, for they are +without the fire of the utterance of God. They must fall far short of +that power which the speech of God possesses. "The Word of God is +living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and +reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." All the more +far-seeing are agreed that there is in the Holy Scriptures an eloquence +that is marvellous in its variety and richness, and that is worthy of +the loftiest themes. This St. Augustine thoroughly comprehended, and +this he has abundantly set forth. It is confirmed also by the best of +the preachers of all ages. They have gratefully acknowledged that they +owed their repute chiefly to assiduous familiarity with the Bible, and +to devout meditation on the truths which it contains. +</P> + +<P> +The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience. They +never cease to extol the Sacred Scripture and its fruits. In +innumerable passages of their writings we find them applying to it such +phrases as—"an inexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine," or "an +overflowing fountain of salvation," or as "fertile pastures and most +lovely gardens, in which the flock of the Lord is marvellously +refreshed and delighted." Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in +his Epistle to the cleric Nepotian: "Often read the divine Scriptures; +yea, let holy reading be always in thy hand; study that which thou +thyself must preach.... Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned +with Scriptural reading." St. Gregory the Great, than whom no man has +more admirably described the functions of the pastors of the Church, +writes in the same sense: "Those," he says, "who are zealous in the +work of preaching, must never cease from study of the written word of +God." St. Augustine, however, warns us that "vainly does the preacher +utter the word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly." +St. Gregory instructs sacred orators "first, to find in Holy Scripture +the knowledge of themselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in +reproving others they forget themselves." This had already, after the +example and teaching of Christ Himself, who "began to do and to teach," +been uttered far and wide by an apostolic voice. It was not to Timothy +alone, but to the whole order of the clergy, that the command was +addressed: "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be earnest in them. +In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." +For the saving and for the perfection, both of ourselves and of others, +we have at hand the very best of aids in the Sacred Scriptures, and +most abundantly in the Book of Psalms. Those alone will, however, find +it who bring to the divine oracles not only a docile and attentive +mind, but a habit also of will which is both pious and without reserve. +The Sacred Scripture is not to be regarded like an ordinary book. +Dictated by the Holy Ghost, it contains matters of the most grave +importance, which in many instances are difficult and obscure. To +understand and to explain them there is always required the "coming" of +the same Holy Spirit; that is to say, His light and His grace. These, +as the Royal Psalmist so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble +prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life. +</P> + +<P> +It is in this that the watchful care of the Church shines forth +conspicuously. By her admirable laws and regulations she has always +shown herself solicitous that the celestial treasure of the Sacred +Books, so bountifully bestowed upon man by the Holy Spirit, should not +lie neglected. She has arranged that a considerable portion of them +should be read, and with pious mind considered by all her ministers in +the daily office of the sacred psalmody. She has ordered that in +cathedral churches, in monasteries, and in convents of other regulars, +which are places most fit for study, they shall be expounded and +interpreted by capable men. She has strictly commanded that her +children shall be fed with the saving word of the Gospel at least on +Sundays and on solemn feasts. Moreover, it is owing to the wisdom and +the diligence of the Church that there has always been, continued from +century to century, that cultivation of Sacred Scripture which has been +so remarkable and which has borne such ample fruit. +</P> + +<P> +And here, in order to strengthen Our teaching and Our exhortations, it +is well to recall how, from the first beginnings of the Christian +religion, so many who have been renowned for holiness of life and for +sacred learning have given their deep and most constant attention to +Holy Scripture. If we consider the immediate disciples of the +Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. +Polycarp—or the Apologists, such as St. Justin and St. Irenćus, we +find that in their letters and in their books, whether in defence of +the Catholic faith or in commendation of it, they draw faith and +strength and unction mainly from the word of God. When there arose, in +various Episcopal Sees, catechetical and theological schools, of which +the most celebrated were those of Alexandria and of Antioch, there was +little taught in those schools but what consisted in the reading, the +unfolding, and the defence of the divine written word. From these +schools came forth numbers of Fathers and of writers whose laborious +studies and admirable writings have justly merited for the three +following centuries the appellation of the golden age of biblical +exegesis. +</P> + +<P> +In the Eastern Church, the greatest name of all is Origen. He was a +man remarkable alike for quickness of genius and for persevering labor. +From his numerous writings and his immense work of the <I>Hexapla</I> almost +all who came after him have drawn. Others who have widened the field +of this science may also be named. Among the more excellent, +Alexandria could boast of Clement and Cyril; Palestine, of Eusebius and +the other Cyril; Cappadocia, of Basil the Great and the two Gregories, +Nazianzen and Nyssene; and Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom, in whom +skill in this learning was rivalled by the splendor of his eloquence. +</P> + +<P> +In the Western Church there were many names as great: Tertullian, +Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great; most famous +of all, Augustine and Jerome. Of these two the former was marvellously +acute in penetrating the sense of God's word, and most fertile in the +use that he made of it for the promotion of Catholic truth. The latter +has received from the Church, by reason of his pre-eminent knowledge of +Scripture and the greatness of his labors in promoting its use, the +name of the "Great Doctor." +</P> + +<P> +From this period, down to the eleventh century, although biblical +studies did not flourish with the same vigor and with the same +fruitfulness as before, they nevertheless did flourish, and that +principally through the instrumentality of the clergy. It was their +care and solicitude that selected the most fruitful of the things which +the ancients had left behind them, placed these in digested order, and +published them with additions of their own—as did Isidore of Seville, +Venerable Bede, and Alcuin, among the most prominent. It was they who +illustrated the sacred pages with "glosses," or short commentaries, as +we see in Walafrid Strabo and Anselm of Laon, or who expended fresh +labor in securing their integrity, as did Peter Damian and Lanfranc. +</P> + +<P> +In the twelfth century many took up with great success the allegorical +exposition of Scripture. In this Bernard is easily pre-eminent. His +writings, it may be said, are Scripture all through. With the age of +the scholastics there came fresh and fruitful progress in the study of +the Bible. That the scholastics were solicitous about the genuineness +of the Latin version is evident from the <I>Correctoria Biblica</I>, or list +of emendations, which they have left behind them. They expended, +however, more of their study and of their industry on interpretation +and on explanation. To them we owe the accurate and clear distinction, +such as had not been given before, of the various senses of the sacred +words; the weight of each word in the balance of theology; the division +of books into parts, and the summaries of the various parts; the +investigation of the purpose of the writers, and the unfolding of the +necessary connection of one sentence with another. No man can fail to +see the amount of light which was thus shed on the more obscure +passages. The abundance of their Scriptural learning is to be seen +both in their theological treatises and in their commentaries. In this +Thomas of Aquin bears the palm. +</P> + +<P> +When Our predecessor, Clement V., established chairs of Oriental +literature in the Athenćum at Rome, and in the principal Universities +of Europe, our students began to labor more minutely on the original +text of the Bible, as well as on the Latin version. The revival +amongst us of Greek learning, and, much more, the happy invention of +the art of printing, gave the strongest impetus to the study of Holy +Scripture. In a brief space of time innumerable editions, especially +of the Vulgate, poured from the press, and were spread throughout the +Catholic world; so honored and loved were the divine volumes during +that very period against which the enemies of the Church direct their +calumnies. +</P> + +<P> +Nor must we forget how many learned men there were, chiefly among the +religious orders, who did excellent work for the Bible between the +dates of the Councils of Vienne and Trent. These men, by employment of +modern means and appliances, and by contribution of their own genius +and learning, not only added to the rich stores of ancient times, but +prepared the way for the pre-eminence of the succeeding century—the +century which followed the Council of Trent. It then seemed almost as +if the great age of the Fathers had returned. It is well known, and We +recall it with pleasure, that Our predecessors from Pius IV. to Clement +VIII. caused to be prepared the celebrated editions of the Vulgate and +the Septuagint, which, having been published by the command and +authority of Sixtus V. and of the same Clement, are now in common use. +At this time, moreover, were carefully brought out various other +ancient versions of the Bible, and the Polyglots of Antwerp and of +Paris, most important for the investigation of the true meaning of the +text. There is not any one Book of either Testament which did not find +more than one expositor, nor is there any grave question which did not +profitably exercise the ability of many inquirers. Among these there +are not a few—more especially of those who made most study of the +Fathers—who have made for themselves names of renown. From that time +forward the labor and solicitude of our students have never been +wanting. As time has gone on, eminent scholars have carried on +biblical study with success. They have defended Holy Scripture against +the cavils of <I>rationalism</I> with the same weapons of philology and +kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The calm and fair +consideration of what has been said will clearly show that the Church +has never failed in any manner of provision for bringing the fountains +of the Divine Scripture in a wholesome way within reach of her +children, and that she has ever held fast and exercised the +guardianship divinely bestowed upon her for its protection and glory. +She has never, therefore, required, nor does she now require, any +stimulation from without. +</P> + +<P> +We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart to you +such counsels as seem best suited for carrying on successfully the +study of biblical science. We must, in the first place, have a clear +idea of the kind of men whom we have to oppose, their tactics and their +weapons. +</P> + +<P> +In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on +private judgment and repudiating the divine tradition and the teaching +authority of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one and only +source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we +have to meet the Rationalists, the true children and heirs of the older +heretics. Trusting in their turn to their own judgment, they have +rejected even the scraps and remnants of Christian belief handed down +to them from their fathers. They deny that there is any such thing as +divine revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see +in these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men. They set down +the Scripture narratives as stupid fables or lying tales. The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the forces of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned. These detestable errors, whereby they think to destroy the +truth of the divine Books, are obtruded on the world as the peremptory +pronouncements of a newly-invented "free science." This science, +however, is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying and +supplementing it. There are some of them who, notwithstanding their +impious opinions and utterances about God and His Christ, the Gospels, +and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be regarded as being +theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel. They attempt to +disguise under such names of honor their rashness and their insolence. +To them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve +and sustain their views, and are egged on to attack the Bible by +intolerance of revelation. It is deplorable to see this warfare +becoming from day to day more widespread and more ruthless. It is +sometimes men of learning and judgment who are assailed; but these have +little difficulty in standing on their guard. The efforts and the arts +of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more ignorant masses of +the people. These men diffuse their deadly poison by means of books +and pamphlets and newspapers. They spread it by means of addresses and +of conversations. They are found everywhere. They are in possession +of numerous schools for the young, wrested from the guardianship of the +Church. In those schools, by means of ridicule and scurrilous jesting, +they pervert the credulous and unformed minds of the young to contempt +of Scripture. Should not these things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and +set on fire the heart of every Pastor, so that to this "knowledge, +falsely so called," may be opposed the ancient and true science which +the Church, through the Apostles, has received from Christ, and that +the Sacred Scriptures may find champions that are strong for so great a +struggle? +</P> + +<P> +Let our first care, then, be to see that in Seminaries and Academical +foundations the study of Holy Scripture is placed on such a footing as +both the importance of it and the circumstances of the time demand. +With this view, that which is of first importance is a wise selection +of professors. Teachers of Sacred Scripture are not to be appointed at +hap-hazard out of the crowd. They must be men whose character and +fitness have been proved by great love of, and long familiarity with, +the Bible, and by the learning and study which befits their office. +</P> + +<P> +It is of equal importance to provide in due time for a continuous +succession of such teachers. It will be well, wherever this can be +done, to select young men of promise, who have studied their theology +with distinction, and to set them apart exclusively for Holy Scripture, +affording them time and facilities for still fuller study. Professors +thus chosen and appointed may enter with confidence on the task that is +set before them. That they may be at their best, and bear all the +fruit that is possible, there are some other hints which We may +somewhat more fully set before them. +</P> + +<P> +At the commencement of a course of Holy Scripture, let the professor +strive earnestly to form the judgment of the young beginners, so as to +train them equally to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their +meaning. This is the object of the treatise which is called +"Introduction to the Bible." Here the student is taught how to prove +its integrity and authority, how to investigate and ascertain its true +sense, and how to meet and refute all captious objections. It is +needless to insist on the importance of making these preliminary +studies in an orderly and thorough way, in the company and with the aid +of Theology. The whole of the subsequent course will rest on the +foundation thus laid, and will be luminous with the light which has +been thus acquired. +</P> + +<P> +Next, the teacher will turn his earnest attention to that most fruitful +branch of Scripture science which has to do with interpretation. +Therein is imparted the method of using the word of God for the +promotion of religion and of piety. We are well aware that neither the +extent of the matter nor the time at disposal allows every single Book +of the Bible to be separately studied in the schools. The teaching, +however, should result in a definite and ascertained method of +interpretation. Hence the professor should at once avoid giving a mere +taste of every Book, and the equal mistake of dwelling at too great +length on merely a part of some one Book. If most schools cannot do +what is done in the larger institutions—that is, take the students +through the whole of one or two Books continuously, and with some +considerable development—yet at least those parts which are selected +for interpretation should be treated with some fulness. In this way +the students may be attracted, and learn from the sample that is set +before them to love and read the rest in the course of their after +lives. The professor, following the tradition of antiquity, will use +the Vulgate as his text. The Council of Trent has decreed that "in +public lectures, disputations, preaching, and exposition," the Vulgate +is the "authentic" version; and this is the existing custom of the +Church. At the same time, the other versions which Christian antiquity +has approved and used should not be neglected, more especially the more +ancient MSS. Although the meaning of the Hebrew and the Greek is +substantially rendered by the Vulgate, nevertheless, wherever there may +be ambiguity or want of clearness, the "examination of older tongues," +to quote St. Augustine, will be of service. In this matter we need +hardly say that the greatest prudence is required, for the "office of a +commentator," as St. Jerome says, "is to set forth not that which he +himself would prefer, but that which his author says." The question of +"readings" having been, when necessary, carefully discussed, the next +thing is to investigate and expound the meaning. The first counsel to +be here given is this: that the more our adversaries strive in the +contrary direction, so much the more solicitously should we adhere to +the received and approved canons of interpretation. Hence, while +weighing the meanings of words, the connection of ideas, the +parallelism of passages, and the like, we should by all means make use +of external illustrations drawn from other cognate learning. This +should, however, be done with caution, so as not to bestow on such +questions more labor and time than that which is spent on the Sacred +Books themselves, and not to overload the minds of the students with a +mass of information which will be rather a hindrance than a help. +</P> + +<P> +The professor may now safely pass on to the use of Scripture in matters +of Theology. Here it must be observed that, in addition to the usual +reasons which make ancient writings more or less difficult to +understand, there are some which are peculiar to the Sacred Books. The +language of the Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of +the Holy Ghost, many things which are beyond the powers and scope of +human reason—that is to say, divine mysteries and many matters which +are related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fuller and +a deeper meaning than the letter seems to express or than the laws of +hermeneutics indicate. Moreover, the literal sense itself frequently +admits other senses, which either illustrate dogma or commend morality. +It must therefore be recognized that the sacred writings are wrapt in a +certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into them +without a guide. God has so disposed it that, as the Holy Fathers +teach, men may investigate the Scriptures with greater ardor and +earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more +deeply into the mind and heart. From this also, and mainly, men may +understand that God has delivered the Scriptures to the Church, and +that in reading and treating of His utterances they must follow the +Church as their guide and teacher. St. Irenćus long since laid it down +that where the <I>Charismata</I> of God were placed, there the truth was to +be learnt, and that Scripture is expounded without peril, by those with +whom there is apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other +Fathers, is embraced by the Council of the Vatican which, in renewing +the decree of Trent, declares its mind to be this—that "in matters of +faith and morals, which belong to the building up of Christian +doctrine, that sense is to be considered the true sense of the Sacred +Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the +Church, whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation +of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to +interpret the Sacred Scripture contrary to this sense, or contrary to +the unanimous consent of the Fathers." By this law, most full of +wisdom, the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of +biblical science. She, on the contrary, provides for its freedom from +error, and greatly advances its real progress. A wide field lies open +to any teacher, in which his hermeneutical skill may exercise itself +with signal effect and for the welfare of the Church. On the one hand, +in those passages of Scripture which have not as yet received a certain +and definitive interpretation, such labors may, in the sweetly ordered +providence of God, serve as a preparation for bringing to maturity the +judgment of the Church. In passages already defined, a private doctor +may do work equally valuable, either by setting them forth more clearly +to the commonalty of the faithful, or more learnedly before the +learned, or by defending them more powerfully from adversaries. +Wherefore the first and most sacred object of the Catholic commentator +should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic +interpretation—either from the sacred writers themselves, under the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), +or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, +whether by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal +authoritative teaching—in that identical sense, and to prove, by all +the resources of learning, that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no +other than that interpretation. In the other passages the analogy of +faith should be followed, and the Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively +proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme rule. Since the +same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine +committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can +by legitimate interpretation be extracted from the former which shall +in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that +all interpretation is unfounded and false which either makes the sacred +writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the +Church. +</P> + +<P> +The professor of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other +recommendations, must be well versed in the whole of Theology, and +deeply read in the commentaries of the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and +the best of other interpreters. This is inculcated by St. Jerome, and +still more by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: "If there is no +branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does not +require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than +to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of +those who have interpreted them?" Other Fathers have said the same, +and have confirmed it by their example. They endeavored to acquire +understanding of the Holy Scriptures, not by their own lights and +ideas, but from the writings and authority of the ancients, who in +their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpretation in direct +line from the Apostles. +</P> + +<P> +The Holy Fathers, to whom, after the Apostles, the Church owes its +growth—who planted, watered, built, fed, and nourished it—are of +supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same +manner any text of the Bible as pertaining to doctrine of faith or +morals. Their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has +come down from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion +of the Fathers is also of very great weight when they treat of these +matters in their capacity of private teachers; not only because they +excelled in knowledge of revealed doctrine and in acquaintance with +many things useful for the understanding of the apostolic Books, but +also because they were men of eminent sanctity and of ardent zeal for +the truth, on whom God bestowed a more ample measure of His light. The +commentator, therefore, should make it his care to follow in their +footsteps with reverence, and to avail himself of their labors with +intelligent appreciation. +</P> + +<P> +He must not, however, on that account consider that it is forbidden, +when just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the +Fathers have done—provided he religiously observes the rule so wisely +laid down by St. Augustine: not to depart from the literal and obvious +sense, except where reason makes that sense untenable or necessity +requires. This is a rule to which it is the more necessary to adhere +strictly in these times, when the thirst for novelty and unrestrained +license of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate. +Neither should those passages be neglected which the Fathers have +understood in an allegorical or figurative sense, more especially when +such interpretation is justified by the literal sense, and when it +rests on the authority of many. This method of interpretation has been +received by the Church from the Apostles, and has been approved by her +own practice, as her liturgy attests. The Holy Fathers did not thereby +pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas of faith, but used it as a means +of promoting virtue and piety, such as, by their own experience, they +knew to be most valuable. +</P> + +<P> +The authority of other Catholic interpreters is not so grave. Since, +however, the study of Scripture has always continued to advance in the +Church, their commentaries also have their own honorable place, and are +serviceable in many ways for the refutation of assailants and the +unravelling of difficulties. It is, moreover, most unbecoming to pass +by, in ignorance or contempt, the splendid works which our own scholars +have left behind them in abundance, and to have recourse to the works +of the heterodox, and to seek in them, with peril to sound doctrine and +not seldom with detriment to faith, the explanation of passages on +which Catholics have long ago most excellently expended their talents +and their labor. Although the studies of the heterodox, used with +prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic interpreter, he +should nevertheless bear well in mind this repeated testimony of the +ancients,—that the sense of the Sacred Scriptures can nowhere be found +incorrupt outside the Church, and that it cannot be delivered by those +who, being destitute of the true faith, only gnaw the husk of Scripture +and never reach its marrow. +</P> + +<P> +Most desirable it is, and most essential, that the whole course of +Theology should be pervaded by the use of the Divine Scripture, which +should be, as it were, the soul thereof. This is what the Fathers and +the greatest theologians of all ages have professed and practised. It +was chiefly out of the sacred writings that they endeavored to proclaim +and establish the Articles of Faith and the truths which are their +consequences. It was in them, together with divine tradition, that +they found the refutation of heretical error, and the reasonableness, +the true meaning, and the mutual relation of the truths of the Catholic +faith. Nor will any one wonder at this who considers that the Sacred +Books hold such a pre-eminent position among the sources of Revelation +that without the assiduous study of them Theology cannot be rightly +treated as its dignity demands. Although it is right and proper that +students in academical institutions and schools should be chiefly +exercised in acquiring a scientific knowledge of dogma by means of +reasoning from the Articles of Faith to their consequences, according +to the rules of approved and solid philosophy, nevertheless a grave and +learned theologian will by no means overlook that method of doctrinal +demonstration which draws its proof from the authority of the Bible. +Theology does not receive her first principles from other sciences, but +immediately from God through Revelation. And therefore she does not +receive from other sciences as from superiors, but uses them as her +inferiors and her handmaids. It is this view of doctrinal teaching +which is laid down and recommended by the prince of theologians, St. +Thomas of Aquin. He also shows—such being the essential character of +Christian Theology—how a theologian can defend his own principles +against attack. "If the adversary," he says, "do but grant any portion +of the divine revelation, we have an argument against him. Against a +heretic we can employ Scripture authority, and against those who deny +one article we can use another. If our opponent rejects divine +revelation altogether, then there is no way left to prove the Articles +of Faith by reasoning. We can only solve the difficulties which are +raised against the faith." Care must be taken, then, that beginners +approach the study of the Bible well prepared and furnished; otherwise, +just hopes will be frustrated, or perchance—and this is worse—they +will unthinkingly risk the danger of error, and fall an easy prey to +the sophisms and labored erudition of the rationalists. The best +preparation will be a conscientious application to philosophy and +theology under the guidance of St. Thomas of Aquin, and a thorough +training therein—as We Ourselves have elsewhere shown and prescribed. +By this means, both in biblical studies and in that part of Theology +which is called <I>Positive</I>, they will pursue the right path and make +solid progress. +</P> + +<P> +To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate +and skilful interpretation of the Bible is much; but there is a second +part of the subject of equal importance and of equal +laboriousness,—the maintenance in the strongest possible way of the +fulness of its authority. This cannot be done completely or +satisfactorily except by means of the living teaching authority of the +Church herself. The Church, by reason of her wonderful propagation, +her shining sanctity, and her inexhaustible fecundity in good, her +Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself a great and +perpetual motive of credibility, and an unassailable testimony of her +own divine mission. But since the divine and infallible teaching +authority of the Church rests also on the authority of Holy Scripture, +the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the +sacred records at least as human documents. From this can clearly be +proved, as from primitive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the +mission of Christ our Lord, the institution of a hierarchical Church, +and the primacy of Peter and his successors. It is most desirable, +therefore, that there should be many members of the clergy well +prepared to enter upon a contest of this nature, and to repulse the +attacks of the enemy, chiefly trusting in that armor of God which is +recommended by the Apostle, but at the same time not unacquainted with +the more modern methods of attack. This is beautifully alluded to by +St. John Chrysostom. Describing the duties of priests, he says: "We +must use our every endeavor that the 'word of God may dwell in us +abundantly.' Not merely for one kind of light must we be prepared, for +the contest is many-sided, and the enemy is of every sort. They do not +all use the same weapons, nor do all make their onset in the same way. +It is needful that the man who has to contend against all should have +knowledge of the engines and the arts of all. He must be at once +archer and slinger, commandant and officer, general and private +soldier, foot-soldier and horseman, skilled in sea-fight and in siege. +Unless he knows every trick and turn of war, the devil is well able, if +only a single door be left open, to get in his ferocious bandits and to +carry off the sheep." The sophisms of the enemy and the manifold +strategy of his attack We have already touched upon. +</P> + +<P> +Let Us now say a word of advice on the means of defence. The first +means is the study of Oriental languages and of the art of criticism. +These two acquirements are in these days held in high estimation. The +clergy, by making themselves more or less fully acquainted with them, +as time and place may demand, will the better be able to discharge +their office with becoming credit. They must make themselves "all +things to all men," always "ready to satisfy every one that asketh them +a reason for the hope that is in them." Hence it is most proper that +professors of Sacred Scripture and theologians should master those +tongues in which the Sacred Books were originally written. It would be +well that Church students also should cultivate them, more especially +those who aspire to academic degrees in Theology. Endeavors should be +made to establish in all academic institutions—as has already been +laudably done in many—chairs of the other ancient languages, +especially the Semitic, and of subjects connected therewith, for the +benefit principally of those who are destined to profess sacred +literature. These latter, with a similar object in view, should make +themselves well acquainted with and thoroughly exercised in the art of +true criticism. There has arisen, to the great damage of religion, an +artificial method, which is dignified by the name of the "higher +criticism." It pretends to judge of the origin, the integrity, and the +authority of every Book from internal indications alone. It is clear, +on the other hand, that in historical questions, such as the origin and +the handing down of writings, the witness of history is of primary +importance, and that historical investigation should be made with the +utmost care. In this matter internal evidence is seldom of great +value, except by way of confirmation. To look upon it in any other +light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will make +the enemies of religion much more bold and confident in attacking and +endeavoring to destroy the authenticity of the Sacred Books. This +vaunted "higher criticism" will resolve itself into the reflection of +the bias and the prejudice of the critics. It will not throw on the +Scriptures the light which is sought, or prove of any advantage to +doctrine. It will only give rise to disagreement and dissension, those +sure notes of error, which the critics in question so plentifully +exhibit in their own persons. Seeing that most of them are tainted +with false philosophy and rationalism, it must lead to the elimination +from the sacred writings of all prophecy and all miracle, and of +everything else that lies outside the natural order. +</P> + +<P> +In the second place, we have to contend against those who, abusing +their knowledge of physical science, minutely scrutinize the Sacred +Books, in order to detect the writers in a mistake, and so to vilify +the books themselves. Attacks of this kind, bearing as they do on +matters of experience of the senses, are peculiarly dangerous to the +masses, and also to the young, who are but beginning their literary +studies. The young, if they lose their reverence for divine revelation +on any one point, are but too easily led to give up believing in +revelation altogether. It need scarcely be pointed out how the science +of nature, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the glory +of the Great Creator, provided it be rightly taught, so, if it be +perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, it may prove most +fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy, and in the +corruption of morality. Hence to the professor of Sacred Scripture a +knowledge of natural science will be of the greatest service in +detecting and meeting such attacks upon the Sacred Books. +</P> + +<P> +There can never, indeed, be any real discrepancy between the theologian +and the physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own +lines, and so long as both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, "not +to make rash assertions, or to assert that which is not known as if it +were really known." If dissension should arise between them, here is +the rule, laid down by St. Augustine for the theologian: "Whatever they +can really demonstrate to be true of physical nature, we must show to +be not contrary to our Scriptures. Whatever they assert in their +treatises which is contrary to these Scriptures of ours, that is, to +Catholic faith, we must either prove it, as well as we can, to be +entirely false, or at all events we must, without the smallest +hesitation, believe it to be so." To understand how just is the rule +here formulated we must remember, first, that the sacred writers, or, +to speak more accurately, the Holy Ghost, who spoke by means of them, +did not intend to teach men those things (that is to say, the essential +nature of the things of the visible universe)—things which are in no +way profitable unto salvation. The sacred writers did not seek to +penetrate the secrets of nature. They rather described and dealt with +things in more or less figurative language, or in terms which were +commonly used at the time, and terms which in many instances are in +daily use at this day, even amongst the most eminent men of science. +Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes that which falls under +the senses. Somewhat in the same way the sacred writers—as the +Angelic Doctor reminds us—"went by what sensibly appeared," or put +down that which God, speaking to men, signified in a way which men +could understand, and to which they were accustomed. +</P> + +<P> +The strenuous defence of the Holy Scripture, however, does not require +that we should equally uphold all the opinions which every one of the +Fathers, or which subsequent commentators have set forth in explaining +it. It may be that, in commenting on passages where physical matters +are in question, they have sometimes expressed the ideas of their own +times, and have thus made statements which in these days have been +abandoned as unfounded. In their interpretations, therefore, we must +carefully note that which they lay down as belonging to faith, or as +intimately connected with faith, or that in which they are unanimous. +"In those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the +Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions, even as we ourselves +are," says St. Thomas. In another place he says most admirably: "When +philosophers are agreed upon a point, and that point is not contrary to +faith, it is safer, in my opinion, neither to lay down such a point as +a dogma of faith, even though it is perhaps so presented by the +philosophers, nor to reject it as against faith, lest we thus give to +the wise of this world an occasion of despising the doctrine of the +faith." The Catholic commentator, although he should show that those +facts of natural science which investigators affirm to be now in these +days absolutely certain are not contrary to Scripture rightly +explained, must nevertheless always bear in mind that much which has +been held as proved and certain has afterwards been called in question +and rejected. If writers on physics travel outside the boundaries of +their own department, and carry their erroneous teaching into the +domain of philosophy, let them be handed over by the theological +commentator to philosophers for refutation. +</P> + +<P> +The principles here laid down will apply to cognate sciences, and +especially to history. It is a lamentable fact that there are many men +who with great labor make and publish investigations on the monuments +of antiquity, the manners and institutions of nations, and other +illustrative subjects, and whose chief purpose in all this is too often +to try to find mistakes in the sacred writings, and so to shake and +weaken their authority. Some of these writers display not only extreme +hostility, but also great unfairness. In their eyes a profane book or +an ancient document is accepted without hesitation. Scripture, if they +can only find in it a suspicion of error, is set down with the +slightest possible discussion as being entirely untrustworthy. It is +true, no doubt, that copyists have made mistakes in the text of the +Bible. This question, when it arises, should be carefully considered +on its merits. The fact, however, is not to be too easily admitted, +but only in those passages where the proof is clear. It may also +happen that the sense of a passage remains ambiguous. In this case, +sound hermeneutical methods will greatly aid in clearing up obscurity. +It is absolutely wrong, however, and it is forbidden, either to narrow +inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that +the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who, in order to rid +themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that +divine inspiration regards matters of faith and morals, and nothing +beyond them, because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth +or falsehood of a passage we should consider not so much what God has +said as the reason and purpose which He had in mind in saying it, +cannot be tolerated. All the books which the Church receives as sacred +and canonical were written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, +at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So far is it from being possible +that any error can co-exist with inspiration, inspiration not only is +essentially incompatible with error, but it excludes error as +absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the +Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient +and unchanging faith of the Church. It was solemnly defined in the +Councils of Florence and of Trent. It was finally confirmed and more +expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the +words of that Council: The Books of the Old and of the New Testament, +whole and entire, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the +decree of the same Council (Trent), and as they are contained in the +old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical. +The Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been +composed solely by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her +authority, nor only because they contain revelation without error, but +because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, +they have God for their Author. Hence we cannot say that, because the +Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, it was these inspired +instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, and not the primary +Author. By supernatural power He so moved and impelled them to +write—He was so present to them—that all the things which He ordered, +and those things only, they first rightly conceived, then willed +faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in adequate words and +with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the +Author of the whole of the Sacred Scripture. Such has always been the +persuasion of the Fathers. "Therefore," says St. Augustine, "since +they wrote the things which He showed and said to them, it cannot be +said that He did not write them. His members executed that which their +Head dictated." St. Gregory the Great maintains: "Most superfluous it +is to inquire who wrote these things;—we loyally believe the Holy +Ghost to be the Author of the Book. He wrote it who dictated it to be +written. He wrote it who inspired its execution." +</P> + +<P> +It follows that those men who maintain that an error is possible in any +genuine passage of the sacred writings, either pervert the Catholic +notion of inspiration, or make God Himself to be the Author of error. +So emphatically were all the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine +writings, as left by the hagiographers, are entirely free from all +error, that they labored earnestly, with no less skill than reverence, +to reconcile one with the other those numerous passages which seem to +be at variance—the very passages which in great measure have been +taken up by the "higher criticism." The Fathers were unanimous in +laying it down that those writings, in their entirety and in all their +parts, were equally from the divine <I>afflatus</I>, and that God Himself, +speaking through the sacred writers, could not set down anything that +was not true. The words of St. Augustine to St. Jerome may sum up what +they taught: "On my own part, I confess to your charity that it is only +to those Books of Scripture which are now called canonical that I have +learned to pay such honor and reverence as to believe most firmly that +no one of their writers has fallen into any error. If in these Books I +meet with anything which seems contrary to truth, I shall not hesitate +to conclude either that the text is faulty, or that the translator has +not expressed the meaning of the passage, or that I myself have not +understood it." +</P> + +<P> +But with all the weapons of the best of arts, fully and perfectly to +fight for the holiness of the Bible is far more than can be looked for +from the exertions of commentators and theologians alone. It is an +enterprise in which we have a right to expect the co-operation of all +Catholic men who have acquired reputation in other branches of +learning. As in the past, so at the present time the Church is never +without the graceful support of her accomplished children. May their +services to the Faith ever grow and increase! There is nothing which +We believe to be more needful than that truth should find defenders +more powerful and more numerous than are the enemies whom it has to +face. There is nothing which is better calculated to imbue the masses +with homage for the truth than to see it joyously proclaimed by learned +men who have gained distinction in some other faculty. Moreover, the +bitter tongues of objectors will be silenced. At least they will not +dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the enemy of science when +they see that scientific men, of eminence in their own profession, show +towards the faith most marked honor and reverence. +</P> + +<P> +Seeing, then, that those men can do so much for the progress of +religion on whom the goodness of God has bestowed, together with the +grace of the faith, great natural talent, let such men, in this most +savage conflict of which the Scriptures are now the object, select each +of them the branch of study which is best adapted to his circumstances, +and endeavor to excel therein, and thus be prepared to repel with +effect and credit the assaults on the word of God. It is our pleasing +duty to give deserved praise to a work which certain Catholics have +taken in hand—that is to say, the formation of societies, and the +contribution of considerable sums of money, for the purpose of aiding +certain of the more learned in the pursuit of their study to its +completeness. Truly, an excellent method of investing money! It is an +investment most suited to the times in which we live! The less hope of +public patronage there is for Catholic study, the more ready and the +more abundant should be the liberality of private persons. Those to +whom God has given riches will thus use them to safeguard the treasure +of His revealed doctrine. +</P> + +<P> +In order that such labors may prove of real service to the cause of the +Bible, let scholars keep steadfastly to the principles which we have in +this Letter laid down. Let them loyally hold that God, the Creator and +the Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures—and that +therefore nothing can possibly be proved, either by physical science or +by archeology, which can be in real contradiction with the Scriptures. +If apparent contradictious should be met with, every effort should be +made to meet them. Theologians and commentators of solid judgment +should be consulted as to what is the true or the most probable meaning +of the passage in discussion. Adverse arguments should also be +carefully weighed. Even if the difficulty is not after all cleared up, +and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned. +Truth cannot contradict truth. We may be sure that some mistake has +been made, either in the interpretation of the sacred words, or in the +polemical discussion itself. If no mistake can be detected, we must +then suspend judgment for the time being. There have been objections +without number perseveringly directed against the Scriptures for many a +long year. These have been proved to be futile, and they are now never +heard of. Interpretations not a few have been put on certain passages +of Scripture (not belonging to the rule of faith or morals), and these +have been rectified after a more careful investigation. As time goes +on mistaken views die and disappear. Truth remaineth and groweth +stronger for ever and ever. Wherefore, as no one should be so +presumptuous as to think that he understands the whole of the +Scriptures—in which St. Augustine himself confessed that there was +more that he did not know than that which he did know—so, if one +should come upon anything that seems incapable of solution, he must +take to heart the cautious rule of the same holy Doctor: "It is better +even to be oppressed by unknown but useful signs than to interpret them +uselessly, and thus to throw off the yoke of servitude only to be +caught in the nets of error." +</P> + +<P> +As regards those men who pursue the subsidiary studies of which We have +spoken, if they honestly and modestly follow the counsels and commands +which We have given—if by pen and voice they make their studies +fruitful against the enemies of the truth, and useful in saving the +young from loss of faith—they may justly congratulate themselves on +worthy service to the Sacred Writings, and on their having afforded to +the Catholic religion that aid which the Church has a right to expect +from the piety and from the learning of her children. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +Such, Venerable Brethren, are the admonitions and the instructions +which, by the help of God, We have thought it well, at the present +moment, to offer to you on the study of the Sacred Scriptures. It will +now be for you to see that what We have said be held and observed with +all due reverence, that so we may prove our gratitude to God for the +communication to man of the words of His wisdom, and that all the good +results which are so much to be desired may be realized, especially as +they effect the training of the students of the Church, which is matter +of Our own great solicitude and of the Church's hope. Exert yourselves +with glad alacrity, and use your authority, and your persuasive powers, +in order that these studies may be held in just regard, and that they +may flourish in the seminaries and in the educational institutions +which are under your jurisdiction. May they flourish in the +completeness of success, under the direction of the Church, in +accordance with the salutary teaching and the example of the Holy +Fathers, and the laudable traditions of antiquity. As time goes on, +let them be widened and extended as the interests and glory of the +truth may require—the interests of that Catholic Truth which comes +down from above, the never-failing source of the salvation of all +peoples. Finally, We admonish with paternal love all students and +ministers of the Church always to approach the sacred writings with the +most profound affection of reverence and of piety. It is impossible to +attain to a profitable understanding thereof unless, laying aside the +arrogance of "earthly" science, there be excited in the heart a holy +desire for that wisdom "which is from above." In this way the mind +which has once entered on these sacred studies, and which has by means +of them been enlightened and strengthened, will acquire a marvellous +facility in detecting and avoiding the fallacies of human science, and +in gathering and utilizing solid fruit for eternal salvation. The +heart will then wax warm, and will strive with more ardent longing to +advance in virtue and in divine love. "Blessed are they who examine +His testimonies; they shall seek Him with their whole heart." +</P> + +<P> +And now, filled with hope in the divine assistance, and trusting to +your pastoral solicitude—as a pledge of heavenly graces and in witness +of Our special good will—to all of you, and to the clergy, and to the +whole flock which has been intrusted to you, We most lovingly impart in +our Lord the Apostolic Benediction. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Given at St. Peter's, at Rome, the 18th day of November, 1893, the +sixteenth year of Our Pontificate. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +LEO PP. XIII. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Chapters of Bible Study, by Herman J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chapters of Bible Study + A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures + +Author: Herman J. Heuser + +Release Date: March 25, 2011 [EBook #35682] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY + + +OR + + +A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES + + +BY + +THE REV. HERMAN J. HEUSER + +PROF. OF SCRIPTURAL INTRODUCTION AND EXEGESIS, ST. CHARLES SEMINARY, +OVERBROOK, PA. + + + + +THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION + +123 E. 50th Street + +New York + +1895 + + + + +Nihil Obstat: + D. J. McMAHON, + _Censor Librorum_. + + + +Imprimatur: + MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, + _Archbishop of New York_. + + + + +COPYRIGHT BY JOSEPH H. MCMAHON, 1895. + + + + +PREFACE. + +The following pages are printed from notes used in a series of lectures +before the "Catholic Summer School of America" at Pittsburgh. They are +neither an exhaustive nor a scientific exposition, but are meant as a +suggestive introduction, in popular form, to the intelligent reading of +the Bible. Some of the answers to questions proposed by members of the +"School" during the course have been inserted where it seemed most +suitable. + +I take occasion here to express my deep appreciation of the courtesy +shown to its visitors by the Directors of the "Catholic Summer School." +Their self-sacrificing spirit has secured to the organization the +earnest co-operation of many gifted men and women animated by that +refined Catholic feeling which constitutes the highest type of a truly +cultured society. Nothing could have placed the institution on a +firmer basis, or could better have given it that guarantee of success +to which the last session has borne witness. + +H. J. H. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. The Ancient Scroll + II. Strange Witnesses + III. The Testimony of a Confession + IV. The Stones Cry Out + V. Heavenly Wisdom + VI. The Vicious Circle + VII. The Sacred Pen + VIII. The Melody and Harmony of the "Vox Coelestis" + IX. The Voice from the Rock + X. A Source of Culture + XI. The Creation of New Letters + XII. English Style + XIII. Friends of God + XIV. The Art of Prospecting + XV. Using the Kodak + XVI. The Interpretation of the Image + XVII. "Deus Illuminatio Mea" + XVIII. Bush-Lights + XIX. The Use and the Abuse of the Bible + XX. The Vulgate and the "Revised Version" + XXI. The Position of the Church + XXII. Mysterious Characters + XXIII. Conclusion + XXIV. Appendix + + + + +CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY. + + + +I. + +THE ANCIENT SCROLL. + +If a mysteriously-written document were brought to you, and its bearer +assured you that it contained a secret putting you in possession of a +great inheritance by establishing your relationship to an ancient race +of kings, of which you had no previous knowledge, how would you regard +such a document? + +You would examine its age, the character of the manuscript, the quality +of the paper or parchment; you would ask how it had come to you, and by +whom it had been transmitted through successive generations before it +reached you. And when, after careful inquiry, you had established the +age and authenticity of the document, then you would study its +contents, examine the nature of its provisions, and, having clearly +understood its meaning, ask yourself: How can I carry out the +conditions laid down in this testament, in order that I may obtain the +full benefit of the generous bequest left by my noble ancestor? + +It is on similar lines that I propose to treat our subject. We shall +take up the Bible just as we would take up any other written work, +requiring, for the time being, simply so much faith--no more, but also +no less than we would exact in the fair examination of any other work, +whether of fact or of fiction. + +When we have assured ourselves that the Bible is really as old and as +truthful a record of history as it pretends to be, and that it has for +it such human testimony as leads us to admit historic facts in general, +we shall occupy ourselves with its contents, with the influence which +this wonderful book, this ancient testament of our royal Sire, +exercises upon the heart, the mind, the general culture, by which it +leads us to our inheritance, and enables us to assume our place in our +destined home. + +The Bible, looking upon it as a merely human production, is a +collection of documents of various antiquity, containing historic +records of successive generations, going back to a very remote period. +It relates the valiant deeds of valiant men and women, written either +by themselves or by men of their own race. It contains, furthermore, a +great number of principles, doctrines, rules, and laws for the moral +and external government of individuals and communities, particularly of +the families and tribes of the Hebrew nation. Finally, we find in this +ancient scroll certain predictions and prophecies which, if we can show +that they were definitely made long in advance of the events foretold +by them, become a strong argument in favor of the supernatural origin +of the work. However, this last point we shall leave entirely out of +view for the present. + +It is very clear that the book which we have in our hands, and which we +call the Bible, or The Book _par excellence_, has been printed and +reprinted during four hundred years, in millions of copies, all of +which agree substantially, not excepting the Bible of the so-called +"reformers," with whom, on the whole, we differ rather in the +interpretation than in the wording of its contents. There are indeed +some disagreements on subjects touching religious doctrines, which, +whilst very important if we accept the Sacred Scriptures as the +inspired word of God, hardly count for anything in a merely historical +work; and this is the light in which we regard the Bible just at +present. + +The Bibles which are printed to-day are practically and substantially +the same as those which were printed four hundred years ago. A great +number of copies of first editions in different languages may still be +found in public and private libraries. The New Testament version, from +which Luther principally made his translation, was an edition by the +well-known humanist, Erasmus. All the modern European translations, +including that made into English five hundred years ago by Wiclif, had +for their original an ancient Latin version which was employed in the +service of the churches, and of which copies in manuscript, made over a +thousand years ago, are still extant. One of the oldest uncial Latin +manuscripts is the "Vercelli Gospels," attributed to the hand of +Eusebius. The Corpus Christi College Library at Cambridge has a +manuscript copy said to have been made by St. Augustine. Of Greek +copies we have a very famous one in the Vatican Library, probably the +oldest preserved in the world--about 350; another manuscript, called +the Codex Sinaiticus, is in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg; and +a third, of nearly the same age (IV. century), is the "Codex +Alexandrinus," at present in the British Museum. Manuscripts older +than these are wanting, not only of the Bible, but of any other book, +except fragments of writings on parchment and certain manuscripts +rescued from Egyptian tombs, and papers discovered in the recent +excavations of Herculaneum, near Naples, in Italy. Parchment, on +account of the expensive preparation required to make it suitable +material for writing, was sparingly used by the ancients at any time. +They preferred to employ the so-called papyrus, made of the fibrous +pith of a kind of rush growing abundantly in Egypt, and brought to +Europe by Eastern merchants. This, and other kinds of vegetable fibre +from which paper suitable for writing was prepared since the days when +Moses, as we must presume, practised the art of writing in the schools +of Egypt, do not withstand the destructive influence of time. +Experience proves that the ordinary atmosphere has completely corroded +cotton paper of nine hundred years ago; the same is true of the linen +paper made in the time of Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas. Those +exceptional treasures of Egyptian papyrus referred to above, which have +been found of late years, owe their preservation to the fact that they +were enclosed in almost air-tight tombs, in a singularly dry climate; +the same is the case with regard to the manuscripts discovered in +Herculaneum, which have been kept hermetically sealed by the tight +lava-cover from Mount Vesuvius for a space of more than seventeen +hundred years. + +However, among such manuscripts as have been preserved under ordinary +conditions, by far the greatest number are copies, in various tongues, +of the Bible, and some of these carry us back to the fourth century. +We have Bible manuscripts written on paper in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, +Latin, in the dialects of the Copts, the Arabs, the Armenians, the +Persians, the Ethiopians, the Slavs, and the Goths, who were among the +earliest nations converted to Christianity. Now all these manuscript +Bibles, more than fourteen centuries old, substantially correspond to +our Catholic Bibles of this day. + +The early Christian missionaries who introduced the word of God to the +pagan nations speaking a strange tongue must have had some uniform +source whence to make their translations. So many persons in different +parts of the world, unacquainted with one another's language, could +not, except by some incredible miracle, have composed out of their +fancy so large a book, agreeing page for page, nay, line for line. +They must have had some original at their disposal whence to make a +uniform copy. The fact is, we find that original book in the churches +of Italy, Greece, Asia, and Africa. The apostolic Fathers speak of it +as known to everybody; they read from it on Sundays and festivals; they +quote long passages, and the young candidates for Holy Orders are +taught, like the Hebrew levites of old, to memorize the psalms and +moral books of the Bible. Among these witnesses is St. Clement of +Koine. According to Tertullian, who lived near his time, he was +ordained by St. Peter the Apostle; at any rate, St. Paul speaks of him +in his Epistle to the Philippians. Other disciples of the Apostles +were St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, St. Polycarp, the friend of St. +John. These are followed by St. Justin, who wrote a famous defence of +the Catholic faith called the "Apology," which he presented to the +Emperor Antoninus. The latter, convinced of the young convert's +sincerity, put a stop to the cruel persecutions which were then going +on against the Christians. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius also received a +copy of the "Apology" from St. Justin. In this well-known work the +Saint states that "_the Gospels, together with the writings of the +prophets, are publicly read in the assemblies of the Christians._"[1] +He also affirms that they were written in part by the Apostles +themselves and partly by their disciples. This was shortly after the +year 138, when men were still alive who had conversed with St. Paul, +and who could well remember the sweet admonitions of brotherly love +given by the aged St. John, who tells us that he had seen with his own +eyes the things which he writes.[2] The chain of apostolic writers +from St. Peter to St. Augustine, _i.e._, from the first century to the +fourth or fifth, bears witness that this wonderful book was used in +every Christian community from the regions of the Jordan, whence St. +Justin came, to the confines of Spain, where Isidore of Cordova wrote +his commentaries; from the northernmost part of Dalmatia, where Titus +had preached the doctrine delivered him by St. Paul, to the limit of +the African desert, whence one of the oldest Latin versions of the +Scriptures was brought to St. Ambrose. + +It is interesting to be able to cite the testimony of pagan as well as +of Jewish writers concerning the great events which the Christian +Gospels record. We have the historic fact of Christ's person and work +attested in the "Annals" of Tacitus, the greatest of Roman +historians,[3] who was consul of Rome in 97. His statements are +corroborated by Suetonius, secretary to the Emperor Adrian, by Pliny, +the Viceroy of Bithynia and friend of the Emperor Trajan, by the Jewish +writers Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Christ, and the +historian Flavius Josephus, and by the rabbis who collated the +traditions of the Talmud. All these, whilst they wrote but briefly of +the subject, bear indirect witness to the belief and to the practice by +the earliest Christians of the Gospel precepts, although the books of +the New Testament had not at that time been formed into a definite +canon. Thus the unbroken evidence of the existence of the Christian +Scriptures goes back to the very time of their first composition. + +We come to the Old Testament. That the Jews in the time of Christ +possessed a collection of sacred books is recorded on every page of the +New Testament, of whose authentic source there can be no reasonable +doubt. There are altogether about two hundred and seventy passages in +the New Testament books which are quotations from the Old Testament. +There are innumerable references in the Gospels and Epistles, and in +the early Christian writers, to the sacred law of the Jews, among whom +the first converts were made; for these converts continued to use the +Mosaic writings and the prophetical books. Christ Himself had +beautifully illustrated this practice, from the first, in His teaching. +"He came to Nazareth," St. Luke tells us, "where He was brought up; and +He went into the synagogue, according to His custom, on the sabbath +day; and He rose up to read. And the Book of Isaias the Prophet was +delivered unto Him. And as He unfolded the book He found the place +where it was written: _The spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He +hath anointed me; to preach the gospel to the poor He hath sent me; to +heal the contrite of heart. To preach deliverance to the captives, and +sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach +the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward_. And when He +had folded the book He restored it to the minister and sat down. And +the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to +say to them: _This day is fulfilled this Scripture in your ears_. And +all gave testimony to Him."[4] + +Any attempt to corrupt the Old Testament writings, or to change and +destroy them, even in part, became impossible after the Gospels had +been written. It would at once have aroused marked attention among +both Jews and Christians, who with equal reverence regarded the Book as +the sacred and inviolable word of God, however mutually hostile their +feelings were regarding the interpretation of its meaning. For if ever +there existed a document whose authority was sanctioned and whose +preservation was guaranteed by the severest laws and most minute +precautions, it was the code of sacred writings known to the Jews as +the "Law and the Prophets." It was read in every synagogue on the +sabbath and festival days. Every Jew above the age of twelve was +obliged to repeat certain parts of the Sacred Book each day, morning +and night. Thrice dispersed among the Gentile nations, north, west, +and south, the Jews carried with them the book of the Law and the +Prophets, and we find them repeat its sweet words of hope and trust in +Jehovah by the rivers of Babylon as under the glimmer of the +torchlights in the caverns of Samaria or rocky Arabia. Their faces +were forever turning towards Jerusalem. Nay, when the language of +their fathers had ceased to be spoken during generations of enforced +exile, the children still repeated the Hebrew words of the Law in the +temple, even though they had versions made for the people by rabbis who +were under sacred vow not to change an iota of the Lord's written word. +We have in the present Hebrew Bibles some remnant of the traditional +care with which the Jew guarded the letter of the Law, whatever might +be the spirit in which he interpreted it. In order that the Sacred +Text might never be tampered with, even by the addition or omission of +a single letter or word, the scribes were obliged to count the verses, +words, and characters of each book. They knew by heart every +peculiarity of grammatical or phonetic expression. Thus the young +rabbi must verify that the Book of Genesis contains 1,534 verses; that +the exact middle of the book, counting every letter from the beginning +and from the end, occurs in chapter xxvii. 40. He knew that there were +ten verses in the Scriptures beginning and ending with the letter +[Hebrew: nun] (_nun_) (as in Lev. xiii. 9); two in which every word +ends with the letter [Hebrew: final mem] (_mem_). The letter [Hebrew: +ayin] (_ayin_), in Ps. lxxx. 14, is the exact middle of the Psalter. +The letter [Hebrew: aleph] (_aleph_) occurs 42,377 times, [Hebrew: +beth] (_beth_) 38,218 times, [Hebrew: ghimel] (_ghimel_) 29,537 times, +and so of every letter in the alphabet. These, and a thousand other +peculiarities which made the corruption of the Hebrew text an almost +absolute impossibility, were in later ages collected into a glossary +called the Masorah, which forms a sort of separate commentary to the +Bible. If you open the Hebrew volume of the Old Testament, just as it +is printed to-day, you will find many of these warnings inserted in the +very text. Thus at the end of the Book of Chronicles we have this +sentence: "The printer is not at fault, for the sum total of verses in +the whole Book of Chronicles is 1650." Then, lest the reader might +forget this number, a verse is attached which contains the letters +representing the same number. The verse, which is taken from the I. +Samuel vi. 13, reads: "_They saw the ark and rejoiced in seeing it_." +Just as the words "_MeDiCaL VIrtue_" might stand in English for the +same number. + +Many other peculiarities in the manner of copying the Hebrew text have +been transmitted for ages without change. Thus in the Book of Numbers +xi. 1 we find the letter [Hebrew: nun] (_nun_) written backward +[Hebrew: reversed nun], to express more emphatically the meaning of +"perversity," mentioned in the verse. In Job xxxviii. 13 the letter +[Hebrew: ayin] (_ayin_) in the word [Hebrew: final mem, yod, ayin, +shin, khaf] (_reshachim_), "ungodly," is raised above the line, to +indicate how God will shake up into the air, like chaff, the ungodly of +whom the Prophet speaks. + +But it is needless to point out in detail all the odd precautions which +were invented by the rabbis that they might exercise a most rigorous +control over the Hebrew text; and although these methods are the +results of a later school of Hebraists, they go to show the sense of +responsibility which the Jews must always have felt regarding the +preservation of the ancient Testament. Even at this day you can hardly +discover a substantial departure from the original in the numerous +manuscript copies extant. Kennicott, an English Biblical scholar, +brought together five hundred and eighty Hebrew manuscripts of the +Bible which, after careful study and comparison, revealed scarcely any +differences of the text. An Italian, Prof. de Rossi, who died in 1831, +had collected seven hundred and ten manuscripts, and had seen in +various libraries one hundred and thirty-four more, all of which he +examined critically without finding any notable differences. I am +speaking, remember, of such differences as would affect the historical +identity of these manuscript copies with their original. It would be +folly to assert that these manuscripts, which reached the number of +over 1,600, are copies made by the same scribes; for some of them were +discovered in Arabia, others in old Jewish settlements in China; one, +the oldest in existence, as some believe, was found in a synagogue in +the Crimea, by a Jewish rabbi named Abraham Firkeowicz. + + + +[1] _Apolog._, i. 67. + +[2] Ep. St. John, chap. i. 1. + +[3] Tacit., _Annal_., xv. 38-44. + +[4] St. Luke iv. 16-22. + + + + +II. + +STRANGE WITNESSES. + +If there remained no trace of the original writings of the Old +Testament books preserved for us in the Hebrew tongue, we should still +possess very reliable witnesses of ancient date to testify to their +existence in substantially the same form in which we have them; for the +children of Jewish exiles, who were forced gradually to substitute the +language of their conquerors for their mother tongue, had well +authenticated translations for their use in the synagogues. The most +remarkable of such translations is the so-called Greek Septuagint, +commonly believed to have been made for the Alexandrian Library by +seventy Jewish rabbis at the request of King Ptolemy Philadelphus. We +shall have occasion, later on, to revert to the significance of this +Greek version. For the present it is only necessary to mention that it +was so highly esteemed by the Jews themselves that they used it for +several centuries in their reading to the people, many of whom +understood only the Greek. + +Even the enemies of the Jews bear witness to the unchanged character of +the oldest portion of the Hebrew Bible for centuries before the coming +of our Lord. + +About the year 536 B.C., on the return of the Jewish exiles from +Babylon, the Samaritans, a mixed race of Jewish and Aramaic stock, +sought from the temple authorities at Jerusalem the privilege of +worshipping with the rest of the Jews in the holy city. This was +refused. Shortly afterwards one of the priests at Jerusalem was +excommunicated for having married the daughter of a Samaritan prince. +He sought refuge in Samaria, and having built a temple on Mount +Garizim, induced the people to worship according to the Mosaic Law. +They were found to possess a copy of the Pentateuch, which they had +transcribed in Samaritan characters; and whilst the Jews of Southern +Palestine held no communication with them, and the Samaritans on their +part looked upon the Jews as schismatics who had changed the ancient +observances of the Law, yet both recognized the same sacred code as the +rule of their conduct and religion. + +A copy of this valuable version, which at a later date was translated +into the actual Samaritan dialect, was discovered at Damascus in 1616, +and has since been printed in several editions at Paris and London. It +is of great importance, as it establishes a perfect accord with the +reading of the Jewish Hebrew text. These versions, made at different +times, in places widely apart, and by men who were decidedly hostile to +each other on religious as well as on national grounds, force us to +admit a well-fixed, universally known, and trusted original of the +books of Moses; for where there is a copy there must be something +copied from, just as when we see the well-defined shadow of an object +we know that the object itself exists. + +The antiquity of the Hebrew Bible is indeed attested by many no less +conclusive arguments than those we have given, which, from the +historian's point of view, stamp it as the most important monument of +antiquity which we have, and whose genuine character is proved by the +most trustworthy documentary evidence. There is no page of historical +account in existence to-day that has such overwhelming testimony in +favor of its authentic origin as these books of the Bible. Known by +generations as the inviolable law of God, guarded with scrupulous +solicitude as their greatest religious treasure, read sabbath after +sabbath in the synagogues, not alone of Palestine, but of Arabia, +Assyria, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome--in short, wherever the +sons of Abraham had been dispersed in the course of more than twenty +centuries--who was it, friend or foe, that could have dared to change +this royal mandate of the Most High to His chosen people! If a man +were to-day to print a copy of the Constitution, or a history of the +formation of the American Republic, introducing some hitherto +unheard-of statements, or omitting some important words or facts, how +long would such imposition remain unnoticed or unchallenged? Yet it +would be infinitely easier in our times, and under our conditions, for +such change to pass unnoticed than it would have been among the Jews. +The Oriental races are intensely averse to anything that threatens to +alter their traditions. The customs of the Eastern peoples to-day are +the same as they are described by Isaias seven hundred years before +Christ, and the Jew of Isaiah's time reflects in every act the manners +of another seven hundred years before, when Moses describes his people +as imitating the domestic virtues and habits of Abraham's day, a time +which carries us back still another seven centuries. A thousand years +make no perceptible change in Oriental civilization. You may see it +every day. Take as a ready instance Algeria, visited annually by many +Americans, who go to Europe by the southern route. It is a coast city, +lying in the full glare of European civilization; nay, modern life has +forced itself upon this town with the captivating aggressiveness of +French manners, French magnificence, French soldiery, and a system of +commerce which, within the last sixty years, has caused the European +population to outnumber the original Arab inhabitants of Algiers by +two-thirds. Yet the daily and forced contact, for two whole +generations, between the Arab and the European has produced hardly any +change in the habits of the former. The Mussulman passes through the +splendid streets of the French portion of the town when necessity urges +him, in silence and with apparent disdain. He prefers his cavern-like +habitation, with small square holes for windows, and an iron grating +instead of glass, to the spacious and lightsome palaces built by the +French and English colonists. The Arab woman feels no desire for the +pretty vanities of modern fashion, for the graceful freedom and +intellectual intercourse with men; she conceals her form in the +traditional wide robe of the East, with a veil over her head, a row of +shining coins or beads hanging down from the forehead, and a kerchief +over her face hiding all but the gazelle-like eyes. You see in that +one city, open to the constant changes arising from the innumerable +relations of travel and commerce, two worlds of men: one busy, fitful, +gay, and splendidly modern; the other silent, immovable, almost +scornful, and in dwelling and dress, in manner and language, just the +same as you might have observed them ages ago. + +Such precisely were the people who guarded and delivered to us the +books of the Old Testament. Their religious, civil, and domestic +practices, everywhere and at all times of their history, correspond so +perfectly with what we read in any part of this volume that, even if +portions of the Bible were lost, we should have the living tradition to +witness to the omission, since we know that the life of the Hebrew was +ever subject to the regulations of the law of Jehovah, which was to him +the supreme expression of all that is great and good and wise. +"Uniformity of belief and ritual practice," says the Protestant +Geikie,[1]" was the one grand design of the founders of Judaism; the +moulding the whole religious life of the nation to such a machine-like +discipline as would make any variation from the customs of the past +well-nigh impossible. A universal, death-like conservatism, permitting +no change in successive ages, was established as the grand security for +a separate national existence.... For this end, not only was that part +of the Law which concerned the common life of the people--their +sabbaths, feast-days, jubilees, offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the +Temple and Synagogue worship, civil and criminal law, marriage, and the +like--explained, commented on, and minutely ordered by the Rabbis, but +also that portion of it which related only to the private duties of +individuals in their daily religious life." And to this day the +orthodox Jew observes the same rites and ceremonies which marked the +service of his forefathers, whether in Judea or Samaria, on the banks +of the Nile under the Ptolemies, at Babylon under the Seleucides, or at +Niniveh under Nabuchodonoser. "What event of profane history," writes +the Abbe Gainet, "can boast of an unbroken succession of 3,500 +anniversaries such as those of which we have assurance in the history +of the Jews?"[2] + + + +[1] "Life of Christ," chap. xvii. + +[2] La Bible sans la Bible, vol. I., Etude preliminaire. + + + + +III. + +THE TESTIMONY OF A CONFESSION. + +The argument of the last chapter leads us to another evidence which +points to the historical authenticity of the Hebrew Bible. It is +plain, even upon superficial examination of this book, that it +contains, beside the severest penalties for sin, the most stinging +accusations of infidelity against the people of God, and the most +scorching rebukes of their crimes; it relates the transgressions of +their kings and princes and priests; in short, it records everything +which the Jewish nation and their rulers must have been anxious to keep +silent, or to mitigate where it was necessary to write it down. Every +reason of prudence and national self-love must have suggested to them +to destroy such records where they existed, because they made their +vaunted glory a story of everlasting shame. Compare this historical +record of the Jewish people with the contemporary annals of the +Assyrian, Persian, Greek, or Roman monarchs. These are full of +extravagant laudations, of royal deeds of valor, of the splendor of +their victories over other nations; whereas the statements of the Bible +are simple, the narrative of heroic acts and signal divine favors is +constantly mingled with incidents deeply self-humiliating for a race +that called itself chosen of God above all the Gentiles. The Jews +record numerous defeats, shameful treacheries, and errors of their most +beloved kings. They rebel, they commit every crime forbidden by the +Law; yet whilst they kill the prophets who charge them with +ingratitude, they patiently suffer the record of it all to go into the +books which they know will be read to all the people for their shame. +They make no attempt to minimize or to excuse themselves to their +children, however much they love the glory of Israel and the splendor +of Jerusalem as the one nation and city worthy of the most exalted +patriotic praise. Other nations made themselves a religion in harmony +with their passions, so as to soothe the conscience. But the Jew finds +a law of life given him in the great book of Moses. He may fall from +his ideals, he may worship idols, but he never ceases to recognize that +this is wrong because it is contrary to the law of Jehovah. + + + + +IV. + +THE STONES CRY OUT. + +The chain of documentary and circumstantial evidence which points to +the preservation, substantially intact, of the Bible as an historic +record of the highest possible trustworthiness is completed by the +daily increasing store of monuments which are brought to light, +especially in Palestine, Assyria, and Egypt. Up to the middle of the +present century the largest part of our knowledge of the ancient +nations was drawn from the Bible. It was the one great treasure-house +wherein the history of the East was to be found. We had Greek and +Roman and some Egyptian historians, but their knowledge was confined to +their own people, and needed to be supplemented by the details related +in the Pentateuch, in Josue, Judges, Ruth, the two Books of Samuel, the +Books of Kings, Paralipomenon, Esdras, Tobias, Judith, Esther, and the +Machabees, all of which are historical books containing facts, +statistics, constitutions, and dynastic lines, without which profane +history would still be a doubtful and barren field of study. + +But, lately, the studious industry of scholarly men has gone over the +ground of the old events, to test with the instruments of historic +criticism the veracity, and, incidentally, the authenticity of the +Bible record. Aided by the royal munificence of governments and +private corporations, scholars went to search out and examine the +monuments of antiquity in those parts where the Jewish race had dwelt +during the periods recounted in the Bible. They found, mostly below +the earth, and sometimes beneath the flood-beds of streams and lakes, +traces in stone or clay or metal which pointed to their containing +valuable information regarding the Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and +other nations with whom the Hebrew people had come in contact. These +traces were sometimes in signs and languages not understood or wholly +unknown in our learned world, but with assiduous study the mysteries +came, in course of time, to be unravelled. The story of these +discoveries is in various ways extremely interesting, and we shall +speak of them more in detail later on. + +Besides the primitive inscriptions just referred to, a number of cities +have been discovered which lay buried for many centuries beneath the +ground upon which afterwards other races dwelt and built their homes. +Excavations in Palestine go, day by day, to explain, where they do not +simply corroborate, the statements of the Bible. The diggings about +the supposed ancient site of Nineveh, in Babylonia, have unearthed the +ruins of an immense library. Sir A. H. Layard, and subsequently Mr. +George Smith and Hormuzd Rassam, have brought together a number of clay +tablets which open an immense world of Assyrian and Babylonian +literature, whose existence was hitherto known only by the indications +given in the Book of Daniel and other historical portions of the Bible +concerning the conquerors of the Jews. These discoveries, as Mr. A. H. +Sayce remarks in his "Fresh Lights from Ancient Monuments" (page 17), +have not only "shed a flood of light on the history and antiquity of +the Old Testament, but they have served to illustrate and explain the +language of the Old Testament as well." + +The evidence brought to light by these monuments has left no doubt in +the minds of scientific men as to the facts that occurred three and +four thousand years ago. We read the inscriptions which bear witness +to the work of the Chaldean king Nimrod, to Zoroaster the Elamite, to +Khamu-rabi, the Arab of the days of Moses; we treasure as of primary +historical importance the account of Herodotus, who visited Babylon at +the time when Esdras and Nehemias, who were both ministers at the court +of Artaxerxes, wrote their continuation of the Book of Chronicles for +the Jewish brethren in Palestine. When we read the works of Tacitus +and Suetonius, of Cicero and Virgil, all of whom indicate that they had +some knowledge of the Jewish sacred books,[1] we entertain no doubt as +to their existence or the authenticity of their writings; yet men under +the guise of scientific criticism have sought to cast doubts upon the +Biblical records which have in their favor a documentary evidence a +hundred times more accurate and trustworthy than any work of antiquity +without exception in the whole range of history. If apologists were +silent, the very stones would begin to cry out in behalf of the +authenticity and antiquity of the Biblical records. Every day is +bringing this truth into stronger relief. "Discovery after discovery," +says Prof. Sayce, "has been pouring in upon us from Oriental lands, and +the accounts given only ten years ago of the results of Oriental +research are already beginning to be antiquated.... The ancient world +has been reawakened to life by the spade of the explorer and the +patient skill of the decipherer, and we now find ourselves in the +presence of monuments which bear the names or recount the deeds of the +heroes of Scripture." + + + +[1] Cf. Hettinger-Bowden, "Revealed Religion," page 158. + + + + +V. + +HEAVENLY DOCTRINE. + + "Whence but from heaven could men, unskilled in arts, + In several ages born, in several parts, + Weave such agreeing truths?" + (Dryden, _Religio Laici_.) + + +The Bible, regarded as a work of history which offers us proofs of +credibility beyond those of any secular work of the same kind, has in +its composition and style a refinement and loftiness of tone far +superior to other writings of equal age which have come down to us. +The Jews "attributed to these books, one and all of them, a character +which at once distinguishes them from all other books, and caused the +collection of them to be regarded in their eyes as one individual +whole. This distinguishing character was the divine authority of every +one of those books and of every part of every book."[1] This belief of +the Jews was so strong, so universal, so unchanging that, as has +already been said, it pervaded and regulated their entire religious, +political, and social life during all the eventful centuries of +Israelitish history. + +That our Lord knew of this belief, that He endorsed it, preached and +emphasized it repeatedly, is very evident from the authentic narrative +of the Gospels. + +Expressions indicating this are to be found everywhere in the writings +of the evangelists: "Have you never read in the Scriptures?" He says +to the Scribes in referring to the words of the Psalmist (cxvii. 22): +The stone which the builders rejected, etc. (St. Matthew xxi. 42.) +Again, a little later on, He charges the Sadducees who say there is no +resurrection: "You err, not knowing the Scriptures" (Ibid. xxii. 29). +In the Garden of Olives He bears witness to the prophetic character of +the Book of Isaiah: "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled" (Ibid. +xxvi. 54)? And the historian, a friend and Apostle of Christ, adds: +"Now all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be +fulfilled" (Ibid. 56). St. John's Gospel, especially, abounds in +references like the foregoing, which point to the intimate relation +between the Messianic advent of Christ and the figures of the Old Law, +and assure us that the books of the Prophets, as well as the +accompanying historic accounts of the Scriptural books generally, were +regarded as the sacred word of God, not only by the Jews, but by the +disciples of Christ. + +This sacred collection was generally spoken of as consisting of three +parts, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Philo and +Josephus, both trained in the schools of the Pharisees, mention the +division as one well understood among the Jews of their time. Christ +Himself speaks of the Sacred Scriptures, in different places, with this +same distinction. + +Now the testimony of Christ, who proved Himself to be the Son of God, +and therefore unerring truth, is explicit in so far as it appeals with +a supreme and infallible authority to the Jewish Scriptures as to a +testimony _not human, but divine_. "Have you not read that which was +spoken _by God_?" He says, referring to the Mosaic Law in Exodus iii. 6 +(St. Matt. xxii. 31). Many times He speaks of the Scriptures "that +they may be fulfilled," thus indicating that they contain that which +lay in the future, and whose foreknowledge must have come from God. +This testimony of Our Lord is strengthened by the interpretation of His +Apostles in the same sense. + +Yet although the testimony of Christ and the Apostles regarding the +fact that the Books of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms are +divinely inspired, is very explicit, we have nowhere a clear statement +or a catalogue which might assure us what books and parts of books are +actually comprised in this collection of the Sacred Scriptures of which +our Lord speaks. Christ approves as the word of God those writings +which were accepted as such among the Jews of His day, but He does not +give us any definite security by this general endorsement that every +chapter, every verse, much less every word of the Bible, as we have +received it, is actually inspired. We are not therefore quite sure +from the evidence thus far given that the Old Testament, as we have it, +has in every part of it the sanction of Christ's testimony to its being +truly the word of God. As to the New Testament, we know that, however +accurate and trustworthy as a history of the times in which it was +composed it may be, yet it could not have had the explicit approval of +our Lord, simply because it had not been written and was not completed +for about a hundred years after His death and glorious resurrection. + +Yet we accept the New Testament as also inspired in just the same +authoritative way as we receive the Hebrew writings of the Old Law. +And nothing but a divine testimony, such as that of Christ, could +assure us sufficiently that in the Sacred Scriptures we have the word +of God. + +What criterion have we by which to determine precisely what books and +parts belong to this collection of Old Testament writings of which +Christ speaks as the word of God? What authority have we, moreover, +for believing the entire New Testament inspired, since it was written +after the time of Christ? If Luther and other reformers, so-called, +threw out some portions of the sacred text, by what standard or +criterion were they guided? Some have answered that we need not the +testimony of Christ or any other equally explicit proof to determine +what parts belong to this collection of writings representing the +inspired word of God. They hold, with Calvin, that a certain spiritual +unction inherent in the Sacred Scriptures determines their source, and +produces in the devout reader an interior sensation which gives him an +absolute conviction of the truth. But common experience teaches that +devout feelings may be produced by books which are not inspired, nay, +by positively irreligious books, which appeal to our better sensitive +nature in some passages whilst they destroy a proper regard for virtue +in others. Moreover, the "absolute conviction of the truth" to be +deduced from the reading of the Sacred Scriptures is belied by a +similar experience, since various sects draw opposing conclusions from +the same texts. As truth cannot contradict itself, and as Christ +prayed that His followers all be of one mind, we do not feel safe in +admitting mere subjective feeling and judgment as a test of what is +God's word. + +Therefore we must look for some other criterion. Indeed, if our Lord +wished us to accept the Sacred Scriptures, including the New Testament, +which was written many years after His time, and for a long time was +known only to very much separated portions of the faithful, we may be +quite sure that He provided a means, an authoritative and clear method, +which would lead us to an unerring conclusion in regard to what is and +what is not the inspired word of God. This would be all the more +necessary for those who regard the Bible as the principal rule and +source of their faith. + +It is a well-established historical fact that Christ taught some "new +doctrines," as they were called, and that He gave a commission to His +followers, which they repeated and carried out at the sacrifice of +their lives. There is no obscurity whatever about certain words and +precepts given by our Lord, historically recorded by six of His +Apostles and by many of His disciples who had heard and seen Him, who +honestly and intelligently believed in Him, and who were prepared to +die, and in some cases actually did suffer martyrdom for the assertions +they made. He bade them teach all nations the things He had taught +them. He did not give them a book, as He might have done, nor did He +tell them to write books; for some of the Apostles never wrote +anything; and of those who did write in later days, some had actually +never seen our Lord. Such is the common belief regarding St. Paul, who +wrote more than any other of the evangelical writers. St. Luke, in the +very opening of his Gospel, tells us that he wrote what had been +delivered to him by those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the +word. Our Lord did not, therefore, give His disciples a book, but He +was very explicit in making them understand and feel that He gave them +an unerring Spirit, who would be just the same as Himself, verily +identical with their living Master and Teacher, Christ, who would abide +with them to the end of time. "_Behold, I am with you all days, even +to the consummation of the world._" To the consummation of the world? +And were they never to die? Were they actually to go, as some believed +of St. John, to perpetuate the kingdom of Christ, wandering over the +earth until all the nations were converted? Not so. They were to +deliver His doctrine to their successors, and the Holy Spirit, the +Paraclete, would watch over it until the end of ages. St. Peter would +live, in this sense, forever, and all the opposing forces of error, the +mighty gates of hell, would not overcome that Spirit any more than they +would triumph over Christ, who had "overcome the world." To St. Peter +He said: "To thee I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven;" "Confirm +thou thy brethren." All this was to go on and on, so that every human +creature could come into possession of truth through this unerring +Spirit that presided over the Christian doctrine. And this perpetual +transmission of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who would guide +the future teachers and preside over their councils as at the first +councils of Antioch and Jerusalem,--this perpetual transmission through +a body like the apostolic body, ever living, ever guarded from error, +ever triumphant amid humiliations, what else is it but the Church, that +glorious heritage of ages, which we recognize through all time in every +land, holding every class and condition with the wondrous power of its +unity of doctrine and discipline! + +Now it is this body, this ever-living and unchanging organism, this +grand apostolic tribunal, which Christ established, and without which +His mission to men would really have remained incomplete, that tells us +that the things which some of the Apostles and some of the disciples +wrote for our instruction and edification are inspired by the same holy +and infallible Spirit which guided the Apostles in their oral teaching. +Not all things were written there, as St. John tells us, but many +things which they had taught, and which would keep the people, with +whom the Apostles could not be ever present, in mind of that doctrine. +The written things were not intended to replace the spoken word of +doctrinal jurisdiction, for the evangelical teaching of the spoken word +was to go on to the end; besides, there were many who could not read, +and many who might listen but would not read. Furthermore, there would +be need of a living apostolic tribunal, since a written doctrine, like +a written law, is liable to various and sometimes contradictory +interpretations. We have constitutions and laws, but we need judges +and courts to decide the meaning and application, and if it were not +that men forget the order of justice, or are too remote from the +centres of jurisdiction, we should not need any written laws at all. +Communities may be governed by a wise superior without any written +laws, and in no case does the written law dispense with the necessity +of a discretionary living authority. It is quite evident that in the +matter of truth God wished His Apostles to use _all the instruments_ by +which that truth might be safely and rightly communicated, and thus the +written word was added to the living teaching which the Holy Ghost was +ever to direct and safeguard. + +I repeat: Christ did not give His disciples a book, but a living, +infallible spirit, abiding with them to the end of time, as He said; +and since the Apostles were not to remain on earth to the end of the +world, what else could our Lord have meant but that others would take +their place on the same conditions, with the same prerogatives! That +He wished and said this is written over and over again in the sacred +volume, and by men who, if they had held this grand trust only for +themselves, would have had every reason to say so. But they state the +contrary. St. Peter ordains St. Paul; St. Paul sends Timothy and Titus +to the new converts on the same conditions, bidding them to preserve +intact the grace that is in them "through the imposition of hands." +And the successive generations of Pontiffs who take the place of Peter +and Paul and Timothy and Titus are the grand tribunal for the +transmission of Christ's doctrine. + +That tribunal, from St. Peter down to Leo XIII., is the authority: +"Christ having sent them, even as the Father had sent Him," which tells +us that the books of the Sacred Scriptures, such as we have them, and +as they are singly defined in what is called the Catholic Canon of +Biblical Books, are truly and really the word of God, and were written +under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit. + + + +[1] "The Sacred Scriptures," Humphrey. + + + + +VI. + +THE VICIOUS CIRCLE. + +In the preceding chapter it was said that the Sacred Scripture of the +New Testament contains Christ's statements according to which He +founded an ever-living tribunal of doctrine which decided the question +of what books are, and what books are not inspired, whenever there is +any doubt about such books. Perhaps you will say: "But is this not +arguing in a circle--a vicious circle, as philosophers say? You prove +the existence of the Church as the tribunal to determine what books +belong to the Sacred Scriptures from the words of the Bible; and then +you turn about and prove the inspiration of the Bible from the +authority of the Church." Now mark the difference. When in my first +argument I refer to the Bible as containing Christ's statement and the +commission given to His Apostles, I am taking the testimony of the +Bible, not as an inspired or divine book, but simply as a trustworthy +historical record which tells us the fact, repeated by several +eye-witnesses and sincere men, such as the evangelists and apostolical +writers, that Christ, of whose divinity they were convinced, had said +and emphasized the fact that He meant to found a Church. And as that +Church was to have the divine spirit abiding in it, guiding its +decisions, it came naturally within the province of that Church to +define whether certain books were to be regarded as really inspired by +that Holy Spirit. Thus the Church placed upon these books the mark and +sign-manual of that commission which she had unquestionably received. + +But I am constrained, for the sake of completing our present aspect of +the subject, to say something on the character and extent of that +divine element which Jews and Christians recognize when they accept the +Sacred Scriptures as the word of God. + + + + +VII. + +THE SACRED PEN. + +We have seen that the Biblical writings bear the unmistakable impress +of a divine purpose. The nature of that purpose is likewise clearly +enunciated on every page of Holy Writ. Man in his fallen condition +stands in need of law and example, of precept and promise. These God +gives him. We read in Exodus (Chap. iii.) that He first speaks to +Moses, giving him His commands regarding the liberation and conduct of +His people out of Egypt. Later on, in the desert on Mount Sinai, +"Moses spoke, and God answered him" (Chap. xix. 19); and "Moses went +down to the people and told them all" (Ibid. 25). Next we read (Chap. +xxiv. 12) that the Lord said to Moses: "I will give thee tables of +stone, and the law, and the commandments which _I have written, that +thou mayest teach them_." + +Here God announces Himself as the writer of "the Law and the +Commandments," although we receive them in the handwriting of Moses. +Is Moses a mere amanuensis, writing under dictation? No. He is the +intelligent, free instrument, writing under the direct inspiration of +God. In this sense God is the true author or writer of the Sacred +Scriptures, making His action plain to the sense and understanding of +His children through the medium of a man whom He inspires to execute +His work. + +How does this inspiration act on the writer who ostensibly executes the +divine work? We answer: _God moves the will of the writer, and +illumines his intellect, pointing out to him at the same time the +subject-matter which he is to write down, and preserving him from error +in the completion of his committed task_. + +Looking attentively at this definition of Scriptural inspiration, a +number of questions arise at once in our minds. God moves the will, +enlightens the mind, and points out the subject-matter which the +inspired writer commits to paper. Is the writer under the influence of +the divine impulsion so possessed by the inspired virtue that he acts +without any freedom, either as regards the manner of his expression or +the use of previously acquired knowledge concerning the subject of +which he writes? + +I answer: No. God moves the will of the writer; He does not annihilate +it or absorb it, unless in the sense that He brings it, by a certain +illumination of the intellect, to a conformity with His own. Hence the +manner and method of expression retain the traces of the individuality +of the writer, that is to say, of his views and feelings as determined +by the ordinary habits of life and the range of his previous knowledge. +The idea of the divine authorship of the Sacred Scriptures by no means +requires that the truths which God willed to be contained therein could +not or should not have been otherwise known to the inspired writers: +"Their use of study, their investigation of documents, their +interrogation of witnesses and other evidence, and their excuses for +rusticity of style and poverty of language show this only, that they +were not inanimate, but living, intelligent, and rational +instruments--that they were men, and not machines.... They were +employed in a manner which corresponded to, and which became the +nature, the mode, and the conditions of their being. Previous +knowledge of certain truths by men can be no reason why God should not +conceive and will such truths to be communicated by means of Scripture +to His Church.... Hence the idea of inspiration does not exclude human +industry, study, the use of documents and witnesses, and other aids in +order to the conceiving of such truths, so long as it includes a +supernatural operation and direction of God, which effects that the +mind of the inspired writer should _conceive_ all those truths, and +those only which God would have him communicate."[1] And herein lies +the difference between inspiration and revelation, the latter being the +manifestation of something previously unknown to the writer. + +The second question, which naturally occurs in connection with the one +just answered, is whether we are to consider that the words, just as we +read them in the Bible, are inspired in such wise that we may not +conceive of the sacred text having any other meaning than that to which +its _verbal expression_ limits it. + +There are many reasons why we need not feel bound to accept the theory +of literal or _verbal inspiration_ of the Bible, although such opinion +has been defended by eminent theologians, who wished thereby to defend +the integrity of the sacred volume against the wanton interference with +the received text on the part of innovators and so-called religious +reformers. + +In the first place, the theory of verbal inspiration is not essential +to the maintenance of the absolute integrity of a written revelation. +That revelation proposes truths and facts, and whilst the terms +employed for the expression of these truths and facts must fit +adequately to convey the sense, they admit of a certain variety without +thereby in the least injuring the accuracy of statements. This is +applicable not only to single words, but to phrases and forms of +diction, and to figures of illustration. + +Secondly, the sacred writers themselves abundantly indicate the freedom +which may be exercised or allowed in the verbal declaration of divinely +inspired truths. Many of them repeat the same facts and doctrines in +different words. This is the case even with regard to events of the +gravest character, such as the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, in +which there can be no room for a difference of interpretation as to the +true sense. + +St. Matthew (xxvi. 26-28), for example, records the act of consecration +by Our Lord on the eve of His passion in the following words: "Take ye +and eat: This is My Body.... Drink ye all of this, for this is My +Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many for the +remission of sins." + +St. Mark (xiv. 22-24) writes: "Take ye. This is My Body.... This is +My Blood of the new Testament, which shall be shed for many." + +St. Luke (xxii. 19-20) says: "This is My Body, which is given for +you.... This is the chalice, the new Testament in My Blood, which +shall be shed for you." + +St. Paul (I. Cor. xi. 24-25) has it: "This is My Body, which shall be +delivered for you.... This chalice is the new Testament in My Blood." + +These four witnesses cite very important words spoken by our Lord on a +most solemn occasion. St. Matthew was present at the Last Supper. He +wrote in the very language employed by our Lord, and we have every +reason to believe that he could remember and wished to remember exactly +what our Lord had said on so important a subject, especially when he, +with the other Apostles, was told to do the same act in remembrance of +their Master when He should be no longer with them in visible human +form. St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul nevertheless vary the +expression of this tremendous mystery in all but the words: "This is My +Body." They drew their knowledge of the form of the institution of the +Blessed Sacrament from St. Peter; at least we know that St. Peter +revised and approved of St. Mark's Gospel,[2] and St. Paul and St. Luke +evidently obtained their knowledge of the Christian faith from a common +source, which the chief of the Apostles controlled. They had every +opportunity to consult St. Mark, and there might have been reason for +doing so since they wrote in Greek, whereas St. Matthew retained the +Hebrew idiom, but evidently neither they nor St. Peter deemed a literal +or verbal rendering of the sacramental form essential, provided the +true version of our Lord's action was faithfully given. + +Furthermore, the claim of verbal inspiration implies a necessity of +having recourse to the original language in which the inspired writers +composed their works, since it is quite impossible that translations +can in every case adequately render the exact meaning conveyed by an +idiom no longer living. But the necessity of referring to the Hebrew, +Chaldee, or Greek text in order to verify the true sense of an +expression would place the Bible beyond the reach of all but a few +scholars, for whose exclusive benefit the generally popular style of +the Bible forbids us to think they were primarily intended. + +Finally, we have the indication by writers of both the Old and New +Testaments that what they wrote was not conveyed to them by way of +dictation, but that the divine thought conceived in their own minds was +rendered by them with such imperfections of expression as belonged +wholly to the human element of the instrument which God employed, and +could in nowise be attributed to the Holy Ghost, who permitted His +revelation to be communicated through channels of various kinds and +degrees of material form. Thus the writer of the sacred Book of +Machabees (II. Mach. ii. 24, etc.) apologizes for his style of writing. +St. Paul (I. Cor. ii. 13; II. Cor. xi. 6) gives us to understand that +his words fall short of the requirements of the rhetorician, but that +he is satisfied to convey "the doctrine of the Spirit." + + + +[1] Vid. "The Sacred Scriptures; or, The Written Word of God." By +William Humphrey, S. J.--London, Art and Book Co., 1894. + +[2] Clement Alex.--Euseb., H.E., II. xv. 1; VI. xiv. 6; XX. clxxii. +552. Also Hieron., De Vir. Ill., VIII. xxiii. 621, etc. + + + + +VIII. + +THE MELODY AND HARMONY OF THE "VOX COELESTIS." + +But, you will say, whilst it is plain that we need not adhere to the +text of Holy Writ so strictly as to suppose that each single word is +the only exact representation of the thought or truth with which God +inspired the writer, it seems difficult to see where you can draw the +line between the teaching of God and its interpretation by man who is +not bound by definite words. In other words, if verbal inspiration is +not to be admitted, how far does inspiration actually extend in the +formation of the written text? + +I should answer that inspiration extends to the _truths_ and _facts_ +contained in the Bible, _absolutely_; that it extends to the terms in +which these truths and facts are expressed, _relatively_. The former +cannot vary; the latter may vary according to the disposition or the +circumstances of the writer. It may be allowable to express this +distinction by a comparison of Biblical with musical inspiration. +Taking music, not as a mechanical art, but as an expression of the +soul, or, as Milton puts it, of + + "Strains that might create a soul," + +we distinguish between the conception of the melody and its +accompaniment of harmonious chords. The former constitutes, so to +speak, the theme, the truth, or motive of the artistic conception, +which the composer seizes under his inspiration. When he goes to +communicate the expression of this musical truth or melody through the +instrument he at once and instinctively avails himself of the chords +which, by way of accompaniment, emphasize the musical truth which his +soul utters through the instrument, according to the peculiar nature or +form of the latter. These chords of the accompaniment are not the +leading motive or truth of his theme, but they are equally true with +it. They may vary, even whilst he uses the same instrument, but the +melody must ever observe the exact distances between the sounds in its +finished form, and cannot be altered without changing the motive of the +piece. + +The inspiration of the Sacred Text offers an analogy to that of the +artist musician. The divine melody of truths and facts is definitely +communicated to the inspired composer of the Sacred Books. Sometimes +he sings loud and with strong emphasis, sometimes he barely breathes +his heavenly tones, yet they are no uncertain notes; they allow of no +alteration, addition, or omission. But in the accompanying chords he +takes now one set, now another, remaining in the same clef, ever true +to the melody, yet manifold in the variety of expressing that truth. +Even the seeming discords, which, taken by themselves, look like +errors, prove to be part of the great theme; when rightly understood +they are but transition chords which prepare us for the complete +realization of the succeeding harmony into which they resolve +themselves. + + + + +IX. + +THE VOICE FROM THE ROCK. + +Does the Church indorse the definition of Scriptural inspiration which +has been given in the two preceding chapters? The Church has said very +little on the subject of the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures, but +enough to serve us as a definition and as an expression of its +limitations. The Councils of Florence and Trent simply state that "the +Sacred Scriptures, having been written under the inspiration of the +Holy Ghost, have God for their author." How much may be deduced from +this was made clear by the late Vatican Council (Constit., _de Fide_, +cap. ii.), which holds that "the Church regards these books (enumerated +in the Tridentine Canon), as sacred and canonical, not because, having +been composed through the care and industry of men, they were +afterwards approved by the authority of the Church, nor simply because +they contain revealed truth without error, but because they were +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in such a way as to +have God for their author...."[1] + +By this definition two distinct theories of inspiration are censured as +contrary to Catholic teaching. The first is that which has been called +_subsequent_ inspiration, according to which a book might be written +wholly through human industry, but receiving afterwards the testimony +of express divine approval, might become the written word of God. This +teaching is not admissible inasmuch as it excludes the divine +authorship of the Scriptures. + +A second theory condemned by the above clause of the Vatican Council as +untenable on Catholic principles is that which is called _negative_ +inspiration. Its defenders hold that the extent of the divine action +in the composition of the Sacred Scriptures is limited to the exclusion +of errors from the sacred volume. This would restrict the value of the +truth revealed in the Bible to a mere exposition of human knowledge +containing no actual misstatements of fact. + + + +[1] See on this subject P. Brucker's recently published work +"_Questions Actuelles d'Ecriture Sainte_," _par le R. P. Jos. Brucker, +S. J.: Paris, Victor Retaux_, which treats admirably this part of our +subject. + + + + +X. + +A SOURCE OF GENERAL INFORMATION AND CULTURE. + +Among the many interesting letters which St. Jerome has left us there +is one to Laeta, a noble lady of Rome, regarding the education of her +little daughter, Paula. An aunt of the child was at the time in +Bethlehem, where, amid the very scenes where our Lord was born, she +studied the Holy Scriptures in the Hebrew and Greek tongues, as was +then the habit of educated Christian ladies. St. Jerome would have the +child Paula trained in all the arts and sciences that could refine her +mind and lead it to its highest exercise in that singularly gifted +nature. To this end he bids Laeta cultivate in the child an early +knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. With a touching simplicity the +aged Saint enters into minute details of the daily training,--how the +childish hands are to form the ivory letters, which serve her as +playthings, into the names of the prophets and saints of the Old +Testament; how later she is to commit to memory, each day, choice +sayings, flowers of wisdom culled from the sacred writers, and how, +finally, he [Transcriber's note: she?] is to come to the Holy Land and +learn from her aunt the lofty erudition and understanding of the Bible, +a book which contains and unfolds to him who knows how to read it +rightly all the wisdom of ages, practical and in principle, surpassing +the classic beauty of those renowned Roman writers of whose works St. +Jerome himself had been once so passionately fond that they haunted him +in his dreams. + +It must not be supposed, however, that the judgment of so erudite a man +as St. Jerome in placing the study of the Sacred Scriptures above all +other branches of a higher education was based upon a purely +_spiritual_ view. He realized what escapes the superficial reader of +the inspired writings: that they are _not only_ a library of religious +thought, but, in every truest sense of the word, a compendium of +general knowledge. The sacred volumes are a code and digest of law, of +political, social, and domestic economy; a book of history the most +comprehensive and best authenticated of all written records back to the +remotest ages; a summary of practical lessons and maxims for every +sphere of life; a treasury of beautiful thoughts and reflections, which +instruct at once and elevate, and thus serve as a most effective means +of education. That this is no exaggeration is attested by men like the +pagans of old, who, becoming acquainted with the sacred books, valued +them, though they saw in them nothing of that special divine revelation +which the Jew and Christian recognize. We read in history how, nearly +three hundred years before our Lord, Ptolemy Philadelphia, the most +cultured of all the Egyptian kings, and founder of the famous +Alexandrian University, which for centuries outshone every other +institution of learning by the renown of its teachers, sent a +magnificent embassy to the High-priest Eleazar at Jerusalem to ask him +for a copy of the Sacred Law of the Jews. So greatly did he esteem its +possession that he offered for the right of translating the Pentateuch +alone six hundred talents of gold ($576,000), and liberty to all the +Jewish captives in his dominion, to the number of about 150,000 (some +historians give the number at 100,000, others at 200,000). + +There exists a spurious account, ascribed to Aristeas, one of Ptolemy's +ministers, who is said to have accompanied the royal embassy to +Jerusalem for the purpose of urging the king's request. According to +this story, which is in form of a letter written by Aristeas to his +brother Philocrates, six rabbis, equally well versed in the Hebrew and +Greek languages, were selected by the high-priest from each of the +twelve tribes. The seventy-two rabbis were invited to the palace of +the king, who, whilst entertaining them for some time, publicly asked +them questions relating to civil government and moral philosophy, so +that by this means he might test their knowledge and judgment. Many of +these questions, curious and quaint, have been preserved, and are +intended to show the wisdom of Ptolemy and his desire to raise his +government to a high level of moral and political perfection. Among +the guests who were present at the king's table we find Demetrius +Phalereus, the famous librarian, Euclid, the mathematician, Theocritus, +the Greek poet philosopher, and Manetho, the Egyptian historian, +together with other equally learned and illustrious scholars and +literary artists. + +Later on the seventy-two translators, according to the same tradition, +which has come to us through some of the old ecclesiastical writers, +were brought to the island of Pharos, where they went to work in +separate cells, undisturbed and living according to a uniform rule, +until the entire work of translation had been accomplished. Then the +results were compared, and it was found that the translations of all +agreed in a wonderful manner, and the Jews accepted it as a work done +under the special protection of Jehovah. + +Whatever we may hold as to the accuracy of the above account and its +pretended origin, it is certain that the story was current before the +time of Christ, it being credited by Philo, who repeats it in his Life +of Moses, and by Josephus, as well as by St. Justin Martyr and others +of the early Christian Fathers. All agree that the Septuagint +translation was made about the time of Ptolemy, and that the Jews of +Alexandria and Palestine held it in equal veneration as a faithful copy +of the Mosaic books, whilst the pagans regarded it in the light of a +wonderfully complete code of laws--civil, domestic, and moral. + +Reference has already been made to the Sacred Scriptures as +constituting the oldest and best-authenticated record of ancient +history. From it we draw the main store of our information regarding +the beginnings of human society in the Eastern countries of +Mesopotamia, early Chaldea, Assyria, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt, all of +which are grouped around the common centre, Palestine, where the +principal scenes of the Old and New Testament narrative are laid. + +But it is not only in the departments of history and geography that the +Bible represents the most extensive and reliable source of information +hitherto open to the student of mental culture. The sacred books, +although never intended to serve a purely scientific purpose, have +within recent years become recognized indicators which throw light upon +doubtful paths in the investigation of certain scientific facts. Sir +William Dawson, one of the leading investigators of our day, has lately +published his Lowell lectures, in which he shows how science at last +confirms and illustrates the teaching of Holy Writ regarding geology +and the creation of man.[1] Similar conclusions are being daily +reached in different fields of scientific research, and the words of +Jean Paul regarding the first page of the Mosaic record, as containing +more real knowledge than all the folios of men of science and +philosophy, are proving themselves true in other respects also. We may +be allowed to cite here from Geikie's "Hours With the Bible" the +testimony of the late Dr. McCaul, who gives us a legitimate view of the +latest results of science as compared with the Mosaic record of the +Bible. + +"Moses," he says, "relates how God created the heavens and the earth at +an indefinitely remote period, before the earth was the habitation of +man: Geology has lately discovered the existence of a long prehuman +period. A comparison with other Scriptures (_i.e._, those written +after the Pentateuch, or Mosaic account) shows that the "heavens" of +Moses include the abode of angels and the place of the fixed stars, +which existed before the earth: Astronomy points out remote worlds, +whose light began its journey long before the existence of man. Moses +declares that the earth was or became covered with water, and was +desolate and empty: Geology has found by investigation that the +primitive globe was covered with a uniform ocean, and that there was a +long azoic period, during which neither plant nor animal could live. +Moses states that there was a time when the earth was not dependent on +the sun for light or heat; when, therefore, there could be no climatic +differences: Geology has lately verifed this statement by finding +tropical plants and animals scattered over all places of the earth. +Moses affirms that the sun, as well as the moon, is only a light +holder: Astronomy declares that the sun is a non-luminous body, +dependent for its light on a luminous atmosphere. Moses asserts that +the earth existed before the sun was given as a luminary: Modern +science proposes a theory which explains how this was possible. Moses +asserts that there is an expanse extending from earth to distant +heights, in which the heavenly bodies are placed: Recent discoveries +lead to the supposition of some subtile fluid medium in which they +move. Moses describes the process of creation as gradual, and mentions +the order in which living things appeared: plants, fishes, fowls, land +animals, man: By the study of nature, geology has arrived independently +at the same conclusion. Whence did Moses get all this knowledge? How +was it that he worded his rapid sketch with such scientific accuracy? +If he in his day possessed the knowledge which genius and science have +attained only recently, that knowledge is superhuman. If he did not +possess the knowledge, then his pen must have been guided by superhuman +wisdom" (Aids to Faith, p. 232). + +Some years ago much ado was made by certain sceptics about the +chronology of the Bible, as if the discrepancies of a few figures could +undo the manifest authenticity of the vast store of facts vouched in +the grand collection of Biblical books. These discrepancies are being +gradually explained. It may be that we err in properly understanding +the Oriental habits of counting genealogies, or that the method of the +first transcribers led to inaccuracy, despite the care used in the +copying and preservation of the text. When we remember that Hebrew +signs, very closely resembling each other, denote often great +differences, clear enough, no doubt, at first, but becoming indistinct +in the course of time, we cannot wonder that some words and expressions +present to the ordinary reader a mystery, or even seeming +contradiction. It is not necessary to understand the ancient tongue in +order to realize this fact. In the first place, the similarity of +Hebrew characters which represent great numerical differences must have +easily led to errors by the copyists, which caused difficulty to the +later transcribers unless they had a reliable tradition to correct the +mistake. Thus the letter [Hebrew: Beth] (_Beth_) represents _two_, +whilst [Hebrew: Kaph] (_Kaph_) represents _twenty_. By placing two +small dots above either of these two characters you multiply them by a +thousand, [Hebrew: Beth with two dots] representing _two thousand_ and +[Hebrew: Kaph with two dots] _twenty thousand_. The letter [Hebrew: +Vav] (_Vav_) is equivalent to _six_, another letter very like it in +form, [Hebrew: Zayin] (_Zayin_), is _seven_, whilst both of these +characters represent a variety of meanings: oftenest [Hebrew: Vav] +(_Vav_) is a copula, at other times it stands at the beginning of a +discourse, or introduces the apodosis, or is simply an intensive, or +adversative; sometimes it is prefixed to a future tense, and turns it +into an imperfect, etc. Again, there are special reasons why certain +combinations of letters stand for numerals, contrary to the ordinary +rule. Thus _fifteen_ is expressed by [Hebrew: vav, tet]=9+6, instead +of [Hebrew: tav, vav, he, yod], because the name of God commences with +the latter characters [Hebrew: ] (Jehovah), etc. + +Furthermore, many of the signs used as numerals had fixed symbolical +significations, and were not meant to be taken as literal quantities. + +Moreover, in all the old Hebrew writings the consonants only are +expressed. Thus it happens that the same written characters may denote +different things, sometimes contradictory, unless living tradition +could supply the true signification. Thus the word [Hebrew: resh, kaf] +means _son_ (Ps. ii. 12), or it may be an adjective signifying _chosen_ +(Cant. vi. 9), or, again, _clear_ (Cant. vi. 10), or _empty_ (Prov. +xiv. 4). Besides these primary meanings it stands for _corn_ or +_grain_, for _open fields_ or _country_, for a _pit_, for _salt of lye_ +(vegetable salt), and for _pureness_. The true signification in each +passage is not always clear from the context, and critics are +frequently at a loss to divine the sense intended by the writer. + +But whilst these discrepancies and obscurities are a momentary source +of distraction, they arouse not only zeal for the study of the sacred +languages, by which means philological mysteries are frequently cleared +up, but they give us often an insight into the wonderful genius of the +Semitic languages, with their peculiar imagery, which associates ideas +and feelings apparently wholly distinct from each other according to +the use of modern terms. + +The last-made reflection suggests another advantage, in an educational +point of view, which the study of the Sacred Scriptures opens to those +who possess sufficient talent and opportunity for its pursuit. I mean +the power of thought and reflection which comes with the study of a +foreign language. There are portions of the Old Testament which we +cannot rightly read and understand without _some_ knowledge of the +tongue in which they were originally written. This is one of the +several reasons which the Church has for not sanctioning, without +certain cautions, the indiscriminate reading of the Sacred Scriptures +in the form of translation. Let me give you a very good authority for +this. + +About the very time when Ptolemy Philadelphus, of whom I have spoken in +the beginning, sent to Jerusalem in order to procure the Greek +translation of the Thorah, or Hebrew law (Pentateuch), a holy Jewish +scribe was inspired to write one of the later Scriptural books. It +appears that He was among the seventy learned scribes who had been sent +by the High-priest to Alexandria for the purpose of making the +translation for the king, and that afterwards, whilst still there, he +composed the sacred book known as _Ecclesiasticus_. This book he wrote +in the Hebrew tongue. Many years after, a grandson of this inspired +writer, who is called Jesus son of Sirach, came upon the book and +resolved to translate it into Greek, in order that it might be read by +many of his brethren in the foreign land, who no longer spoke the +Hebrew language, though they believed in the law of their forefathers. +To this translation he wrote a short preface which, though it does not +belong to the inspired portions of the text, has been preserved and is +found in our Bibles. Let me read it to you, because it demonstrates +the truth of what I have just said, namely, that our understanding of +the Bible is rendered difficult when we are obliged to depart from the +original language in which it was written. The younger Jesus Sirach, +who spoke both the Hebrew and Greek tongues equally well, at a time +when they were still living languages, writes as follows about the +translation of his grandfather's work: + + +"The knowledge of many and great things hath been shown us by the Law +and the Prophets, and others that have followed them, for which things +Israel is to be commended for doctrine and wisdom; because not only +they that speak must needs be skilful, but strangers also, both +speaking and writing, may by their means become most learned. + +My grandfather Jesus, after he had much given himself to a diligent +reading of the Law and the Prophets, and other books that were +delivered to us from our fathers, had a mind also to write something +himself pertaining to doctrine and wisdom; that such as are desirous to +learn and are made knowing in these things may be more and more +attentive in mind, and be strengthened to live according to the Law. I +entreat you, therefore, to come with benevolence, and to read with +attention, and to pardon us for those things wherein we may seem, +_while we follow the image of wisdom, to come short in the composition +of words: for the Hebrew words have not the same force in them when +translated into another tongue. And not only these, but the Law also +itself, and the Prophets and the rest of the books, have no small +difference when they are spoken in their own language_. For in the +eighth and thirtieth year coming into Egypt, when Ptolemy Euergetes was +king, and continuing there a long time, I found these books left, of no +small and contemptible learning. Therefore I thought it good and +necessary for me to bestow some diligence and labor to interpret this +book; and with much watching and study, in some space of time, I +brought the book to an end, and set it forth for the service of them +that are willing to apply their mind, and to learn how they ought to +conduct themselves, who purpose to lead their life according to the Law +of the Lord" (Prologue to Ecclesiasticus). + + + +[1] "Meeting-place of Geology and History," 1894. Fleming H. Revell +Co., New York. + + + + +XI. + +THE CREATION OF NEW LETTERS. + +It is a fact not generally known or realized that if it were not for +the Bible some of the richest and most beautiful languages of antiquity +would now be entirely lost to us; nay, more, there are whole nations +who would in all probability never have had a written language or +literature except for the Bible. + +Of the ancient Semitic tongues only two remain living languages, that +is, the Arabian, and, in a modified form, the Syrian. The Chaldee, the +Samaritan, the Assyrian, the Phoenician, the Ethiopia are dead and +would hardly be known to us except for the remnants of them which we +trace through the sacred books of the Scripture. We have no relic of +the Hebrew tongue but the Bible; and this language, with all its +wondrous musical forms, its strange capacity of eliciting and +expressing the deepest feelings of the human heart, and its charming +touches of Oriental genius, would be entirely dead outs, if we had not +the Bible. + +Our own English tongue bears the traces of another written language, +now entirely dead, but which was actually created by the study of the +Bible. I mean the Gothic, of which no other written document exists +to-day except some portion of the Holy Scriptures translated by Ulfilas +in the fourth century. When he came as a missionary among the Goths he +found them ignorant of the art of writing. In order to Christianize +the rude people he invented for them an alphabet, gathered their +children into Christian schools, and taught them to write and to read. +The first book, and the last, too, of that once powerful race was a +Bible. When the Goths had died out in the ninth century, their written +copy of the inspired word of God still continued to live, and we can +trace in our unabridged dictionaries to-day the original meaning of +many a Saxon word by reference to this solitary copy of a part of the +Sacred Scriptures. + +What has been said of the Gothic is equally true of the written +language of the Armenians (for whom the anchorite Miesrop devised an +alphabet and translated the Bible); also of the Slavonic nations (for +whom SS. Cyril and Methodius made an alphabet and Bible translation); +and others--races who, like our own Indian tribes, lived only long +enough as representatives of a separate language to learn the rudiments +of Christianity. + +All this must convince us that those who have the required means should +seek to master one or several of the Biblical languages, since the +ancient tongues, less subject to the caprice of political changes than +those of later ages, open to the mind avenues of original thought and +sentiment which modern literature and education have not been capable +of retaining without them. + +You will say that it is impossible for most, or perchance nearly all of +you to give yourselves to the study of Hebrew or Greek or Latin in +order to gain that profit from the intelligent reading of the Bible +which it yields to the man of learning. Very well; if so, the fact of +our deficiency must caution us in reading and rashly interpreting +according to our fancy what can only be determined by the wisdom of +those who act the legitimate part of divinely-appointed judges. As in +the Old Law the High-priest and the great council of the Sanhedrin were +the infallible interpreters of the divine decrees, so the Church, which +is the continuation and perfection of the Synagogue, completes the +Messianic mission by interpreting for each succeeding generation the +meaning of the inspired words written in the sacred volume. + + + + +XII. + +ENGLISH STYLE. + +But there still remains for all of us the reading of the English Bible, +with the aids of interpretation which render it intelligible for a +practical purpose, and in so far as it is an expression of the natural +moral law. This of itself contributes very largely to the perfection +of our use of the mother tongue. For it is always true of this sacred +book, as Dryden says, that in + + "... Style, majestic and divine, + It speaks no less than God in every line; + Commanding words! whose force is still the same + As the first _fiat_ that produced our frame." + (Dryden, _Relig. Laic._, i. 152.) + +Yes, its frequent reading helps much to the formation of good English. +This is not simply fancy, but the verdict of those who have experienced +and proved the benefit of frequent use of the Bible as a means of +fashioning and improving a beautiful style of English writing. Some +years ago Mr. Bainton, a lover of English literature, requested the +best of living writers to give their opinion as to what class of +reading had most contributed to their attaining the elegance or force +of beauty for which their writings were generally admired. To the +surprise of many it appeared in the answers that the reading of the +Bible was considered the secret of a charming style, even by authors +who wrote in that lighter, sparkling vein which seems so remote from +the gravity and solidity of the sacred books. To give one example of +this let me quote the words of Mr. W. S. Gilbert, the author of the +delightful "Bab Ballads," and a long series of light operas and +sparkling plays. After referring to the advantage of studying the +English of the late Tudor and early Stuart periods, he adds: "But for +simplicity, directness, and perspicuity, there is, in my opinion, no +existing work to be compared with the historical books of the Bible." + +Mr. Marion Crawford, much read of late, and criticized for fostering a +faulty ideal, but whose vigorous expression, power of analysis, and +correct delineation of character will hardly be denied by any one +capable of judging, gives his ideas of attaining to good English style +in the following words: "The greatest literary production in our +language is the translation of the Bible, and the more a man reads it +the better he will write English." He adds: "I am not a particularly +devout person, though I am a good Roman Catholic, and I do not +recommend the Bible from any religious reason. I distinctly dislike +the practice of learning texts without any regard to the context.... +But if we were English Brahmans, and believed nothing contained +therein, I should still maintain that the Bible should be the _first +study_ of a literary man. Then the great poets, Shakespeare, Milton," +etc. I have quoted Mr. Crawford because he is not merely a good +English writer, but a real scholar, familiar with many languages, +classic and modern, and therefore all the better qualified to judge of +our subject. + +There are, of course, instances in the Bible when the grammatical rules +of Brown and Murray forbid satisfactory parsing. The reason of this is +the natural wish of the translators, anxious to preserve the literal +form of the original, not to sacrifice accuracy to the nicety with +which they might round their phrases. They were intent alone upon +truth; and it is precisely in this element that eloquence finds its +first and most powerful incentive. Beauty of language has two sources +of inspiration. One is that of truth, which arouses in the heart a +love lifting the mind with a burning enthusiasm into the regions of all +that is fair and chaste and grand; and the language of him who has +mastered it assumes the sound and form of these lofty emotions. There +is indeed another source of inspiration. It is that from which +emanates the brilliant but ephemeral beauty of the literature of the +day. It is not love of unchanging truth, but the captivating passion +of the hour, which, as someone has said, acts upon the brain "like the +foaming grape of Eastern France--pleasant to the sense of taste, yet +sending its subtle fumes to the brain, and stealing away the judgment." +Truth in literature possesses a power of eloquence of which fiction is +but a shadow at best, varying in size, and dwarfed or magnified in +proportion as it approaches and recedes from the object which occasions +it. + + + + +XIII. + +FRIENDS OF GOD. + +And with this study of truth there is added to knowledge and power and +beauty of expression another vital element, which gives these +acquisitions an infinite value: I mean the gift of wisdom as distinct +from knowledge. Read the Sapiential book of Solomon, and mark what he +there says. He had learnt all things that human industry could +suggest, but the science of things earthly was as nothing to the wisdom +which, as he says, "went before me; and I knew not that it was the +mother of all." And when he had learnt wisdom in listening to the +breathing of that sacred voice whose words he recorded for our +instruction, he describes it as a sacred fire of genius, "holy, one, +manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving that +which is good, quick, which nothing can oppose, beneficent, gentle, +kind, steadfast, assured--a breath of the power of God--making friends +of God, and prophets, for God loveth none but him that dwelleth with +wisdom--more beautiful than the sun" (Sap. vii. 22-29). + +Surely, it makes us friends of God and prophets. But not only this. +It keeps high ideals before us, and we become like to the things we +love. Look on Abraham, whom the Arab calls even to this day by no +other name but _El Khalil Allah_--that is, "the friend of God"--chosen +the father of a holy race whence eventually was to spring the Messias; +look on Moses, the meekest of men, as he is called in Holy Writ, or on +David, the man "according to God's own heart;" look on the later +prophets, whose words set the nations aflame, and made kings tremble +who had never felt fear of men or God. We see Jeremiah, the youth at +Anathoth, "gentle, sensitive, yielding, yearning for peace and love, +averse by nature from strife and controversy," stepping forth at the +urging of motives such as speak to each of us from these pages of the +Bible. Boldly he announces the judgments of God to his faithless +people. "During that long ministry" of forty years, says Geikie, "no +personal interest, comfort, or ease, no shrinking from ridicule, +contumely, or hatred, could turn him from the task imposed upon him, +with awful sanctions, by the lips of the Eternal God."[1] + +Or take the noble women with whose lofty virtue the inspired writers +fill the sacred volumes, and whose names some of the books bear. + +There is the sacred Book of _Ruth_, she who is called "friend" or +"lover" in the Hebrew tongue, fair image of filial affection as she +walks beside the aged Noemi along the weary roads north from Moab, to +conduct her mother to her native land. There, at noon and eve, we see +her scan the fresh-mown fields for the gleanings which the law of Moses +allowed the poor, in order that she might honorably keep the humble +home of her widowed parent. Another sacred book we have which bears +the name of _Judith_, the woman who, strengthened in the loyal love of +her father's nation, by valiant deed set herself to defend the children +of Israel from ignominious captivity. In the Book of _Esther_ we have +the history of her whose name signifies "myrtle," symbol among the Jews +of joyous gratitude. Full of that modest wisdom of which +Ecclesiasticus tells us that it "walketh with chosen women" (i. 17), +her influence is typical of that which the Virgin Queen, fair Mother of +the Christ, in later day did exercise upon the children of Eve. Ah, +truly, "the word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom, and her ways +are everlasting commandments" (Ecclesiastic.). + +But it would be a lengthy task to point out all the details of manifold +utility in the intellectual and practical, as well as the moral order, +which come from the study of the Sacred Scripture. We have seen in a +limited measure what it does for history, for language, for the science +of government, for the development of general knowledge, and the +cultivation of a graceful and vigorous style in writing. These books +hold the key to true wisdom. "All Scripture," writes St. Paul to the +young bishop Timothy, whom he himself had taught from the day he took +him to himself as a boy at Lystra, "all Scripture, inspired by God, is +profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct." + +Yet there are those, the same Apostle says, "who, always learning, +never attain to the knowledge of truth" (II. Tim. iii. 7). Why? +Because they do not study rightly. + + + +[1] Geikie, "Hours With the Bible," v. 134. + + + + +XIV. + +PROSPECTING. + +"Man is the perfection of creation, the mind is the perfection of man, +the heart is the perfection of the mind," says St. Francis de Sales. + +Our aim is to become perfect in mind and heart, in character and +disposition. Books are the readiest means of study to this end. They +are at our command at all times. When we have discovered a beautiful +thought, a strong chain of reasoning, which, whilst convincing, +attracts and leads us into the domain of truth, however partial, we +ponder it and make it our own, and we feel stronger in the permanent +possession of it. We desire truth, and we look for it in books, +mostly. Yet we may be anxious for knowledge, and worry or dream out +our days in a course of reading without gaining any real advantage from +it. Perhaps we fail in the proper choice of books, or else we do not +observe the right method in reading and study. + +Yet it is impossible for most men to go in search of and test +everything that is labelled "_truth_." Is there no remedy provided +against the danger of oft going wrong in order to find the right? Yes. +God has given us a compendium of everything that fosters true knowledge +and wisdom in a book consigned to the direction of an old, experienced, +and wise teacher. That book is the Bible, and the teacher is the +Church of Christ. In the book we find a store of great truths, of all +that is beautiful and ennobling, an infallible manual in the school of +human perfection, which leads us so high that, having mastered its +contents, we touch the very gates of heaven, where we may commune with +the Creator of wisdom and of all that our souls are capable of knowing. + +There are many who are thoroughly convinced of this. They believe that +the Bible is the most perfect book on earth, that it is the book of +books, as it has been called from time immemorial; for the word _Bible_ +means simply a book, _the_ book of all others by excellence, as if +there were none so worthy of study, and none which could not be +dispensed with rather than this. And so it is. It contains all +knowledge worthy of the highest aspirations and of the exercise of the +best talents. + +Yet, as a traveller in search of fortune may pass over seemingly barren +tracts of desert land or mountain ridge, which treasure beneath the +surface richest mines of gold, and caverns of splendid crystal and +rarest marble, so the reader of the sacred books, in search of +knowledge, may wearily tread along the paths of Bible truths, his eye +bewildered by endless repetitions of precepts and monotonous scenes and +seemingly uninteresting facts, unconscious of what wealth and beauty +lie beneath him. And the reason of this listless and tiring sense in +scanning over the pages of this book, which has from the first +captivated the admiration of the noblest minds of every race and age, +is the lack of sufficient preparation. The traveller looks for mines +of gold and diamonds, but he has never learnt the art of prospecting. +He stumbles over the heavy, dark ore, and the clods of metallic sand, +and his feet toil along the path lined with pebbles that, if polished, +would rival the stars of heaven, but they are a hindrance to him, for +he does not know _that_ or _how_ he should examine and utilize their +precious contents. He requires the previous training of the +prospector, the sharp eve of the skilled mining master, and the +unwearied courage to go down to examine the often crude-looking stones. +Without these qualities he not only fails in his attainment of wealth, +but becomes discouraged and even sceptic of its existence. + +In other words, there are certain essential conditions required upon +which depends the acquisition of that excellent knowledge which the +Scriptures contain for every sphere of life. They are conditions which +affect us in our entirety as men--I should say as the images of God, in +whose likeness we were created. Sin has tarnished this image, and we +are to restore it to its original beauty by correcting it. Our model +is God Himself. The Bible is the text-book containing the image of +this Model, drawn by Himself, and He has provided the preceptor to +explain the various meanings of lines, lights, and shadows, and the use +of the instruments which must be employed in completing the process. +It is a little tedious, as all art training is in its beginning. +Sometimes we copy with tracing-paper, and of late the kodak has done +much to help us by the aid of photography. + + + + +XV. + +USING THE KODAK. + +You know that through the art of photography a perfect picture of an +object may be produced by the action of light upon a smooth and +sensitive surface. The light reflected from the object which is to be +photographed enters through a lens into the dark chamber of the camera, +and makes an impression upon the plate which is rendered sensitive by a +film of chloride (or nitrate) of silver. To produce a good picture, +therefore, three things are principally required: + +1. _A faultless sensitized plate_ on which the reflection of the object +is to be made; + +2. _A concentrated light_; that is, the rays must enter the camera +through a lens, but be excluded from every other part; + +3. _The right focus_; that is to say, you must get the proper distance +of your object in order to preserve the just proportions between it and +its surroundings. + +The same requisites may be applied to ourselves when we wish to image +in our souls the object of divine truth, which is identical with God. + +1. The sensitive plate of our hearts and minds must be clean, without +flaw, so as to admit the ray of heavenly light, and let it take hold +upon its surface. A tarnished mirror gives but a blurred and imperfect +reflection. Just so the mind occupied with the follies and vanities of +worldliness, the heart filled with the changing idols of unworthy +attachments, is no fit surface for the delicate impressions of those +chaste delineations of truth which are nothing else but the image of +God in the human soul. To His likeness we were created, and to His +likeness we must again conform ourselves by a right study of truth. + +2. Next, in order to obtain a correct impression of the sublime truth +contained in the sacred volumes, we must concentrate our lights. That +is to say, we must read with assiduity, must study with earnestness, +and also with prayer, to obtain the light of the Divine Spirit who +caused these pages of the Bible to be traced for our instruction--for, +as one of our greatest English writers, though not a Catholic, has +beautifully said: + + "Within that awful volume lies + The mystery of mysteries! + Happiest they of human race + To whom God has granted grace + To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, + To lift the latch and force the way; + And better had they ne'er been born, + Who read to doubt, or read to scorn."[1] + + +This implies that all side-lights which may distract the mind from this +concentrated attention and reverend attitude should be excluded. To +read the Sacred Scriptures in a flippant mood, or even in an irreverent +posture, and without having previously reflected on the fact that it is +God's word, is to lessen immeasurably one's chance of profiting by the +reading. The Mahometan or Jew in the East reverently lifts each piece +of paper or parchment which he finds upon the road, for fear that it +might contain the name of Allah or Jehovah, and be profaned by being +trodden under foot. We owe no less to the inspired word of God, above +all if we would gain the key to its intelligence. + +The concentration into a focus is obtained through a perfectly-shaped, +convex lens. Now this lens, which is capable not only of bringing into +one strong point all the scattered rays of light, but under +circumstances gathers the particles to intensity of heat producing a +flame, is that centre of the affections commonly termed the heart. +There is a tendency among those who seek intellectual culture to +undervalue this quality of the heart, which nevertheless contains the +secret power of generating supreme wisdom. We are considering true +wisdom, not superficial, exclusively human wisdom, which is the very +opposite, and which debases man to a mere repository of facts and +impressions, like an illustrated encyclopedia, or makes of him a shrewd +egotist, whose cleverness we may admire as we admire the antics of a +dancing serpent without wishing to come in contact with its slimy body +or its poisonous fangs. + +"As in human things," says Pascal, "we must first know an object before +we can love it, so in divine things, which constitute the only real +truth at which man can worthily aim, we must love them before we can +know them, for we cannot attain to truth except through charity." "In +all our studies and pursuits of knowledge," says Watts, "let us +remember that the conformation of our hearts to true religion and +morality are things of far more consequence than all the furniture of +our understanding and the richest treasures of mere speculative +knowledge." + +If it be true that "nothing is so powerful to form truly grand +characters as meditation on the word of God and on Christian truths," +then we must suppose an inclination, a love for the lofty ideals which +Christianity sets before us. "To whom has the root of wisdom been +revealed?" asks that wise and noble old rabbi, son of Sirach; and he +answers: "God has given her to them that love Him." If the wise man in +the sacred book tells us that "wisdom walketh with chosen women," may +we not assume that it is because woman enjoys the prerogative of those +qualities of heart which make her counsels so often far surer than the +carefully pondered reasons of men? + +If the fear of the Lord is the _beginning_ of wisdom, is not charity or +love its consummation? "Blessed is the man that shall continue in +wisdom. With the bread of life and understanding God's fear shall feed +him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink, and ... shall +heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to +inherit an everlasting name. But ... foolish men shall not see her: +for she is far from pride and deceit.... Say not: It is through God +that she is not with me, for do not thou the things that He hateth" +(Eccles., ch. xiv. and xv.). + +But there is no need of multiplying these sayings of God. The +knowledge we seek here is the knowledge which comes from the Divine +Spirit, source of all science as of all goodness and beauty. What the +fruits of that spirit are we are told by St. Paul: Charity, joy, peace, +patience, etc.; and we know how the Apostle of the Gentiles, who had +learnt much in many schools, at the feet of Gamaliel and in the halls +of the Greek philosophers, valued these fruits of wisdom above all the +doctrines of men. + +Catholics are fortunate in this, that they may gain from the study of +the Bible that purest light of wisdom which is only partially +communicated to those who find no way, through the sacraments, of +cleansing their souls,--that mirror in which God's image can show +clearly only when it is polished and purified from the dust-stains of +our earthly fall. Whatever opportunities for thorough study of the +Bible we may have, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most +important conditions for its proper and fruitful appreciation, because +the intelligence is always warped by sin. + +A correct knowledge of our faith, as the primary rule of our conduct, +is, of course, supposed. We cannot understand the written word of God +unless we have become accustomed to the language He speaks to the +heart, and that language is taught in our catechisms and textbooks of +religion. Some need less of this knowledge than others, so far as the +difficulties and controversies of religion are concerned. The Bible is +a book of instruction for all, and hence the preparatory knowledge +required varies with the mental range and ability, and the consequent +danger of doubts and false views of each individual. A child knows the +precepts and wishes of its parent often by a look or gesture, without +receiving any explicit instruction, because love and the habit of faith +supply intelligence. Others require a certain amount of reasoning to +move their hearts to the ready acceptance of divine precepts. This +reasoning is supplied by the study of popular theologies, of which we +have a good number in English. + +3. Lastly, we must not only get a right glass, a good lens, but we must +likewise get the right focus for our picture. We must know the +distance of our objects and their surroundings, the lights and shades, +the coloring, natural and artificial. In other words, we must become +familiar with the circumstances of history, the dates, the places, the +customs and laws, national and social, which throw light upon the +meaning of the incidents related in the Sacred Scriptures, and which +often aid us in the interpretation of passages mysterious and +prophetic. Hence we have to give some attention to, and study what we +can, of the ancient records and monuments brought to light by the +archaeologist and the historian. We must likewise inquire into the +origin, history, authority, purpose, and general argument of each of +the inspired books. All this is the object of what is called +_Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures_, and is nothing +else but a becoming and essential preparation for the right use of the +Bible. + + Ah, may our understanding ever read + This glorious volume which God's wisdom made, + And in that charter humbly recognize + Our title to a treasure in the skies! + + + +[1] Scott, _The Monastery_, c. xii. + + + + +XVI. + +THE INTERPRETATION OF THE IMAGE. + +The Bible is not only a text-book which leads us to the acquisition of +the highest of arts--that of fulfilling the true purpose of life--but +it is itself, as has already been suggested, a work of fairest art +inasmuch as it contains a perfect delineation of the divine Beauty +drawn by the sovereign Artist Himself. + +Now true art needs, as a rule, an interpretation; for the outward form +which appeals to the senses may have its deeper and real meaning +disguised beneath the figure, so as to be understood only by the finer +perceptions of the intellect and heart. Take, for example, a canvas +such as Millet's popular picture entitled "The Angelus." It is a +small, unpretentious-looking work, representing a youth and a maid in a +fallow field, a village church in the distance, all wrapt in the gloom +of eventide. Ask a child looking at the picture what is the meaning of +it, and it will probably answer: "Two poor people tired of work." Ask +a countryman, without much education, and he will say: "Two poor lovers +thinking of home." But to the poet who has perchance dwelt in some +village of fair Southern France, and knows the simple habits of +devotion among the peasant folk, the picture will awaken memories of +the sound of the Angelus: + + "Ave Maria," blessed be the hour, + The time, the clime, the spot where I so oft + Have felt that moment in its fullest power + Sink o'er the earth, so beautiful and soft, + While swung the deep bell in the distant tower, + Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft, + And not a breath crept through the rosy air. + + +And the reflecting, devout Catholic will see in that picture even more +than the thoughts it suggests to the poet. It will speak to him of the +angelic salute to a Virgin fair at Nazareth; it will touch a chord of +tender confidence and hope in the Madonna's help and sympathy; it will +arouse a feeling of gratitude for the mystery of the Redemption. And +all this difference of judgment arises from the varying degrees of +intelligence and knowledge with which we approach the image. + +Now the Sacred Scriptures present just such a picture, only larger, +more comprehensive, truer, deeper, containing all the fair delineation +of God's own image, the pattern according to which we are to correct +the same divine likeness in our souls, spoiled somewhat and blurred by +sin. + +Let us look at the outline. There are words and a fact. In the words +truth is enunciated, in the fact those words are exhibited as being a +divine utterance. In their _literal_ meaning the word affects us just +as a picture would at first sight. In the one case we have a precept +or an incident or a scene in the life of our Lord; in the other case we +have an act of prayer or a scene from the daily life of French +peasants. But just as in the picture we may, by reason of artistic and +spiritual culture, recognize not simply an ordinary scene of peasant +life, but a poetic thought, or a practical moral lesson calling for +imitation, or, finally, a mystery of religion, so in the Sacred +Scriptures we may see below the literal sense one that is internal, +hidden, and in its character either simply figurative, or moral, or +mystically spiritual. An old ecclesiastical writer has given us a +Latin hexameter which suggests these various senses in which the sacred +text may at times be understood: + + Litera _gesta_ docet, quod credas _allegoria_; + _Moralis_ quid agas, quo tendas _anagogia_. + +An example of the four different senses (namely, the _literal_, the +_allegorical_, which appeals to our faith, the _moral_, and the +_mystic_) in which a word or passage of Holy Writ may be interpreted is +offered in the term "Jerusalem." If we read that "they went up to +Jerusalem every year," we understand the word Jerusalem to represent +the chief city of the Hebrews, situated on the confines of Judah and +Benjamin. If we happen upon the passage of St. John where he says: "I, +John, saw a holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven +from God; ... behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell +with them," we know that this _new_ Jerusalem on earth can be no other +than the Church, where God has His tabernacle, dwelling with men. The +word is used _allegorically_, that is to say, it appeals to our faith; +to the internal, not to our external sense. Again, the word +"Jerusalem" may be used in the sense which its etymology suggests +without reference to any city. Etymologically it consists of two +words, signifying _foundation_ and _peace_. A rabbi might, therefore, +bid his disciples to strive to build up "Jerusalem," meaning that they +should seek to lay solid foundations of peace by conforming their lives +to the law of Jehovah. This would give the word Jerusalem simply a +_moral_ signification. Finally, the word is used as a synonyme for +"heaven," as in Apoc. xxi. 10: "And He took me up in spirit, ... and He +showed me the holy city Jerusalem, ... having the glory of God." Here +we have the term in its _anagogical_ sense, that is, referring to the +future life. + +Without entering into the various figures of speech with which the +language of the Hebrews abounds, let me suggest some points which must +be observed in order that the true sense of the Sacred Scriptures may +not escape us so as to mislead the mind. + +For the discovery of the literal sense we must, of course, be guided by +the rules of ordinary grammatical construction. Where this proves +insufficient we must have recourse to the idiomatic use of language, +the habits of speech, which prevailed among the Hebrews or those with +whose utterances or history we are concerned. This is very important +in order that we may get a right understanding of the expressions +employed. As an instance of misconception in this respect may be cited +the words of our Lord to His holy Mother at the nuptials of Cana, which +literally sound like a reproof, yet are far from conveying such a sense +in their original signification. The like is true of the use of +certain comparisons which to our sense seem rude and cruel, yet which +were not so understood in the language in which they were originally +spoken or written. Thus when our Lord said to the Canaanitish woman +who followed Him in the regions of Tyre and Sidon that it is not right +to give the bread of the children to "dogs," He seemed to spurn the +poor mother, who prayed Him for the recovery of her child, as a man +spurns a cur. Yet such is not the sense of the expression, which +hardly means anything more than what we would convey by "outside of the +pale of faith." + +Besides the usage of speech peculiar to a people or district or period +of time, we must have regard to the individuality of the writer. His +subjective state, his temperament, education, personal associations, +and habits of thought and feeling necessarily influence the style of +his writing. Thus in the letters of St. Paul we recognize a spirit +which the forms of speech seem wholly inadequate to contain or express. +He writes as he might speak, impatient of words. His thoughts seem +often disconnected; he omits things which he had evidently meant to +say, and which the hearers might have supplied from the vividness of +the image presented, but which become obscure to the reader who only +sees the cold form of the written page. There is no end of +parenthetical clauses in his discourses; often he begins a period and +leaves it unfinished. Sometimes there appears a total absence of +logical connection in what he intends for proofs and arguments; then, +again, there is a wealth of imagery, which suggests the quick sense and +power of comparison peculiar to the Oriental mind, but slow to impress +itself on the Western nations. All this makes it necessary to _study_ +St. Paul rather than to read him, if one would understand the Apostle. +Of this St. Peter shows himself conscious when he writes that certain +things in the Epistles of St. Paul are "_hard to be understood_, which +the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, +to their own destruction" (II. Pet. iii. 16). + +Another element which contributes to the right interpretation of the +Sacred Text is the knowledge of what may be called the historical +background of a passage or book. This includes the various relations +of time, place, persons addressed, and other circumstances which +exercise an influence upon the material, intellectual, and moral +surroundings of the writer. Accordingly, different parts of the Sacred +Scriptures require different treatment and different preparation on the +part of the reader. Thus to comprehend the full significance of the +Book of Exodus we must study the geographical and ethnographical +condition of Egypt. For a right understanding of the Book of Daniel we +should first have to become acquainted with the history of Chaldea and +Assyria, especially as lit up by the recent discoveries of monuments in +the East. The Canticle of Canticles presupposes for its just +interpretation a certain familiarity with the details of Solomon's life +during the golden period of his reign. The Letters of St. Paul, in the +New Testament, reveal their true bearing only after we have read the +life of the Apostle as it is described in the Acts; and so on for other +parts of the Sacred History. + +Finally, a proper understanding and appreciation of the inspired books +depend largely on our realization of the proximate scope and purpose, +the character and quality, of the subject treated by the sacred writer. +The Bible is a wondrous combination of historic, didactic, and +prophetic elements. Each of these goes to support or emphasize the +other, but each of them has its predominant functions in different +parts of the grand structure. Hence we may not judge a prophecy as we +judge the historical narrative which introduces and supports it; we may +not interpret in its literal sense the metaphor which is simply to +convey a moral lesson to the mind. + + + + +XVII. + +"DEUS ILLUMINATIO MEA." + +The subject-matter of the Bible obliges us, however, to apply not only +the various cautions and methods of interpretation which are required +for the understanding of the classics generally, but it exacts more. +The Sacred Scriptures, as a grand work of art, have not only a human, +but primarily a divine conception for their basis. Hence it does not +suffice to have mastered the meaning of the words and the outline of +the subject, or the individual genius and human ideal of the writer who +acted merely as the instrument executing a higher inspiration. We must +enter into the conception of the divine mind. If the principal and +all-pervading motive of the great Scriptural composition is a religious +one, it stands to reason that it can be comprehended only when judged +from a religious point of view. + +Now the divine mind is so far above us that we can reach it only if God +Himself brings it down to us. He has to descend, to lift the veil from +His immensity, not by opening to us, before the time, those sacred +precincts which "eye hath never seen," but by emitting a ray of light +to clear up our darkness, to give us a glimpse of the awful splendor +which vibrates in those celestial realms where light and sound and +warmth of eternal charity mingle in the sweet harmony of the divine +Beauty whose tones speak now to our senses in separate forms. God +descends to our humility to interpret His own image. First He came in +human form, and told us all the things we were to believe and do. Then +He sent the Paraclete, and under His direction men of God taught the +same things. Then they wrote them, or, as St. John tells us, some of +them. The Paraclete veils Himself, as our Lord had announced to His +Apostles, in the Church, whose divinely constituted earthly chief was +to be Peter--to the end of time. The Church, therefore, founded by +Christ, and an ever-living emanation of the incessant activity of the +Holy Spirit, although necessarily speaking to men through men, is the +first and surest interpreter of the purpose and meaning of each and +every part of Holy Writ. + +And because God cannot contradict Himself it follows that every truth +of the written word must correspond with every truth of the spoken +word. In doubtful cases, therefore, as to the meaning of a word or +text in the Sacred Writings, we have recourse to the supreme, +divinely-guided judgment of the Church. Her doctrines, defined, are +the first and most important criterion of Scriptural truth. + +But the Church has not defined every expression of truth, though she +holds the key to all truth. She points to the light which illumines +our night; she declares the stars whence that light issues directly or +by reflection; but she does not always indicate where the rays of the +one body begin to mingle with those of the other, or what precise +elements determine the motion or stability of each. Only when there +are conflicts or threatened disturbances of the centres of attraction +and repulsion she reaches out her anointed hand, informed with the +magic power of her Creator and founder, and directs the courses of +bodies that otherwise would clash unto mutual destruction. Hence the +freedom of investigation allowed the Catholic student of the Scriptures +is limited only by the rules of faith taught by the same divine Teacher +who watches over the spoken and written revelation alike. And as, in +cases where we have not the express command of a superior, we interpret +his will by his known desires and views in other respects, so in the +interpretation of those parts of Holy Writ regarding the meaning of +which we have no definite expression in the doctrinal code of the +Church, we follow the _analogy of faith_; which is manifest from the +general consent of the Christian Fathers and Doctors, and from the +teaching of learned and holy commentators. These we may safely follow +in all doubtful cases, that is to say, where there is no evidence to +show that they were mistaken, either through want of certain sources of +information or proofs which we have at our command presently, or +because they accepted the views of their time and people, feeling that +any departure from the received tradition would make disturbance, and +fail of its intended good effect. + +It is safe to say that the conditions of one age and the modes of +thought and feeling of one generation are not a just standard by which +to judge the conditions and views of another age or generation. This +is an important fact to remember for those who are inclined to look in +every part of the Sacred Scriptures for a verification of the +sentiments which they feel, and of the views and opinions of things +which they hold. + + + + +XVIII. + +RUSH-LIGHTS. + +There is a method of interpreting the Bible which, although it affords +a temporary satisfaction to the heart, is misleading to the mind. I +mean private interpretation in the sense in which it is generally +practised and defended by our Protestant brethren. To take a good +photograph you must have sunlight; candles, gas, even electric lights, +unless they be flash-lights, which don't suit all purposes of accurate +reproduction, will not accomplish it. For vegetable growth you need +sunlight; artificial light will give neither healthy fruit nor even +color to the plant. So it is with the divine image traced in the +Sacred Scriptures. We cannot reproduce it in our souls by any earthly +light. Now human judgment is an earthly light, because it is +constantly influenced by feelings, prejudices, attachments, and partial +views of things. Some of us accept an opinion because it suits our +conditions of life, is agreeable to our sense of ease or vanity, +relieves us from certain responsibilities to God and our neighbor which +a severer statement of the case would exact. Others endorse a view +because it is held by a person whom they love or respect. Others, +again, maintain an opinion because it is contrary to the one held by a +person whom they dislike. And there is a vast number of people who +take a view simply because it is the first that presents itself to +them, and they are as well pleased with it as with others which they +don't know. It must be remembered, moreover, that man is not naturally +inclined toward the right. The world loves darkness since its eyes +were hurt by the wanton effort to see God and to be like Him in a way +which was against His law. Amid this darkness, intellectual and moral, +which surrounds man, and which for the moment pleases him because it +relieves him of a strain, we need a guide. We must follow a leader who +knows all the ways and enjoys the full light of heaven. + +The defence in favor of private interpretation of the Bible usually +rests in the assumption of God's goodness, who must needs furnish an +inward light to man lest he go wrong in his search after truth. But +God's goodness gives you a guide, well accredited with testimonials +from Himself, against whose efficiency the inward light compares like a +rush-light against the sun. + +The red cross of the Alpine Club marks the safe passage down the rocky +mountain paths of Switzerland. We recognize the stones which are +landmarks because they bear the conventional sign of an authorized body +of mountaineers. They lead our way, and we follow without hesitation. +But if the mark of the red cross of the Alpine Club were not visible, +if we had to trust to the inward light or to our instinct to guide us, +we should run the risk of losing our way and lives, though the stones +which marked the path of former travellers are still there. + +Nor does it seem according to the divine wisdom to give man a written +law and then to leave him to Himself for its interpretation. No other +written law was ever given under such conditions by or to man. It +would frustrate the fundamental purpose of any written law to allow the +individual to interpret it, because it would lead to contradictions and +confusion, which it is the very object of laws to prevent. That the +divine Law, in its written form, is no exception to this rule is proved +from the effects of the theory of private interpretation, which have +grown into a history of many sects, conscientiously protesting one +against the other because of the inferences which each draws from the +one sacred code of Christian law and doctrine. Thus the written word +of God would frustrate its own manifest purpose, nay, give occasion to +a thousand justifications of separation and hostility, which its +fundamental canon, charity in the union of Christ, expressly forbids. + +What other conclusion, therefore, remains than to accept the warning of +St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, who, speaking of the reading of the +Sacred Scriptures, wishes the converts to understand "_this, first, +that no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation_,"[1] +because "_the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost_" (II. +Pet. i. 20, 21). + +And this disposes, in the mind of the sincere Christian, of all the +theories of interpretation advanced by rationalist and naturalist +philosophers, who render their arguments a trifle more consistent than +Protestants by denying from the outset the divine inspiration of the +Sacred Scriptures. + + + +[1] The Protestant (King James) version of this passage reads: "That no +prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." The late +revision of the New Testament omits the word _any_. + + + +XIX. + +THE USE AND THE ABUSE OF THE BIBLE. + +"Revelation and a Church are practically identical. Revelation and +Scripture are not."[1] Though _revelation_ is necessary to guide the +human mind, prone to error, and to sustain the human will, weak by +reason of an hereditary fall, we have seen that the Bible is but _one_ +channel of that revelation, and that a complementary, secondary one. +It neither contains all revealed truth, nor can the truth which it +contains be clearly and completely understood without the guidance of +an intelligent interpretation. A teacher of any science or art may +give a book into the hands of his pupils to serve as a text, as a +reminder of his precepts, as a compend of his methods and practice; but +no book, no matter how perfectly written, will make us dispense with +the teacher. The education, in any direction, which rests upon the +sole use of books is essentially defective and misleading. + +This is eminently true of the Bible as a text or guide in the +acquisition of the highest of arts, the profoundest of sciences, which +leads us to the recognition of absolute truth, with an ever-increasing +apprehension, because its scope is immeasurable, eternal. + +The teacher of revelation, in its first and most important +signification, is Christ. He is the central historical figure, +announced to man immediately after his fall in Paradise foreshadowed by +the prophets in the Jewish Church, and completing His mission in the +Christian Church. As the Holy Ghost animated the prophets to foretell +Him, and the priests of the synagogue to announce Him in the Old Law, +so the Holy Ghost animates the Church to continue His work in the New +Law. As books were written by the prophets of old to perpetuate the +remembrance of what Jehovah had spoken through them to His people +regarding the coming of the Messias, so books were written by the +Apostles and disciples of the New Law to perpetuate the remembrance of +what that Messias had said and done, and of what He wished us to do. +But as the old written Law was not to be a substitute for the +commission of teaching and guiding the people through the Jewish +Synagogue, so neither was the new written Law intended to be a +substitute for the commission of teaching and guiding those who seek +salvation through Christ. The Bible alone, as we have already seen, +cannot satisfy us in such a way as to supply the full reason for our +faith in Christ's teaching. For this we have a Church to whom Christ, +as God, gave a direct commission, without adding a book, or an express +command to write a book. + +But a book was written, written under the guidance of the divine +Spirit, who had been promised to the Church whenever it would speak, +whether by word of mouth or by epistle and written gospel. And that +book, though not containing all truth, contains truth only. Therefore +it is useful, as St. Paul says, II. Tim. iii. 16: "All Scripture +inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to +instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to +every good work." The use, then, of the Bible is to teach, to instruct +in justice, primarily; to make man perfect, furnished to every good +work. Mark the twofold term: to _teach_ and to _instruct_; both +teaching and instruction to serve the one end--to make a perfect man, +"furnished to every good work." + +That the principal purpose and scope of Scripture is to teach the +truths of religion has been demonstrated in a former chapter. I have +here only to add that, as an instrument of Apologetics, and in +discussion with Protestants who admit the divinity of Christ and the +inspired character of the Sacred Scriptures, reference to the teachings +of the Bible plays a very important part. Whether we are defending our +faith against misrepresentation, or desirous of convincing other +sincere and open minds of the justness of the claims which the Catholic +Church makes as the only true representative of Christ's divine mission +to teach the nations, the Bible is a safe and commonly recognized +meeting-ground for a fair discussion of the subject. + +Even when we have to speak of religion with practical infidels, who +read the Bible, or have some knowledge of its contents, that book will +serve us as a powerful weapon of defence and persuasion. Few +intelligent men or women of to-day, especially if they are earnest, and +have a real regard for virtue and truth, though they may consider them +as mere gifts of the natural order, fail to recognize that Christianity +is a power for good, and that Christ, its Author, is and ever will be +the great teacher of mankind, in whose true following man becomes +better, nobler, and happier. To illustrate this fact, we may be +permitted to quote at some length from an article by Baron Von Huegel in +a recent number of the _Dublin Review_ (April, 1895). Speaking of +Christ, he cites from various writers, as follows: + +Thus "Ernest Renan, sceptical even to his own scepticism, addresses him +and says: 'A thousand times more living, a thousand times more loved, +since thy death than during thy passage upon earth, thou wilt become +the corner-stone of humanity, to such a point, that to blot out thy +name out of the world would be in very truth to shake its very +foundations.'[2] John Stuart Mill, who tells us of himself: 'I never +lost faith, for I never had it,' proclaims at the end of his long +life's labors: 'Whatever else may be taken from us by rational +criticism, Christ is still left; a unique figure, not more unlike all +his predecessors than all his followers, even those who had the direct +benefit of his personal teaching. It is no use to say that Christ in +the Gospels is not historical, and that we know not how much of what is +admirable has been superadded by the tradition of his followers. For +who among his disciples or their proselytes was capable of inventing +the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of imagining the life and character +revealed in the Gospels? Certainly not the fishermen of Galilee, as +certainly not St. Paul, whose character and idiosyncrasy were of a +totally different sort; still less the early Christian writers, in whom +nothing is more evident than that the good which was in them was all +derived, as they always professed that it was derived, from the higher +source.'[3] Even so purely Deistic a critic as Abraham Kuenen +declares: 'The international religion which we call Christianity was +founded, not by the Apostle Paul, but by Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus +whose person and whose teaching are sketched in the Synoptic Gospels +with the closest approximation of truth.' 'The need of Christianity is +as keen as ever. It is not for less but for more Christianity that the +age cries out. Even those many who do not identify Christianity with +the ecclesiastical form in which they themselves profess it, and who +have no confidence that the world will necessarily conform to +them--even these may be at peace. The universalism of Christianity is +the sheet-anchor of their hope. A history of eighteen centuries bears +mighty witness to it; and the contents of its evidence and the high +significance they possess are brought into the clearest light by the +comparison with other religions. We have good courage then.'[4] So +advanced a critic and sensitively loyal a Jew as Mr. Claud Montefiore +tells us: 'Some of the sayings ascribed to Jesus have sunk too deep +into the human heart, or shall I say into the spiritual consciousness +of civilized mankind, to make it probable that any religion which +ignores or omits them will exercise a considerable influence outside +its own borders. It may be that those who dream of a prophetic +Judaism, which shall be as spiritual as the religion of Jesus, and even +more universal than the religion of Paul, are the victims of a +delusion.'[5] So largely naturalistic a critic as Julius Wellhausen +writes of our Lord's teaching and person: 'The miraculous is impossible +with man, but with God it is possible. Jesus has not only assured us +of this, but he has proved it in his own person. He had indeed lost +his life and saved it, he could do as he would. He had escaped the +bonds of human kind and the sufferings of self-seeking nature. There +is in him no trace of that eagerness for action which seeks for peace +in the restlessness of its own activity. The completely super-worldly +standpoint in which Jesus finds strength and love to devote himself to +the world has nothing extravagant about it. He is the first to know +himself, not simply in moments of emotion, but in completest +restfulness, the child of God; before him no one so felt or so +described himself.' 'Jesus not only prophesies the kingdom of God, but +brings it out of its transcendence on to earth; he plants at least its +germ. The new times already begin with him: the blind see, the deaf +hear, the dead arise. Everywhere he found spaciousness for his soul, +nowhere was he cramped by the little, much as he put forward the value +of the great; this we should do, and not leave that undone. He was +more than a prophet; in him the word had become flesh. The historic +overweightedness, to which the Jews were succumbing, does not even +touch him. A unit arises in the dreary mass, a man from among the +rubbish which the dwarfs, the rabbis, had heaped up. He upsets the +accidental, the caricature, the dead, and collects the eternally valid, +the human divine, in the focus of His individuality. "Ecce homo," a +divine wonder in this time and this environment.'" + +Such being the view of religiously disposed persons outside of the +Catholic Church regarding the New Testament teaching of Christ, it +would seem easy at first sight to convince them of the Catholic +doctrine by reference to the words of Christ and the Gospels, which +contain explicit, if not complete testimony in behalf of the Catholic +teaching. There is one difficulty in the way of this, and that is that +Protestants themselves distrust the meaning of the New Testament words +except in so far as it expresses their own feelings. The principle of +private interpretation necessarily leads to this one-sided view. A +hundred persons appeal to the one Book as an infallible expression of +God's will and truth. Now, some of these infallible expressions +manifestly contradict one another as Protestants interpret them. Yet +the consequences of such contradictions are vital, and involve eternal +life or death. Take the doctrine of baptism by water as essential to +salvation, according to the reading of some Protestants; yet the +Quaker, no less sincere than his Baptist neighbor, and claiming a +special inward light, consciously neglects baptism, holding that the +teaching of the New Testament is only meant in a spiritual sense. +Equally awful in their consequences are the two contrary doctrines +regarding the Eucharistic presence of Christ as declared in the New +Testament, one believer drawing the conclusion that he must adore God +under the veil of bread, the other equally convinced from the same +Scriptures that such a view is sheer idolatry, and that there is +nothing divine under the appearance of bread. This appeal to private +judgment makes most Protestants sceptical if you attempt to prove to +them Catholic doctrine from the New Testament; and unless you can first +convince them that the Church has a greater claim to declare the sense +of the Bible than any private individual, they will consider their +opinion of its meaning and purpose just as good as yours. + +But it is different if you appeal to the Old Testament for a +confirmation of Catholic doctrine. And I would strongly urge this +method for various reasons. Every Protestant will admit that the Old +Testament is not only inspired and divine in its origin, but that in +its historic expression, even the deutero-canonical portion, contains +the application of its meaning and purpose. In other words, that God +not merely gave the Israelites a law, but also shows us how He meant +them to interpret that law in their lives--domestic, social, and +religious. Here, therefore, we have little need, or even opportunity, +for private interpretation as to God's meaning. That meaning becomes +clear from the action of His people. + +At the same time it is also clear and generally admitted that the Old +Testament is a foreshadowing of the New Law, hence that the doctrines +and practices of the Christian Church have their counterpart in the Old +Law. Protestants readily agree to this, in proof of which fact I may +be allowed to quote Prof. Robertson Smith: + +"Christianity can never separate itself from its historical basis, or +the religion of Israel; the revelation of God in Christ cannot be +divorced from the earlier revelation on which our Lord built. Indeed, +the history of Israel, when rightly studied, is the most real and vivid +of all histories; and the proofs of God's working among His people of +old may still be made, what they were in time past, one of the +strongest evidences of Christianity."[6] + +Dr. A. B. Bruce in his _Apologetics_, 1892, p. 325, says: "The Bible, +instead of being a dead rule, to be used mechanically, with equal value +set on all its parts, is rather a living organism, which, like the +butterfly, passes through various transformations before arriving at +its highest and final form. We should find Christ in the Old Testament +as we find the butterfly in the caterpillar."[7] + +Hence if you can show to the average intelligent Protestant that a +doctrine or practice distinctively of the Catholic Church prevailed in +the Jewish Church, you have established an _a priori_ argument for its +reasonableness. This applies particularly to such doctrines and +practices as Protestants condemn or censure in the Catholic Church from +a mere habit of not finding them in their own churches, or from some +prejudice nourished by bigotry of early teachers, or by the popular +literature of the anti-Catholic type. I only mention such topics as +Indulgences, Confession, the Infallibility of the Pope, Celibacy of the +clergy and religious, and such like. Now all these things existed in +the Old Law, not so completely developed as in the Christian Church, +but sufficiently pronounced to establish a motive of credibility for +their existence in the Church of Christ. Thus we have the +reasonableness of the practice of Confession plainly indicated in the +Mosaic times: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Say to the children +of Israel, when a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins +that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed +the commandment of the Lord, and offended, they shall confess their +sin, and shall restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over +and above, to him against whom they have sinned" (Num. v. 6-7; also +13-14). The Infallibility of the Pope finds its perfect counterpart in +the oracular responses given by the Jewish high-priest when he wore the +Urim and Thummim in his breastplate, which covers the precise ground of +Papal decisions regarding faith and morals, the breastplate being +called "the rational of judgment, doctrine, and truth" (See Exod. +xxviii. 30; Levit. viii. 8; Num. xxvii. 21; Deut. xxxiii. 8, etc.). + +As to the practice of virginity, we know that it existed among the +Jews, as an exceptional condition; but as such it had the sanction of +God. Thus the Prophet Jeremias receives the command of virginity from +Jehovah directly: "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou +shalt not take thee a wife; neither shalt thou have sons and daughters +in this place" (Jer. xvi. 2). + +Thus practical arguments, of which I can here only indicate a few, may +be found for each and all of the usages of the Catholic Church. And +any censure of the latter will cast its reflection upon the Jewish +dispensation, of which God was Himself the Author and Guardian. For if +God sanctioned ceremonies in worship, and infallibility in the +high-priest, and virginity in the Prophet whom He selects for a special +mission, and confession, with penance and the obligation of +restitution, why should Protestants think it so strange to find us +practise the same things which have the seal of divine approbation! + +Thus they may be inclined more readily to accept the more explicit +arguments in favor of Catholic doctrine and discipline as given in the +New Testament, which is but the fulfilment of the types suggested in +the Old Law. + +It is hardly necessary for me to point out in this connection the +advantages of being able to disabuse Protestants of the impression that +Catholics do not honor the Bible as the word of God. Those who, as +Protestants, do not recognize any other source of divine revelation +than the written word are, of course, obliged to occupy themselves +wholly and entirely with its study, whilst Catholics look upon that +same written word, not with less reverence, but with less consciousness +of having to rely upon it as the only symbol and exponent of their +faith. If we refuse on general principles to have the Bible read to +our Catholic children in a public school from a Protestant translation, +it is simply because the admission of such a practice implies an +admission of a Protestant principle, and might leave a wrong impression +upon our children as to the value of the true version of their +religion. The Protestant translation of the Bible contains a great +deal of truth, _but some errors_ which we cannot admit in our teaching. +To give it to our children in the schools is something like planting a +Southern flag upon some public institution of the United States. Some +may say it is better than none, because it begets patriotism, and as +there is no difference in the two flags except the slight one of a few +stars and stripes, most people might never notice it. But we know that +if they did notice it, it would create considerable disturbance, +because it implies something of disloyalty to "Old Glory." + +For a like reason Catholics often refuse to kiss the Protestant Bible +in court. They prefer simply _to affirm_. And in this they are +perfectly right, although to attest one's willingness to tell the truth +on such occasions is not supposed to be a trial of one's faith, and +hence it does not involve anything of a denial of Catholic truth. + +But I must pass on to one or two illustrations to show in what fields +the Bible is _not_ to be used. For though it furnishes most apt means +for imparting a knowledge and inciting to the further study of history, +languages, the principles of government and ethics, together with the +development of a graceful and withal vigorous style of English writing, +yet there are limits to its use in some directions. Thus the Bible +cannot be considered as replacing the exact sciences. We are quite +safe always in affirming that the Bible never contradicts science; that +where it does not incidentally confirm the results of scientific +research it abstracts from the teaching of science. Its language +relating to physical facts is popular, not scientific. There is no +reason to think that the inspired writers received any communication +from heaven as to the inward workings of nature. They had simply the +knowledge of their age, and described things accordingly. Leo XIII. in +his recent Encyclical on the study of the Sacred Scriptures strongly +reiterates this doctrine, advanced by many Doctors of the Church, +namely, that the _sacred writers_ had no intention of initiating us +into the secrets of nature or to teach us the inward constitution of +the visible world. Hence their language about "the firmament," and how +"the sun stood still," as we still say "the sun rises."[8] + +If, then, we are confronted with some statement by scientists affirming +that there is a scientific inaccuracy in the Bible, we have no remark +to make but that the Bible was not meant to be a text-book of exact +science. If it is urged that there are contradictions between the +Bible and science, then the case demands attention. We know that truth +cannot contradict itself; but we know that we may err in apprehending +it, and that science may err in its assumptions of fact. Hence in the +matter of Biblical Apology, when dealing with science, it is of the +first importance that we render an exact account to ourselves of what +_science affirms_ and of what the _Sacred Scripture affirms_. It is +important to note here the distinction which P. Brucker points out; +namely, what _science affirms_, not what _scientists affirm_. "The +latter often mingle _conjecture_, more or less probable, with the +definitely ascertained results of scientific experiment; they often +accept as facts certain observations and plausible conclusions which +are not always deduced from legitimate premises nor in a strictly +logical method." The human mind is always prone to accept the +plausible for the true, the appearance of things for their substance, +the general for the universal, the part for the whole, or the probable +for the proved. This is demonstrated by the history of scientific +hypotheses in nearly every department of human knowledge. + +In the next place, we must be quite sure to ascertain _what the Sacred +Scriptures affirm_. Apologists place themselves in a needlessly +responsible position when, in the difficult task of determining a +doubtful reading of the Sacred Text, they assume an interpretation +which may be gainsaid by scientific _proof_. The teaching of St. +Augustine and St. Thomas on this subject is that we are not to +interpret in any _particular_ sense any part of Sacred Scripture which +admits of a different interpretation. And here Leo XIII. in his +Encyclical gives us an important point to consider when he says that +the defenders of the Sacred Scriptures must not consider that they are +obliged to defend _each single_ opinion of isolated Fathers of the +Church.[9] There is a difference between a _prudent conservatism_ and +a timid and slavish repetition of time-honored views. Also between _an +intelligent advance_ of well-founded, though _new_ views, and an +excessive temerity, which rashly replaces the tradition of ages by the +suggestions of new science. + +"Hence any attempt to prove that the statements of the Bible imply in +every case exact conformity with the latest results of scientific +research is a needless and, under circumstances, a dangerous +experiment; for although there are instances where (as in chap. i. of +Genesis) the Bible statements anticipate the exactest results of +scientific investigation by many centuries, yet it is not and need not +be so in all instances. + +"Yet whilst we may not consider Moses as anticipating the +investigations of a Newton, a Laplace, or a Cuvier, there are cases +where the natural purpose and context of the sacred writers develop an +exact harmony with the facts of science of which former ages had no +right conception. Such are the creation by successive stages, the +unity of species, and origin of the human race, etc. But these facts +are _not proposed as scientific_ revelations." + +In all important questions as to the agreement of the Bible with the +results of scientific research we may have recourse with perfect +confidence to the living teaching of the Church; where she gives no +decision there we are at liberty to speculate, provided the results of +our speculation do not conflict with explicit and implied doctrines of +truth, that is to say, they must be in harmony with the general analogy +of faith. + +There is one other topic which I would touch upon in speaking of the +use and abuse of the Bible; it is a view which the late Oliver Wendell +Holmes is supposed to have advocated. The author of "The Professor at +the Breakfast Table" believed that it would be advantageous if the +Bible were, as he terms it, _depolarized_, that is to say, if the +translations or versions made from the originals were put in such form +as to appeal to the imagination and feelings of the present generation +by substituting modern terminology and figures of speech for the old +time-honored words of Scriptural comparisons. The aim would be, as I +understand it, to do for the written word of God what the Salvation +Army leaders are attempting to do for nineteenth century Christianity +in general. + +In answer to this suggestion it may be said that the attempt has been +made in various ways, and seemingly always without result for the +better. As we have versions of St. Paul's Epistles in Ciceronian +Latin, so we have had travesties of the Gospels intended to popularize +the moral maxims they contain. If it is question of making the Bible +accessible to the people for the purpose of getting them to read it, +devices of this kind may succeed to a degree with those who look for +novelty. As to its essential form, the Bible is popular,--appeals to +all minds and conditions. This is proved by the experience of +centuries, in every clime and among all races. + +Those parts which do not directly appeal to a popular sentiment are of +a nature to forbid depolarization as above suggested, since in changing +them they would necessarily lose their identity, the inherent proofs of +their origin, and their underlying mystic and spiritual meaning. So +far as they were written, the truths contained in the Bible were to +serve all time. To change their form is to tamper with the spirit of a +divine language, which, although it comes to us in human sounds, +variable according to nationality and time and place, still has an +unction, a breath of heaven accompanying it which would vanish as the +perfume vanishes from the transplanted flower. There are some truths, +some ideas and feelings, which cannot be expressed in popular fashion +without losing their essential qualities. One might urge the same +reasons in behalf of painting the old Greek statues, because the common +people would find it possible to admire them if gaudy coloring helped +their imagination to interpret the action of the figures in marble. +Some things in the Bible were not written for all, and appeal only to +refined and spiritual minds. Others can be easily understood and +assimilated, and there are preachers commissioned to make attractive +and intelligible that which of itself does not appeal to the rude. +There is such a thing as _accommodating_ the words of the Sacred +Scripture for the purpose of impressing a truth by analogy, and of the +use of this method we have beautiful illustrations in the writings of +the Fathers and in the Offices of the Breviary. But the sense _by +accommodation_, as it is called by writers on hermeneutics, does not +take liberties with the Sacred Text itself in the manner suggested by +the advocates of _depolarization_. For the rest there is a difference, +there always will be a difference, between the qualities that call upon +the senses and attract, perhaps, the larger circle of admirers, and +that choicer spirit which reaches the soul. You cannot substitute one +for the other; their domain is widely apart, though they may use the +same instrument. + + One tunes his facile lyre to please the ear, + And win the buzzing plaudits of the town; + The other sings his soul out to the stars, + And the deep hearts of men. + + +You cannot depolarize, without destroying, Dante, or Milton, or any of +our great poets; no more can you depolarize the great masterpiece of +the Bible. Let us take it as we receive it under the guardianship of +the Church. Its apparent imperfections are like the surroundings and +exterior of its Founder: a scandal to the Greek, a stumbling-block to +the Jew, because they could not realize that a God was hidden in the +imperfect guise of poor flesh. + +What we consider imperfections to be remedied in the Bible were +recognized by the Apostles, and by the chief of them, St. Peter, who +writes, II. Pet. iii. 16: "Our dear brother Paul, according to the +wisdom given him, has written to you; as also in all his Epistles; in +which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and +unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own +destruction." Here was room for depolarization, yet St. Peter did not +take it in hand, neither should we desire scholars of perhaps greater +knowledge but less wisdom to do so. + + + +[1] Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures," _l.c._ + +[2] "Vie de Jesus," 1864, p. 426. + +[3] "Three Essays on Religion," 1874, p. 258. + +[4] "Hibbert Lectures," 1882, pp. 196, 197. + +[5] Ibid., 1892, p. 551. + +[6] "The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," 1892, p. 11. + +[7] See _Dublin Review_, article cited above. + +[8] See Humphrey, "The Sacred Scriptures;" also "_Questions Actuelles +d'-Ecriture Sainte_," by Brucker, S. J. + +[9] See Appendix. + + + + +XX. + +THE VULGATE AND THE REVISED PROTESTANT VERSION OF THE BIBLE. + +In instituting here a comparison between the two approved and typical +English Versions of the Bible as in use among Catholics and Protestants +respectively, I have no intention to be aggressive or polemic. As from +the first we have taken what may be called the common-sense point of +view in judging the Bible as an historical work, which verifies its +claims to be regarded as an organ communicating to us divine knowledge, +so we proceed to make a brief suggestive examination of two English +Bibles: one found in the homes of Catholics, the other in those of our +Protestant friends and neighbors, many of whom believe with all +sincerity that among the various doubts and difficulties of life they +can consult no truer guide than that sacred volume. + +Taking the two volumes as a whole, and considering only their general +contents, there is but little difference between them. I compared them +in a former chapter to the two American flags of North and South: +viewed in themselves, these are both of the same origin, copied from +the same pattern, and emblems, both, of American independence. Though +they differ only in some detail that might escape the superficial +observer, they nevertheless represent very widely different principles, +for which the men of the South as of the North were willing to stake +their lives. They might meet in friendly intercourse in all the walks +of daily life, but if you ask a Union soldier to carry the Southern +flag, he will say: No; for though it looks very much like my own, there +is a difference, and that difference constitutes a vital principle with +me. + +Catholics have to make much the same answer when told that they might +accept the Protestant Bible in their public relations with those who do +not recognize the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has the old +Bible, as it came down the ages, complete and without changes. She has +no reason to discard it, and she has good reason not to accept another +Bible, though its English be sweeter and its periods fall upon the ear +like the soft cadences of Southern army songs. We cannot sing from its +tuneful pages, because it represents the principle of opposition to its +original source and parent-stock, and no union can be effected except +by the elimination of that principle. + +Catholics claim that their Bible, in point of fidelity to the +original--and this is the _essential_ point when we speak of a +translation of such a book--Catholics claim that their Bible, in point +of fidelity to the original, is as superior to the Protestant English +Bible of King James as it is, we admit, inferior in its English. "The +translators of the Catholic Version considered it a lesser offence to +violate some rules of grammar than to risk the sense of God's word for +the sake of a fine period."[1] + +What proof have we for such a claim? I answer that we have the +strongest proof in the world which we could have on such a subject +outside of a divine revelation, namely, the admission on the part of +the guardians and translators themselves of the Protestant Bible. Now, +when I say guardians and translators of the Protestant Bible, I do not +mean merely the testimony of a few great authorities in the past or +present who may have expressed their opinion as to the faults and +defects of the latest English Protestant translation. That would not +be fair. But I mean that the history itself of Protestant translations +made since the days of King James, not to go back any farther, is a +standing argument of the severest kind: + +First, _against_ the correctness of the _Protestant_ English Versions; +and, + +Secondly, _for_ the correctness of the _Catholic_ English Version. + +For if we compare the first Protestant English Version (which departed +considerably from the received Catholic text of the Vulgate) with all +the succeeding revisions made at various times by the English +Protestants, we find that they have steadily returned towards the old +Catholic Version. This is not only an improvement as an approach to +the Catholic teaching, but it is also a confession, however reluctantly +made, of past errors on the part of former Protestant translators. + +At the time of their separation from the Catholic Church the reformers, +so-called, had to give reasons for their defection. They found fault +with one doctrine or another in the old Catholic Church, such as the +supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, the jurisdiction of bishops, the Holy +Sacrifice, celibacy, confession, etc. To justify the rejection of +these doctrines they must appeal to some authority: if not to the +Pontiff, then to the king, or to the Bible, or to both simultaneously. +But though the king might favor their novelties of doctrine inasmuch as +they relieved his conscience of the reproach of disobedience to the +Pontiff, who knew but one law of morals for the prince and the peasant, +the Bible as hitherto read was against them. Now, Luther had given +distracted Germany an example of what might be done in the way of +whittling down the supernatural, and eliminating some of the irksome +duties imposed by the old Church. He had made a new translation of the +Bible, threw out passages, nay, whole books,[2] which did not meet his +views, and added here and there a little word which did admirable +service by setting him right with a world that for the most part could +neither read Hebrew nor Latin nor Greek, and trusted him for a learned +translator. + +In similar fashion an English translation had already been attempted by +Wiclif about 1380, and almost simultaneously by Nicolas of Hereford. +There existed in England at the time of Luther an edition of the +Scriptures called the "great Bible." It was Catholic up to its fourth +edition, that of 1541. Then, as is generally supposed, it was revised +by the Elizabethan bishops in 1508, and in 1611, after a more +lengthened revision, it appeared as a King James "Authorized Version." +Since then various revisions and corrections of this Bible have been +printed, each succeeding one eliminating some of the previous errors. +Mr. Thomas Ward has made up an interesting book called "Errata--the +truth of the English translations of the Bible examined," or "a +treatise showing some of the errors that are found in the English +translation of the Sacred Scriptures used by Protestants against such +points of religious doctrine as are the subject of controversy between +them and the members of the Catholic Church." Dr. Ward's book embraces +a comparison between the Catholic English translation and the various +Protestant versions up to the year 1683, for since then no changes were +made in the English Protestant Bible called the authorized version +until 1871, when the work of a new revision, published between 1881-85, +was undertaken, which is not included in Dr. Ward's "Errata." + +Why was this last revision made? Was not the King James version of +1611, for the most part, beautiful English? As to the rest, was it not +for every Protestant an absolute, infallible rule of faith? The +language was good, the truth still better; what need, then, was there +to revise? + +The revisers of 1881 tell us that the language of the old English +version could be improved, and that they meant to improve it. The +older translators, they say, "seem to have been guided by the feeling +that their version would secure for the words they used a lasting place +in the language; ... but it cannot be doubted that the studied +avoidance of uniformity in the rendering of the same words, even when +occurring in the same context, is one of the blemishes in their work." + +But are the changes of language or expression all that the reviewers of +this infallible text-book aim at? No. Listen to what Dr. Ellicott in +the Preface to the Pastoral Epistles says: + +"It is vain to cheat our souls with the thought that these errors are +either insignificant or imaginary. There _are_ errors, there _are_ +inaccuracies, there _are_ misconceptions, there _are_ obscurities, not, +indeed, so many in number or so grave in character as some of the +forward spirits of our day would persuade us; but there _are_ +misrepresentations of the language of the Holy Ghost; and that man who, +after being in any degree satisfied of this, permits himself to bow to +the counsels of a timid or popular obstructiveness, or who, +intellectually unable to test the truth of these allegations, +nevertheless permits himself to denounce or deny them, will, if they be +true, most surely at the dread day of final account have to sustain the +tremendous charge of having dealt deceitfully with the inviolable Word +of God."[3] + +So this book, the infallible voice of God revealing His ways, this sole +rule of faith for millions of Englishmen, and by which millions had +lived and sworn and died during more than two centuries, had to be +revised, not only as to the form, but in the matter also. Two +committees were formed, about fifty of the members being from England, +thirty from America--Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, etc. +Cardinal Newman and Dr. Pusey were invited, but declined to attend. +Mr. Vance Smith, a Unitarian, a distinguished scholar, but certainly no +Christian, received a place in the New Testament committee. These +gentlemen set to work in earnest to revise the Word of God and settle +the Bible of the future. They had to consider the advance made in +textual criticism represented by Lachmann, Scholz, Tregelles, +Tischendorf, and Drs. Westcott and Hort. + +They labored ten years and a half, as Dr. Ellicott assures us, "with +thoroughness, loyalty to the authorized versions, and due recognition +of the best judgment of antiquity. One of their rules, expressly laid +down for their common guidance, was to introduce as few alterations as +possible into the text of the authorized version." + +How many corrections, think you, were made in the New Testament alone? +About 20,000, of which fifty per cent. are textual, that is "9 to every +five verses of the Gospels, and 15 to every five in the Epistles." +Besides these changes, which must be a shock to many an English +Protestant who has accustomed himself by long reading of the Bible to +believe in verbal inspiration, there are a number of omissions in the +New Revised Text which in all amount to about 40 entire verses. It +appears, then, that the King James Bible of some years ago has not been +as most Protestants of necessity claimed for it--the pure, authentic, +unadulterated Word of God. And if not, what guarantee have we that the +promiscuous body of recent translators, however learned, withal not +inspired, have given us that pure, authentic, unadulterated Word of God? + +Let us glance over a few pages of the New Testament to see of what +nature and of what importance, from a doctrinal point of view, are the +changes made by the late revisers of the "Authorized (Protestant) +Version." + +In the first place, they have acknowledged the reading of I. Cor. xi. +27, regarding communion under one kind, by translating the Greek +[Greek: gamma] by _or_, and not by _and_, an error which had been +repeated in all the Protestant translations since 1525, and which gave +rise to endless abuse of the Catholic practice of giving the Blessed +Sacrament to the laity under only one species. "Whosoever shall eat +the bread _or_ drink the cup" is the reading in the Greek as well as in +the Latin Vulgate, and nothing but "theological fear or partiality," as +Dean Stanley expressed it, could have warranted this mistranslation, +which may be found in all the editions of 1520, 1538, 1562, 1508, 1577, +1579, 1611, etc. + +But this is only one of many acts of justice which the learned revisers +have done to Catholics by restoring the true reading; they have given +us back the _altar_ which, together with the Holy Sacrifice and +confession and celibacy, had become obnoxious to the "reformers." We +now read, I. Cor. x. 18, that "those that eat the hosts" are in +"communion with the _altar_," where formerly they were only "partakers +of the temple." + +Having restored the Catholic practice of Holy Communion under one kind, +and likewise the altar, we are not surprised that the "overseers" of +the King James version should have become _bishops_, as in Acts xx. 28, +although a good many of the _overseers_ have been left in their places, +possibly because the "elders" (Acts xv. 2; Tit. i. 5; I. Tim. v. 17 and +19, etc.) have not yet become _priests_, as they are in the Rhemish +(Catholic) translation. However, the "elders" are likely to turn out +priests at the next revision, because they are not only "ordained," but +also "appointed," whereas in the old English revisions of 1562 and 1579 +they were ordained elders "by election in every congregation," which is +still done in Protestant churches where there are no bishops, and even +in some which have "overseers" with the honorary title of "bishop." + +As to the celibacy question, the revisers have not thought fit to +endorse it by translating [Greek: _adelphen gynaicha_] a "woman," a +sister; but they adhere to the old "wife," as Beza, in his translation, +makes the Apostles go about with their "wives" (Acts i. 14). + +In the matter of "confession" we have got a degree nearer to the old +Catholic version and practice likewise. The Protestant reformers had +no "sins" to confess; they had only "faults." Hence they translate St. +James v. 16 by "confess your faults." But the revisers of 1881 found +out that these "faults" were downright sins, and so they put it. +Accordingly we find that the Apostles have power literally "to forgive" +sins, whereas formerly, the sins being only faults, it was enough to +have them "remitted," which means a sort of passive yielding or +condoning on the part of the overseers in favor of repentant sinners, +but did not convey the idea of a sacramental power "binding and +loosening" in heaven as on earth. + +Our dear Blessed Lady also receives some justice at the hands of the +new translators. She is not simply "highly favored" as in the times of +King James and ever since, but now is "endued with grace," though only +in a footnote. + +"It was expected," says an anonymous writer in the above cited article +of the _Dublin Review_,[4] "that the revisers, in deference to modern +refinement, would get rid of 'hell' and 'damnation,' like the judge who +was said to have dismissed hell with costs. 'Damnation' and kindred +words have gone.... A new word, 'Hades,' Pluto's Greek name, has been +brought into our language to save the old word 'hell' from overwork. +The Rich Man is no longer in 'hell,' he is now '_in Hades;_' but he is +still 'in torment.' So Hades must be Purgatory, and the revisers have +thus moved Dives into Purgatory, and Purgatory into the Gospel. Dives +will not object; but what will Protestants say?" + +An important change has been introduced in their treatment of the +Lord's Prayer. Protestants, for over three hundred years, have +concluded that prayer with the words: "for Thine is the kingdom and the +power and the glory forever." These words were to be found in St. +Matt. vi. 13 according to the Protestant text. They were certainly +wanting in St. Luke xi. 2, who also gives us the words of the "Our +Father" with a very slight change of form. Catholics were reproached +for not adding the 'doxology,' which proved to be a custom in the Greek +Catholic Church, very much like our use of the "Glory be to the Father, +and to the Son," etc., at the end of each psalm recited or sung at +Vespers. Examination showed that the phrase "for Thine is the +kingdom," etc., was to be found principally in versions made by and for +the Catholics of the Greek Church, and this explained how the same had +crept into the copyists' Greek version. This fact is recognized at +length in the late revision where the words are omitted from the text +of St. Matthew, whilst a footnote states that "many authorities, some +ancient, but with variations, add: 'for Thine is the kingdom and the +glory forever.'" + +The American revisers had made a number of very sensible suggestions, +which would have brought the new Protestant version of the Bible still +nearer to the old Catholic translation of Rheims and Douay; but their +voice was not considered weighty enough, and Mr. Vance Smith openly +blames the English committee on this score, saying that "they have not +shown that judicial freedom from theological bias which was certainly +expected from them." On the other hand, the American revisers showed +their national spirit and liberality to a degree which must have +horrified the orthodox members of the Anglican Community. The +Americans "suggested the removal of all mention of the sin of +heresy--heresies in their eyes being only 'factions.' They desired +also that the Apostles and Evangelists should drop their title of +Saint, and be content to be called plain John, and Paul, and Thomas. +This resulted, no doubt, from their democratic taste for strict +equality, and their hatred of titles even in the kingdom of heaven."[5] + +After all this the principle of faith in the Bible alone became +somewhat insecure, and we find the revisers making a silent concession +on this point by allowing something to the Catholic principle of a +living, perpetually transmitted _tradition_. St. Paul, who speaks of +the _altar_ and of _bishops_, and who allows _Communion under one +kind_, and who had no wife, and wanted none (I. Cor. vii.), praises the +Corinthians, not simply for keeping his "ordinances," as in the time of +King James, but for keeping the _traditions_ as he had delivered them +to the Greek churches before he found opportunity to write to the +Corinthians. + +There is one other point of difference between the Catholic and +Protestant Bibles to which it is instructive to call attention. It is +in regard to the writing of proper names, especially in the Old +Testament. Thus where we in the Catholic Bibles have _Nabuchodonosor_ +for the king of Babylon, son of Nabopollassar, the Protestant version +has _Nebuchadnezzar_; where we have _Elias_ and _Eliseus_, the +Protestant version has _Elijah_ and _Elisha_, and so forth regarding +many Hebrew names of persons and places. You will ask whence the +difference, and which is right? + +The difference arises from the fact that the Protestant Version follows +the present Hebrew text of the Bible, whilst the Catholic Version +follows the Greek. Which is the safer to follow on such points as the +pronunciation of proper names--the Hebrew or the Greek? You will say +the Hebrew, but it is not so. The old Hebrew writing had, as I +mentioned before, no vowels. Hence it could not be read by any one who +had not heard it read in the schools of the rabbis. Some _six +centuries after our Lord_, certain Jewish doctors who were called +Masorets, anxious to preserve the traditional sounds of the Hebrew +language, supplied vowels in the shape of points, which they placed +under the square consonants, without disturbing the latter. Hence the +present vowel system in Hebrew, or, in other words, the present +pronunciation of Hebrew according to the reading of the Bible, is the +work of men who relied for the pronunciation of words on a tradition +which carried them back over many centuries, that is, from the time +when Hebrew was a living language to about six hundred years after +Christ. It is not difficult to imagine how in such a length of time +the true pronunciation may have been lost or certainly modified in some +cases; for though the Hebrew words were there on the paper, written in +consonants of the old form, the pronunciation of the vowels must have +been doubtful if resting on tradition alone, since the Hebrew had +already ceased to be a living language for many centuries. + +In the meantime, the true pronunciation of the Hebrew proper names +could have been preserved in some of the translations made long before +the Masoretic doctors supplied their vowel points. One of these +translations from the Hebrew is the Greek Septuagint. It was made, as +we have seen, in the time of Ptolemy, _i.e._, some two and a half +centuries before Christ. The learned Jews who made this translation +knew perfectly well how the Hebrew of their day was pronounced, and we +cannot suppose that they would mutilate the proper names of their +mother tongue in the translation into Greek which, possessing written +vowels, obliged them to express the full pronunciation of the persons +and places which they transcribed. + +Accordingly, we have two sources for our pronunciation of Hebrew proper +names: one which dates from about the sixth or seventh century of the +present era, when the Hebrew had become a dead language; and another, +made about _nine hundred years earlier_ by Jewish rabbis, who spoke the +language perfectly well, and who could _express the pronunciation of +proper names_ accurately because they wrote in a language which had +_written_ vowels, and with which they were as conversant as with their +own, the Hebrew. + +Furthermore, we have other versions, made long before the Masoretic +Doctors invented their vowel-points in order to fix the Hebrew +pronunciation as they conceived it. Among these is the Latin Vulgate +which, like the Greek of the Septuagint, should give us the correct +pronunciation--because it was made by St. Jerome, who had studied the +Hebrew and Chaldee in Palestine under a Jewish rabbi. He knew, +therefore, the pronunciation of the Jews in his day (331-420), and +there was no reason why he should not give it to us in his several +different translations, whilst there might have been some cause why the +Masoretic Jews who lived two or three centuries later should dislike to +accept either the Greek or the Latin versions for an authority, because +both versions were used and constantly cited by the Christians as proof +that the Messiah had come. + +Incidentally, the late archeological finds confirm this. Thus the name +of Nabuchodonosor (IV. Kings xxiv. 1) (Protestant, Nebuchadnezzar), +mentioned above as an example, reads in the cuneiform inscription of +the Assyrian monument Nebukudursur, which is evidently the same form of +vowel pronunciation as that employed in the Catholic version. + +In comparing the two versions thus far little has been said as to the +peculiar character or merits of the English Catholic version commonly +called the Vulgate English or Douay Bible. But the main purpose of the +present chapter has been attained by the necessary inference which the +reader must have drawn, namely, that the old Catholic version is the +more faithful, and that, after all, the Bible is not a safe guide +without a Church to guard its integrity and to interpret its meaning. + +But let me say just a word about the Vulgate. The Catholic Vulgate is +practically the work of St. Jerome, and our English Catholic edition is +made as literally as may be from this Latin Vulgate, "diligently +compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and other editions in divers +languages." The copies, most in use now, were made from an edition +published by the English College at Rheims in 1582, and at Douay in +1609, revised by Dr. Challoner. + +The need of a new revision has been recognized, and an effort to supply +the want was made by the late Archbishop Kenrick, whose translation was +recommended by the Council of Baltimore in 1858, although it has not +been generally adopted. However, the changes to be made in the +translation of the Catholic Bible in English cannot be very numerous +nor affecting doctrines defined by the Church; nor is any accidental +change of words or expressions so vital a matter to the Catholic mind +as it must be with those who have but the Bible as their one primary +rule of faith. So far Protestant revisions have done Catholics a +service in removing by successive corrections one error after another +from the "reformed" Bible, thus demonstrating the correctness of the +old Vulgate; but they have also led Protestants to reflect seriously, +and to realize that the "Bible only" principle is proved to be false +and dangerous. They must see that the Scripture is powerless without +the Church as the witness to its inspiration, the safeguard of its +integrity, and the exponent of its meaning. + + + +[1] Cf. a paper on the subject of the New Revision in the _Dublin +Review_, 1881, vol. VI., ser. iii. + +[2] These books have been mostly retained in the Protestant Bible under +the name of _Apocryphal_, _i.e._, not inspired. The Church accepts and +defines their inspiration, and in this is supported by the strong +testimony of apostolic tradition. + +[3] "Pastoral Epistles," p. 13. + +[4] Vol. VI., ser. iii. + +[5] _Dublin Review_, _l.c._ + + + + +XXI. + +THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE SCIENTIFIC +CONTROVERSY REGARDING THE BIBLE. + +In one of the old churches of Wales you may see the Ten Commandments +written upon the wall, and beneath them the following inscription, the +meaning of which, it is said, had for a long time remained a mystery to +the people: + + P R S V R Y P R F C T M N, + V R K P T H S P R C P T S T N. + +Some one supplied the key to the interpretation by suggesting the +letter E. Then everybody read the lines, and the old folks told their +children, who inform the casual visitor that the strange letters +plainly mean: _Persevere ye perfect men, ever keep these precepts ten_. + +The inscription in the old Welsh church is a good illustration of the +old text of the Bible, which had no vowels, no division of words and +sentences. God gave the key to its meaning through an intelligent +interpreter, and the men of learning supply the divisions--even in this +sense that they sometimes dispute the place where to insert and where +to omit the E. + +The original obscurity has induced many to study the Bible, and the +grand result of this study in our day has been to lead the great +majority of scientific men, whether they are believers in the divine +origin of the Book or not, to the conclusion that it is, to say the +least, an historical monument of the highest antiquity, the contents of +which have come down to us in that genuine and authentic form which is +claimed for it; that is to say, that it has not been tampered with or +falsified to such an extent as would render its statements materially +other than they were from the beginning. + +Tischendorf, one of the leading Biblical text critics in recent times, +allows indeed some 30,000 variations for the New Testament alone in the +different manuscripts of which we possess any trace. Although these +variations are on the whole very slight, so as not to affect the +genuineness of the Scripture documents, they establish the fact that we +do not possess the text of the Bible in the _literal_ form in which the +inspired writers originally wrote it down. + +Whatever changes have crept into the text of the Bible, through +inadvertence of copyists or defective translations into other +languages, it is a settled fact among Catholic divines that they do not +affect the moral and dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church. They +regard either purely historical incidents or scientific facts, neither +of which are the object of the doctrinal definitions or moral teachings +of the Church. They are the proper subject for the study of human +reason and investigation. Hence philological science may very +becomingly occupy itself with the verbal criticism of the language and +thought of the Bible. But the Catholic Church, as a teacher of +religious truth, has an interest in these studies of verbal criticism +in so far only as they may become a help or a hindrance to her +legitimate activity of preaching and preserving the truth of +Christianity. As a rule, the Church anticipates the dangerous issues +arising from the misuse of such studies by deliberately defining not +only the right use of the instruments employed for the purpose of +criticism, but also what she herself deems the subject-matter lying +outside of the domain of such criticism. Thus, in a negative way, she +points out the field for the exercise of theories, or rather she +defines the lines beyond which speculation may not safely go. The +Church would have no end of tasks if she undertook to defend her +position against the continuously proposed hypotheses by which any +chance comer might venture to challenge her veracity or authority. +Most theories are ephemeral; two, succeeding each other, are often +mutually destructive. Prof. H. L. Hastings in his "Higher Criticism" +tells us that since 1850 there have been published 747 theories, known +to him, about the origin and authenticity of the Bible. Of these 747 +theories he counts 608 as now defunct, and as the Professor wrote +several years ago, we may assume that nearly all of the remaining 139 +are dead by this time, although a few new ones have come in to take +their place for a day.[1] + +What, then, is the position of the Catholic Church, as limited by +_positive definition_, with regard to the text of the Bible, by which +she limits the aggressiveness of Biblical criticism? + +The Catholic Church gives us a very ancient and well-attested text of +the entire Bible in the Latin tongue, and in virtue of her commission +to teach, which includes the right and duty to appoint the text-book +for that teaching, she says: _The sacred Council of Trent, believing +that it would be of great advantage to the Church of God to have it +known which of the various Latin editions of the Bible is to be held +authentic, hereby declares that the ancient edition commonly known as +the Vulgate, which has been approved by the long-standing use of ages +in the Church, is to be considered as the authentic Bible for official +uses of teaching_ (Trent, vi. 12). + +You notice that the Council of Trent does not say that the Vulgate +corresponds exactly to the literal original text, nor that it is the +best of all known translations. The Council states only, but states +explicitly, that the Vulgate edition of the Bible is a reliable source +of the written revelation in matters of faith and morals. And the +reason which the Council alleges for this preference of the Vulgate +over other editions is its constant use for centuries in the Church; in +other words, that it represents the best tradition of the received +text-form of the Sacred Scriptures. But the definition of the Council +implies not only that the contents of the Vulgate in their entirety are +reliable and authentic, but that each of its statements is authentic in +its dogmatic contents, since the whole Vulgate, _i.e._, in all its +parts, is said to constitute a medium or instrument of official +teaching in the Church. The declaration of the Council is regarding +the _Latin_ Vulgate; hence all translations must conform to _its_ text, +that is to say, the corrected text of 1592, called the Clementine +recension. + +It is noteworthy that, whilst the Church points out a text which is to +be the official pattern in her liturgy and in the defence of Catholic +teaching regarding faith and morals, she does not define anything +regarding other texts or versions of the Bible. Neither the Hebrew nor +the Greek texts are mentioned, although the Church gives to them, and +the Coptic, Syrian, and Armenian versions, an implied approbation by +tolerating their liturgical use in the Oriental churches. + +What the Church has defined, therefore, regarding the Vulgate is this: +It has declared its _dogmatic integrity_. This implies that the +contents of the Vulgate give in their entirety and in their details a +reliable version of the inspired text as an instrument of teaching +Catholic truth and morals. + +From a scientific point of view the Vulgate enjoys the advantage of +being the oldest of all the Scriptural versions. In the Old Testament +it represents a text more ancient than the Hebrew of the Masoretic +doctors. The New Testament is likewise older than the oldest Greek +text extant, as Lachmann in his critical edition has demonstrated. +Moreover, its composition is the result of the best scientific +apparatus of early Christian times, which St. Jerome possessed in a +phenomenal degree, both as to his person and also as to the +circumstances in which he was placed. Finally, it has an historical +support of unequalled superiority, inasmuch as it has been from the +beginning the means of Christianizing the nations of Europe. + +All this is being verified, not only by textual critics, but by the +more recent discoveries in the study of Christian paleography. + +Such is the position in which scientific research finds the Church. +The multiform theories about the Bible, and the various possible senses +of its words and passages, only affect her in a limited degree. +Catholic apologists are obliged to deal with these theories so far only +as they affect the positive teaching of the Church in faith and morals, +although the analogy of faith demands that the Catholic scientist test +his opinions by weighty tradition and approved practice. Whilst the +_dogmatic_ integrity of the Sacred Scriptures is thus secured, the +examination of the critical integrity of individual parts leaves a wide +field open to Catholic Biblical students. The work done by +non-Catholic scholars who have examined the Bible, either to bring out +the verbal meaning of its text, or to verify some historical or +philological hypothesis, is astounding. Catholic students owe a great +debt to the first gleaners in this field; for though we have neither +felt impelled to look for the rule of our faith in the Bible +exclusively, nor always been inclined to accept the dicta regarding the +literal sense of so sacred a document from the professors of +philological discipline, we have incidentally profited by all these +searchings. They have illustrated the excellence of our faith, both as +a system and as a moral principle. They have thrown light upon +problems of exegesis. All the doctrines and practices of the Catholic +Church have found their confirmation in the analysis of Biblical terms +as the result of textual criticism. The words of the Bible have been +thrown into the crucible, and the gold of Catholic doctrine has been +the outcome--purer, brighter, more refined, and still weighty. Each +verified theory regarding the sense of old forgotten Hebrew terms has +received the impress of Catholic approbation, and served to give the +doctrine of the Church a more ready currency. Scientists, often +reluctantly, are pointing out golden opportunities for Catholic +students. + +It does not come within our present scope to speak of the various +methods employed by the science and art of Biblical criticism, nor to +retail the separate results to which the inquiry into the authenticity +(Higher Criticism) and the integrity and purity of the text (Lower +Criticism) has led. The history of the New Testament, which is the +best witness to the authenticity and integrity of the Old Testament +books, provided we admit the divinity of Christ, which in its turn +rests upon the strongest historic evidence, has received an immense +amount of confirmatory argument in numerous discoveries of ancient +documents. Within the last forty years have been found, among other +valuable writings, the famous _Codex Sinaiticus_ by Tischendorf (1859), +one of the oldest Greek texts of the Bible. In 1875 Archbishop +Briennios found in Constantinople the MS. Epistles of Clement of Rome, +which not only confirm the apostolical writings and evangels as being +received in the Church of his day, but furnish the oldest liturgical +prayer and sermon of post-apostolic times. Another document of the +same character, in Latin, was discovered by Morin in 1893. Next we +have the celebrated _Diatessaron of Tatian_, the oldest gospel harmony +in existence, which, known to Eusebius, but lost in the meantime, was +recovered lately, with a parallel manuscript found in Egypt, and +published last year in English. This takes us back to the time of St. +Justin. Another most important find is the MS. of the so-called +"Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." The document was discovered by +Briennios, and published in 1883. It throws much light on the +ecclesiastical discipline of the early Christian Church (about A.D. +120), speaks of the written Gospels, etc. Another valuable MS. +(Syriac) was found in 1889 by Professor Harris. It is the "Apology of +Aristides," brought from the convent of St. Catharine on Mt. Sinai, and +dates about the year 140, as it is addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, +and offers him the Christian Scriptures to read. + +I pass over a host of other important finds of the same nature, of +unquestioned authenticity, which carry us back to the apostolic age. + + + +[1] See Hettinser's "Apologie," Preface xi. + + + + +XXII. + +MYSTERIOUS CHARACTERS. + +Whilst Biblical criticism and constantly increasing discoveries of new +treasures, such as we mentioned in the last chapter, are adding their +approving light to the ancient and unchanged traditions of the Catholic +Church regarding the Bible and its exegesis, the finds of archeology +are confirming the statements of the Bible, especially the Old +Testament history, with an accuracy which forces even the infidel +scientist to bear witness to the historical truth of the inspired +records. + +A century ago Biblical antiquity received its side-lights, for the most +part, from rabbinical literature, and from newly-discovered methods of +interpreting those classics which dealt with the Oriental world +incidentally. But in modern times an immense literary field has been +opened by the discovery of ancient monuments in Egypt, Assyria, +Babylonia, Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, and the surrounding countries. +These monuments place us in position to trace the condition of these +nations to very remote periods, and give us a key to the explanation of +the Biblical documents. Extraordinary labor, coupled with all-sided +knowledge, a refined method of observation, and untiring patience, have +made it possible to read the hieroglyphics and the so-called cuneiform +inscriptions. It is interesting to trace the gradual progress by which +definite results were attained in deciphering certain inscriptions +whose language was entirely unknown to any living man. I may be +allowed to give here an illustration, taken from Mr. Sayce's excellent +little work, "Fresh Lights on Ancient Monuments," in which he describes +the manner of unravelling the mysterious threads of the old Persian +script: + + +"Travellers had discovered inscriptions engraved in cuneiform, or, as +they were also termed, arrow-headed, characters on the ruined monuments +of Persepolis and other ancient sites in Persia. Some of these +monuments were known to have been erected by the Achaemenian +princes--Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and his successors--and it was +therefore inferred that the inscriptions also had been carved by order +of the same kings. The inscriptions were in three different systems of +cuneiform writing; and, since the three kinds of inscription were +always placed side by side, it was evident that they represented +different versions of the same text. The subjects of the Persian kings +belonged to more than one race, and, just as in the present day a +Turkish pasha in the East has to publish an edict in Turkish, Arabic, +and Persian, if it is to be understood by all the populations under his +charge, so the Persian kings were obliged to use the language and +system of writing peculiar to each of the nations they governed +whenever they wished their proclamations to be read and understood by +them. + +"It was clear that the three versions of the Achaemenian inscriptions +were addressed to the three chief populations of the Persian empire, +and that the one that invariably came first was composed in ancient +Persian, the language of the sovereign himself. Now this Persian +version happened to offer the decipherer less difficulties than the two +others which accompanied it. The number of distinct characters +employed in writing it did not exceed forty, while the words were +divided from one another by a slanting wedge. Some of the words +contained so many characters that it was plain that these latter must +denote letters, and not syllables, and that consequently the Persian +cuneiform system must have consisted of an alphabet, and not of a +syllabary. It was further plain that the inscriptions had to be read +from left to right, since the ends of all the lines were exactly +underneath one another on the left side, whereas they terminated +irregularly on the right; indeed, the last line sometimes ended at a +considerable distance from the right-hand extremity of the inscription. + +"The clue to the decipherment of the inscriptions was first discovered +by the successful guess of a German scholar, Grotefend. Grotefend +noticed that the inscriptions generally began with three or four words, +one of which varied, while the others remained unchanged. The variable +word had three forms, though the same form always appeared on the same +monument. Grotefend, therefore, conjectured that this word represented +the name of a king, the words which followed it being the royal titles. +One of the supposed names appeared much oftener than the others, and, +as it was too short for Artaxerxes and too long for Cyrus, it was +evident that it must stand either for Darius or for Xerxes. A study of +the classical authors showed Grotefend that certain of the monuments on +which it was found had been constructed by Darius, and he accordingly +gave to the characters composing it the values required for spelling +'Darius' in its old Persian form. In this way he succeeded in +obtaining conjectural values for six cuneiform letters. He now turned +to the second royal name, which also appeared on several monuments, and +was of much the same length as that of Darius. This could only be +Xerxes; but if so, the fifth letter composing it (r) would necessarily +be the same as the third letter in the name of Darius. This proved to +be the case, and thus afforded the best possible evidence that the +German scholar was on the right track. + +"The third name, which was much longer than the other two, differed +from the second chiefly at the beginning, the latter part of it +resembling the name of Xerxes. Clearly, therefore, it could be nothing +else than Artaxerxes, and that it actually was so was rendered certain +by the fact that the second character composing it was that which had +the value of r. + +"Grotefend now possessed a small alphabet, and with this he proceeded +to read the word which always followed the royal name, and therefore +probably meant 'king.' He found that it closely resembled the word +which signified 'king' in Zend, the old language of the Eastern +Persians, which was spoken in one part of Persia at the same time that +Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenian princes, was spoken in +another. There could, consequently, be no further room for doubt that +he had really solved the great problem, and discovered the key to the +decipherment of the cuneiform texts. + +"But he did little further himself towards the completion of the work, +and it was many years before any real progress was made with it. +Meanwhile, the study of Zend had made great advances, more especially +in the hands of Burnouf, who eventually turned his attention to the +cuneiform inscriptions. But it is to Burnouf's pupil, Lassen, as well +as to Sir Henry Rawlinson, that the decipherment of these inscriptions +owes its final completion. The discovery of the list of Persian +satrapies in the inscription of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustem, and above all +the copy of the long inscription of Darius on the rock of Behistum, +made by Sir H. Rawlinson, enabled these scholars independently of one +another to construct an alphabet which differed only in the value +assigned to a single character, and, with the help of the cognate Zend +and Sanskrit, to translate the language so curiously brought to light. +The decipherment of the Persian cuneiform texts thus became an +accomplished fact; what was next needed was to decipher the two +versions which were inscribed at their side. + +"But this was no easy task. The words in them were not divided from +one another, and the characters of which they were composed were +exceedingly numerous. With the assistance, however, of frequently +recurring proper names, even these two versions gradually yielded to +the patient skill of the decipherer; and it was then discovered that +while one of them represented an agglutinative language, such as that +of the Turks or Fins, the other was in a dialect which closely +resembled the Hebrew of the Old Testament. The monuments found almost +immediately afterwards in Assyria and Babylonia by Botta and Layard +soon made it clear to what people this dialect must have belonged. The +inscriptions of Nineveh turned out to be written in the same language +and form of cuneiform script; and it must therefore have been for the +Semitic population of Assyria and Babylonia that the kings of Persia +had caused one of the versions of their inscriptions to be drawn up. +This version served us a starting-point for the decipherment of the +texts which the excavations in Assyria had brought to light." + + +In this way results which stood the test of severe criticism were +obtained until the most difficult inscriptions have become a +comparatively open book to the historian of to-day. Thus it has come +about that, as Prof. Ira Price says: "Since 1850 the Old Testament has +been gradually appearing in the ever-brightening and brighter light of +contemporaneous history. The new light now pours in upon it from all +sides. It is the one history made rich by that of all its neighbors. +Israel is the one people whose part in the drama of ancient nations is +just beginning to be understood.... The cuneiform letters discovered +at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, in 1887, have opened up new territory in the +fifteenth century, B.C. They are despatches and official +communications sent by a large number of rulers, kings, and governors, +mainly of countries and provinces and cities of Southwestern Asia, to +the king of Egypt. These documents disclose a marvellously advanced +stage of development, intellectually, politically, and socially, among +the people who were soon to be Israel's nearest neighbors. They formed +the early background of Israel's settlement in Canaan, and prepare us +for no surprises in Israel's growth. In fact, we see that Joshua and +his army actually settled in a land of cities and fortresses, already +containing many of the elements of civilization, but sadly reduced by +internal and external warfare." + +The labor of the excavator in the Biblical countries, such as the +unearthing of the immense library of brick tablets in the neighborhood +of Nineveh, and the result of new discoveries which the ground of +Palestine, so long and strangely neglected, promises to yield, widen +the field of Biblical research immensely, and from it all we may with +perfect assurance look for fresh arguments in behalf of the +authenticity and substantial integrity of the Sacred Scriptures. At +the same time the interpretation of many of its passages, now obscure, +will become clearer in the light of contemporary history. + +Surely this is a hopeful sign, and should encourage us in the study of +the Bible, which is on so many accounts a source of intellectual +pleasure, of abiding peace of heart, and of that high moral refinement +which comes from contact with noble minds. There are none better on +earth than the sacred writers--men who walked and spoke with God, and +whose living contact we may enjoy in the participation of that +celestial inspiration which breathes through their writings. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + +The foregoing chapters are nothing more than a brief illustration of +the principles laid down by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., in his +Encyclical Letter "On the Study of the Sacred Scriptures."[1] The +careful reading of this Letter must convince us how important a part +the study of the Bible has always played in the Church. The +conclusions of Leo XIII. are not of yesterday, nor does he claim them +as of his own invention. He cites the Fathers and Doctors of the +Church, and the Decrees of Councils, from Antioch to Trent and the +Vatican, as witnesses to the fact that all Catholic teaching rests upon +the Sacred Scriptures as one of the two great foundation stones which +support the grand archway leading into the domain of divine truth. +God, in order that He may reveal Himself to man, sends His messengers, +the Prophets and the Apostles, to announce with living voice His +promises and His judgments; then, as if to confirm their mission for +all time to come, He bids them take a letter, written by Himself, and +addressed "to the human race on its pilgrimage afar from its +fatherland" (Encycl.). That letter is the Holy Scripture. "To +understand and to explain it there is always required the 'coming' of +the same Holy Spirit" who was to abide with the Church. And she, "by +her admirable laws and regulations, has always shown herself solicitous +that the celestial treasure of the Sacred Book ... should not be +neglected" (Ibid.). If men have grown remiss at any time in the use of +that heavenly gift, it cannot be said that the Church failed to keep +before them its admirable utility. "She has arranged that a +considerable portion of it should be read, and with pious mind +considered by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred +psalmody." For centuries past the solemn promise of every ordained +priest throughout the Catholic world to recite each day the Hours of +the Breviary testifies to the constant practice of not only reading, +but meditating a fixed portion of the Scriptures, so that under this +strictest of his priestly obligations he has practically completed the +entire sacred volume within the limit of each ecclesiastical year. +"She has strictly commanded that her children shall be fed with the +saving word of the Gospel, at least on Sundays and on solemn feasts." +If these laws and this practice receive a fresh impulse from the +Sovereign Pontiff in our day, it is because there have arisen men who +teach that the Sacred Scriptures are the work of mere human industry, +that they contain only fables, which have no claim to be respected as +coming from God. "They deny that there is any such thing as divine +revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see in +these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men.... The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the force of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned" (Ibid.). To confute these errors Leo bids us engage voice +and pen. In the limited space allowed us we have only been able to +indicate the arguments which prove the historical authenticity and the +essentially divine character which points to the true origin of the +Sacred Text, and at the same time to lead the earnest student into the +way of reading with pleasure and profit the grandest of all written +works. + + + +[1] Litterae Encyclicae, "Providentissimus Deus," Nov. 17, A.D. 1893. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + +_Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII._ + +ON + +THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. + + +_To Our Venerable brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and +Bishops of the Catholic World, in grace and communion with the +Apostolic See._ + +LEO P. P. XIII. + +VENERABLE BRETHREN, + +_Health and Apostolic Benediction._ + +The God of all Providence, who in the wondrous counsel of His love +raised the human race in its beginning to participation of the divine +nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, +restoring it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed +upon man a singular safeguard--making known to him, by supernatural +means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. +Although in divine revelation some things are comprehended which are +not beyond the reach of human reason, they are made the objects of +revelation in order that all may come to know them with facility, +certainty, and freedom from all error. It is not, however, on this +account that revelation can be said to be absolutely necessary; but +because God of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural +end. This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the +universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition and in +written Books. These are called sacred and canonical because, being +written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for +their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. This +belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church with +regard to the Books of both Testaments. There are well-known documents +of the gravest character, coming down to us from the earliest times, +which proclaim that God, who spoke first by the Prophets, then by +Himself, and thereafter by the Apostles, composed the Canonical +Scriptures. These are divine oracles and utterances--a Letter, written +by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the +human race on its pilgrimage afar from its fatherland. If, then, such +and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures that +God Himself has, as the author of them, composed them, and that they +treat of God's deepest mysteries, counsels, and works, it follows that +the branch of sacred theology which is concerned with the defence and +interpretation of these divine books must be most excellent and in the +highest degree profitable. + +Now We, who by the help of God, and not without fruit, have by frequent +letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of study, +which seemed well fitted for advancing the glory of God and +contributing to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished +the desire to give an impulse to the most noble study of the Sacred +Scriptures, and to impart to it a direction which is suitable to the +needs of the present day. The solicitude of the Apostolic office +naturally urges, and even compels Us, not only to desire that this +grand source of Catholic revelation should be made more safely and +abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also to prevent +it from being in any way violated, on the part either of those who +impiously and openly assail the Scriptures, or of those who are led +astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties. + +We are not ignorant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are +Catholics not a few, men abounding in talent and learning, who do +devote themselves with alacrity to the defence of the Divine Books, and +to making them better known and understood. But while giving to these +men the commendation which they deserve for their labor and the fruits +of it, We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and +piety and learning we have a right to expect the very best results, to +give themselves to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and +fervent desire to see an increase in the number of approved and +unwearying laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially +that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by +day, as is most meet, display greater diligence and industry in +reading, meditating, and explaining it. Among the reasons for which +this study is so worthy of commendation--in addition to its own +excellence and to the homage which we owe to God's word--the chief +reason of all is the manifold benefit of which it is the source. This +we know will flow therefrom on the most certain testimony of the Holy +Ghost Himself, who says: "All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable +to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man +of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was +the purpose of God in giving the Scriptures to men is shown by the +example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. He who obtained +authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew +to Himself the multitude, was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine +Mission to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove +that He was sent by God, and that He is God. From them He draws +arguments for the instruction of His disciples and the confirmation of +His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors. He +quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees. He retorts from them upon +Satan himself, when he impudently dares to tempt Him. At the close of +His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture +which He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, and during +all the time till He ascends to the glory of His Father. Faithful to +His precepts, the Apostles, although He Himself granted "signs and +wonders to be done by their hands," nevertheless used with the greatest +efficacy the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations +everywhere of the wisdom of Christianity, to break down the obstinacy +of the Jews, and to suppress the outbursts of heresy. This is manifest +in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter. These were +almost woven from sayings of the Old Testament, which made in the +strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same thing in +the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and in the Catholic Epistles. +Most remarkably of all is it to be found in the words of him who boasts +that he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being +armed with spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence: +"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God." + +Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, +understand how much the divine Books should be esteemed, and with what +determination and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of +heavenly arms. Those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine +before either the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample +matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the subject of God, the +supreme and all perfect Good, or of the works which display His glory +and His love. Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on +the subject of the Saviour of the human race than that which is to be +found throughout the Bible. St. Jerome has rightly said "ignorance of +the Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In its pages His Image stands +out as it were alive and breathing; diffusing everywhere consolation in +trouble, encouragement to virtue, and attraction to the love of God. +As regards the Church, her institutions, her nature, her functions, and +her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references, and so many +ready and convincing arguments, that, as St. Jerome again most truly +says: "A man who is thoroughly grounded in the testimonies of the +Scriptures is a bulwark of the Church." If we come to moral formation +and to discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings +abundant and most excellent aid, precepts full of holiness, +exhortations framed with sweetness and force, shining examples of every +kind of virtue, and, finally, the promise of eternal reward, and the +threat of eternal punishment, uttered in weightiest terms, in God's +name and in God's own words. + +This peculiar and singular power of the Scriptures, springing from the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, adds to the authority of the sacred +orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates to +him a forcible and convincing eloquence. Those who infuse into their +speech the spirit and strength of the Word of God speak, "not in words +only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness." +Hence those preachers are foolish and improvident who, in preaching +religion and proclaiming the precepts of God, use no words but those of +human science and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings +rather than to those that are divine. Their discourses may be +glittering with lights, but they must be cold and feeble, for they are +without the fire of the utterance of God. They must fall far short of +that power which the speech of God possesses. "The Word of God is +living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and +reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." All the more +far-seeing are agreed that there is in the Holy Scriptures an eloquence +that is marvellous in its variety and richness, and that is worthy of +the loftiest themes. This St. Augustine thoroughly comprehended, and +this he has abundantly set forth. It is confirmed also by the best of +the preachers of all ages. They have gratefully acknowledged that they +owed their repute chiefly to assiduous familiarity with the Bible, and +to devout meditation on the truths which it contains. + +The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience. They +never cease to extol the Sacred Scripture and its fruits. In +innumerable passages of their writings we find them applying to it such +phrases as--"an inexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine," or "an +overflowing fountain of salvation," or as "fertile pastures and most +lovely gardens, in which the flock of the Lord is marvellously +refreshed and delighted." Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in +his Epistle to the cleric Nepotian: "Often read the divine Scriptures; +yea, let holy reading be always in thy hand; study that which thou +thyself must preach.... Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned +with Scriptural reading." St. Gregory the Great, than whom no man has +more admirably described the functions of the pastors of the Church, +writes in the same sense: "Those," he says, "who are zealous in the +work of preaching, must never cease from study of the written word of +God." St. Augustine, however, warns us that "vainly does the preacher +utter the word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly." +St. Gregory instructs sacred orators "first, to find in Holy Scripture +the knowledge of themselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in +reproving others they forget themselves." This had already, after the +example and teaching of Christ Himself, who "began to do and to teach," +been uttered far and wide by an apostolic voice. It was not to Timothy +alone, but to the whole order of the clergy, that the command was +addressed: "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be earnest in them. +In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." +For the saving and for the perfection, both of ourselves and of others, +we have at hand the very best of aids in the Sacred Scriptures, and +most abundantly in the Book of Psalms. Those alone will, however, find +it who bring to the divine oracles not only a docile and attentive +mind, but a habit also of will which is both pious and without reserve. +The Sacred Scripture is not to be regarded like an ordinary book. +Dictated by the Holy Ghost, it contains matters of the most grave +importance, which in many instances are difficult and obscure. To +understand and to explain them there is always required the "coming" of +the same Holy Spirit; that is to say, His light and His grace. These, +as the Royal Psalmist so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble +prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life. + +It is in this that the watchful care of the Church shines forth +conspicuously. By her admirable laws and regulations she has always +shown herself solicitous that the celestial treasure of the Sacred +Books, so bountifully bestowed upon man by the Holy Spirit, should not +lie neglected. She has arranged that a considerable portion of them +should be read, and with pious mind considered by all her ministers in +the daily office of the sacred psalmody. She has ordered that in +cathedral churches, in monasteries, and in convents of other regulars, +which are places most fit for study, they shall be expounded and +interpreted by capable men. She has strictly commanded that her +children shall be fed with the saving word of the Gospel at least on +Sundays and on solemn feasts. Moreover, it is owing to the wisdom and +the diligence of the Church that there has always been, continued from +century to century, that cultivation of Sacred Scripture which has been +so remarkable and which has borne such ample fruit. + +And here, in order to strengthen Our teaching and Our exhortations, it +is well to recall how, from the first beginnings of the Christian +religion, so many who have been renowned for holiness of life and for +sacred learning have given their deep and most constant attention to +Holy Scripture. If we consider the immediate disciples of the +Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. +Polycarp--or the Apologists, such as St. Justin and St. Irenaeus, we +find that in their letters and in their books, whether in defence of +the Catholic faith or in commendation of it, they draw faith and +strength and unction mainly from the word of God. When there arose, in +various Episcopal Sees, catechetical and theological schools, of which +the most celebrated were those of Alexandria and of Antioch, there was +little taught in those schools but what consisted in the reading, the +unfolding, and the defence of the divine written word. From these +schools came forth numbers of Fathers and of writers whose laborious +studies and admirable writings have justly merited for the three +following centuries the appellation of the golden age of biblical +exegesis. + +In the Eastern Church, the greatest name of all is Origen. He was a +man remarkable alike for quickness of genius and for persevering labor. +From his numerous writings and his immense work of the _Hexapla_ almost +all who came after him have drawn. Others who have widened the field +of this science may also be named. Among the more excellent, +Alexandria could boast of Clement and Cyril; Palestine, of Eusebius and +the other Cyril; Cappadocia, of Basil the Great and the two Gregories, +Nazianzen and Nyssene; and Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom, in whom +skill in this learning was rivalled by the splendor of his eloquence. + +In the Western Church there were many names as great: Tertullian, +Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great; most famous +of all, Augustine and Jerome. Of these two the former was marvellously +acute in penetrating the sense of God's word, and most fertile in the +use that he made of it for the promotion of Catholic truth. The latter +has received from the Church, by reason of his pre-eminent knowledge of +Scripture and the greatness of his labors in promoting its use, the +name of the "Great Doctor." + +From this period, down to the eleventh century, although biblical +studies did not flourish with the same vigor and with the same +fruitfulness as before, they nevertheless did flourish, and that +principally through the instrumentality of the clergy. It was their +care and solicitude that selected the most fruitful of the things which +the ancients had left behind them, placed these in digested order, and +published them with additions of their own--as did Isidore of Seville, +Venerable Bede, and Alcuin, among the most prominent. It was they who +illustrated the sacred pages with "glosses," or short commentaries, as +we see in Walafrid Strabo and Anselm of Laon, or who expended fresh +labor in securing their integrity, as did Peter Damian and Lanfranc. + +In the twelfth century many took up with great success the allegorical +exposition of Scripture. In this Bernard is easily pre-eminent. His +writings, it may be said, are Scripture all through. With the age of +the scholastics there came fresh and fruitful progress in the study of +the Bible. That the scholastics were solicitous about the genuineness +of the Latin version is evident from the _Correctoria Biblica_, or list +of emendations, which they have left behind them. They expended, +however, more of their study and of their industry on interpretation +and on explanation. To them we owe the accurate and clear distinction, +such as had not been given before, of the various senses of the sacred +words; the weight of each word in the balance of theology; the division +of books into parts, and the summaries of the various parts; the +investigation of the purpose of the writers, and the unfolding of the +necessary connection of one sentence with another. No man can fail to +see the amount of light which was thus shed on the more obscure +passages. The abundance of their Scriptural learning is to be seen +both in their theological treatises and in their commentaries. In this +Thomas of Aquin bears the palm. + +When Our predecessor, Clement V., established chairs of Oriental +literature in the Athenaeum at Rome, and in the principal Universities +of Europe, our students began to labor more minutely on the original +text of the Bible, as well as on the Latin version. The revival +amongst us of Greek learning, and, much more, the happy invention of +the art of printing, gave the strongest impetus to the study of Holy +Scripture. In a brief space of time innumerable editions, especially +of the Vulgate, poured from the press, and were spread throughout the +Catholic world; so honored and loved were the divine volumes during +that very period against which the enemies of the Church direct their +calumnies. + +Nor must we forget how many learned men there were, chiefly among the +religious orders, who did excellent work for the Bible between the +dates of the Councils of Vienne and Trent. These men, by employment of +modern means and appliances, and by contribution of their own genius +and learning, not only added to the rich stores of ancient times, but +prepared the way for the pre-eminence of the succeeding century--the +century which followed the Council of Trent. It then seemed almost as +if the great age of the Fathers had returned. It is well known, and We +recall it with pleasure, that Our predecessors from Pius IV. to Clement +VIII. caused to be prepared the celebrated editions of the Vulgate and +the Septuagint, which, having been published by the command and +authority of Sixtus V. and of the same Clement, are now in common use. +At this time, moreover, were carefully brought out various other +ancient versions of the Bible, and the Polyglots of Antwerp and of +Paris, most important for the investigation of the true meaning of the +text. There is not any one Book of either Testament which did not find +more than one expositor, nor is there any grave question which did not +profitably exercise the ability of many inquirers. Among these there +are not a few--more especially of those who made most study of the +Fathers--who have made for themselves names of renown. From that time +forward the labor and solicitude of our students have never been +wanting. As time has gone on, eminent scholars have carried on +biblical study with success. They have defended Holy Scripture against +the cavils of _rationalism_ with the same weapons of philology and +kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The calm and fair +consideration of what has been said will clearly show that the Church +has never failed in any manner of provision for bringing the fountains +of the Divine Scripture in a wholesome way within reach of her +children, and that she has ever held fast and exercised the +guardianship divinely bestowed upon her for its protection and glory. +She has never, therefore, required, nor does she now require, any +stimulation from without. + +We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart to you +such counsels as seem best suited for carrying on successfully the +study of biblical science. We must, in the first place, have a clear +idea of the kind of men whom we have to oppose, their tactics and their +weapons. + +In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on +private judgment and repudiating the divine tradition and the teaching +authority of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one and only +source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we +have to meet the Rationalists, the true children and heirs of the older +heretics. Trusting in their turn to their own judgment, they have +rejected even the scraps and remnants of Christian belief handed down +to them from their fathers. They deny that there is any such thing as +divine revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see +in these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men. They set down +the Scripture narratives as stupid fables or lying tales. The +prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made +up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The +miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to +be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the forces of +nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic +writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are +assigned. These detestable errors, whereby they think to destroy the +truth of the divine Books, are obtruded on the world as the peremptory +pronouncements of a newly-invented "free science." This science, +however, is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying and +supplementing it. There are some of them who, notwithstanding their +impious opinions and utterances about God and His Christ, the Gospels, +and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be regarded as being +theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel. They attempt to +disguise under such names of honor their rashness and their insolence. +To them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve +and sustain their views, and are egged on to attack the Bible by +intolerance of revelation. It is deplorable to see this warfare +becoming from day to day more widespread and more ruthless. It is +sometimes men of learning and judgment who are assailed; but these have +little difficulty in standing on their guard. The efforts and the arts +of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more ignorant masses of +the people. These men diffuse their deadly poison by means of books +and pamphlets and newspapers. They spread it by means of addresses and +of conversations. They are found everywhere. They are in possession +of numerous schools for the young, wrested from the guardianship of the +Church. In those schools, by means of ridicule and scurrilous jesting, +they pervert the credulous and unformed minds of the young to contempt +of Scripture. Should not these things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and +set on fire the heart of every Pastor, so that to this "knowledge, +falsely so called," may be opposed the ancient and true science which +the Church, through the Apostles, has received from Christ, and that +the Sacred Scriptures may find champions that are strong for so great a +struggle? + +Let our first care, then, be to see that in Seminaries and Academical +foundations the study of Holy Scripture is placed on such a footing as +both the importance of it and the circumstances of the time demand. +With this view, that which is of first importance is a wise selection +of professors. Teachers of Sacred Scripture are not to be appointed at +hap-hazard out of the crowd. They must be men whose character and +fitness have been proved by great love of, and long familiarity with, +the Bible, and by the learning and study which befits their office. + +It is of equal importance to provide in due time for a continuous +succession of such teachers. It will be well, wherever this can be +done, to select young men of promise, who have studied their theology +with distinction, and to set them apart exclusively for Holy Scripture, +affording them time and facilities for still fuller study. Professors +thus chosen and appointed may enter with confidence on the task that is +set before them. That they may be at their best, and bear all the +fruit that is possible, there are some other hints which We may +somewhat more fully set before them. + +At the commencement of a course of Holy Scripture, let the professor +strive earnestly to form the judgment of the young beginners, so as to +train them equally to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their +meaning. This is the object of the treatise which is called +"Introduction to the Bible." Here the student is taught how to prove +its integrity and authority, how to investigate and ascertain its true +sense, and how to meet and refute all captious objections. It is +needless to insist on the importance of making these preliminary +studies in an orderly and thorough way, in the company and with the aid +of Theology. The whole of the subsequent course will rest on the +foundation thus laid, and will be luminous with the light which has +been thus acquired. + +Next, the teacher will turn his earnest attention to that most fruitful +branch of Scripture science which has to do with interpretation. +Therein is imparted the method of using the word of God for the +promotion of religion and of piety. We are well aware that neither the +extent of the matter nor the time at disposal allows every single Book +of the Bible to be separately studied in the schools. The teaching, +however, should result in a definite and ascertained method of +interpretation. Hence the professor should at once avoid giving a mere +taste of every Book, and the equal mistake of dwelling at too great +length on merely a part of some one Book. If most schools cannot do +what is done in the larger institutions--that is, take the students +through the whole of one or two Books continuously, and with some +considerable development--yet at least those parts which are selected +for interpretation should be treated with some fulness. In this way +the students may be attracted, and learn from the sample that is set +before them to love and read the rest in the course of their after +lives. The professor, following the tradition of antiquity, will use +the Vulgate as his text. The Council of Trent has decreed that "in +public lectures, disputations, preaching, and exposition," the Vulgate +is the "authentic" version; and this is the existing custom of the +Church. At the same time, the other versions which Christian antiquity +has approved and used should not be neglected, more especially the more +ancient MSS. Although the meaning of the Hebrew and the Greek is +substantially rendered by the Vulgate, nevertheless, wherever there may +be ambiguity or want of clearness, the "examination of older tongues," +to quote St. Augustine, will be of service. In this matter we need +hardly say that the greatest prudence is required, for the "office of a +commentator," as St. Jerome says, "is to set forth not that which he +himself would prefer, but that which his author says." The question of +"readings" having been, when necessary, carefully discussed, the next +thing is to investigate and expound the meaning. The first counsel to +be here given is this: that the more our adversaries strive in the +contrary direction, so much the more solicitously should we adhere to +the received and approved canons of interpretation. Hence, while +weighing the meanings of words, the connection of ideas, the +parallelism of passages, and the like, we should by all means make use +of external illustrations drawn from other cognate learning. This +should, however, be done with caution, so as not to bestow on such +questions more labor and time than that which is spent on the Sacred +Books themselves, and not to overload the minds of the students with a +mass of information which will be rather a hindrance than a help. + +The professor may now safely pass on to the use of Scripture in matters +of Theology. Here it must be observed that, in addition to the usual +reasons which make ancient writings more or less difficult to +understand, there are some which are peculiar to the Sacred Books. The +language of the Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of +the Holy Ghost, many things which are beyond the powers and scope of +human reason--that is to say, divine mysteries and many matters which +are related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fuller and +a deeper meaning than the letter seems to express or than the laws of +hermeneutics indicate. Moreover, the literal sense itself frequently +admits other senses, which either illustrate dogma or commend morality. +It must therefore be recognized that the sacred writings are wrapt in a +certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into them +without a guide. God has so disposed it that, as the Holy Fathers +teach, men may investigate the Scriptures with greater ardor and +earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more +deeply into the mind and heart. From this also, and mainly, men may +understand that God has delivered the Scriptures to the Church, and +that in reading and treating of His utterances they must follow the +Church as their guide and teacher. St. Irenaeus long since laid it down +that where the _Charismata_ of God were placed, there the truth was to +be learnt, and that Scripture is expounded without peril, by those with +whom there is apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other +Fathers, is embraced by the Council of the Vatican which, in renewing +the decree of Trent, declares its mind to be this--that "in matters of +faith and morals, which belong to the building up of Christian +doctrine, that sense is to be considered the true sense of the Sacred +Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the +Church, whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation +of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to +interpret the Sacred Scripture contrary to this sense, or contrary to +the unanimous consent of the Fathers." By this law, most full of +wisdom, the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of +biblical science. She, on the contrary, provides for its freedom from +error, and greatly advances its real progress. A wide field lies open +to any teacher, in which his hermeneutical skill may exercise itself +with signal effect and for the welfare of the Church. On the one hand, +in those passages of Scripture which have not as yet received a certain +and definitive interpretation, such labors may, in the sweetly ordered +providence of God, serve as a preparation for bringing to maturity the +judgment of the Church. In passages already defined, a private doctor +may do work equally valuable, either by setting them forth more clearly +to the commonalty of the faithful, or more learnedly before the +learned, or by defending them more powerfully from adversaries. +Wherefore the first and most sacred object of the Catholic commentator +should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic +interpretation--either from the sacred writers themselves, under the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), +or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, +whether by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal +authoritative teaching--in that identical sense, and to prove, by all +the resources of learning, that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no +other than that interpretation. In the other passages the analogy of +faith should be followed, and the Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively +proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme rule. Since the +same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine +committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can +by legitimate interpretation be extracted from the former which shall +in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that +all interpretation is unfounded and false which either makes the sacred +writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the +Church. + +The professor of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other +recommendations, must be well versed in the whole of Theology, and +deeply read in the commentaries of the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and +the best of other interpreters. This is inculcated by St. Jerome, and +still more by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: "If there is no +branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does not +require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than +to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of +those who have interpreted them?" Other Fathers have said the same, +and have confirmed it by their example. They endeavored to acquire +understanding of the Holy Scriptures, not by their own lights and +ideas, but from the writings and authority of the ancients, who in +their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpretation in direct +line from the Apostles. + +The Holy Fathers, to whom, after the Apostles, the Church owes its +growth--who planted, watered, built, fed, and nourished it--are of +supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same +manner any text of the Bible as pertaining to doctrine of faith or +morals. Their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has +come down from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion +of the Fathers is also of very great weight when they treat of these +matters in their capacity of private teachers; not only because they +excelled in knowledge of revealed doctrine and in acquaintance with +many things useful for the understanding of the apostolic Books, but +also because they were men of eminent sanctity and of ardent zeal for +the truth, on whom God bestowed a more ample measure of His light. The +commentator, therefore, should make it his care to follow in their +footsteps with reverence, and to avail himself of their labors with +intelligent appreciation. + +He must not, however, on that account consider that it is forbidden, +when just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the +Fathers have done--provided he religiously observes the rule so wisely +laid down by St. Augustine: not to depart from the literal and obvious +sense, except where reason makes that sense untenable or necessity +requires. This is a rule to which it is the more necessary to adhere +strictly in these times, when the thirst for novelty and unrestrained +license of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate. +Neither should those passages be neglected which the Fathers have +understood in an allegorical or figurative sense, more especially when +such interpretation is justified by the literal sense, and when it +rests on the authority of many. This method of interpretation has been +received by the Church from the Apostles, and has been approved by her +own practice, as her liturgy attests. The Holy Fathers did not thereby +pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas of faith, but used it as a means +of promoting virtue and piety, such as, by their own experience, they +knew to be most valuable. + +The authority of other Catholic interpreters is not so grave. Since, +however, the study of Scripture has always continued to advance in the +Church, their commentaries also have their own honorable place, and are +serviceable in many ways for the refutation of assailants and the +unravelling of difficulties. It is, moreover, most unbecoming to pass +by, in ignorance or contempt, the splendid works which our own scholars +have left behind them in abundance, and to have recourse to the works +of the heterodox, and to seek in them, with peril to sound doctrine and +not seldom with detriment to faith, the explanation of passages on +which Catholics have long ago most excellently expended their talents +and their labor. Although the studies of the heterodox, used with +prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic interpreter, he +should nevertheless bear well in mind this repeated testimony of the +ancients,--that the sense of the Sacred Scriptures can nowhere be found +incorrupt outside the Church, and that it cannot be delivered by those +who, being destitute of the true faith, only gnaw the husk of Scripture +and never reach its marrow. + +Most desirable it is, and most essential, that the whole course of +Theology should be pervaded by the use of the Divine Scripture, which +should be, as it were, the soul thereof. This is what the Fathers and +the greatest theologians of all ages have professed and practised. It +was chiefly out of the sacred writings that they endeavored to proclaim +and establish the Articles of Faith and the truths which are their +consequences. It was in them, together with divine tradition, that +they found the refutation of heretical error, and the reasonableness, +the true meaning, and the mutual relation of the truths of the Catholic +faith. Nor will any one wonder at this who considers that the Sacred +Books hold such a pre-eminent position among the sources of Revelation +that without the assiduous study of them Theology cannot be rightly +treated as its dignity demands. Although it is right and proper that +students in academical institutions and schools should be chiefly +exercised in acquiring a scientific knowledge of dogma by means of +reasoning from the Articles of Faith to their consequences, according +to the rules of approved and solid philosophy, nevertheless a grave and +learned theologian will by no means overlook that method of doctrinal +demonstration which draws its proof from the authority of the Bible. +Theology does not receive her first principles from other sciences, but +immediately from God through Revelation. And therefore she does not +receive from other sciences as from superiors, but uses them as her +inferiors and her handmaids. It is this view of doctrinal teaching +which is laid down and recommended by the prince of theologians, St. +Thomas of Aquin. He also shows--such being the essential character of +Christian Theology--how a theologian can defend his own principles +against attack. "If the adversary," he says, "do but grant any portion +of the divine revelation, we have an argument against him. Against a +heretic we can employ Scripture authority, and against those who deny +one article we can use another. If our opponent rejects divine +revelation altogether, then there is no way left to prove the Articles +of Faith by reasoning. We can only solve the difficulties which are +raised against the faith." Care must be taken, then, that beginners +approach the study of the Bible well prepared and furnished; otherwise, +just hopes will be frustrated, or perchance--and this is worse--they +will unthinkingly risk the danger of error, and fall an easy prey to +the sophisms and labored erudition of the rationalists. The best +preparation will be a conscientious application to philosophy and +theology under the guidance of St. Thomas of Aquin, and a thorough +training therein--as We Ourselves have elsewhere shown and prescribed. +By this means, both in biblical studies and in that part of Theology +which is called _Positive_, they will pursue the right path and make +solid progress. + +To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate +and skilful interpretation of the Bible is much; but there is a second +part of the subject of equal importance and of equal +laboriousness,--the maintenance in the strongest possible way of the +fulness of its authority. This cannot be done completely or +satisfactorily except by means of the living teaching authority of the +Church herself. The Church, by reason of her wonderful propagation, +her shining sanctity, and her inexhaustible fecundity in good, her +Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself a great and +perpetual motive of credibility, and an unassailable testimony of her +own divine mission. But since the divine and infallible teaching +authority of the Church rests also on the authority of Holy Scripture, +the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the +sacred records at least as human documents. From this can clearly be +proved, as from primitive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the +mission of Christ our Lord, the institution of a hierarchical Church, +and the primacy of Peter and his successors. It is most desirable, +therefore, that there should be many members of the clergy well +prepared to enter upon a contest of this nature, and to repulse the +attacks of the enemy, chiefly trusting in that armor of God which is +recommended by the Apostle, but at the same time not unacquainted with +the more modern methods of attack. This is beautifully alluded to by +St. John Chrysostom. Describing the duties of priests, he says: "We +must use our every endeavor that the 'word of God may dwell in us +abundantly.' Not merely for one kind of light must we be prepared, for +the contest is many-sided, and the enemy is of every sort. They do not +all use the same weapons, nor do all make their onset in the same way. +It is needful that the man who has to contend against all should have +knowledge of the engines and the arts of all. He must be at once +archer and slinger, commandant and officer, general and private +soldier, foot-soldier and horseman, skilled in sea-fight and in siege. +Unless he knows every trick and turn of war, the devil is well able, if +only a single door be left open, to get in his ferocious bandits and to +carry off the sheep." The sophisms of the enemy and the manifold +strategy of his attack We have already touched upon. + +Let Us now say a word of advice on the means of defence. The first +means is the study of Oriental languages and of the art of criticism. +These two acquirements are in these days held in high estimation. The +clergy, by making themselves more or less fully acquainted with them, +as time and place may demand, will the better be able to discharge +their office with becoming credit. They must make themselves "all +things to all men," always "ready to satisfy every one that asketh them +a reason for the hope that is in them." Hence it is most proper that +professors of Sacred Scripture and theologians should master those +tongues in which the Sacred Books were originally written. It would be +well that Church students also should cultivate them, more especially +those who aspire to academic degrees in Theology. Endeavors should be +made to establish in all academic institutions--as has already been +laudably done in many--chairs of the other ancient languages, +especially the Semitic, and of subjects connected therewith, for the +benefit principally of those who are destined to profess sacred +literature. These latter, with a similar object in view, should make +themselves well acquainted with and thoroughly exercised in the art of +true criticism. There has arisen, to the great damage of religion, an +artificial method, which is dignified by the name of the "higher +criticism." It pretends to judge of the origin, the integrity, and the +authority of every Book from internal indications alone. It is clear, +on the other hand, that in historical questions, such as the origin and +the handing down of writings, the witness of history is of primary +importance, and that historical investigation should be made with the +utmost care. In this matter internal evidence is seldom of great +value, except by way of confirmation. To look upon it in any other +light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will make +the enemies of religion much more bold and confident in attacking and +endeavoring to destroy the authenticity of the Sacred Books. This +vaunted "higher criticism" will resolve itself into the reflection of +the bias and the prejudice of the critics. It will not throw on the +Scriptures the light which is sought, or prove of any advantage to +doctrine. It will only give rise to disagreement and dissension, those +sure notes of error, which the critics in question so plentifully +exhibit in their own persons. Seeing that most of them are tainted +with false philosophy and rationalism, it must lead to the elimination +from the sacred writings of all prophecy and all miracle, and of +everything else that lies outside the natural order. + +In the second place, we have to contend against those who, abusing +their knowledge of physical science, minutely scrutinize the Sacred +Books, in order to detect the writers in a mistake, and so to vilify +the books themselves. Attacks of this kind, bearing as they do on +matters of experience of the senses, are peculiarly dangerous to the +masses, and also to the young, who are but beginning their literary +studies. The young, if they lose their reverence for divine revelation +on any one point, are but too easily led to give up believing in +revelation altogether. It need scarcely be pointed out how the science +of nature, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the glory +of the Great Creator, provided it be rightly taught, so, if it be +perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, it may prove most +fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy, and in the +corruption of morality. Hence to the professor of Sacred Scripture a +knowledge of natural science will be of the greatest service in +detecting and meeting such attacks upon the Sacred Books. + +There can never, indeed, be any real discrepancy between the theologian +and the physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own +lines, and so long as both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, "not +to make rash assertions, or to assert that which is not known as if it +were really known." If dissension should arise between them, here is +the rule, laid down by St. Augustine for the theologian: "Whatever they +can really demonstrate to be true of physical nature, we must show to +be not contrary to our Scriptures. Whatever they assert in their +treatises which is contrary to these Scriptures of ours, that is, to +Catholic faith, we must either prove it, as well as we can, to be +entirely false, or at all events we must, without the smallest +hesitation, believe it to be so." To understand how just is the rule +here formulated we must remember, first, that the sacred writers, or, +to speak more accurately, the Holy Ghost, who spoke by means of them, +did not intend to teach men those things (that is to say, the essential +nature of the things of the visible universe)--things which are in no +way profitable unto salvation. The sacred writers did not seek to +penetrate the secrets of nature. They rather described and dealt with +things in more or less figurative language, or in terms which were +commonly used at the time, and terms which in many instances are in +daily use at this day, even amongst the most eminent men of science. +Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes that which falls under +the senses. Somewhat in the same way the sacred writers--as the +Angelic Doctor reminds us--"went by what sensibly appeared," or put +down that which God, speaking to men, signified in a way which men +could understand, and to which they were accustomed. + +The strenuous defence of the Holy Scripture, however, does not require +that we should equally uphold all the opinions which every one of the +Fathers, or which subsequent commentators have set forth in explaining +it. It may be that, in commenting on passages where physical matters +are in question, they have sometimes expressed the ideas of their own +times, and have thus made statements which in these days have been +abandoned as unfounded. In their interpretations, therefore, we must +carefully note that which they lay down as belonging to faith, or as +intimately connected with faith, or that in which they are unanimous. +"In those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the +Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions, even as we ourselves +are," says St. Thomas. In another place he says most admirably: "When +philosophers are agreed upon a point, and that point is not contrary to +faith, it is safer, in my opinion, neither to lay down such a point as +a dogma of faith, even though it is perhaps so presented by the +philosophers, nor to reject it as against faith, lest we thus give to +the wise of this world an occasion of despising the doctrine of the +faith." The Catholic commentator, although he should show that those +facts of natural science which investigators affirm to be now in these +days absolutely certain are not contrary to Scripture rightly +explained, must nevertheless always bear in mind that much which has +been held as proved and certain has afterwards been called in question +and rejected. If writers on physics travel outside the boundaries of +their own department, and carry their erroneous teaching into the +domain of philosophy, let them be handed over by the theological +commentator to philosophers for refutation. + +The principles here laid down will apply to cognate sciences, and +especially to history. It is a lamentable fact that there are many men +who with great labor make and publish investigations on the monuments +of antiquity, the manners and institutions of nations, and other +illustrative subjects, and whose chief purpose in all this is too often +to try to find mistakes in the sacred writings, and so to shake and +weaken their authority. Some of these writers display not only extreme +hostility, but also great unfairness. In their eyes a profane book or +an ancient document is accepted without hesitation. Scripture, if they +can only find in it a suspicion of error, is set down with the +slightest possible discussion as being entirely untrustworthy. It is +true, no doubt, that copyists have made mistakes in the text of the +Bible. This question, when it arises, should be carefully considered +on its merits. The fact, however, is not to be too easily admitted, +but only in those passages where the proof is clear. It may also +happen that the sense of a passage remains ambiguous. In this case, +sound hermeneutical methods will greatly aid in clearing up obscurity. +It is absolutely wrong, however, and it is forbidden, either to narrow +inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that +the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who, in order to rid +themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that +divine inspiration regards matters of faith and morals, and nothing +beyond them, because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth +or falsehood of a passage we should consider not so much what God has +said as the reason and purpose which He had in mind in saying it, +cannot be tolerated. All the books which the Church receives as sacred +and canonical were written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, +at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So far is it from being possible +that any error can co-exist with inspiration, inspiration not only is +essentially incompatible with error, but it excludes error as +absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the +Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient +and unchanging faith of the Church. It was solemnly defined in the +Councils of Florence and of Trent. It was finally confirmed and more +expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the +words of that Council: The Books of the Old and of the New Testament, +whole and entire, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the +decree of the same Council (Trent), and as they are contained in the +old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical. +The Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been +composed solely by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her +authority, nor only because they contain revelation without error, but +because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, +they have God for their Author. Hence we cannot say that, because the +Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, it was these inspired +instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, and not the primary +Author. By supernatural power He so moved and impelled them to +write--He was so present to them--that all the things which He ordered, +and those things only, they first rightly conceived, then willed +faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in adequate words and +with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the +Author of the whole of the Sacred Scripture. Such has always been the +persuasion of the Fathers. "Therefore," says St. Augustine, "since +they wrote the things which He showed and said to them, it cannot be +said that He did not write them. His members executed that which their +Head dictated." St. Gregory the Great maintains: "Most superfluous it +is to inquire who wrote these things;--we loyally believe the Holy +Ghost to be the Author of the Book. He wrote it who dictated it to be +written. He wrote it who inspired its execution." + +It follows that those men who maintain that an error is possible in any +genuine passage of the sacred writings, either pervert the Catholic +notion of inspiration, or make God Himself to be the Author of error. +So emphatically were all the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine +writings, as left by the hagiographers, are entirely free from all +error, that they labored earnestly, with no less skill than reverence, +to reconcile one with the other those numerous passages which seem to +be at variance--the very passages which in great measure have been +taken up by the "higher criticism." The Fathers were unanimous in +laying it down that those writings, in their entirety and in all their +parts, were equally from the divine _afflatus_, and that God Himself, +speaking through the sacred writers, could not set down anything that +was not true. The words of St. Augustine to St. Jerome may sum up what +they taught: "On my own part, I confess to your charity that it is only +to those Books of Scripture which are now called canonical that I have +learned to pay such honor and reverence as to believe most firmly that +no one of their writers has fallen into any error. If in these Books I +meet with anything which seems contrary to truth, I shall not hesitate +to conclude either that the text is faulty, or that the translator has +not expressed the meaning of the passage, or that I myself have not +understood it." + +But with all the weapons of the best of arts, fully and perfectly to +fight for the holiness of the Bible is far more than can be looked for +from the exertions of commentators and theologians alone. It is an +enterprise in which we have a right to expect the co-operation of all +Catholic men who have acquired reputation in other branches of +learning. As in the past, so at the present time the Church is never +without the graceful support of her accomplished children. May their +services to the Faith ever grow and increase! There is nothing which +We believe to be more needful than that truth should find defenders +more powerful and more numerous than are the enemies whom it has to +face. There is nothing which is better calculated to imbue the masses +with homage for the truth than to see it joyously proclaimed by learned +men who have gained distinction in some other faculty. Moreover, the +bitter tongues of objectors will be silenced. At least they will not +dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the enemy of science when +they see that scientific men, of eminence in their own profession, show +towards the faith most marked honor and reverence. + +Seeing, then, that those men can do so much for the progress of +religion on whom the goodness of God has bestowed, together with the +grace of the faith, great natural talent, let such men, in this most +savage conflict of which the Scriptures are now the object, select each +of them the branch of study which is best adapted to his circumstances, +and endeavor to excel therein, and thus be prepared to repel with +effect and credit the assaults on the word of God. It is our pleasing +duty to give deserved praise to a work which certain Catholics have +taken in hand--that is to say, the formation of societies, and the +contribution of considerable sums of money, for the purpose of aiding +certain of the more learned in the pursuit of their study to its +completeness. Truly, an excellent method of investing money! It is an +investment most suited to the times in which we live! The less hope of +public patronage there is for Catholic study, the more ready and the +more abundant should be the liberality of private persons. Those to +whom God has given riches will thus use them to safeguard the treasure +of His revealed doctrine. + +In order that such labors may prove of real service to the cause of the +Bible, let scholars keep steadfastly to the principles which we have in +this Letter laid down. Let them loyally hold that God, the Creator and +the Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures--and that +therefore nothing can possibly be proved, either by physical science or +by archeology, which can be in real contradiction with the Scriptures. +If apparent contradictious should be met with, every effort should be +made to meet them. Theologians and commentators of solid judgment +should be consulted as to what is the true or the most probable meaning +of the passage in discussion. Adverse arguments should also be +carefully weighed. Even if the difficulty is not after all cleared up, +and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned. +Truth cannot contradict truth. We may be sure that some mistake has +been made, either in the interpretation of the sacred words, or in the +polemical discussion itself. If no mistake can be detected, we must +then suspend judgment for the time being. There have been objections +without number perseveringly directed against the Scriptures for many a +long year. These have been proved to be futile, and they are now never +heard of. Interpretations not a few have been put on certain passages +of Scripture (not belonging to the rule of faith or morals), and these +have been rectified after a more careful investigation. As time goes +on mistaken views die and disappear. Truth remaineth and groweth +stronger for ever and ever. Wherefore, as no one should be so +presumptuous as to think that he understands the whole of the +Scriptures--in which St. Augustine himself confessed that there was +more that he did not know than that which he did know--so, if one +should come upon anything that seems incapable of solution, he must +take to heart the cautious rule of the same holy Doctor: "It is better +even to be oppressed by unknown but useful signs than to interpret them +uselessly, and thus to throw off the yoke of servitude only to be +caught in the nets of error." + +As regards those men who pursue the subsidiary studies of which We have +spoken, if they honestly and modestly follow the counsels and commands +which We have given--if by pen and voice they make their studies +fruitful against the enemies of the truth, and useful in saving the +young from loss of faith--they may justly congratulate themselves on +worthy service to the Sacred Writings, and on their having afforded to +the Catholic religion that aid which the Church has a right to expect +from the piety and from the learning of her children. + + +Such, Venerable Brethren, are the admonitions and the instructions +which, by the help of God, We have thought it well, at the present +moment, to offer to you on the study of the Sacred Scriptures. It will +now be for you to see that what We have said be held and observed with +all due reverence, that so we may prove our gratitude to God for the +communication to man of the words of His wisdom, and that all the good +results which are so much to be desired may be realized, especially as +they effect the training of the students of the Church, which is matter +of Our own great solicitude and of the Church's hope. Exert yourselves +with glad alacrity, and use your authority, and your persuasive powers, +in order that these studies may be held in just regard, and that they +may flourish in the seminaries and in the educational institutions +which are under your jurisdiction. May they flourish in the +completeness of success, under the direction of the Church, in +accordance with the salutary teaching and the example of the Holy +Fathers, and the laudable traditions of antiquity. As time goes on, +let them be widened and extended as the interests and glory of the +truth may require--the interests of that Catholic Truth which comes +down from above, the never-failing source of the salvation of all +peoples. Finally, We admonish with paternal love all students and +ministers of the Church always to approach the sacred writings with the +most profound affection of reverence and of piety. It is impossible to +attain to a profitable understanding thereof unless, laying aside the +arrogance of "earthly" science, there be excited in the heart a holy +desire for that wisdom "which is from above." In this way the mind +which has once entered on these sacred studies, and which has by means +of them been enlightened and strengthened, will acquire a marvellous +facility in detecting and avoiding the fallacies of human science, and +in gathering and utilizing solid fruit for eternal salvation. The +heart will then wax warm, and will strive with more ardent longing to +advance in virtue and in divine love. "Blessed are they who examine +His testimonies; they shall seek Him with their whole heart." + +And now, filled with hope in the divine assistance, and trusting to +your pastoral solicitude--as a pledge of heavenly graces and in witness +of Our special good will--to all of you, and to the clergy, and to the +whole flock which has been intrusted to you, We most lovingly impart in +our Lord the Apostolic Benediction. + + +Given at St. Peter's, at Rome, the 18th day of November, 1893, the +sixteenth year of Our Pontificate. + +LEO PP. XIII. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Chapters of Bible Study, by Herman J. 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