The New York herald., 1845-01-06

triae ara teaching asehood "Very well don't triumph
They are not books they are not q divine In
Ishal put to you Upon what authority dc you know
they are not inspired r. say they dviney inspired;
as you have to deny that they diyiney inspired Con-
sequeItly we are at once upon an oceanof difficulty
Yes; but mine tells me they But mine is right "
But mine isr'ght,I reply. To whom appeal ~ ap-
SO do !, and after doing so am only the con.
vinced Therefore we may 80 on thus'in adding diff
find and & that he can ny 9yo
why they are not canonca but can give reasons You
have no right to regard them as spocryphsl merely
nasions-because since the reformation ly some they
are not admitted But we will not reject them
held them before the reformation they were
held ny all Christians in the purest ages of Chrsanity
before the reformation because they were held by
10 the present because they are by
the most ancient writer's and distinguished fathers of
church as canonical and diyney Inspired First then.
to prove that these book canonical and bear in
mind that do that, gain my point. My first proof
that these books Of divine inspiration. will J..
ia venerasn by all denominations of the present
day Of one who was first among the fathers Of the
formers was respected Of one who Aourishsd in what
Calvin styled tbe Golden Age Of Christianity that s
in The fourth csntqIy-i mean.st Augustine Il can
gustine that in his day all the universal church admitted
these books dviney inspired and canonical, then
that cannot be oveturSed in favor Of their canon
icty St Augustine, in the 18th book of his work con
the of God" chap &c. distinctly says on the subject
of tho canonca writings among them are the book of
the Maccabees, which the Jews reject but which the
Catholics consider as canonical Here then tes
mony OF st Augustine-not merely ndivdual-not
merely as learned theologan-not merely
~ own convictions, not merely inculcatng his own
inions the subject but here st. Augustine dis
lv says that all the Church EceIssia Cathoca
'nonicis habtt-that all the Churches in the fourth
this The s century ss dvns
ave th 9 same as was held by the whsle Church
me thought to pray for the dead y tbsIsra suo wo
with st. Augustine and the whole Church. that
eaSn aS alvne truth ana they teach prayers for the
the dead if believe the hsy scripture and the tes
mony of st. Augustine. Now Is there an Individual Of
the present day. however, matter how learned who
would confront ST Augustine and tell him he had no
right to believe in the cauonicity of these books
This would be abssrdhy, and worse than timerity
The second proof of canocity Of the books of the
Maccabees take from the decision Of the council Of Car
psriod OF Chrstiany as admitted By ali denomnations
council composed of many bishops representing the
Catholic church Now these Bishops expressly declare
among the books divinely inspired. These are the
books say they which our fathers taught us to read
and also the church, under the title Of divine and
cal scrptures" Here then the Bishops assembled at
the council of Carthage. in s94 said that their
fathers their ancestors, and their fathers up to the
days Of the Apostles handed down the tradition
that these books were and should be read in the
church as divnely inspired and canonica scrip.
to thu days Of the Apostles themselves according to
the assertion of thelfathers in Council their conviction
of the canonciy Of their books And when you consider
their immediate ancestors take you into the second cen
ury aud their predecessors period touching the rst
century such conviction must have come from the
Apostles have been handed down to the BISHOPS in
the Counci of Carthage and from them to u.s. And we
in the present day assured in the language of these
Bishops that the books Of the Maccabees constituted
portion Of tie scriptures consequently we quote
them, and teach that il good and wholesome thought
to pray for the dead &c that therefore there middle
state, or in other words Purgatory. Here are two
earliest and most venerable in character
Third, who, in the year 4O5 a very short time
after the Council OF Carthage in repv 10 the Bishon
of Toulouse expressly asserts that the books Of the
Maccabees constitute portion of the sacred scriptures
and in making this assertion he merely repeated that OF
the Bishops in council assembled which we shall soon
see founded upon earlier and more explicit authority
to which shall shortly refer But before referring to
that ancient authority doctrine of middle
state was believed not merely in the Latin Church.
put by ai! communons who were or he'd ever been uni